Mayhem intensifies in Afghanistan

Four days after Kabul fell to the Taliban, it is becoming increasingly clear that neither the US nor its NATO allies were prepared for this level of mayhem.
 
US troops have thrown stun grenades and fired warning shots to disperse panicked locals surrounding Kabul airport, as foreigners struggle to get through the crowds to the airport gates.
 
Joe Biden has said that troops will remain until all US citizens are evacuated, but the 900 British troops still on the ground fear the US soldiers could cut and run, complicating their effort to extract British nationals and Afghan allies.
  
At least 12 people have died from gunshot wounds and stampedes since Sunday as thousands of Afghans make a desperate attempt to flee from a future under Taliban rule.
 
Even though the Taliban say they are “keeping their word” by supporting foreign forces to evacuate nationals and local allies, Afghans trying to board RAF flights to Britain have accused them of raising a “ring of steel” around the airport and beating them.
 
Some of the Afghans who succeeded in making it through to the airport have tried to hang on to planes as they take off, resulting in several tragic deaths. The latest, an Afghan official confirmed today, was that of former Afghan national youth team footballer, 19-year-old Zaki Anwari, who is believed to have died after attempting to hold onto the outside of the American military aircraft.
 
Other distressing reports to emerge from the confusion at the airport are those of women throwing their babies over razor wire to Western soldiers while being beaten by the Taliban – hoping against all hope to get their children to safety.
 
Outside the capital, the scenes are no less harrowing. The Taliban has mounted a violent response to the first signs of resistance springing up in cities across the country – and it is believed that several protestors have been killed by gunshot or stampedes after waving the black, red and green flag at independence day rallies in Asadabad and Jalalabad.
 
A leaked UN document also reveals that Taliban fighters are going door to door threatening to take family members of Afghans who worked with UK and US forces hostage, unless the targets surrender themselves.
 
In the first speech since retaking power in Afghanistan, the Taliban’s leaders promised peace at home and urged the world to look past their history of violence and repression.
But as the death toll grows and harrowing on-the-ground reports continue to flood the news, this assurance – as well as Biden’s defence that the “chaos” was inevitable –  is becoming increasingly difficult to stomach.


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