Afghanistan: Reports of Taliban beating Afghans seeking to flee Kabul | Afghanistan

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Taliban promises of a “safe passage” to Kabul airport for Afghans trying to flee the country have been undermined by reports of women and children being beaten and flogged while trying to pass through checkpoints set up by militants.

With the Taliban in control of Afghanistan’s land borders, the Kabul airport is the only way out of the country. The US military has secured the airport itself, after chaotic scenes over the weekend, but the Taliban control the road to the airport and set up several checkpoints north of Kabul.

The US says the Taliban has committed to a “safe passage” for people who want to reach the airport. But reports from the Afghan capital point to violence at checkpoints on the airport road, including pictures of a woman and child with head injuries after they were reportedly beaten and flogged after trying to cross a checkpoint. Sources in Kabul told the Guardian that the Taliban are checking documents and forcing some people to move around at checkpoints, refusing to allow them access to the airport.

US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said that while large numbers of people were able to reach the airport, which is now under US military control, “there have been cases where we have received reports of people being turned away, pushed back, or even defeated…we We are discussing that in a channel with the Taliban to try to resolve those issues. We are concerned about whether that will continue to emerge in the coming days.”

Keeping the roads open to the airport, Sullivan said, is a matter of “hour by hour…it’s something we are clear about and are very focused on holding the Taliban accountable for following through on their commitment.”

US says ‘we don’t take their word for it’ on Taliban’s promise of airport safety – video

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said that if the Taliban fail to provide safe passage to the airport for civilians, “the consequences are the full weight and strength of the US military. We’ve made that clear. But for now… we don’t trust, we don’t take their word for it.” for that “.

The White House said 13 flights on Tuesday flew 1,100 US citizens, permanent residents and their families from Kabul airport, and their pace is expected to accelerate on Wednesday and into the week. A plane carrying British and Afghan evacuees landed at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire around 11pm on Tuesday. Admiral Sir Ben Key, Deputy Royal Navy, said the British armed forces were working to evacuate about 6,000 people via Kabul. Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Australia had moved 26 people on its first rescue flight, after Australian troops arrived to assist in the evacuation.

Although the Taliban presented themselves as the country’s new regime, Afghanistan’s first vice president, Amrullah Saleh, said he remained in Afghanistan and declared himself the “legitimate interim president” after President Ashraf Ghani fled the country when Taliban fighters captured the capital. Saleh said at a security meeting that Ghani chaired last week that he was proud of the armed forces and that the government would do everything in its power to strengthen the Taliban’s resistance. But then the country fell to the Taliban in days, rather than the months that US intelligence had predicted.

In a series of tweets on Tuesday, Saleh said it was “not pointless” to argue with Joe Biden after the president decided to withdraw US troops. Saleh called on Afghans to show that Afghanistan “is not Vietnam and the Taliban are not like the Viet Cong.”

Unlike the US and NATO, Salih said, “we have not lost our soul and see huge opportunities in the future. The useless caveats of joining the resistance have been completed,” he wrote online.

It is pointless to argue with POTUS over Afg now. Let him absorb it. We Afgs must prove that the Afgh is not Vietnam and the Taliban are not even remotely like the Viet Cong. Unlike the US/NATO, we have not lost heart and see huge business opportunities ahead. Useless caveats have been completed. join the resistance.

– Amrullah Saleh (@AmrullahSaleh2) August 17, 2021

Saleh, whose whereabouts were not known, said he “would under no circumstances acquiesce” to “Taliban terrorists”. He said he would “never betray” Ahmed Shah Massoud, the leader of the Northern Alliance who was assassinated by two al-Qaeda operatives prior to the 9/11 attacks on the United States. The Northern Alliance was one of the main groups that fought the former Taliban regime.

Pledges of support for Saleh were seen online from accounts allegedly belonging to government soldiers, along with leaflets saying that forces loyal to Massoud’s memory were converging in the northeastern province of Panjshir to form the “Resistance 2” movement.

Elsewhere, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he had no plans to recognize the Taliban as the government of Afghanistan, saying, “They have seized power and replaced a duly elected democratic government by force.”

Meanwhile, the US Air Force said it was investigating the deaths of civilians trying to cling to a plane leaving Kabul airport amid chaotic scenes. At least two people were filmed falling from a C-17 airborne on Monday, spokeswoman Anne Stefanik said, while there were videos and social media posts relating to other possible casualties.

And confirmed that a body was found in the wheel well of the plane after landing in Qatar. The examination will be thorough to ensure we have the facts regarding this tragic incident. Our hearts are with the families of the dead.”

Stefanik said the plane landed to deliver equipment to support the evacuation of American and Afghan civilians from Afghanistan. “Before the aircrew could unload the cargo, the plane was surrounded by hundreds of Afghan civilians who had breached the perimeter of the airport,” she said. “Faced with the rapidly deteriorating security situation around the aircraft, the C-17 crew decided to leave the airport as soon as possible.”

The White House acknowledged that the Taliban had amassed a large amount of US military equipment. Photos and videos showed the Taliban with firearms and vehicles used by the Pentagon or provided to the Afghan National Security Forces, as well as advanced UH-60 Black Hawk attack helicopters and other equipment at Kandahar airport.

“We don’t have a complete picture, of course, of where every article of defense has gone. But certainly, a fair amount of it has fallen into the hands of the Taliban,” Sullivan said.

“Obviously, we have no feeling that they will hand it over to us so easily.”

Sullivan said the loss of control over millions of dollars worth of enemy military supplies was an example of the “difficult choices the president faces…in the context of the end of a 20-year war.”

He noted that Black Hawks were supplied to Afghan government forces to help fight the Taliban insurgency. But government forces quickly surrendered to the Islamist militants, relinquishing control of their large armories and their helicopters.

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