03x01 - Episode 1

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On February 29, 2020,

the United States and the Taliban

signed the Doha agreement:

"The agreement to bring peace

to Afghanistan"

All U.S. and NATO troops

would leave Afghanistan

in exchange for Al Qaeda

ceasing operations in the country

and for the Taliban

and the Afghan government

to begin peace talks.

The withdrawal of troops took place

progressively throughout 2021.

In August 2021, the Taliban launched

an offensive to recapture Kabul.

Afghan president Ashraf Ghani

and senior government officials

left the country.

During the following days,

the Western embassies were abandoned.

Thousands of Afghans

were trying to leave the country

in the face of the imminent arrival

of the Taliban in Kabul.

On August 15, 2021,

the Taliban took over Kabul.

THE UNIT: KABUL

KABUL, FIVE DAYS EARLIER

-Hey!

-Long time no see!

-I've missed you.

-You look great!

I could have picked you up at the hotel.

-I wanted to walk.

-Always the same.

Well, you know me.

-So, tell me everything.

-Yes.

-This way, detective.

-How was the trip?

It was a pain, you know.

-Really?

-Yes, but well

Anyway, I'm here now.

-Take this off, we're not in Spain.

-You know,

I always forget how crazy this city is.

BAMYAN PROVINCE. AUGUST 12, 2021

What now?

These are Yamal's men?

He brought a f*cking army.

We asked him to come alone.

What happened?

I don't know.

Let's go.

It's here.

-Shall we?

-Let's go.

In there.

Is Yamal in here?

Yamal is there.

He says we don't have a clue.

That we only know

what Azzal wants us to know.

That the man we've arrested

has allowed himself to be caught

to distract us

from the real weapons' route.

The route for opium and weapons

is not the same.

Fine.

Yamal.

Suppose that we have been following

a false lead all this time.

What is this new route, then?

He wants to make sure

that we will keep our part of the deal.

Well, here you are.

But first,

he will have to prove

that he's not making it all up.

I want a name

that we can verify.

It's always been a safe route.

That's how Azzam's opium gets to Europe.

Anything comes through there,

including weapons.

I didn't come to Kabul

to be told what I already know.

Okay? We know about Azzam's routes,

and we're not after him

or his intermediaries.

We want to know

who's going to use his weapons in Spain.

You're lying to us.

We know the weapons

are not coming through the opium routes.

Tell us about Najib.

If they find out he's given us his name,

he'll face the consequences.

You didn't mention any names,

I asked about him.

I just want you to tell him

that we wanna talk to him.

Get us in touch with him.

If you want to keep

your business in Europe,

you'd better help us.

Marcos, Abbas confirmed it.

The information he gave you

about Najib is true.

He's not far from where you are,

just further up north.

And he is willing to talk.

We're not returning to Kabul, then.

We will see him tomorrow.

Well, Massoud says

we should go with him.

We'll catch up with you

and we'll go together.

Fine.

Just one thing, Miriam.

Tell me.

When did you become the boss?

You're a prick. Okay, have a good night.

-Yeah.

-Bye.

For me?

Thank you.

Najib isn't trustworthy.

He's a bandit dealing with !sis K.

Besides, he's not

-What's wrong?

-He's not a bandit.

-He's a dealer, doing

-Neither.

That's not the term.

The police term is "outlaw."

Well, he's an outlaw who deals

with !sis K.

He's not even in the organization,

He does it for the money

What?

That's not the term, right?

f*ck, Miriam.

Always the same joke. It's not funny.

I'm sorry.

Isn't that annoying?

You're an as*h*le.

Okay, fine, fine.

-Come on, tell me.

-Let's see.

He'll meet us up north, in Chiyab.

It's complicated, because the Mujahideen

are in conflict with the Taliban.

The sooner we go there the better.

Before we go there,

I want to show you something.

Look.

No!

-What?

-Where did you get that?

I don't know, it was there

and I took a picture.

Holy cow!

It was a lifetime ago!

Yes, it was long ago.

Off to bed, baby. It's late in Spain.

Okay?

But first, look at this.

Look what I bought you.

If you like it, I'll give it to you

when you come back from the camp, okay?

And if you don't, I'll keep it.

You tell me.

See you tomorrow.

What happened?

What was that?

I don't know.

PARWAN PROVINCE. AUGUST 13, 2021

TAKHAR PROVINCE

Let's go.

Everything okay?

We'll stay at Abed's. He's a friend.

-Najib?

-He knows we're here.

He will decide when to meet us.

Okay? Give me a second.

Hey, Massoud, how are you?

-All good.

-Did you have a good trip?

Fine, all's fine.

Okay, welcome. Tell them to come in.

Come in.

Welcome, welcome. Come in. Welcome.

-Come in, come in.

-Welcome.

How are you doing, how are you?

Fine, thank God. How about you?

May God be with you.

Hello, welcome. Come in, please.

-May we sit down?

-Yes, come in, welcome.

Take a seat. Okay?

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Thanks.

Thank you very much.

Now we'll see

who has had a hotel breakfast

and who came here to work for real.

Well, I am the boss.

Yeah, that's right.

We'll see if Najib wants to talk.

Well, he'll have to.

I'll make him talk.

Why would he agree to see us, right?

It all depends on what he wants

in exchange for the information.

-Let's go!

-What?

We have to go now!

The Taliban are nearby,

they will block the road!

-Come on.

-Let's go!

-Come on.

-Massoud, Massoud.

We can't leave now.

We're waiting for Najib.

Najib's not coming.

Miriam, we have to go now!

-Listen to Massoud, we're leaving.

-Let's go!

Najwa, come on.

Get in the cars now!

Thank you.

Marcos.

Start the car!

sh*t!

There might be sn*pers.

-Who are they?

-They are Mujahideen.

-Give me the money and the IDs.

-Okay.

Don't get out. I'll take care of it.

Here you are.

Do you have enough money?

Yes,

I have Najib's money.

It's quite a lot.

This is Cobos.

We are near Chahyab,

on our way to Kabul.

We're at a checkpoint,

and it doesn't look good.

Get my location.

sh*t!

sh*t!

Out of the car! Out!

-Get down!

-Press! Press!

Stop, stop!

Press! Press!

What the hell are you doing?

Get my location now!

Stop the car!

Stop the car right now!

I can't leave my team behind!

Stop the car!

No, impossible! Come on, let's go!

Listen, do you have my location?

I can't see my colleagues,

I don't know where they are.

We're under fire!

They're going to get us!

-They want the policeman!

-He won't listen!

Stop the f*cking car right now!

Get out! Get out!

Are you f*cking crazy?

Get out!

What the f*ck is wrong with you?

Son of a b*tch!

If they think there'll be

a commodities shortage,

the most important thing

is to freeze the offer and stock up.

Hoarding like crazy.

Same thing with the currency.

You wouldn't print bills

when there is inflation.

-Same thing here.

-Yes.

But you must consider

the bottleneck effect on commodities.

-If the production decreases

-Excuse me.

the demand will also decrease.

And you end up paying for it.

ARRESTED FOR SPREADING JIHADIST MESSAGES

Carla.

Carla. Carla.

-They're ready for you.

-I'm sorry.

Thanks.

I've been talking to my former contacts

and they all agree.

Western troops have withdrawn

from Afghanistan,

but they have armed and trained

the local army.

The Afghan army will be able

to face the Taliban.

It might take them months

to reach Kabul, but they'll get there.

So, for the time being,

we can keep our business going.

Listen,

sooner or later, Kabul will fall.

We have to face that.

I think that we should proceed

to repatriate our employees

as soon as possible.

That means we would have to interrupt

the lithium imports.

My concern is the integrity

of our employees.

If that's

what our Head of Security thinks,

then it's best not to take risks.

Let's repatriate them.

Pakistan's branch will take over

the coordination of Kabul's operation.

-Our protocols in order to

-Thanks, Carla.

You deal with that.

We'll move on to the next subject.

Well. Gentlemen, we've had

an excellent quarter

in terms of our initial expectations.

The figures for Latin America

are particularly good,

although we know that Mexico

and Brazil are still resisting.

Hombrado, what's going on?

Can we meet?

I don't know where they are.

We're under fire!

He won't listen!

Are you f*cking crazy?

What the f*ck is wrong with you?

-Where were they?

-In a desert up north.

Sorry to keep you waiting.

Carla, we will find them.

Hombrado told you everything,

so let's get straight to it.

They have most likely been kidnapped

by a Taliban group,

and sooner or later

they'll ask for ransom.

And what are you going to do then?

You know we can't negotiate

with the Taliban.

They're t*rrorists.

We would be acknowledging

their authority.

Al-Hassan was also a t*rror1st

and you didn't have a problem with that.

I'm not saying we won't negotiate,

but it would have to be off the record.

We are working

with the Afghan Government

and someone we can trust.

And who's going to conduct

the negotiations?

One of your agents?

I'm sure it won't be you.

The NIC will remain on the sidelines.

But we'll send someone prepared

and capable,

if that's worrying you.

-Who?

-Carla

We're telling you this out of respect,

because you used to be

one of our partners,

and your ex-husband is involved.

But we can't share that information.

MYT Tec has a subsidiary in Kabul.

I already have a candidate

to deal with this.

Me.

I'm the candidate to handle this matter.

I have experience, I know the hostages,

and my company operates there.

-Carla, please

-If I fail,

it won't harm you, the NIC

or the government.

I'm not going to stand idly by.

I told my daughter

this would never happen again!

You don't want me to go there on my own.

KABUL. AUGUST 15, 2021

Throw! Throw!

Dad, it's me again.

Call me, please. We are worried.

Things aren't looking good, guys.

I am afraid, very afraid.

Look at what's going on.

My parents told me

that this used to be hell

and they are afraid.

Come on, let's play.

I'm coming.

-Will you come to my house?

-Yes.

Don't worry, Fazela. Massoud is working.

He always calls me, or something.

But I haven't heard from him today.

I'm sure he's fine.

Isn't he with the Spaniards?

-Did you call the embassy?

-Yes.

They say they have no information,

they can't help me.

If something had happened,

they would know about it.

What will you do

if the Taliban get here?

What do you want me to do?

I don't know. Maybe you

and Massoud talked about it.

What about you?

If it were up to Qasim,

we would be hiding like rats.

He almost didn't let me

come to work this morning.

At least he doesn't want

to go to Pakistan.

He does want to go, but he knows

that we can't leave right now.

I mean

Don't worry. Yamil, suture here.

Okay.

Qasim says the president

has just left the country.

What?

He ran away.

Unbelievable.

People need not to worry.

The city is safe.

Anyone who causes troubles in the city

will be punished harshly.

Traitor! He has left his people!

Power has been peacefully transferred

to a provisional third party.

Keeping safety

You have reached the Spanish Embassy

in Kabul.

We are unable to respond to calls

and requests right now.

-Please

-There's no answer.

and we will do everything we can

to restore the security.

-Do you have the press stuff?

-Yes.

-Here, right?

-Yes.

-Here.

-Okay.

Here.

Hi. We are Spanish journalists.

I would like

to talk to the embassy, please.

Take them out of here.

Please! Please! Please!

Where are our mates?

The other guys, where are they?

Are they okay?

Go.

-Go inside.

-No, no, no.

Please. Please.

f*ck.

sh*t, sh*t!

-f*ck.

-Hey!

-f*ck, f*ck!

-Easy, easy.

-Easy.

-f*ck!

-Easy, wait, wait.

-f*ck! No!

-sh*t.

-Relax, relax.

Take a deep breath.

That's it. Take a deep breath.

Breathe.

Excuse me.

Carla? Hi, I'm Julián Olmedo.

-I run the local CNI.

-Yes.

You haven't been to the hotel.

No, I want to get up to speed now.

Sure, sure.

You must have already heard

about the president's resignation.

And what's worse,

the local army has vanished.

They're not standing up

against the Taliban.

It's a disaster.

We're going to meet with the ambassador.

-Okay.

-He knows everything.

To everyone else, you're just

MYT's Head of Security,

and you're here

to repatriate your people.

How's everything in the city?

It's about to blow,

thousands of open fronts.

-Come with me, please.

-Let's go.

This way, Carla.

This way.

All the embassies are doing the same.

They're getting everyone out.

Let's wait a second. He's busy.

Marcos Cobos made the call

from a conflict zone.

The Taliban are taking over

village after village.

The Mujahideen are fighting back.

Besides, there are Taliban groups

that do not respect the chain of command

and act on their own.

And the !sis K is at w*r with everyone.

We don't know who did it,

or what they want.

Negotiating with the wrong side

can make things worse.

Have you contacted

other intelligence services?

Nothing important, yet.

If the Taliban are holding

three Spaniards hostage,

what do they usually do to the hostages?

How do they tell their demands?

We have no records of Westerners

being kidnapped by the Taliban

in the last few years.

Worst case scenario,

it was an !sis K group.

In the past, you know,

hostage negotiations

haven't ended up well.

Tomorrow, we'll meet the representative

of the Afghan Government

and the police commissioner.

There were Afghan policemen with them.

It is likely

that they were the real targets.

So, if they called for ransom,

it must have reached the Government.

Excuse me. Sir, can I have a word?

Yes. Excuse me.

So, we'll talk

to the police chief tomorrow,

but you have your informants, right?

We don't have any information right now.

You've seen it, it's total chaos.

If the Taliban or !sis K

have kidnapped three Spaniards,

they will use them now,

that we Westerners are here.

Waiting is pointless.

The Chief of GEO told me

that the Taliban are in Kabul.

We will evacuate the embassy.

We have 24 hours to get out of here

and get to the airport.

Yes, it's all duly noted, yes.

I'll call you later.

Carla.

They want to take us back to Spain

in 24 hours.

I know. The Government has fallen.

There's no police, army, or anything.

-There's nothing we can do.

-I can't leave.

We're trying to get you to Pakistan.

You'll keep working there. I'm on it.

I can't do anything over there!

I need to stay here, Manuel.

That is something that's not up to us.

The evacuation order is total.

No. I am a private individual,

I can do what I want!

-I can decide what to do, right?

-Carla

Everyone's leaving.

The Americans, the French

Your company, Carla!

You can't accomplish anything there.

You're alone, with no links

and no structure.

Be reasonable and go to Pakistan.

We will get all the necessary support

sh*t!