AN Afghan charity worker has told how she had to cover her baby son’s ears to protect him from the deafening sound of gunfire as she tried to flee Afghanistan.

Frishta Matin arrived on the Isle of Lewis yesterday to start a new life with her 10-month-old son Kia and her family, after escaping the Taliban.

The 29-year-old, along with her husband, Murtaza, 31, sister Farzana, 25, and their brother Zaker, feared for their lives having worked in Afghanistan for Lewis-based charity The Linda Norgrove Foundation.

However, after witnessing a man being shot in front of them in frantic scenes at Kabul Airport in August, they were yesterday reunited with charity founders John and Lorna Norgrove in emotional scenes at Stornoway Airport.

“We spent two days and two nights at the airport and all you could hear was constant gunfire,” said Matin.

“Usually when my baby is sleeping at night no-one is allowed to talk, but in this situation, there was constant firing and loud sounds. That whole night, I tried to put my hands over Kia’s ears to stop him hearing the noise of shooting and people crying and shouting.

“The army was shooting in front of peoples’ feet to try and scare the big crowds away from the gate, but they were not deterred.

“We saw this one person get closer and closer until they shot him and he fell dead in the street.

“Despite that crowds of people desperately trying to get through the gate continued to gather. It shows how scared people were that they were prepared to take such risks to get out of Kabul.”

Eventually the family had to go into hiding in Mazer-i-Sharif, north of Kabul, after not making it onto one of the last allied flights out.

Matin added: “The second night we were at the airport, a soldier said he was coming to escort us but then a security alert meant we could not get through. We were literally inches from freedom.

“We eventually left the airport and spent 23 days hiding in hotels and guest houses in Mazer-i-Sharif, waiting for alternative flights to be arranged by the American charity Uplift Afghanistan Fund.

“Taliban soldiers would come in and arrest people and take them away. We never knew if they were coming for us and changed location eight or nine times to avoid them.

“We are Hazara so the fear was constant. Farzana and I working in women and girls’ education was also a big problem.

“Lots of men bore a grudge and were ready to take revenge by telling the Taliban we had worked with foreigners and were un-Islamic.

“We did not even feel safe when we were finally on the plane taking us out of Afghanistan to Qatar. The Taliban came inside the plane to check everyone’s documents. I was so scared we’d get sent back. It was only when the plane finally took off we dared to think ‘Maybe this is the moment we escape’.”

The female education charity she works for was founded by John and Lorna Norgrove in memory of their daughter Linda, who was kidnapped by the Taliban but killed by US troops during a failed rescue mission in 2010.

John Norgrove said: It was one of the best phone calls of my life when we finally heard they’d got out.

“That 46 hours they were at the airport was traumatic. We were communicating using voice notes on WhatsApp and in their messages all you could hear was constant gunfire in the background. You realised how dangerous a position they were in.

He raised their plight with Scottish Secretary Alister Jack, who took it to then-foreign secretary Dominic Raab, who placed the group on an evacuation priority list.

Jack said: “I am very pleased that the UK Government was able to play its part in helping evacuate Frishta, Farzana and their family to safety from Afghanistan.

“It must be a tremendous relief, not just for them, but also for John and Lorna Norgrove.

“I want to thank all of those in the UK, the US, Afghanistan and Qatar who worked so tirelessly to make their safe passage possible.

“I’m sure that the sisters and their family will be warmly welcomed in Scotland, and we will do all we can to support them in building a new, secure life in the UK.”