The chaos surrounding the Biden administration’s failed withdrawal out of Afghanistan had reached a new height over the weekend as a toddler and six others were killed near the Kabul airport.
The U.K. Defense Ministry revealed the deaths Sunday, and said they were sending their “sincere thoughts” to the families of those who “died in crowds,” reported Yahoo News.
While the causes of death for all remain unclear, one young girl — the daughter of a woman who provided interpreting services to an American company — was trampled to death.
“I felt pure terror,” the woman told The New York Times by phone. She said her whole family was knocked over while trying to reach the gate, and at one point she was kicked in the head. Her daughter was trampled in the chaos. “I couldn’t save her.”
Across Kabul, Americans and Afghan allies have struggled to get to the safety of the international airport. It remains one of the only ways to get out of the country after the government collapsed in a matter of days at the hands of a Taliban blitz last week.
This has left tens of thousands of Americans trapped in the country and as they try to escape, desperate Afghans have also flocked to the airport to flee the murderous Taliban.
But the U.S. Embassy, citing ongoing security concerns, has warned Americans against traveling to the airport unless specifically asked to do so. Only days ago, President Joe Biden falsely suggested that Americans weren’t struggling to reach the airport in Kabul and that there was no violence going on in Kabul.
Biden said in a press conference Sunday, however, that the perimeter of the airport had since been expanded to make evacuations easier. “We’re working hard and as fast as we can to get people out. That’s our mission. That’s our goal,” said the president, who declined to provide details.
It’s unclear exactly how many Americans remain in Kabul, though Biden said the United States and its allies have evacuated 28,000 people since August 14. Earlier this week, estimates indicated that between 10,000 and 15,000 Americans seeking to escape were stuck — which is to say nothing of the Afghan allies who the president, only last month, publicly told, “[t]here is a home for you in the United States, if you so choose.”
To accelerate efforts, the Biden administration via the Department of Defense is now forcing several American commercial airlines to transport people fleeing from Afghanistan.
“Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III has ordered the Commander of U.S. Transportation Command to activate Stage I of the Civil Reserve Air Fleet (CRAF),” said the department, which last activated the reserve fleet early in the war.
“CRAF activation provides the Department of Defense access to commercial air mobility resources to augment our support to the Department of State in the evacuation of U.S. citizens and personnel, Special Immigrant Visa applicants, and other at-risk individuals from Afghanistan.”
The department’s order calls for 18 aircraft from six different airlines. United Airlines will provide four planes, the most from any single carrier in the group; American Airlines, Atlas Air, Delta Airlines, and Omni Air will each send three. Hawaiian Airlines will provide two planes.
All of this is part of the Biden admin’s desperate scramble to fix the disastrous situation they created in Afghanistan.
Author: Carter Scott
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