Farthing, however, stated on 26 August that he and his staff had been stuck for over 10 hours outside the airport along with 173 dogs and cats. He directly appealed to the Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen on Twitter for safe passage. He further stated that about 15 men stopped their convoy around midnight while they were heading to the airport, and one accidentally fired at them but missed. He also warned that the animals might die due to the heat. Farthing later stated that they were forced to leave the area after finding out that the United States government had changed the rules for getting inside the compound. As his convoy left, they witnessed the suicide bombing mounted by ISIS-K at the airport on the same day, and he stated that one Taliban gunman had fired at his convoy's bus containing children. As they fled, they were also tear gassed. Farthing further stated that his staff had told him to leave alone for his own safety, and take as many animals with him as he could.