Chaos at Kabul airport as thousands of refugees try to flee
Thousands of Afghans are desperately trying to leave the country.
Afghanistan has fallen back into the hands of the Taliban. After 20 years of U.S. presence, no democracy has been established, nor has women's rights been guaranteed. The Afghan army has been unable to stop the Taliban's advance and chaos has moved to the airport in the capital of Kabul, where thousands of Afghans are desperately trying to leave the country.
The Taliban entered Kabul on Sunday after a lightning offensive that saw them take control of 90% of the country in just two weeks. The offensive in the capital was carried out without much bloodshed, as the Taliban want to guarantee the departure of foreign troops before reintroducing their reign of terror.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani also left the country in secret on Aug. 15, leaving the government in the hands of the extremists.
The international community evacuated its diplomatic delegations and are working to also remove Afghans who have collaborated with its armies and other cooperative institutions from the country. However, many translators complain that after having worked for the foreign forces, no one is offering help.
The situation of women is especially worrying. Since the arrival of the United States, many have been able to study and are now medical or educational professionals. With the return of the Taliban, they are forced to lock themselves at home again, always wear the burqa and not be able to go out without the company of a man, among many other limitations. For this reason, different initiatives have been launched to call for the opening of the borders to women who need to leave Afghanistan to protect their lives.
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Thousands of citizens have crowded onto the Kabul airport runway since last night.
According to Reuters, five people have died in the various attempts to get on planes that were taking off. The United States, United Kingdom, Germany and Spain, among others, have requested that airports in Afghanistan be kept open to evacuate civilians who wish to do so.
Airport security is not currently in the hands of the Afghan security forces or Taliban fighters. The United Nations Security Council is meeting today in a special session to address the situation in Afghanistan. All commercial flights have been suspended.
The Russian ambassador in Kabul has announced that he will meet tomorrow with the Taliban to decide whether or not Russia recognizes their authority. He will do so based on his "actions," he has announced. Meanwhile, Iran, Pakistan and Turkey are preparing for the massive influx of refugees.
More than 30,000 people have been entered neighboring countries every day for weeks, fleeing the Taliban advance.
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