Sunday, February 16, 2025

August 17, 2021

An On The Ground Report From SA Contractor Stuck In Kabul

A South African contractor staying in a camp at Kabul's airport has described the "apocalyptic scenes" he witnessed.

[imagesource: Jim Huylebroek]

The sheer panic and desperation of Afghanis trying to get out of the country as the Taliban took control were all too apparent yesterday.

In years to come, the video footage of people clinging to a US military plane as it left the runway at Kabul’s airport, with some reported to have fallen to their deaths, may come to represent America’s total failure in the region.

Following chaos at the airport, evacuation flights were cancelled, although they have since resumed.

The Sunday Times spoke with a South African contractor who wished to remain anonymous about the “apocalyptic scenes” he saw at the airport, with the sound of gunfire all too common:

“Everybody’s evacuating,” he said.

“The airport itself is crazy, with locals trying to flee the country, which makes it difficult for the rest of us to evacuate because all commercial flights have been cancelled. Aircraft cannot land or take off with people occupying the runway.”

The unnamed company the man works for had told its staff to gather in Kabul, as the Taliban gradually took control of various cities and moved towards the capital.

At the time of the interview, he was staying in a camp at the airport:

“There’s no real threat to expats’ lives currently,” said the contractor.

“The Taliban have said they won’t hurt any of the expats and they want the extraction of the expats to be peaceful.

Image: Maxar Technologies, via Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

“What makes it difficult is the local Afghan people trying to flee the country … they’ve run onto the runway, they’re trying to get out.”

That fear is most likely because they understand what will happen to many decent, law-abiding civilians under Taliban rule.

Anybody who is suspected of having worked with foreign relief agencies, or troops in the country, also has good reason to try and flee.

The South African contractor said that the US had clearly underestimated the speed with which the Taliban would take control, with US president Joe Biden saying some of the blame lies with the Afghan government and military for the quick collapse of the Western-backed regime in the country.

However you dress it up, it’s a monumental tactical and humanitarian failure from Biden, as well as his predecessors, with 20 years of warmongering leaving the region no better off than before.

[source:sundaytimes]