On Monday, the Taliban regained control of Kabul (Afghanistan’s capital) after 20 years of war, and the images and videos that have come out of the ensuing humanitarian crisis are heart-breaking.
The Taliban are religious fundamentalists who controlled Afghanistan between 1996 and 2001, ruling with an iron fist and imposing an ultra-strict interpretation of Islam where they banned women from from schooling or work, forced them to wear burqa’s, publicly executed adulterers and mutilated thieves.
Media like television and music was also banned, and while the Taliban is claiming their new rule will be less strict, it’s no surprise that civilians are making every attempt to flee the country.
ABC News reported footage of hundreds of abandoned cars clogging the streets of Kabul as their owners made last-ditch attempts to escape.
ESCAPE FROM KABUL: Abandoned cars line the streets and traffic comes to a standstill in Kabul as thousands rush to flee as the Taliban seizes Afghan capital.
The latest: https://t.co/aODiQJNsR6 pic.twitter.com/JXsBMvCPtp
— ABC News (@ABC) August 16, 2021
Social media has been flooded with images and videos of Afghans desperately attempting to flee by chasing planes on the tarmac, clinging to the sides and attempting to climb their way onto the crafts.
Video: People run on tarmac of Kabul international airport as a US military aircraft attempts to take off. pic.twitter.com/9qA36HS0WQ
— TOLOnews (@TOLOnews) August 16, 2021
One flight crew made the heroic decision to save 640 Afghans from the new regime, cramming them all onto a single fight in a strikingly emotional image. This is history in action.
JUST IN: “The Crew made the decision to go” — Inside RCH 871, which saved 640 from the Taliban … from @TaraCopp and me https://t.co/r4YvGqJZ4b pic.twitter.com/CI1mAmqjHT
— Marcus Weisgerber (@MarcusReports) August 16, 2021
Other images and videos are more distressing, with the desperation of terrified Afghans palpable. In the Image below, a young girl can be seen being dragged over a wall in an attempt to flee to the airport.
VIDEO: Thousands flock to Kabul airport, trying to flee the Taliban as the group’s feared hardline brand of Islamist rule patrols Kabul after a stunningly swift end to Afghanistan’s 20-year war pic.twitter.com/M9TpTo1fKb
— AFP News Agency (@AFP) August 17, 2021
Another day begins in Kabul, a sea of people rushing into the Kabul airport terminal. #AFG pic.twitter.com/UekpGJ2MWd
— Jawad Sukhanyar (@JawadSukhanyar) August 16, 2021
“Every 15 minutes, a US plane flies and a second lands,” The New York Times reported one witness as saying.
“There is chaos while people are entering the plane.”
The scene outside the Kabul airport gate this morning, where people were arriving by the thousands and things were rapidly spiraling out of control, as false rumors spread of flights out for anybody without visas. Several killed inside and outside already. pic.twitter.com/Rzdi2D9BTe
— Matthieu Aikins (@mattaikins) August 16, 2021
Another Saigon moment: chaotic scenes at Kabul International Airport. No security. None. pic.twitter.com/6BuXqBTHWk
— Saad Mohseni (@saadmohseni) August 15, 2021
Video of #Afghan‘s rushing to Hamid Karzai Int’l Airport in #Kabul in attempts to flee. Gunfire can be heard clearly in the background. pic.twitter.com/g3CZ4P8TCb
— doge (@IntelDoge) August 15, 2021
Last struggle to get onboard…#KabulAirlift pic.twitter.com/58nydCpHS3
— Sultan Faizy سلطان فیضی (@SultanFaizy) August 16, 2021
The images and videos coming out of Kabul are devastating and it’s easy to feel helpless. If you want to read about ways you can help Afghans during this unfolding humanitarian crisis, you can check out our non-exhaustive list here.
