Family reunited with Afghan toddler in Qatar

An Afghan toddler who was orphaned in the aftermath of a bomb blast in Kabul in 2021 has been reunited with her family members at a Qatar orphanage. Maryam, who is now approximately 21 months old, was evacuated on a flight from Kabul after her parents passed away in a bomb blast. 

She was given the name Maryam by the orphanage. Maryam was finally reunited with her uncle Yaar Mohammad Niazi, brother, and two sisters for the first time. Niazi, who has four children of his own, expressed his joy and emotions and said that he was not sure if they would ever find her again. The emotional reunion marked the end of a desperate search for Maryam since the chaotic days of August 2021 when the Taliban took control of the Afghan capital, sparking a panicked mass flight. 

Her parents were among those trying to flee with their four children when they were killed in a huge bomb blast and gun battle at Kabul airport, which claimed 183 lives on August 26.