Terrified that the new de facto rulers would commit such abuses and despairing for their country’s future, thousands have raced to Kabul’s airport and border crossings following the Taliban’s stunning blitz through Afghanistan. One dramatic image shows a U.S. Marine securing airport security reaching over razor wire to grab a baby from a crowd and pulling it over the wall.
Others have taken to the streets to protest the takeover — acts of defiance that Taliban fighters have violently suppressed.
Taliban claim they are more moderate than when they ruled Afghanistan in late 1990s. They have pledged to restore security, and to forgive those who fought against them in the twenty years since an American-led invasion forced them from power. Leaders urged imams Friday prayers to preach sermons in order to call for unity and encourage people to stay put.
But many Afghans are skeptical, fearing that the Taliban will erase the gains, especially for women, achieved in the past two decades. Amnesty International’s Friday report showed more evidence that the Taliban claims have been discredited.
According to the rights group, its researchers had spoken to eyewitnesses from Ghazni who described how the Taliban killed nine ethnic Hazara people in Mundarakht between July 4 and July 6. According to the rights group, six of the men were killed and three others were tortured to death. Hazaras, Shiite Muslims who were persecuted previously by the Taliban, have made significant gains in education as well as their social status in recent decades.
Amnesty International warned that more deaths may have been unreported by the Taliban who cut off cellphone service in many of their captured areas.
Separately Reporters without Borders expressed concern at the news that Taliban fighters had killed a family member working for Germany’s Deutsche Welle. According to the broadcaster, fighters searched houses in search of their reporter who had moved to Germany.
A private intelligence organization based in Norway that provides information to United Nations claimed that it has evidence that Taliban members have arrested Afghans from a blacklist that lists people they believe were involved with the U.S-led forces or the Afghan government.
The RHIPTO Norwegian Centre for Global Anases executive director stated in an email that the center knew of several threats sent to Afghans.
The Associated Press obtained a report from the group, which included one of these letters. However, the AP was unable to independently verify the claims made by the group.
The Taliban had previously ruled that women were restricted to their homes and television was banned. Public executions were also regularly held. But leaders of the movement have pledged more moderation this time.
It is not clear if the abuse reports indicate that Taliban leaders say one thing and do another, or if they have no control over their forces.
Their takeover was so large and rapid that it seems like the leadership has had a difficult time controlling their fighters. For example, reports have surfaced that fighters in Kabul promised security to major news outlets. However, they also intimidated business owners.
In the chaos, thousands tried to flee Afghanistan amid uncertainty. They had to brave Taliban fighters checkpoints and rush to Kabul’s Airport, where an emergency evacuation is taking place.
Mohammad Naim claimed he was an interpreter for U.S. forces and has been trapped in the airport crowd since four days. To save his children from being crushed by the crowd, he said he had placed them on the roof of a car the first day. He witnessed other children being killed because they couldn’t get out.
He advised others to not go to the airport.
He said, “It’s a very, very bizarre situation right now.”
The chaos that ensued when a U.S. Marine pulled a baby from the crowd was captured in a widely shared video on social media. Maj. Jim Stenger from the Marine Corps confirmed that the Marine was part of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit. He also said that the baby was being “cared for” by medical professionals. Stenger added that they were safe at the airport.
It is not known when the incident occurred.
The United States is struggling to pick up the pace of evacuations it is running from Afghanistan, where thousands of Americans and their Afghan allies may be in need of escape. After an hour-long pause because of a shortage of evacuation places, American military planes are expected to resume evacuation flights from the airport on Friday.
European countries are also trying to get their citizens and all those who have worked alongside them out.
Margarita Robles, the Spanish Defense Minister, stated Friday that Kabul’s military transport planes have been left partially empty due to the chaos.
Robles stated that “nobody is in control of the situation”. Robles spoke to Spanish public radio RNE.
It is also difficult to get there. Officials said that Germany sent two helicopters to Kabul in order to transport small numbers of people from other parts of the city to the airport.
Concerns for those still in Afghanistan are as simple as where to get food. According to the U.N. Food Agency, it was able to reach out to Taliban officials to distribute aid in one province capital but has not been able resume food delivery to three other capitals.
According to the World Food Program, 14 million people in Afghanistan are suffering from severe hunger. This is a nation of 39 million. Afghanistan was already suffering from a second drought in three consecutive years and fighting since Sunday’s Taliban overthrow.
Concerns are mounting about the future of a Taliban government. The group’s leaders met with officials from past Afghan administrations.
A source familiar with the talks in Afghanistan indicated that nothing would be achieved before the U.S. troops depart, which is currently scheduled for August 31.
