Disturbing Footage Shows Afghans Clinging To Moving Plane To Flee Country
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Locals while collecting the bodies of three men Clinging to the wheels of the plane that took off from #Kabul airport, they were then fell to the ground near Khairkahana area of Kabul#Afghanistan #Taliban pic.twitter.com/N14U55CZmj— Aśvaka – آسواکا News Agency (@AsvakaNews) August 16, 2021
In other footage, U.S. soldiers appear to fire warning shots in the air as crowds gathered at the airport, Al Jazeera reports.
“That caused a surge of people moving toward the airport,” Rob McBride, reporting for Al Jazeera said. “It seemed as though airport security, airline and airport staff simply melted away, and it really was a free-for-all.”
In recent days, the Taliban have captured Herat and Kandahar, which are the country’s second and third largest cities. They now control about 24 of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces.
Tens of thousands of Afghans have fled their homes in anticipation of an oppressive Taliban dictatorship. Previously, the group forbade women to work or attend school and restricted them from leaving their homes without a male relative being present with them.
Salima Mazari, one of the women who serve as district governors in the country, expressed her concerns about a Taliban takeover on Saturday and what it would mean for the progress that women have made.
“There will be no place for women,” she argued. “In the provinces controlled by the Taliban, no women exist there anymore, not even in the cities. They are all imprisoned in their homes.”
The Taliban has been seizing control in Afghanistan after President Joe Biden announced in April that the U.S. would be withdrawing military troops from the region after being present in the area for two decades.
“It is time to end America’s longest war,” Biden said as he announced his withdrawal plan.”It’s time for American troops to come home.”
“I am now the fourth American president to preside over an American troop presence in Afghanistan. Two Republicans. Two Democrats. I will not pass this responsibility to a fifth,” he continued.
On Saturday, Biden deployed 5,000 troops to Afghanistan to help with personnel evacuation.
President Biden is expected to address the nation about the latest developments in Afghanistan later today.