Afghanistan evacuation: Man beaten bloody by Taliban as airlift nears its end

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Bloodied and beaten by Taliban guards – this was the fate of one Australian citizen as he tried to reach Kabul airport as the Islamists defied Joe Biden’s demand to let evacuation flights continue unimpeded with just hours left to get civilians out of the country. 

The man, who was born overseas but has a wife in Adelaide and a brother in Sydney, was beaten as he headed to the airport today along with his cousins – thought to include three men and two women – who were also beaten by the Taliban before the family was hauled away.

Video shows the man with blood running down his face and spattered across his polo shirt, saying that he is an Australian citizen and was trying to reach the airport. MailOnline has been told he was in Australia until June when he went to Afghanistan to visit a sick relative, and became trapped by the Taliban’s rapid takeover of the country.

A source close to the family told MailOnline that one of the women accompanying the man had a phone hidden under her headscarf and has since messaged her Australian relatives to say the family has been split up and sent to different locations. Their current whereabouts and ultimate fates are unknown.  

His kidnapping comes despite Joe Biden demanding that the Taliban ‘allow access to the airport for those who are transporting out and no disruptions to our operations’, while committing to withdraw all US troops by August 31.  

That means civilian mercy flights will have to stop in the coming hours so that planes can be diverted to evacuate troops, with former chief of UK defence staff Lord David Richards saying British flights will have to stop by Friday. 

France has said it will stop flights tomorrow, Poland has already stopped flights, and Hungary has signalled that its mission is also drawing to a close.

That has sparked renewed desperation at the airport, as hundreds of Afghans wanting to get on the planes have taken to wading across an open sewer underneath walls where western troops stand guard – waving papers in the hopes of being picked up. 

Fears are now growing that civilians could rush the runway and trigger a deadly stampede in a repeat of the horror scenes from last week, or else opportunistic terror groups such as ISIS could attack packed crowds – fears that will only grow as troop numbers dwindle. 

British foreign secretary Dominic Raab admitted this morning that the mercy missions are now into their final hours with some 4,000 people – 1,250 western citizens and 2,500 Afghans – still left to rescue, though he did not say exactly when the final flight will leave or how many people may be left behind.

Mr Raab was also forced to admit that the coming days will present ‘maximum danger’ for British troops, fearing both a ‘Saigon’ moment with crowds rushing planes and threats of a ‘spectacular’ terrorist attack.

But, Mr Raab insisted, Britain will keep flying planes out of the country until the last possible moment in the hopes of getting as many people out as possible.  

One British soldier, speaking anonymously to the Daily Telegraph, said his ‘biggest fear’ is a stampede at the airport and that ‘the civilians might try and get in any way they can and potentially put us all at risk.’

‘Unfortunately the quantity of civilians arriving is something we cannot control, with the majority of them not being eligible to be evacuated,’ he said, adding: ‘I and many others have seen a few mentally disturbing scenes. I think there will be more of that.’ 

Outlining rough plans for the British withdrawal, defence sources said the first move will be for troops to leave the Baron hotel where they have been processing paperwork of those wishing to leave the country.

Next, soldiers will hand over control of Abbey gate – located on the south east side of the airport – to US forces.

But exactly how and when they will leave the airport entirely is being kept a closely-guarded secret, amid fears that the news of a full exit could spark a rush of desperate people at the gates.

Underlining the risks, one defence source told The Telegraph: ‘It could be the airfield gets compromised by a massive incursion. It could be that the Taliban have an element that wants to put up a fight in the last days. It could be that ISIS wants to do a ‘spectacular’.’ 

Meanwhile Angela Merkel – who was first elected Chancellor in 2005, just four years into the war – gave a speech to the German parliament summing up the conflict as she prepares to leave power later this year.

Admitting that leaving Afghanistan now leaves her with a ‘bitter’ feeling, she insisted the west’s 20-year campaign had not been in vain and that trying to bring democracy and stability to the region was ‘worth doing’.

 In a shot at Biden’s decision to withdraw, she added: ‘That the overall deployment literally stands and falls with the stance of the militarily strongest member of the alliance, the U.S., was always clear to us.

‘We will continue the evacuation operation for as long as possible, in order also to make it possible for Afghans who worked with us for security, freedom, the rule of law and development to leave the country.’

She did not give a date for when the last German evacuation flight would leave but said there are around 500 troops currently helping with the effort, some of whom are still in the country.

Even after the effort ends, she said, Germany will work to see if it could continue to help people by ‘among other things through civilian use of Kabul airport.’

Biden also admitted to the danger facing troops on Tuesday as he announced his decision on the deadline, saying: ‘The sooner we can finish, the better… each day of operations brings added risk to our troops.’ 

Even as the evacuation enters its final stages, Afghanistan’s new Islamist rulers are just beginning to grapple with the challenges facing the country which is facing economic collapse in addition to food shortages and a near-total lack of services, particularly in remote regions.

The Taliban has urged male bureaucrats and bankers back to their desks in the hopes of restarting an economy which stalled as the group swept to power in a lighting-fast military offensive.

ATMs remain empty after US flights bringing banknotes into the country were stopped, while government staff are refusing to return to their offices for fear of reprisal attacks.

The US has frozen some $9.5billion belonging to the Afghan national bank, while the World Bank announced today that it has frozen $5.3billion in development aid amid fears of human rights abuses by the Taliban.

Taliban leaders have also been barred from accessing some $450million in emergency reserves that is being stored with the International Monetary Fund. 

That has left Afghans with no access to their own money – meaning business owners cannot pay staff and ordinary citizens are struggling to buy basic goods.

Just yesterday, the World Food Programme warned that food supplies could start running out as soon as next month unless emergency shipments are allowed into the country. 

Many Afghans fear a repeat of the brutal five-year Taliban regime that was toppled in 2001, and violent retribution for working with foreign militaries, Western missions and the previous US-backed government.

Washington and its allies have been flying out thousands of such Afghans every day on hulking military transports, but it has become an increasingly difficult and desperate task.

The Afghan capital’s airport has been gripped by chaos as US-led troops try to maintain a secure perimeter for evacuation flights, surrounded by desperate Afghans.

Some have foreign passports, visas or eligibility to travel, but most do not. At least eight people have died in the chaos.

‘Does anyone … ANYONE … have a contact inside the airport,’ pleaded one American on a WhatsApp group set up to share information on how people can access the airport.

‘My guy worked for us 2010-15 and needs to get out with 5 of his family. This is real bad.’ 

The Taliban have also been accused of blocking or slowing access for many trying to reach the airport, although they denied the charge again late Tuesday.

Biden said the Taliban were taking steps to assist, but there was also an ‘acute and growing risk’ of an attack by the regional chapter of the Islamic State jihadist group.

CIA Director William Burns flew to Kabul for a secret meeting with top Taliban leader Abdul Ghani Baradar, US media reported Tuesday, the highest-level meeting so far between the US government and the new rulers of Afghanistan.

The New York Times said the spy chief was not there to negotiate an extension to the pullout deadline, but for general talks on ‘evacuation operations and terrorist threats’. 

Despite the harrowing scenes at Kabul airport, the Taliban have ruled out any extension to next Tuesday’s deadline to pull out foreign troops, describing it as ‘a red line’.

‘They have planes, they have the airport, they should get their citizens and contractors out of here,’ Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said Tuesday.

European nations have said they would not be able to airlift all at-risk Afghans before August 31.

‘Even if (the evacuation) goes on… a few days longer, it will not be enough,’ German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas told Bild TV.

A hard withdrawal deadline presents a further complication that may reduce the number of daily evacuations.

The United States deployed fresh troops for evacuations.

That 6,000-plus contingent, as well as hundreds of US officials, 600 Afghan troops and the equipment, will have to be flown out.

To do that by August 31, the Pentagon said operations would have to start winding down days in advance. 

Following their lightning victory that stunned the world, the Taliban have so far been content to allow the US-led operation to continue, focusing instead on consolidating control and forming a government.

They have vowed a softer, more inclusive regime this time around, offering amnesty to opponents and assurances of rights to women.

But many Afghans remain fearful and sceptical.

In an attempt to assuage fears, the Taliban spokesman on Tuesday urged skilled Afghans to not flee, saying the country needed ‘expert’ Afghans such as doctors and engineers.

But Zabihullah Mujahid added that women who work for the Afghan government should stay home until the security situation improves.

The Taliban have said women will be able to get an education and work, but within what they consider Islamic bounds.

‘We have achieved so much! Sorry – we HAD achieved so much’: Female student, 22, who posted shocking footage of desperate queues outside Kabul airport makes moving plea on behalf of Afghan women

A young female student trapped in Kabul has made a desperate plea to the world on behalf of Afghan women.

Aisha Ahmad (not her real name), 22, spent four days trying to get into Kabul airport and feared she would be crushed to death as people stampeded.

She posted shocking footage of the crush, sharing clips with shots being heard in the background as people desperately shoved towards the airport.

Now, having all-but given up hope of escaping the Taliban’s control as the August 31 deadline looms, the Kabul University student has told MailOnline that the hopes and aspiration of Afghan women in general are about to be trampled into the dust.

In her open letter, Aisha demanded that the nations of the West stand up for her and other women in the benighted nation.

She recalled how a previous generation of women in Afghanistan dared to dream of a ‘brighter future’ in 2001 as the Taliban’s first barbaric regime came to an end.

She highlighted role models such as an all-female orchestra called Zohra, which has toured the world, and the ‘Afghan Dreamers’ — a girls’ robotics team which flourished in the post-Taliban liberation.

She picked out Niloofar Rahmani, the first woman pilot in the Afghan air force, and Khatol Mohammadzai, the first female general in the Afghan National Army.

But she added: ‘We have achieved so much! Sorry – we had achieved so much.

‘The Taliban’s return to domination of our country has returned pain and hopelessness to the lives of its women. It’s struck us like a thunderbolt, reducing our 20 years of achievement to ashes, laid waste to our aspirations.

‘We have been cast back out of sight, alone with only darkness in our future, no window of hope.’

Now she worries that the Taliban’s recent public-relations effort, telling women that they will be able to study and work under their new government, will be cynically binned as soon as the last NATO jet lifts off from the runway of Kabul Airport next Tuesday.

‘Our biggest fear is that the world will be deceived by the smooth words of the Taliban, the assurances that things will be different this time, the promises to grant us rights that already belong to us.

‘And that if the world recognises their government, their oppression and barbarism against us will be institutionalized, set in stone for generations.’

She called on the West not to recognise the Taliban unless they restore and protect the fundamental rights of Afghan women.

‘The international community must stick to its moral position and stay faithful to its commitment to universal human rights,’ she said.

‘It must insist the Taliban restore and uphold the fundamental rights of Afghan women at this critical juncture and lift us from our descent into misery. ‘

She recalled then US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s words to a group of female Afghan ministers a decade ago, telling them: ‘We will not abandon you; we will stand with you always.’

Closing her moving letter, she wrote: ‘Please don’t forget that we are human, not just pictures on your screen… We have hopes and dreams. We think, love, hurt, yearn. Just like your own mother, your own sisters, your own daughters. Just like you.’ 

Taliban are killing innocent children during their rampage across Afghanistan, former interior minister claims as he posts photos of dead bodies on Twitter 

The Taliban are killing innocent children as they brutally consolidate power, Afghanistan’s former interior minister has claimed.

Masoud Andarabi, who was sacked by the now former Afghan president Ashraf Ghani in March, posted shocking photos on Twitter of people, including a small child, who had allegedly been killed by Taliban fighters.

He claimed that the group, who now control nearly all of Afghanistan after dramatically marching into the capital Kabul last week, ‘are trying to rule over people by terrorizing, killing young children and elderly citizens.’

Andarabi added that the Taliban ‘cannot govern the nation’ using such terror methods.

His warning came a day the main resistance group who are continuing to fight the Taliban furiously denied that their surrender was being negotiated.

Ex-Afghan soldiers – many trained by Western troops – have joined forces with local militia from a base in the Panjshir Valley, north-east of Kabul.

The group is fighting under the banner The National Resistance Front of Afghanistan [NRF] and is led by Sandhurst-trained Ahmad Massoud.

Andarabi added in his tweet: ‘In Andarab, taliban have been carrying out unwarranted searches of homes, capturing people without reason or justification and killing innocent citizens.

‘As a result, people have had to rise against their brutality to protect their lives, honor, dignity and property.’

Andarabi posted the photos after warning in an interview with Indian outlet India Today this week that the resistance to the Taliban’s rule would not go away.

He said: ‘I think there will be backs and pushes and resistance.

‘It shows that if the Taliban do not adjust to today’s Afghanistan, these pocket resistances will keep popping up.

‘The resistance will continue in any form across the country.’

He said that, if the Taliban want people to support their rule and to avoid an ongoing rebellion, they should form an elected government and not an undemocratic ’emirate’.

Andarabi was sacked by the recently-ousted president Ashraf Ghani in March after a spate of Taliban attacks against government troops.

Whilst no official reason was given for his dismissal, a senior security official said at the time that Andarabi had failed to arrest a militia commander whose forces had shot down a helicopter, killing nine members of the security forces.

Andarabi had been tasked weeks before with arresting the commander.

After his post on Tuesday, he was described by Afghan journalist Bilal Sarwary as ‘widely respected’.

The shocking new images were posted after chilling reports last week that Islamist militants were stalking cities across Afghanistan for women and girls.

Jihadist commanders were reportedly ordering imams in areas they have captured to bring them lists of unmarried women aged from 12 to 45 for their soldiers to marry because they view them as ‘qhanimat’ or ‘spoils of war’ – to be divided up among the victors.

Resistance chief Massoud, who also studied at King’s College, London, is nicknamed ‘Heir to the Lion’ or ‘Lion Cub’ after his father, a famed Mujahideen commander known as the ‘Lion of Panjshir’ after the region that he ruled and defended.

The Taliban claimed on Monday that they had retaken three districts north of Kabul capital seized the day before and had surrounded Panjshir, the last province that remains out of their control.