The chop of U.S. military helicopters whisking American diplomats to Kabul’s airport punctuated a frantic rush by thousands of other foreigners and Afghans to flee to safety as well, as a stunningly swift Taliban takeover entered the heart of Afghanistan’s capital.
To protect what was about to become a massive airlift, the U.S. sent thousands of troops to temporarily guard the country. It also lowered the flag at U.S. Embassy, announcing that it would take over air-traffic control at this airport late Sunday.
Afghan families were terrified by Taliban rule, and wanted to flee their country in a chaotic evacuation. NATO allies who had evacuated their troops before the Aug. 31 deadline set by the Biden administration were also rushing troops in this weekend to help their citizens.
Some felt that the U.S. failed to act quickly enough to rescue Afghans who were at risk of being retaliated by the Taliban for their past cooperation with NATO forces and the Americans.
Sam Lerman, a U.S. Air Force veteran, said that this was murder by incompetence. He struggled Sunday from Woodbridge, Virginia to find a way for an Afghan contractor, who for 10 years had protected NATO forces and Americans at Afghanistan’s Bagram Air Base.
Massouma Tajik was 22-years-old and a data analyst. He was one of hundreds of Afghans waiting in Kabul to board an evacuation flight.
“I see people crying. They aren’t sure if their flight will take place or not. She said it by phone, panicking.
Women who are educated in Afghanistan have the most to lose to the Taliban. Their past government was overthrown by the U.S.-led invasion of 2001. It sought to confine Afghan women to their homes.
Early Sunday, Taliban forces entered a capital in fear and declared that they are awaiting peaceful surrender. This was the culmination of a remarkable sweep of Afghanistan within the last week.
The U.S. evacuated the entire embassy building upon the arrival of the Taliban insurgents in Kabul. Only Ross Wilson, acting ambassador, and a handful of other diplomats were left at the airport. Despite the fact that CH-47 helicopters transported American diplomats to the airport and faced criticism from home about the administration’s handling, Secretary of State Antony Blinken denied any comparison to 1975’s fall of Saigon.
Blinken insists that “This is being done very deliberately, it’s been done in an ordered manner,” he said on ABC’s “This Week.”
The U.S. State Department and Defense Departments jointly issued a statement late Sunday pledging to fly thousands of Americans and local embassy staff out of Afghanistan. The statement did not give any details but it stated that high-profile Afghan journalists and women who have worked with Western governments or nonprofits were among those who are concerned about Taliban targeting because of alleged Western connections.
According to the statement, visa processing would be accelerated for Afghans who have previously worked with American officials and troops. The statement did not address the difficulties the U.S. had in getting these Afghans ahead of the Taliban and could only promise that “we will find” other countries would host some of them.
Many people thought that the chaos and incoherence of the rescue efforts by Americans and foreigners to save their Afghan allies was a sign of disorder.
Francesca Mannocchi (an Italian journalist) posted a video showing an Italian helicopter taking Francesca to the airport. A soldier was standing guard at a window. Mannochi said that she saw smoke columns rising from Kabul while she flew. Some of the smoke was from fires set by workers at U.S. Embassy, and others to prevent sensitive material falling into Taliban hands.
She claimed that Afghans had attacked an Italian convoy. She captioned the short video with “Kabul airport.” Evacuation. It’s over.
Many Afghans were crowded into an area of the airport that was not accessible to many of the Westerners who were evacuating the country. A few of them, including one man with a broken leg, waited for the last flight out of the country’s Ariana Airlines.
U.S. officials said that gunfire was reported near the airport on Sunday evening, and asked civilians to refrain from coming. U.S. military officials announced that the airport would be closed to commercial flights. This was the last escape route for Afghans.
U.S. C-17 transport aircraft were scheduled to carry thousands of new American troops to the airport and then return with U.S. Embassy staffers to evacuate them. A Pentagon official stated Sunday that an additional 1,000 troops were being sent to the airport, bringing the total to approximately 6,000. The official spoke on condition of anonymity in order to discuss a decision regarding a deployment not yet made public by the Pentagon.
The Pentagon plans to have enough aircraft to fly out as much as 5,000 civilians per day, including both Americans and Afghan translators.
Tens of thousands of Afghans, who worked with NATO and the U.S. forces, are now fleeing with their families. It was not clear how long Kabul’s security situation would permit evacuations to continue.
Heiko Maas, the German Foreign Minister, said that his government was surprised at the speed with which the U.S. pulled out of Afghanistan. He also stated that it was difficult to bear the sight of how fast the Taliban had taken control of Afghanistan and how little the government could do to stop them.
Mary Beth Lee King, an adoption agency based in North Carolina, sought to find a way for two Afghan boys, aged 11 and 2, to be adopted by American families.
“I am scared and heartbroken. King spoke of the children’s Afghan adoptive parents and said that he could only imagine their feelings.
She said that the U.S. would not admit the Afghan children to its country, but she wanted them to be taken somewhere so that “we know they are safe and alive”
Lerman, an Air Force veteran, stayed up late Saturday night to complete an application for a U.S. visa program that was meant to rescue Afghans who have worked with Americans.
Lerman hit “send” to receive a message stating that the State Department email account for the rescue program was full. He also suggested sharing screenshots.
He said that the Afghan security contractor he was trying to escape was sitting scared inside his home, with the blinds drawn. Outside, there were Taliban fighters.
Late Sunday afternoon, the State Department stated that it believes it has fixed the problem.
Lerman stated, “Never in all my life have I ever been ashamed to be American before.” “And I am deeply.”
