Exclusive-Baby handed to U.S. soldiers in chaos of Afghanistan airlift still missing

Sohail Ahmadi, around two-months-old, is seen in these handout pictures shown on a poster, taken in August 2021 in Kabul, Afghanistan. Sohail's parents Mirza Ali and his wife Suraya handed him over the fence to a U.S. soldier on August 19, 2021 in the chaos following the U.S. troop withdrawal and hasty evacuation at the Kabul Airport. But by the time the family got to the other side of the fence, the baby was no where to be found. Courtesy of the Ahmadi family/Handout via REUTERS

NEW YORK (Reuters) -It was a split second decision. Mirza Ali Ahmadi and his wife Suraya found themselves and their five children on Aug. 19 in a chaotic crowd outside the gates of the Kabul airport in Afghanistan when a U.S. soldier, from over the tall fence, asked if they needed help.

Fearing their two-month old baby Sohail would get crushed in the melee, they handed him to the soldier, thinking they would soon get to the entrance, which was only about 16 feet (5 meters) away.