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S u n d ay, M a r c h 9, 2025
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A family’s epic flight to freedom
Afghan refugees sought by Taliban get new life in Baton Rouge BY PATRICK SLOAN-TURNER Staff writer
For nearly four years, a couple and their two children have lived in hiding. A year spent almost entirely indoors. Other times, moving constantly to evade Pakistani immi-
gration officials. Countless nights silencing their children’s cries, desperate to remain unseen and avoid deportation or capture. That’s how former Afghan prosecutor Freshta, her husband, Hadi, and their two small children have existed since 2021, hunted by the Taliban since the terrorist group
took control of the country. But on Thursday night, as the couple and their 4-year-old son and 2-year-old daughter walked through the gates of the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport, their nightmare finally ended. “This is how freedom looks like,” Hadi said to his wife. “There’s no
police coming for you, and there’s no fear of being deported to Afghanistan.” Before the Taliban retook power in Afghanistan, Freshta was one of many prosecutors in Kabul who worked alongside American military officials to prosecute crimes committed by the terrorist group.
The family has asked to be identified only by their first names and requested not to appear in photos because of continued fears of retaliation. The couple were at ground zero when Kabul fell in 2021 as American troops withdrew. They were within earshot when a suicide bomb detonated on Aug. 26, 2021,
ä See FREEDOM, page 6A
BR bus worker strike ends
Guns still flowing onto BR school campuses
CATS says full service resumes Sunday BY HALEY MILLER Staff writer
Baton Rouge bus workers will return to work Sunday, the city’s transit system and its union said, putting an end to a weeklong strike that disrupted service for thousands of riders. “Our members stood strong and united throughout this process,” George DeCuir, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1546, said in a statement Saturday. “This strike shows that our members are willing to lay it all on the line for justice.” The strike ended when Capital Area Transit System agreed to withdraw its final collective bargaining agreement offer, which union officials said was an attempt to force a contract on the workers, and begin arbitration, according to the union. In a release, CATS said full bus services will resume. Third-party arbitration will allow the parties to resolve “outstanding matters” regarding the labor contract, the release said. “We’re pleased to have our drivers back on the job, and services will return to normal tomorrow,” CATS CEO Theo Richards said in the statement. “We appreciate the patience of our passengers and are confident that arbitration will resolve the issues fairly.” The union announced the strike on March 2 and it took effect early March 3. Workers gathered outside the CATS terminal at Florida and North 22nd streets every day to protest and publicize their reasons for walking off the job.
STAFF FILE PHOTO By HILARy SCHEINUK
East Baton Rouge Parish schools Superintendent LaMont Cole, left, takes a bag from Assistant Principal Jes’ca Signater on Jan. 31 after demonstrating how metal detectors are used for morning arrivals at Woodlawn High School in Baton Rouge.
All three were arrested and charged rape and up to 25 years in jail. Security moves may with crimes. Under Louisiana’s “zero tolBut Jaffar immediately returned to laws, the teens will be expelled class at Woodlawn High for a few days not have desired effect erance” before opting to shift to virtual class inand reassigned to alternative schools.
BY CHARLES LUSSIER
There has been an uptick in gun incidents this school year even as new walkthrough metal detectors are used daily at Since mid-January, three teenagers all Baton Rouge middle and high schools. The consequences awaiting the stubrought loaded handguns to Baton Rouge high schools. Two evaded walk-through dents are far stricter than that of Ali Jafmetal detectors. The third ditched his gun far. The 18-year-old high school student and bookbag he was carrying it in rather recently was arrested in connection with than risk detection, before he was caught the rape of an LSU student in her dorm anyway. room. He faces a charge of third-degree
Staff writer
struction, according to East Baton Rouge school officials. Jaffar was able to return to his home school because he is accused of a crime that occurred 11 miles away with no connection to Woodlawn students or staff. In contrast, the three students accused of bringing guns on campus are subject
ä See GUNS, page 4A
ä See STRIKE, page 4A
WEATHER HIGH 64 LOW 46 PAGE 8B
Business ......................1E Deaths .........................4B Opinion ........................6B Classified ..................... 3F Living............................1D Nation-World ................2A Commentary ................7B Metro ...........................1B Sports ..........................1C
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100TH yEAR, NO. 252
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