SCRANTON, Pa. — Dramatic images out of Kabul show panicked Afghans as they clung to U.S. military planes leaving the airport.
Newswatch 16 spoke to an immigrant from Afghanistan who now lives in Scranton.
He did not want us to share his identity out of fear for his family members who still live in the country.
He spoke with us through an interpreter.
"I was actually at work when I got the news on Facebook. I couldn't even control [my] emotions. I started crying when the news was that the Taliban took over Afghanistan," he said.
He said his family is trying to be safe by staying locked inside the house.
"Everyone is scared for their life. They can't even get out to get the simplest things like groceries," he said.
It has been hard to stay in touch with those family members who are still in the country because of power outages.
Nick Yost, from Spring Brook Township, is an army veteran who served in Afghanistan for one year.
"We put a lot of money and a lot of lives into trying to support them and to see just the speed of which the Taliban came through, took over the entire country, it's definitely tough to see," said Yost.
He spent time training Afghan military members to fight the Taliban.
"Teaching them how to fire their weapon, maneuver, things like that. They had a lot of promise, but having promise during training and being in battle are two different things," said Yost.
Yost served in the country from 2009 to 2010.