Afghanistan.Photo: WAKIL KOHSAR/AFP via Getty
The violent chaosthat marred the evacuationsout of the Afghanistan capital last week has reportedly continued even astens of thousands of peoplehave successfully fled.
As the U.S.-led coalitioncontinues to aid peopleamid the Taliban takeover, the White House said the militant group pledged to provide “safe passage” to the Kabul airport not just for American citizens but for Afghans trying to leave.
But accounts on the ground show it’s not that simple.
According to U.S. officials, Taliban members are in some cases turning people away. In others, they are beating those Afghans who try to leave.
WAKIL KOHSAR/AFP via Getty Images
The U.S. national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, acknowledgedin a briefing last weekthat “there have been instances where we have received reports of people being turned away or pushed back or even beaten.”
Sullivan added then that the U.S. is “taking that up in a channel with the Taliban to try to resolve those issues. And we are concerned about whether that will continue to unfold in the coming days.”
There have not been confirmed reports of American casualties in the evacuation.
In a Monday briefing, Sullivan noted that the U.S. military was alsoperforming extractionsof American citizens who could not get to the airport.
Sullivan said that the White House believes it will be able to evacuate all remaining Americans before the Aug. 31 troop withdrawal deadline, though the Biden administration has not ruled out extending that date even as the Taliban called it a “red line.”
NBC News andThe Los Angeles Timesalso reported that Taliban fighters were thought to have beaten both adults and children in recent days, based on photographs showing bloodied and injured Afghans in the streets.
Afghanistan evacuations.U.S. Army via Getty
As the Talibanovertook Afghanistan’s capitallast weekend, adramatic sceneplayed out as Afghans were sent scrambling into hiding or limbo hoping to either escape the Taliban’s notice or escape the country altogether.
At the Kabul airport, thousands of Afghans attempted to board evacuation flights out of the region, scaling concrete walls and racing across the tarmac.
Accordingto the Associated Press, officials said that at least seven people had died in the maelstrom at the airport. Among those were some people who fell from the outside of a U.S. military plane after clinging to it as it took off.
The situation has settled since, and the Biden administration has boasted of its efforts to evacuate more than 80,000 people so far drawing outcries of mismanagement. The president insisted he will continue to aid those seeking refuge.
Some 20 years after being toppled in a U.S.-led invasion, the group has publicly announced changes, such as saying it will allow girls to attend school.
Under the Trump-era agreement that led to the U.S. withdrawal this summer, the Taliban also said it would break ties with al-Qaida.
If you would like to support those in need during the upheaval in Afghanistan, consider:
Donating toUNICEFto aid Afghans in the country or
Donating to theInternational Refugee Assistance Projectto help those fleeing.
source: people.com
