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(KABUL, Afghanistan) — Chaos has enveloped Kabul after Afghanistan’s president fled the country over the weekend and the Taliban seized control of the presidential palace, all but ending America’s 20-year campaign as it began: under Taliban rule.

As the crisis intensifies, with images from Kabul showing Afghans storming the airport tarmac and climbing onto military planes after the U.S. assumed control of the airport, President Joe Biden briefly left Camp David to address the nation from the White House on Monday.

The Pentagon said that 6,000 U.S. troops were being sent to the country’s capital as the military races to evacuate people from an increasingly chaotic Kabul. Despite criticism, the Biden administration is sticking by its decision to withdraw troops from the country by Aug. 31, ending America’s longest war.

Here are some key developments. All times Eastern:

Aug 18, 6:23 am
Taliban delegation meets with former Afghan president in Doha

A high-level Taliban delegation has met with Afghanistan’s former president, Hamid Karzai, and the head of the High Council for National Reconciliation, Abdullah Abdullah, in Qatar’s capital and assured them of security, a Taliban source told ABC News on Wednesday.

The Taliban has said there is a general amnesty for all in Afghanistan, including former government officials, and that no one should flee the country.

Aug 18, 5:51 am
UK to take in 20,000 Afghan refugees over 5 years

The United Kingdom announced Tuesday a plan to welcome 20,000 Afghan refugees over five years.

The resettlement program will prioritize women, children and religious minorities.

“We have an enduring commitment to the Afghan people, and we will honour it,” British Prime Minister Boris Johnson wrote on Twitter. “A new resettlement scheme will create a safe and legal route for those in most need to come and live safely in the UK.”

While addressing members of parliament on Wednesday morning, Johnson said his government has so far secured the safe return of 306 U.K. nationals and 2,052 Afghan citizens as part of the resettlement program, with a further 2,000 applications for Afghan nationals completed “and many more being processed.” An additional 800 British troops will be deployed to Afghanistan’s main international airport in Kabul to “support this evacuation operation,” according to Johnson.

“We are proud to bring these brave Afghans to our shores — and we continue to appeal for more to come forwards,” he said.

Aug 17, 11:55 pm
US Embassy destroyed some Afghans’ passports during evacuation

Last week when the U.S. Embassy in Kabul ordered staff to destroy sensitive material, including documents, passports were destroyed as well.

During the evacuation, embassy personnel destroyed the passports of Afghans that had been submitted for visa processing, according to a Democratic lawmaker’s office.

Rep. Andy Kim, D-NJ, has been compiling requests for assistance for Afghans on the ground, with his office funneling pleas for help through an email address. In the email’s response note, obtained by ABC News, it says, “Passports that were in the Embassy’s possession have been destroyed. Currently, it is not possible to provide further visa services in Afghanistan.”

A State Department spokesperson acknowledged that was true, but called it “standard operating procedure” during an evacuation and said it “will not prevent people who are otherwise eligible for evacuation from traveling.

Aug 17, 9:38 pm
House Armed Services Committee Republicans request Biden’s plan for Afghanistan

Republicans on the House Armed Services Committee sent a letter to Biden requesting information about his “plan” for Afghanistan.

“For months, we have been asking you for a plan on your withdrawal from Afghanistan. You failed to provide us with one and based on the horrific events currently unfolding in Afghanistan, we are confident that we never received your plan because you never had one,” the letter says.

“The security and humanitarian crisis now unfolding in Afghanistan could have been avoided if you had done any planning. Pretending this isn’t your problem will only make things worse. We remain gravely concerned the void left in Afghanistan will be rapidly filled by terror groups. The Taliban now control the country. Al Qaeda used Afghanistan to plot and execute the 9/11 attacks and other acts of terrorism,” the letter continues. “You cannot let this happen again.”

Notably, Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo. — a member of the committee — has also signed the letter.

Cheney appeared on ABC’s “This Week” Sunday and said that Biden “absolutely” bears responsibility for the Taliban’s rapid takeover of Afghanistan, as does former President Donald Trump and his administration.

“What we’re watching right now in Afghanistan is what happens when America withdraws from the world,” Cheney told ABC “This Week” co-anchor Jonathan Karl. “So everybody who has been saying, ‘America needs to withdraw, America needs to retreat,’ we are getting a devastating, catastrophic real-time lesson in what that means.”

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — Marine Corps Maj. Thomas Schueman’s quiet street in Rhode Island is a world away from Afghanistan, but he remains steadfast in his mission.

As Taliban forces took over Afghanistan’s capital of Kabul Sunday, Schueman was desperately trying to find a way out of the country for his friend and former interpreter Zak, one of the many still trapped as the government collapsed around them.

“He wasn’t just a translator, he was my brother, basically one of my Marines,” Schueman told “Nightline.” “I have a lifelong commitment to the people I serve and lead.”

He hopes to get Zak, who will only be identified as such in this report to protect his identity, and his young family to the airport and to safety. Schueman made call after call as the hours turned to days.

Within a few short weeks of American troops leaving the country, Afghanistan has fallen to the Taliban, an Islamic military insurgent group, in a stunning failure. This comes after 20 years of Americans fighting there and $2 trillion spent.

Nearly 2,400 Americans, 66,000 Afghan military fighters and over 47,000 Afghan civilians were killed in the decadeslong war.

Many wonder if the sacrifices of those who served had all been in vain. Afghans who remain in the country stand to pay the highest price as the situation there grows more urgent by the minute.

Six thousand American troops have now been ordered to head directly to Kabul to assist in the evacuation of U.S. personnel and Afghans who assisted the U.S. mission. Images of Chinook helicopters evacuating U.S. personnel from the country were eerily reminiscent of the fall of Saigon in 1975.

President Joe Biden announced in April that he would make good on the Trump administration’s negotiated treaty with the Taliban to withdraw all troops from Afghanistan. Just five weeks ago, he was adamant that what we have seen over the past few days would not happen.

Monday, amid growing criticism, Biden admitted the Taliban retook the country more quickly than anticipated, but stood behind his decision to leave Afghanistan.

“If anything, the developments of the past week reinforced that ending U.S. military involvement in Afghanistan now was the right decision,” he said. “American troops cannot and should not be fighting in a war and dying in a war that Afghan forces are not willing to fight for themselves.”

Afghanistan fell less than one month before the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, after which the U.S. invaded their country. Dubbed Operation Enduring Freedom, it led to nearly two decades of fighting, involving roughly 800,000 U.S. troops.

Schueman was one of them. No stranger to the sacrifices of war, he earned a Purple Heart while serving. And like too many soldiers, he lost dear friends.

In 2010, he met a young interpreter named Zak. Schueman said Zak saved his life many times.

Schueman has spent the last five years trying to help Zak get a visa to the U.S.

“I think it’s a very simple transaction. You serve with U.S. forces and we will provide you a visa,” Schueman said. “He served with U.S. forces, we did not provide the visa. I think that’s a betrayal.”

As the Taliban took province by province, Zak spent days in Kabul working to get documents in order for him, his wife and four children, all under the age of five — while Schueman worked from the U.S. to devise an exit strategy.

“What the Taliban does to people who work with the U.S., they execute them,” Schueman said. “So this is not a ‘what if’ kind of scenario, this is what will happen if we cannot get Zak to the airport and on a flight.”

It’s become a nightmare reality for Afghan refugees — one call, one day, one moment could mean the difference between life and death.

After hours of back and forth, Schueman got the call Sunday night that Zak and his family were finally beginning the hour, 20-minute walk toward the airport.

But that glimmer of hope was dashed when hours later Zak left this voice message: “We just are returning back to our apartment because there was gunshot fire everywhere,” … “That’s why we returned back to our house.”

“We’ve exhausted every course of action I can think of — it’s about midnight, we’ll stay with them throughout the night here and pray for them,” Schueman said in a video diary late Sunday night.

Despite the setback, Schueman is still focused on finding a way out for Zak and his family.

The U.S. has now approved transport for 30,000 at-risk individuals, including interpreters and their families, out of Kabul — but the logistics remain daunting.

As of Tuesday, the Taliban was guarding the only way into the airport, only letting foreigners pass. The group declared they’re in full control, setting up checkpoints throughout the city to separate locals from foreigners.

Zak and his family remain in Kabul but they continue to be hopeful that he will get on an airplane.

“Until I know Zak has his ass on a seat in an airplane, I have to continue to believe that that is going to be what happens,” Schueman said.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(KABUL, Afghanistan) — A U.S. official has confirmed that human remains were found inside the wheel well of a C-17 military plane that had been swarmed by hundreds of people on the tarmac as it took off at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul.

The discovery was made upon landing at al Udeid Air Base in Qatar on Monday.

A dramatic video taken earlier Monday showed some people clinging to the plane as it taxied down the runway in Kabul.

A defense official said the individuals swarming the plane had breached the runway from the civilian side of the airport. At the airport in Kabul, there is a side for military operations and another side for commercial flights.

Air operations were suspended for hours at the airport Monday because of the crush of Afghan civilians desperate to leave Kabul. Operations resumed after the U.S. military, Turkish forces and other troops forcibility removed 15,000 Afghan civilians who had breached the runway, a U.S. official said.

The C-17 had landed on a runway at the airport earlier in the day with a load of cargo, according to the official. After landing, the pilots were surprised when the crew attempted to unload its cargo and it was rushed by hundreds of Afghan civilians. At that point, the aircrew decided it was not safe to unload and began taxiing to fly away to safety

U.S. Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said Tuesday the U.S. will soon have the capacity to evacuate 5,000 to 9,000 individuals a day now on a mix between commercial and military aircraft — but a lot of that depends on if the Taliban will allow those commercial planes to fly.

The White House said Tuesday that both sides of the airport are open and operational with flights able to land and depart. There were 3,500 U.S. troops on the ground to help control airport operations as of Tuesday morning.

On Monday, more than 700 people were evacuated by the U.S. military, including 165 American citizens, the Pentagon said.

Kirby, at a briefing with reporters Monday, was matter of fact, saying the crush of civilians at the airport came about because “there were a lot of Afghans that wanted to get out of the country.”
 

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(KYOTO, Japan) — Moe, 30, is a former geisha turned mom and YouTuber. She’s well aware of how drastic her career change may look as no two professions appear to be more different.

In Japan, geishas are enigmas with utterly private lives. They study traditional Japanese performing arts and use that knowledge to entertain guests through their own performances at parties. Gaining entry into one of those parties is a guarded secret and unlikely for the common passerby.

On the other hand, YouTubers are, for the most part, open books with much of their lives laid bare for all to see. They vlog about their daily lives, share intimate details and show off their home spaces.

But for Moe, known as “Kimono Mom” on YouTube, both of her chosen professions are rooted in the same thing: a love of culture and a desire to preserve it.

The path to becoming a geisha

It all started when Moe was 15 years old and living in Kyoto.

“When I was in my first year of high school, we had homework to find 10 different unique jobs,” she told “Good Morning America.” “My grandfather was teaching calligraphy at Gion, where maiko and geiko were living. … At that time, I realized that I lived in Kyoto but didn’t know much about maiko and geiko, and I didn’t even know how Japanese traditions were preserved, so I interviewed them.”

Moe, whose last name is being withheld for privacy reasons, said she was impressed by how hard maikos (apprentice geishas) and geikos (another word for geisha) worked to preserve Japanese culture.

“I wanted to be like that,” she said.

Moe left school at age 15 and moved into an okiya, or geisha house, where she began an apprenticeship. Her days were full, she said, with classes from 9 a.m. to 2 or 3 p.m., and then work from 5 p.m. until as late as 1 a.m.

“When you go to a geisha party, there are guests waiting,” Moe said. “I’d bring food, drinks and show them Japanese dance.”

Moe completed her apprenticeship and became a full geisha at age 20, and said that while the work was demanding, she loved it.

“I liked to be on stage,” she said of her favorite part of being a geisha. “I’ve always liked to stand out since when I was little.”

Marriage brought change and culture shock.

Traditionally, geishas aren’t allowed to marry. If they want to do so, they have to retire from the profession. So when Moe married her first husband at the age of 21, she was forced to quit.

“A geisha has to quit when she gets married,” she said. “So [when] I got married, I retired and went to Tokyo to have a married life.”

Life in urban Tokyo was completely at odds with her previous life, and Moe said she was “shocked by the cultural difference.”

“Since I was 15 years old, I lived in the okiya,” she said. “I couldn’t carry my cellphone, I couldn’t watch TV — I lived in that world.”

As a housewife with a husband who didn’t want her to go out, Moe said she felt “like a bird in a cage.” Now knowing what the world outside of the okiya was like, she didn’t want to give up her freedom and pushed for a divorce.

“After I knew my freedom, I met many various people and I couldn’t live without my real personality,” she said.

Moe started working and later remarried. However, after she became pregnant and gave birth to her daughter, Sutan, she again had to leave her job.

“I always thought that I didn’t want to go back to living as a housewife,” she said. “But I didn’t know that being a mom was so busy.”

In early 2020, a YouTuber named Paolo contacted Moe to ask if she’d be willing to be filmed for his “Japan Day in the Life” series. Her video focused on a day in the life of a Japanese mom and, with 15 million views at the time of writing, is his most popular in the series.

“At the time I was featured in Paolo’s video, I had never seen YouTube,” Moe said, adding that Paolo was the first YouTuber she’d ever met. “I intuitively thought, ‘Maybe I can do it too.'”

For her channel, Moe thought to feature what was familiar.

“When I thought about what I could do now, I had an idea that I’d try to combine kimono and cooking,” she said. “I make recipes because I want people from overseas to see them. … I use ingredients that are easily available overseas.”

Armed with just an iPhone and laptop, “Kimono Mom” was born.

The videos have a universal appeal.

In her first video on Feb. 21, 2020, Moe is in a kimono as she demonstrates how to make a deep-fried lotus root sandwich. Throughout the video, she has to stop what she’s doing multiple times because of Sutan crying or wanting to be held — an experience that parents everywhere know all too well.

While some may edit out those clips or reshoot, Moe doesn’t shy away from them, leaving them in the final product. It’s this level of authenticity that Moe believes is the reason her channel has garnered such an international following.

“The image of mothers is international,” Moe said. “It doesn’t change so much in Japan, the United States or Brazil. There are mothers all over the world so even if the person watching isn’t a mother … a mother’s presence is close to people’s hearts.”

Initially, Moe didn’t want her daughter to appear in the videos for privacy reasons, but said the nature of being a mom to a young child made it “inevitable.”

“My daughter hasn’t left me alone since she started talking,” Moe said. “It feels like she’s always next to me.”

With her videos, Moe hopes to provide a lens into Japanese culture, food and motherhood. In addition to cooking, Moe also vlogs about other aspects of her life, such as her family’s daily activities, how they spend their holidays and her daughter’s “terrible twos”.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Just 10 days ago, Ahmad and his family were living at home in Kabul, Afghanistan. Now, they’re starting a new life in the U.S.

“It’s quite different and I like it. It is something that I have never imagined before,” Ahmad told ABC News. In this report, he will only be referred to by his first name to protect his family.

“The peace. The calm… You’re free, you can go anywhere, you can do anything, you enjoy your life. And the most important thing [is] that we have a better future for children.”

Within a few short weeks of American troops’ departure, Ahmad’s home country of Afghanistan fell quickly to the Taliban, an Islamic military insurgent group. This catastrophic outcome came after 20 years of American forces fighting there and almost a trillion dollars spent. Nearly 2,400 Americans, 66,000 Afghan military fighters and over 47,000 Afghan civilians were killed in the decadeslong war.

“I just missed… what’s happening in Afghanistan. This week, I came here, and then next Friday. It was under the Taliban control,” he said. “I am very lucky, and I’m happy for that.”

Ahmad said it took him a year and a half to get out of the country, and now it’s “impossible” for the thousands of other Afghans trying to escape.

For years, Ahmad worked in logistics, supplying equipment for the U.S. and Afghan forces in Kabul. But his association with the West made him a target for the Taliban, despite its assurances that those who worked with the U.S. would not be harmed.

“We don’t believe them because … they recently killed some interpreters and journalists in our province, and put them in a massive mass grave,” Ahmad said. “They will do it again. They did it before and they are going to do it again.”

His special immigrant visa, or SIV, was finally approved this month, allowing him, his wife and their two daughters to get out.

“The situation in Afghanistan … for me, for my family, for my children, there was no future,” he said. “So that’s why I decided to move.”

Still, most of their family is trapped back home and at risk. ABC News agreed not to reveal the family’s full name or where they are to avoid retribution against their relatives.

“God save them. And they should save themselves, they should hide themselves,” Ahmad said. “If [they] go out they will be caught on the, on the road, and [the Taliban will] put them in prison … We can’t say anything. I just told my friend … Please change your locations, do not be in one place … don’t be caught by the Taliban. Whatever you can do. Just don’t be in your address, don’t be in your home, or don’t be in places that the people may find you. This is the only thing that I can tell my friends and coworkers in Afghanistan.”

Ahmad worries about the Taliban’s restrictions that will affect women in the country, including rules about not wearing nail polish and not being allowed in public without a male guardian.

“They are not allowed to go to the university or to school. So that means that, as is the same rule that they had in 1996 … a woman is not allowed to go to the university or not to work,” he said. “So, basically, you have paralyzed, half of the community of the country, half of the population of the country, paralyzed.”

However, he believes women will “definitely” fight back for their freedoms.

“The women of Afghanistan today is not the women of Afghanistan before — they are more educated,” he said. “They have seen the world, they know everything, and nobody will sit back and say okay, do whatever. Everybody will try to fight back, for their rights.”

Without the support and protection of the U.S. military, the success of women in the country seems hopeless.

Ahmad didn’t expect the war to end like this.

“We were expecting a peace in Afghanistan… a country that all the people should have their own rights, their own freedom, but right now, we went back. Twenty years back, the same spot that we were then,” he said. “It doesn’t make me angry, but it makes me sad. As we know that America came for a purpose, they achieved their purpose. We cannot force them to stay in Afghanistan, and fight for, on, on our behalf.”

For Americans who served in the war, and for a generation of Afghans who saw the promise of progress, many are wondering if their sacrifices were in vain. Those left behind in the country may pay the highest cost as the situation grows direr by the minute.

Scenes from Kabul show thousands racing to flee at the airport, with adults and children hanging off aircraft as they attempt to take off. Six thousand American troops have now been ordered to head directly to Kabul to assist in the evacuation of U.S. personnel and Afghans who assisted the U.S. mission, a U.S. official told ABC News.

Ahmad decided to work for the U.S. in 2016.

“It was a good financial support for my family to live,” he said. “We thought that it is going to help our country with working with the U.S. government, and somehow we are helping our country to run the aircrafts, against the invaders.”

He didn’t know his work would make him a target of the Taliban.

“[In] the beginning, my neighbors, my relations, my close relatives … they were trying to convince me that I shouldn’t work with U.S. government,” he said. Then, he said, he and his family were menaced with calls and knocks on their doors.

Ahmad says he believes Afghanistan’s rapid fall was a cause of its weak government.

“They didn’t build [the government], then build their strength. They’re all depending on the U.S. government support for U.S. military [for] 20 years, they [were] just relying on other forces. British or Australian forces. They didn’t want to build their own ability or capability to control.”

He said he blames “ourselves” for his country’s downfall.

“Why we didn’t [we] change, and 20 years. We had everything, all the facilities, all the support, all the money, why we didn’t change? Why we didn’t change ourselves, why we didn’t change for [the] better?” he said. “I blame ourselves, our leaders for that.”

He can’t foresee when he will return to his home country but says if the regime changes and if “There’s a peace, I will go back.”

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(KABUL, Afghanistan) — Chaos has enveloped Kabul after Afghanistan’s president fled the country over the weekend and the Taliban seized control of the presidential palace there, all but ending America’s 20-year campaign as it began: under Taliban rule.

As the crisis intensifies, with images from Kabul showing Afghans storming the airport tarmac and climbing onto military planes after the U.S. assumed control of the airport, President Joe Biden cut his time at Camp David short and headed back to the White House to address the nation Monday afternoon.

The Pentagon said that 6,000 U.S. troops would soon be in the country’s capital as the military races to evacuate diplomats and civilians from an increasingly chaotic Kabul. Despite criticism, the Biden administration is sticking by its decision to withdraw troops from the country by Aug. 31, ending America’s longest war.

Here are some key developments. All times Eastern:

Aug 17, 6:39 am
US ambassador to Afghanistan says he has not fled

Ross Wilson, acting U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, said he is still in Kabul despite media reports that he had fled as the country descended into chaos.

Wilson took to Twitter on Tuesday morning to address the “false reports,” saying he remains in Afghanistan’s capital “working hard to help [thousands] of U.S. citizens and vulnerable Afghans.”

“Our commitment to the Afghan people endures,” Wilson tweeted.

Aug 17, 6:23 am
Taliban declares ‘amnesty,’ urges women to join government

The Taliban on Tuesday declared an “amnesty” for all in Afghanistan and encouraged women to join their government.

“The Islamic Emirate doesn’t want women to be victims,” Enamullah Samangani, a member of the Taliban’s cultural commission, said on Afghan state television, using the group’s phrase “Islamic Emirate” to refer to the country of Afghanistan. “They should be in the government structure according to Shariah law.”

“The structure of government is not fully clear,” he added, “but based on experience, there should be a fully Islamic leadership, and all sides should join.”

There are fears that the militants will seek revenge on those who worked for the toppled Afghan government or foreign nations, such as the United States. There are also concerns for the future of girls and women under the Taliban’s government, which stripped them of nearly all their rights when it previously ruled Afghanistan.

Aug 17, 5:41 am
Former Afghan interpreters for US speak out: ‘It’s a nightmare’

Some former Afghan interpreters for the U.S. government are speaking out while they watch in fear from afar as the Taliban seizes control of their country.

Ismail Khan, a former interpreter for American troops in Afghanistan who worked with the U.S. Army as a translator from 2006 to 2012, described the situation as chaotic and dire.

“It’s a nightmare,” Khan told San Francisco ABC station KGO in an interview on Monday. “We never thought it would come to this.”

Khan, who is now the special immigrant visa ambassador for Seattle-based nationwide nonprofit No One Left Behind, said that any Afghans who have worked for or helped the U.S. government are at risk of being killed by the Taliban — and it’s not just interpreters.

“Cooks, cleaners, there are security guards, there are mechanics, there are laundry guys,” he explained. “There are a lot of people that worked with U.S. forces, and not only their lives but their family’s lives are also in danger.”

“People are going to die,” he added. “They (the Taliban) are going door-to-door to slaughter those who raised their hand and wanted to help.”

Khan believes there are more than 60,000 Afghans who need to be evacuated “right now,” but the Biden administration has only approved visas for a few thousand.

“They’re begging for help,” he said. “We should stand up and do something about it. It’s a matter of life and death.”

Another former interpreter, Muhammad, who withheld his last name for fear of retribution, said his wife and five children are still in Kabul. Muhammad worked as an interpreter for the U.S. embassy there until moving to Philadelphia in 2019. He and his family returned to Afghanistan’s capital this summer to visit relatives.

Muhammad went back to the United States last week while his family stayed behind, after receiving assurances from his contacts at the U.S. embassy that his wife and children would be safely evacuated. Now, they can’t get out.

“I cannot live without my family,” Muhammad told Philadelphia ABC station WPVI in an interview on Monday. “They are concerned, they are scared, but they have no option.”

Aug 16, 10:53 pm
Former President Bush calls on America to help Afghan refugees

Former President George W. Bush and former first lady Laura Bush released a statement late Monday night calling on America and its allies to aid the people of Afghanistan as the Taliban has taken over the country.

They said the Biden administration has the authority to help now.

“The Afghans now at the greatest risk are the same ones who have been on the forefront of progress inside their nation. President Biden has promised to evacuate these Afghans, along with American citizens and our allies,” they said in a statement. “The United States government has the legal authority to cut the red tape for refugees during urgent humanitarian crises. And we have the responsibility and the resources to secure safe passage for them now, without bureaucratic delay. Our most stalwart allies, along with private NGOs, are ready to help.”

Despite the sudden collapse of the Afghan government, the Bush’s said they remain hopeful for the country and its people.

“In times like these, it can be hard to remain optimistic. Laura and I will steadfastly remain so. Like our country, Afghanistan is also made up of resilient, vibrant people,” their statement said. “Nearly 65 percent of the population is under twenty-five years old. The choices they will make for opportunity, education, and liberty will also determine Afghanistan’s future.”

Aug 16, 8:11 pm
Details about C-17 flight mobbed by thousands at Kabul airport

In a dramatic video, hundreds of Afghan civilians surrounded a U.S. C-17 military transport aircraft as it taxied on the runway at Kabul’s airport.

A U.S. defense official said these were not special visa applicants, but people who had breached the runway from the civilian side of the airport.

According to the official, the C-17 had landed with cargo and as the landing crew attempted to unload, it was rushed by hundreds of Afghan civilians. The aircrew decided it was not safe to unload and began taxiing to fly away to safety.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(KABUL, Afghanistan) — United States troops have taken control of the airport in Kabul, Afghanistan as chaos continues after Afghanistan’s president fled the country over the weekend and the Taliban seized control of the presidential palace, all but ending America’s 20-year campaign as it began: under Taliban rule.

U.S. troops have established large barriers and roadblocks on the streets near the airport in an effort to both slow and control the fleeing population.

White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan stood by the administration’s decision to withdraw troops by Aug. 31 on ABC’s Good Morning America Monday and placed blame for the speed of the Taliban takeover on the Afghan army for its decision “not to step up and fight for their country.”

“What the president was not prepared to do was enter a third decade of conflict, flowing in thousands of more troops, which was his only other choice, to fight in the middle of a civil war that the Afghan army wouldn’t fight for itself,” Sullivan said. “He would not do that to America’s men and women or their families, and that is why he made the decision to withdraw U.S. forces from Afghanistan this year.”

As with Pentagon officials, Sullivan would not say that the takeover took the administration by surprise but did acknowledge it “certainly unfolded at an unexpected speed.” Presented with the fact that thousands of allies appear stranded in the country, Sullivan said the U.S. had planned for a “wide range of contingencies,” though he didn’t offer more specifics on timing or numbers of people that will be moved.

“We believe that we can effectuate an ongoing evacuation of American citizens, of Afghans who worked for us, including interpreters and translators and others vulnerable Afghans at risk. We’re working to do that by securing the airport today and in the days ahead by taking people out one flight at a time, flight after flight,” Sullivan said.

Sullivan insisted Afghanistan presented the U.S. with an opportunity to prove “that we can fight terrorism effectively without having a large military footprint on the ground.”

He also said the American people can expect to hear from the president “soon” as President Joe Biden faces criticism from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle and the public for how the withdrawal has played out.

The increase of service members in Kabul follows Gen. Frank McKenzie, the commander of U.S. Central Command, meeting with representatives of the Taliban earlier Sunday in Doha, Qatar, to inform them not to interfere with the U.S. mission at the airport, according to a U.S. official.

As the Taliban advanced last week, the U.S. State Department announced it was reducing its staff levels at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul and the Pentagon began sending in U.S. troops — now up to 6,000 — to help facilitate departures of Americans and Afghan allies.

The world reacts

An emergency session of the United Nations will be held Monday, and leaders around the globe have been issuing responses to the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan.

British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace was speaking about the race against time to evacuate Brits and Afghans who helped the military when he became overcome with emotion after saying that some people who served the U.K. will not come back.

When asked in an interview with British radio station LBC why he was taking it so personally, he said, “Because I’m a soldier. It’s sad, and the West has done what it’s done, and we have to do our very best to get people out and stand by our obligations.”

Russia’s top envoy on Afghanistan has said Moscow will not rush to recognize the Taliban as the country’s new government.

But the envoy, Zamir Kabulov who oversees Russia’s Afghan policy, said in a radio interview with Echo of Moscow the Taliban had learned its lesson from 20 years ago when the world moved against them as terrorists.

He said the Taliban had promised no Russians would be harmed and that the group’s fighters have now taken Russia’s embassy under protection in Kabul. Russia has not evacuated its embassy so far, though it has pulled out some staff.

Meanwhile, official statements from China lay the groundwork for Beijing recognizing a Taliban government.

Spokesperson Hua Chunying noted that the Taliban said Sunday that the “war in Afghanistan is over” and that they will work to establish an inclusive government and ensure the safety of foreign missions in Afghanistan. Chunying said China expects these statements to be implemented in order to ensure a smooth transition and curb terrorist and criminal acts, so the Afghan people can avoid war and rebuild their country.

China has been wanting to expand their Belt and Road infrastructure initiative into Afghanistan but the U.S.-backed government had been reluctant to commit. China is connected to Afghanistan by a sliver of land called the Wakhan Corridor, which has historically been a well-traveled trade route. It connects to China’s Xinjiang region, and if it were opened, it would provide a better route from Kashgar, China, to Peshawar, Pakistan.

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(NEW YORK) — After a deadly 7.2-magnitude earthquake devastated Haiti Saturday morning, destroying hundreds of buildings and homes, the beleaguered country is in need of assistance as a new tropical storm threat approaches.

Haiti’s Civil Protection agency announced Sunday that the death toll is at least 1,297 with initial reports that indicate there are more than 700 collapsed buildings, including hospitals and schools, at least 3,778 homes destroyed and significant damage to infrastructure and roads. The country’s prime minister declared a monthlong state of emergency.

How people can help

Disaster response teams from World Central Kitchen, an international humanitarian organization, and Team Rubicon, a veteran-led charity group, arrived in Haiti with food, water and relief supplies early Monday.

Both nonprofit organizations originated from the front-line relief efforts from the 2010 earthquake in the same country. Now, 11 years later, Team Rubicon executive and military veteran Jake Wood explained what their services look like in action amid chaos and uncertainty.

“There is the literal fog of war that takes place in those moments,” Wood told ABC News. “As veterans being able to conduct that operational planning, identify those risks and mitigate them, work within those local populations was a huge benefit — to get out to otherwise denied areas.”

Americans can donate directly to Team Rubicon here and visit their site and social media channels for updates and information as the efforts continue.

There are already culinary students in Haiti hard at work making meals for first responders thanks to world renowned chef and hospitality executive José Andrés, who has traveled to Haiti over 20 times with the group, providing food in the wake of natural disasters.

Nate Mook, World Central Kitchen executive director, told ABC News that “Haiti is in need of a lot right now” but their focus “is providing hot food, fresh meals.”

Haitian communities in the United States have started to rally support for the struggling nation.

Yolette Williams of the Haitian American Alliance said that after the initial period of shock “you get into working mode” and think about “what are we going to do?”

In Brooklyn, New York Haitian Americans have held meetings to decide the best way to get crucial resources to loved ones.

Local organizations in Miami have also combined efforts to send medicine and nonperishables directly to first responders on the ground.

Marleine Bastien, executive director of the Family Action Network Movement, told ABC News “we want to do things differently” than how the response was handled 11 years ago.

“We don’t want a repeat of what happened in 2010, where a lot of international organizations collected millions and millions and the money never reached the impacted people,” she said.

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(NEW YORK) — With the death toll now nearing 1,300 people and thousands more injured after a devastating 7.2-magnitude earthquake rocked Haiti Saturday morning, the beleaguered nation faces the threat of fast-approaching Tropical Storm Grace potentially exposing an already vulnerable population to a double impact in a matter of days.

Haiti’s Civil Protection agency announced Sunday that the death toll had jumped from more than 700 to at least 1,297. Initial reports indicate there are more than 700 collapsed buildings, including hospitals and schools, at least 3,778 homes destroyed and significant damage to infrastructure and roads.

Grace is forecast to make landfall in Haiti between Aug. 16 to 17.

“The people of Haiti are not only going to have to deal with this earthquake and its aftershocks but also this impending tropical storm,” United States Geological Survey geophysicist William Barnhart, from the Earthquake Hazards Program, said. “It’s honestly just a terrible situation.” Barnhart said there could be thousands of deaths from the disaster.

“The number of fatalities does not always make it out,” he told ABC News. “There’s a lot of time that has to go into recovering individuals from buildings and accessing areas and towns.”

The earthquake, according to USGS, struck about 5 miles north of Petit Trou de Nippes, Haiti, a little over 90 miles from the capital, Port-au-Prince.

There are also concerns that the earthquake could exacerbate the island’s COVID-19 infection rate should displaced people be forced into closer confines.

The Haitian government “believes high casualties are probable given the earthquake’s magnitude,” Bocchit Edmond, the country’s ambassador to the U.S., said in a statement Saturday afternoon.

“Emergency responses are underway, and damages are being assessed,” Edmond added, saying destruction is “widespread.”

The embassy is helping to coordinate response efforts between the U.S. and Haitian governments.

Deputy U.S. Secretary of State Wendy Sherman spoke to Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry Sunday to express condolences for the disaster, according to a statement from Sherman’s office.

“Deputy Secretary Sherman reiterated our support for Haiti during this challenging time and underscored USAID’s leadership role in supporting U.S. assistance efforts in the aftermath of this tragedy,” the statement read.

The earthquake was virtually the same size and at the same shallow depth as the 2010 quake, and along the exact same fault line — the Enriquillo Plantain Garden — but farther west and in a less-populated region.

Prime Minister Ariel Henry is mobilizing government resources to help victims in affected areas and declared a one-month state of emergency for the whole country. In a press conference, he said he wouldn’t ask for international help until officials assess the extent of the damages.

“It will be very bad, but maybe not quite as bad as 2010 just because Port-au-Prince is farther away from this one and therefore got less shaking this time,” said Dr. Lucy Jones, an earthquake expert.

She said that about 650,000 people have been exposed to level VII shaking, which the USGS defines as “very strong” and which is powerful enough to topple poorly built structures.

But many of the buildings that potentially would have been at risk from this quake were destroyed by the earthquake 11 years ago or by Hurricane Matthew in 2016, meaning fewer reports of extensive damage now aren’t entirely surprising, Jones added.

Groups like Community Organized Relief Effort are trying to help vaccinate locals to prevent COVID-19 spread.

The U.S. Agency for International Development said the organization’s disaster experts already on the ground in Haiti are assessing damage and humanitarian needs.

President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were briefed by the National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and the Secretary of State Antony Blinken on the earthquake Saturday morning. The president authorized an immediate U.S. response, and named USAID Administrator Samantha Power as the senior U.S. official to coordinate this effort.

“In what is already a challenging time for the people of Haiti, I am saddened by the devastating earthquake that occurred in Saint-Louis du Sud, Haiti this morning,” Biden said in a statement. “We send our deepest condolences to all those who lost a loved one or saw their homes and businesses destroyed.”

“Through USAID, we are supporting efforts to assess the damage and assist efforts to recover those who were injured and those who must now rebuild,” he continued. “The United States remains a close and enduring friend to the people of Haiti, and we will be there in the aftermath of this tragedy.”

Power spoke to Henry, also the acting president of Haiti in the wake of Jovenel Moise’s assassination, Saturday evening about how USAID can assist the country. Earlier, the agency said a disaster assistance response team had been sent to the island.

USAID tweeted Sunday morning that “at the at the request of Haiti’s government” it has “deployed an urban search & rescue team to join our #Haiti earthquake disaster response team. This 65-person deployment brings 52,000 pounds of specialized tools, equipment & medical supplies to assist in search operations.”

While a recent surge in COVID-19 cases has tapered off, the possible displacement of thousands of people has created ripe conditions for a spike in COVID-19 infections, potentially overwhelming an already weak and overstretched health system that will also have to provide assistance to those injured by the earthquake.

Meanwhile, some celebrities and companies are offering aid to Haiti.

Tennis star Naomi Osaka posted on Twitter that she plans to donate her prize winnings to relief efforts in Haiti. “Really hurts to see all the devastation that’s going on,” she tweeted.

Apple CEO Tim Cook said that Cupertino would be donating to “assist relief and recovery efforts in the affected communites,” in a Sunday morning tweet.

Celebrity chef José Andrés tweeted Sunday that he and his organization, World Central Kitchen, have been on the ground in Haiti since yesterday providing food.

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(KABUL, Afghanistan) — United States troops have taken control of the airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, as chaos continues after the Taliban took control of the country.

U.S. troops have reportedly established large barriers and roadblocks on the streets near the airport in an effort to both slow and control the fleeing population.

The world reacts

Leaders around the globe have responded to the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan.

British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace was speaking about the race against time to evacuate Brits and Afghans who helped the military when he became overcome with emotion after saying that some people who served the U.K. will not come back.

When asked in an interview with British radio station LBC why he was taking it so personally, he said, “Because I’m a soldier. It’s sad, and the West has done what it’s done, and we have to do our very best to get people out and stand by our obligations.”

Russia’s top envoy on Afghanistan has said Moscow will not rush to recognize the Taliban as the country’s new government.

But the envoy, Zamir Kabulov who oversees Russia’s Afghan policy, said in a radio interview with Echo of Moscow the Taliban had learned its lesson from 20 years ago when the world moved against them as terrorists.

He said the Taliban had promised no Russians would be harmed and that the group’s fighters have now taken Russia’s embassy under protection in Kabul. Russia has not evacuated its embassy so far, though it has pulled out some staff.

Meanwhile, official statements from China lay the groundwork for Beijing recognizing a Taliban government.

Spokesperson Hua Chunying noted that the Taliban said Sunday that the “war in Afghanistan is over” and that they will work to establish an inclusive government and ensure the safety of foreign missions in Afghanistan. Chunying said China expects these statements to be implemented in order to ensure a smooth transition and curb terrorist and criminal acts, so the Afghan people can avoid war and rebuild their country.

China has been wanting to expand their Belt and Road infrastructure initiative into Afghanistan but the U.S.-backed government had been reluctant to commit. China is connected to Afghanistan by a sliver of land called the Wakhan Corridor, which has historically been a well-traveled trade route. It connects to China’s Xinjiang region, and if it were opened, it would provide a better route from Kashgar, China, to Peshawar, Pakistan.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.