When we go back to August 2021, we can’t help but think of how the Taliban took control of Afghanistan so swiftly. They seized their power in Afghanistan’s land two weeks before the US troop withdrawal. On 15th August 2021, the Taliban community declared that they wouldn’t seize the city by force, though they entered its outskirts. Locals of Kabul reported that the Taliban fighters entered the urban areas despite their official declarations.
Afghanistan’s government slowly lost its control as the Taliban took off 90% of Afghanistan’s borders. Thousands of Afghans are desperate to leave the country and Hamid Karzai International Airport is getting overcrowded every day.
The worst thing is that people were even killed at the airport. Though, it is not clear whether they were got killed in a stampede or by gunshots. However, the Afghans are paying with their blood. The eerie footage of a person falling off a plane’s wheels is a reminder of the 9/11 attack where people were jumping off the burning WTC towers.
Even almost a week after 15th August, the situation hadn’t sunk in. The Taliban takeover of Afghanistan has raised so many questions in the most horrific way. In 2021, such events seem almost unbelievable.
When the US military transport plane was about to leave the runway, many afghans were clinging to it. Meanwhile, a tense calm was there in the main city with most people hiding in their homes as the Talibans were deployed at the major intersections of the city. Unfortunately, there were many reports of looting as armed men were knocking on gates and doors. Plus, there was less traffic than usual and the streets were eerily empty.
The US government temporarily halted all the evacuation flights from Kabul, they evacuated the American embassy and other countries also followed the same.
On 23rd August, the Biden Administration declared that they are focused to complete their evacuation process by 31st August, the deadline to remove all the Americans from the country. However, US president Joe Biden will take the final decision to extend the evacuation mission from the Kabul airport, as reported by the Pentagon, the State Department, and the White House. National Security Advisor told at a news conference of White House – “ultimately, the president will decide how things proceed, no one else other than him.”
On the other hand, the Taliban community claimed that they didn’t initiate any ‘house-to-house’ searches in Kabul. Their spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said that they are not creating any hesitation or fear for the Afghans.
