Thousands of Afghans are desperately trying to flee Afghanistan as the Taliban take over the country’s capital, Kabul.
The Taliban swept into Kabul as Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani slipped into exile “to avoid further bloodshed” among the populace.
Fearing the Taliban’s history of human rights abuses and other forms of oppression against women and children, Afghans mobbed Hamid Karzai International Airport to escape the country. A video of hundreds of Afghans clinging to a US military aircraft as it prepares for take-off has also surfaced online. Two citizens tied themselves to the wheels of the aircraft, while some were trying to clamber up a set of stairs.
To ensure a “safe and orderly” departure of the country’s people, the United States (US) deployed 6,000 troops at the airport. Due to the chaos, the military was forced to fire aerial shots while commercial flights were suspended.
The U.S also deployed helicopters and other aircraft to pull out diplomats and personnel from the US Embassy. According to Khushull Khan, a US translator in Kabul, a considerable number of people running were left behind.
In 2001, the Northern Alliance and US-led forces dislodged the Taliban regime that provided shelter to al-Qaeda terrorists in Afghanistan. For about 10 years, allied forces and the Taliban battled for control over the country’s districts and provinces. As the Northern Atlantic Alliance (NATO) transferred primary responsibility over security to the Afghan military in 2014, the US eventually carried out a full withdrawal from Afghanistan that it plans to complete on September 11, 2021. However, 20 years after the 9/11 attacks, the Taliban have regained control over the war-torn country.
For many years, Afghanistan has faced many bouts of conflict and hardship. The urban-rural divide brought forth educated and liberal people in its major cities, yet those outside the urban centers feel neglected. Thus, over the past 20 years, the Taliban had the opportunity to recruit from the disenchanted rural areas.
Members of the US Congress, who have been urging the Biden Administration to withdraw its allies in the country by the end of August, are generally unwilling to defend the Biden administration over the chaos in Kabul. Meanwhile, President Biden has faced much criticism after his promise of an “orderly withdrawal” from Afghanistan failed to materialize.
Featured image courtesy of Associated Press.
