Hakim's charging treasure is calling the police, and to this day, he and his family have been waiting at Kabul airport for 7 days.
The Taliban's rapid takeover of Afghanistan shocked the world and caused panic among many Afghans. After the Taliban entered Kabul on August 15, large numbers of Afghans flocked to Kabul International Airport, the only exit to escape.
Last night, a Taliban spokesman said Afghan nationals would no longer be allowed to travel to the airport, meaning the only escape route was being closed.
Hakim was a Former British Interpreter, and despite obtaining British evacuation permits and documents, Hakim was unable to even enter the airport gates for more than a week. On social media, his conversations with a Reporter from the Beijing News were intermittent, and his child began to have diarrhea, vomiting, and running out of food and water.
No one expected that this major airport in Afghanistan, with its turbulent past, would now become the take-off and landing point for the destiny of the Afghan people. Like Hakim, numerous Afghans are still at the airport, waiting for opportunities and dawn.
Escape to the airport
Seven days ago, the Taliban showed up near Hakim's house, shouting "Where is Hakim?" ”
Hakim, who had worked as an interpreter for British troops stationed in Afghanistan, feared that he and his family would be captured by the Taliban. "If we don't leave Afghanistan, the Taliban will kill us." He told the Beijing News reporter.
Sensing the danger, he took his wife, six children and a small amount of luggage and hurried on foot to Kabul International Airport. But upon arrival, they found that it was already crowded with the same panicked people who wanted to leave.
Many of the people waiting at the airport gates did not have the documents needed to evacuate other countries.
"It was so crowded that I and my family couldn't even squeeze into the airport gate." Hakim said. He received evacuation and asylum permits from the British side on 11 July, but was unable to enter the airport despite holding supporting documents and passports.
Other people around who did not have valid documents were fighting for a small and slim chance to escape.
Many of those who flocked to the airport were those who had served the U.S. or its allies' troops in Afghanistan for fear of reprisals from the Taliban. Others fear that with the Taliban in power, Afghanistan will return to the harsh Sharia rule it did 20 years ago.
On August 24, 2021, local time, in Kabul, Afghanistan, people gathered near the airport. Figure/IC photo
On the day the Taliban first entered the city, hundreds of people poured into Kabul airport, many of whom managed to board the planes that had evacuated Kabul.
That night, a U.S. Air Force C-17 transport plane sent a total of 823 people who wanted to flee out of Kabul. The number of people carried by this transport aircraft far exceeded its original capacity, and it also set a record for the number of people carried by this type of aircraft.
News of the successful flight from the military plane spread among panicked crowds, inspiring more Afghans without any documentation to flee to the airport in an attempt to seize the fleeting opportunity to flee.
So the next day, thousands of people poured into the airport, and the parking pads and runways were crowded with people who wanted to take the plane. This allowed the military evacuation planes that arrived over the airport to hover in the air for a long time, unable to land.
On this day, as a U.S. military plane taxied on the runway, hundreds of people followed the plane, some trying to climb into the landing gear or stand close to the sides of the fuselage. But after the plane took to the skies, a video clip showed at least two people falling from the plane.
One of the people who fell from the plane, Zaki Anwari, was only 19 years old (also known as 17 years old) and was a member of the Afghan national youth football team.
Zaki Anwari, from a low-income family in Kabul, played very hard while going to school and fulfilled his dream of joining the national team, Aref Peyman, the media chief of the Afghan Sports Federation, said in an interview with The New York Times.
However, Anvary represented the national team at Kabul International Airport, which he had to pass through, and finally became the end of his life.
On the same day, there was also a serious stampede in the panicked crowd at the airport. At the time, U.S. and other countries' troops were at the scene to maintain their own evacuation operations, firing guns to stop the influx of people, triggering a large-scale stampede and causing casualties.
Afghan Dawn TELEVISION reported that at least 10 people died in the chaos at Kabul International Airport from the evening of the 15th to the 16th alone. At present, at least 20 people have died at Kabul airport.
After the chaos, all commercial flights from Kabul were cancelled, and Kabul International Airport appealed to the public not to come.
The next day, thousands of people inside the airport who wanted to flee were dispersed outside the airport. The opportunity for many people to flee Afghanistan is so fleeting that it can no longer be seized.
Waiting outside the wall
"I'm feeling my blood pressure rise now, and I have a severe headache, so let me rest for two hours before I tell you." Hakim told the Beijing News reporter.
It was The last thing Hakim and reporters said when they spoke on social media for the first time.
On the day of the conversation, he had been wandering near the airport entrance gate from 3 a.m. to 4 p.m., hoping to show his papers to the Western troops stationed inside and enter the airport. But he failed.
During the second conversation, Hakim said he had been waiting outside the airport with his family for a full week.
US media pointed out that there are still more than 20,000 people waiting outside the airport, hoping to be evacuated.
The scorching heat of the open air outside the airport and the lack of supplies have exhausted him and his family. "We didn't have much to eat, just a little water. Several of my children were already having diarrhea and vomiting, and they were in a terrible condition, and I bought them some medicines with what little money I had. Hakim said.
CNBC reported that on the 21st, the temperature rose to 34 ° C, the hot weather caused many people waiting outside the airport to have symptoms of discomfort, and the military inside the airport used hoses to spray water to the gathered crowd to help them cool down.
Like everyone else outside the airport, Hakim and his family can only sit on the road and rest, sleeping about 4 hours a night. He tried to send messages for help to some Afghan NGOs on social software, but received no response.
People who wanted to evacuate waited outside Kabul airport on August 24. /Courtesy of the interviewee
Before leaving home, Hakim had brought a power bank with him, but now that the battery was running out, he feared that he would lose contact with the outside world and the British side that could help him evacuate.
There are also afghans outside the airport, like Hakim, who have evacuation documents but are still unable to enter the airport.
Sarah, who was granted a U.S. visa to evacuate Afghanistan, also waited outside the airport with her family for days. She said in an interview with The Guardian, "We are trapped in hell. ”
Previously, she had been told by the U.S. consul to go to the airport on August 18, but when she and her family arrived, they found thousands of people blocking the entrance and all the entrance gates closed.
"I witnessed my uncle being beaten by Taliban personnel, with constant panicked gunshots, crowds of people crowded and people trampled to death by panicked crowds. We ran out of food and water, and my mental state completely collapsed. Sarah said.
Barriers to the airport gates
One of the big challenges faced by those waiting outside airports is that airport passages are often opened and closed without warning.
On the day of the 24th, Hakim desperately told the Beijing News reporter, "There are too many people at the scene, the airport gate is closed again, I don't know what to do next." ”
Sarah said in an interview with The Guardian that no one had provided them with any information, "We don't even know when the U.S. flight we're going to take is going to take off, and the Americans aren't helping us." ”
The U.S. Embassy issued a warning on the 20th that due to the large number of people and the existence of safety problems, "the boarding gate may be opened or closed without notice." ”
On the same day, as the destination of the evacuation flight, Qatar, was full of passengers, no evacuation flights left Kabul International Airport for at least 7 hours. Evacuation flights were not resumed until later in the day.
At the same time, Taliban personnel stationed outside the airport have also created obstacles for Afghans to enter the airport.
According to US media reports, armed Taliban personnel set up checkpoints outside the airport and demanded that everyone trying to enter show their documents. From time to time, they fire warnings and inflict violence to disperse crowds of people trying to enter the airport.
On August 24, 2021, local time, in Kabul, Afghanistan, Taliban armed men guarded near the airport. Figure/IC photo
The U.S. Pentagon said on the 18th that the Taliban allowed U.S. citizens to enter the airport, but Afghans faced difficulties in entering the airport.
Mark Milley, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the U.S. military can pass through two airport entrance gates every hour, allowing about 500 people with U.S. passports to enter the airport.
U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman also expressed dissatisfaction with the Taliban's obstruction of Afghans' access to the airport that day.
"We have seen reports that the Taliban have reneged on previous public statements and commitments to the U.S. government by preventing Afghans who wish to leave from entering the airport." Sherman said.
In addition, there is a risk of sudden attacks outside the airport.
On the 21st, the U.S. Embassy in Kabul issued a warning urging U.S. citizens to avoid going to the airport unless they received special instructions from the U.S. government.
The Associated Press reported that U.S. government officials are concerned that the Islamic State (IS) will launch an attack on the withdrawal of countries.
On the 23rd, Western troops guarding the interior of Kabul International Airport exchanged fire with "unknown attackers", resulting in the death of a former Afghan government security force personnel and the injury of three others.
Germany's top military commander Eberhard Zorn said on the 24th that Germany and the United States are worried that IS suicide bombers may sneak into the crowd outside the airport.
The escape window that is closing
On the 24th, the Taliban announced at a press conference a news that made many Afghans waiting outside the airport desperate.
Taliban spokesman Zabiula Mujahid said Afghan nationals would no longer be allowed to travel to Kabul International Airport due to the chaotic situation at the airport. "The road in front of the airport has been blocked for foreigners to pass, but Afghans are not allowed to pass."
The Wall Street Journal reported that on the evening of the 24th, the Taliban had blocked the road to the airport and fired guns into the air to disperse the crowd. Taliban checkpoint personnel said that only vehicles organized by foreign embassies were allowed to pass, and individuals could not pass even if they had valid evacuation and travel documents.
Mujahid said crowds at the airport should go home and their safety would be guaranteed, while the United States has been inviting people to the airport to board a plane to leave Afghanistan. He asked the United States not to continue to encourage Afghans to leave, saying they need them to use their talents in Afghanistan.
He also said the deadline for the United States and its allies to withdraw from Afghanistan by Aug. 31 would not be extended, and he believed there would be enough time for foreign nationals to complete the evacuation before the deadline.
This means that the withdrawal of allies such as the United States and the United Kingdom has less than a week left.
In less than a week, the total evacuation of the countries' own nationals, as well as the Afghans at risk who had served them, was a seemingly impossible task.
On August 18, 2021 local time, Spanish citizens boarded and evacuated Afghanistan in Kabul, Afghanistan. Figure/IC photo
British Defence Secretary Wallace has previously said that no country has enough time to complete the full withdrawal by August 31.
The United States had previously considered extending the deadline for a full withdrawal from Afghanistan, but on the 23rd, Taliban spokesman Shaheen said strongly: "This is a red line." ”
He believes that the U.S. government has declared that it will withdraw all troops by August 31. So if they extend the time, it means that they are prolonging the occupation [of Afghanistan], which is not necessary.
On the 24th, after the Taliban spokesman refused to extend the deadline for the withdrawal of the United States and its allies at a press conference, a US government official said that President Biden decided to abide by the august 31 deadline.
The Associated Press reported that the decision reflected growing fears of an attack on Kabul International Airport.
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said there was enough time for all Americans to evacuate by Aug. 31. But he did not specify whether the evacuation of all Afghans who had served the United States in danger could be guaranteed.
At press time, Hakim was still anxiously waiting outside the airport. Pictures of the scene showed people huddled together outside the airport unable to move.
The escape exit is about to close, what awaits them? No one knows, including themselves.
Beijing News trainee reporter Xiang Chenyu
Edited by Zhang Lei, Proofread by Liu Baoqing