Taliban thugs have attacked women and children with whips and sticks before firing their guns amid chaos at Kabul airport, reports claim.
At least half dozen people were wounded including a mother and young son, within an hour of the violence erupting in the Afghan capital.
Shocking photos show the new horror reality for Afghans who are trying to escape the Taliban.
Thousands of citizens have been waiting outside Kabul Airport for a way out – but jihadi thugs used gunfire, whips, sticks, and sharp objects to maintain the crowds, reports claim.
One devastating snap shows a man carrying a bloodied child while another is pictured crying directly into the camera.
Read our Afghanistan live blog below for the latest news & updates…
- Milica Cosic
LISA NANDY CONDEMNS WITHDRAWAL FROM AFGHANISTAN
"This is an unparalleled moment of shame for this country" Shadow foreign secretary Lisa Nandy condemns withdrawal from Afghanistan.
She added that, "ministers now openly admit that people will be left behind and some of those will die".
- Milica Cosic
SHOCKING MOMENT TALIBAN COVER ‘THIEF’ IN TAR AND PARADE HIM ON TRUCK AS ‘ANGELS OF SALVATION’ TROOPS STALK KABUL (CONTINUED…)
Despite the terror group's claims it had reformed, thugs also gunned down a woman in the street for not wearing a burqa as death squads rampage across the country, according to reports.
According to Fox News, the woman was executed in Taloqan, the capital of Takhar province, for not wearing an Islamic veil in public as Afghans face a new horror reality under the ruthless rule of the terror group.
A photo of the alleged killing shows a woman lying in a pool of blood as relatives and members of the public crouch around her.
The Taliban are now tightening their grip on power following their lightning victory that has shocked the world.
The disturbing footage shows the alleged thief with his face smothered in tar - Milica Cosic
SHOCKING MOMENT TALIBAN COVER ‘THIEF’ IN TAR AND PARADE HIM ON TRUCK AS ‘ANGELS OF SALVATION’ TROOPS STALK KABUL
The shocking footage shows the alleged car thief strapped to the back of a vehicle with his face smothered in tar and his hands tied behind his back as crowds gather around to gawp.
The Taliban thugs – dubbed the "Angels of Salvation" – have reportedly been going door-to-door and dragging alleged thieves, political opponents and activists from their homes at gunpoint.
The militants have been filmed pointing rocket launchers at people who have been pulled from their homes in a terrifying crackdown in Kabul.
And footage obtained by Fox News showed a convoy of Taliban fanatics roaring down a street in the Afghan capital and opening fire while reportedly hunting for activists and government workers.
Read more here.
- Milica Cosic
PM COMMENTS IN FULL
Boris Johnson said the UK will work to unite the international community behind a “clear plan for dealing with this regime in a unified and concerted way”, explaining in the Commons: “We are clear and we have agreed that it’d be a mistake for any country to recognise any new regime in Kabul prematurely or bilaterally.
“Instead, those countries that care about Afghanistan’s future should work towards common conditions about the conduct of the new regime before deciding, together, whether to recognise it and on what terms.
“We will judge this regime based on the choices it makes and by its actions rather than by its words, and on its attitude to terrorism, to crime and narcotics, as well as humanitarian access and the rights of girls to receive an education.
“Defending human rights will remain of the highest priority.
“And we will use every available political and diplomatic means to ensure that those human rights remain at the top of the international agenda.”
- Milica Cosic
STARMER PAYS TRIBUTE TO HERO AMBASSADOR WHO HAS STAYED BEHIND IN KABUL
Sir Keir Starmer praised the British ambassador in Kabul for processing the paperwork of those who needed to flee as the Taliban approached, adding: “The Prime Minister’s response to the Taliban arriving at the gates of Kabul was to go on holiday.
“No sense of the gravity of the situation, not leadership to drive international efforts on the evacuation.”
When asked by the Tory benches what he would do differently, Sir Keir said: “I wouldn’t stay on holiday whilst Kabul was falling.”
Addressing Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, Sir Keir said: “He shouts now but he stayed on holiday while our mission in Afghanistan was disintegrating. He didn’t even speak to ambassadors in the region as Kabul fell to the Taliban. Let that sink in.
“You cannot co-ordinate an international response from the beach. A dereliction of duty by the Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary, a Government totally unprepared for the scenario that it had 18 months to prepare for.”
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LORD HAIN ON THE INVASION OF AFGHANISTAN (CONTINUED)
Lord Hain said: "The story might have been different if the US and UK focus on Afghanistan after 2002-03 had not been diverted by the calamitous invasion of Iraq.
"We all share the shame, both the Labour government in which I was proud to serve and, since 2010, the Conservatives – including Liberal Democrats when in coalition – in our betrayal of the millions of Afghans.
"It is no good just finger-jabbing at Biden or Bush, at Johnson or Blair.
"There must instead be a proper reckoning by this Parliament and by Congress about the real lessons of our common culpability in this utter catastrophe."
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FORMER FOREIGN MINISTER UNDER BLAIR SAYS HE IS "IMPLICATED" IN AFGHAN DISASTER
Labour peer Lord Hain said having served as a Foreign Office minister under Tony Blair he was "implicated" in what has been described as Britain's "biggest foreign policy disaster since Suez".
Speaking at the House of Lords debate on Afghanistan, he urged for the need to engage with the Taliban and incentivise them "so that they are discouraged from returning to their bad old ways, including their oppression of women and girls".
Instead of occupying Afghanistan, Lord Hain argued after 9/11 the west should have negotiated a deal to remove al Qaida with the Taliban and other leaders.
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HERO AMBASSADOR SAYS HE IS HOPING TO GET 1,000 PEOPLE OUT PER DAY
Sir Laurie Bristow, the British ambassador to Afghanistan, said his team was aiming to fly out 1,000 people per day from Kabul airport.
Speaking to Sky News, the diplomat, who has stayed in the Afghan capital to help people leave, said: "It has taken a few days to get the evacuation going – clearly it has been very difficult circumstances over the last coupe of days.
"Yesterday we think we got about 700 people out on the military flights.
"What we're aiming for is at least 1,000 a day so we can really get through the large number of British nationals we need to get out, the large number of Afghans who have worked with us who we need to get out, so we can do that in the very short amount of time available."
Sir Laurie said it was "interesting" that the Taliban had "chosen to support this operation", adding: "My assessment is that they see it as in their interests to help it to happen in an orderly and clear way, and obviously it is in our interests for them to see it that way.
"So, we are working with them where we need to at a tactical, practical level."
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COUNCIL LEADERS OFFER TO HOST AFGHAN REFUGEES
Local councils have pledged to rehome refugees after the Government announced the UK will take up to 20,000 people fleeing Afghanistan.
Offers of help have come from various parts of the country following the fall of Afghan capital Kabul to the Taliban on Sunday.
The leader of Newark and Sherwood Council John Robinson tweeted: "Privilege to welcome our first Afghan family to be re-settled into Newark and Sherwood. Blown away by their resilience, optimism and gratitude in the face of such tragedy."
Other local leaders have made clear their intention to help with the effort of housing the refugees.
Wrexham Council issued an urgent appeal for landlords to help with accommodation for the Afghan resettlement programme.
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HOW DOES TALIBAN FUND ITSELF?
The Taliban is said to hold a war chest worth $US1.6billion (£1.2billion) to fund its fight in Afghanistan.
Money comes in from a variety of sources including drugs, real estate and donations.
Afghanistan is the world's largest opium exporter which provides most of the Taliban's cash.
Cesar Gudes, head of the Kabul office of the UN Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC), told Reuters: “The Taliban have counted on the Afghan opium trade as one of their main sources of income.
“More production brings drugs with a cheaper and more attractive price, and therefore a wider accessibility.”
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TALIBAN BREAKS UP PROTEST KILLING AT LEAST ONE PERSON
The Taliban violently broke up a protest in eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday, killing at least one person as they quashed a rare public show of dissent. The militant group meanwhile met with former officials from the toppled Western-backed government.
As officials work to shape a future government, the United Arab Emirates acknowledged that Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, who fled the Taliban advance, and his family were in that country.
The Taliban's every action in their sudden sweep to power is being watched closely. They insist they have changed and won't impose the same draconian restrictions they did when they last ruled Afghanistan, all but eliminating women's rights, carrying out public executions and harboring al-Qaida in the years before the 9/11 attacks.
But many Afghans remain deeply skeptical, and the violent response to Wednesday's protest could only fuel their fears. Thousands are racing to the airport and borders to flee the country. Many others are hiding inside their homes, fearful after prisons and armories were emptied during the insurgents' blitz across the country.
Dozens of people gathered in the eastern city of Jalalabad to raise the national flag a day before Afghanistan's Independence Day, which commemorates the end of British rule in 1919. They lowered the Taliban flag — a white banner with an Islamic inscription — that the militants have raised in the areas they captured.
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TURKEY SAYS IT HAS CARRIED OUT AT LEAST 62 EVACUATION FLIGHTS IN THE PAST TWO DAYS
Turkey's defense minister says at least 62 evacuation flights were made from Kabul's international airport in the past two days, after security was restored at the airfield.
Hulusi Akar told state-run Anadolu Agency on Wednesday that Turkish troops and other NATO soldiers were involved in the effort to restore calm. Turkish air force planes were meanwhile, evacuating Turkish citizens from Afghanistan, he said.
Akar also said Turkey was engaged in talks with the United States, other NATO allies as well as other nations over Ankara's proposal for Turkish troops to continue protecting and operating the airfield.
"We have stated that we are considering continuing our work if the necessary conditions are met," Akar was quoted as saying. He did not elaborate.
Meanwhile, the first military cargo plane sent by Spain to Kabul has left the airport, but Spain's defense ministry is not yet giving any more details on how many people are on board or who they are.
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WHO ARE THE TALIBAN?
The Taliban is designated as a "terror group", alongside the likes of Al-Qaeda by the Security Council.
Devout followers are responsible for most insurgent attacks in Afghanistan.
The terror group ruled Afghanistan with an iron fist from 1996 to 2001, and have been fighting for 20 years to topple the Western-backed government in Kabul.
And experts warn the Taliban is stronger now than at any point since 2001.
The International Terrorism Guide website explains that "the Taliban are a Sunni Islamist nationalist and pro-Pashtun movement founded in the early 1990s".
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LORD LAMONT ACCUSES JOE BIDEN OF NEGOTIATING SURRENDER TO THE TALIBAN
A former Chancellor has accused the US of "negotiating the equivalent of a surrender" to the Taliban.
Lord Lamont of Lerwick told the House of Lords: "After 20 years it is hardly surprising that in America the appetite for the war was waning, but if withdrawal was inevitable, the manner in which it was done was catastrophic. It didn't have to be so abrupt, so absolute.
"The US negotiated in Doha the equivalent of a surrender to the Taliban, all that was left was for the Taliban to follow through."
He added: "Though President Biden did have a point when he said America could hardly continue to fight when the Afghans themselves would not fight, after 20 years of training and expensive weapons the Afghan army evaporated in the face of the smaller Taliban force, perhaps that was to be expected when so many soldiers had not been paid for months and officials in Kabul diverted salaries into bank accounts.
"Corruption was the one institution that worked in Afghanistan."
Lord Lamont called for the UK Government to rescue "as many as possible" of the Afghans who helped UK armed forces, as well as women and children.
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YVETTE COOPER SAYS SHE WORRIED ABOUT THE FUTURE OF WOMEN IN AFGHANISTAN
Labour chair of the Home Affairs Committee, Yvette Cooper, raised the issue of security and girls' education, adding: "That's what makes it so disturbing and so shameful and distressing to watch the events in Afghanistan right now."
She said: "Women and girls forced to hide in their homes simply because they are women and girls, and hard-line extremists and terrorists back in charge creating a security risk across the globe, and no evident strategy from the US, from the UK and from our allies, and what instead looks like just a chaotic retreat – but we have a responsibility to respond."
On the humanitarian crisis, she said: "Firstly those who have put their lives at risk working with us. I welcome the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) but it is too narrow."
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TOM TUGENDHAT SAYS WITHDRAWAL WILL LEAD TO FUTURE WAR
Tom Tugendhat said he had spent a year working as an adviser the Afghan government where he had helped set up new schools.
He remembered the joy and pride of parents whose daughters were going to school for the first time.
The Army veteran condemned the rhetoric saying that Nato forces could not remain in Afghanistan forever.
He said: “Let’s stop talking about forever wars and start talking about forever peace and how it can be achieved with patience”.
He added that “the tragedy of Afghanistan” is we are now swapping that patience for more forever war.
In a final remark he said “this doesn’t have to be defeat but at the moment it sure feels like it”.
He received a round of applause as he sat down – which is unusual and frown on in the chamber where MPs are instead encouraged to cheer in agreement.
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THERESA MAY TEARS INTO UK RESPONSE TO U.S. WITHDRAWAL
Former prime minister Theresa May has torn into her successor’s government in the House of Commons.
She said: “Was our intelligence really so poor.. or did we feel we had to follow US and hope on a wing and a prayer it would be alright on the night?”
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BRIT TELLS OF "IMMENSE LUCK" TO ESCAPE TALIBAN
A Brit who fled Afghanistan this week has said she feels "immensely lucky" to have escaped the nation as Afghan families still strive to find a way out after the Taliban takeover.
Kitty Chevallier, a charity worker from Basingstoke, Hampshire, left Kabul via a UK evacuation flight on Monday morning – sharing photographs of people packed on to an RAF cargo plane.
The 24-year-old had been working in the capital since September 2020 with Afghanaid, a UK-registered charity that champions women's rights and provides clean water and sanitation for Afghans.
"As we drove there at 4am, the runways were crowded with hundreds of Afghan families hoping to get out somehow," she told the PA news agency.
"I'm very aware how immensely lucky I was to get helped out of the country.
"One of the strangest moments was getting on the plane, not knowing when we'd be able to come back or what the city would look and feel like when we did."
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DAN JARVIS HITS OUT AT JOE BIDEN OVER WITHDRAWAL DECISION
Dan Jarvis, Labour MP for Barnsley Central, who served in the British armed forces in Afghanistan, has criticised President Biden for his description of the Afghan armed forces.
The former solider said: "These past 20 years have been a struggle for peace. We tried to break the cycle of war, to give hope to women and girls, we tried to give the Afghans a different life, one of hope and one of opportunity. But the catastrophic failure of international political leadership, and the brutality of the Taliban has snatched all of that away from them."
Mr Jarvis spoke of the service and sacrifice of the "brave" British servicemen and women "who throughout showed outstanding professionalism and courage".
But he said "recent developments have hit them hard. They are grappling with the question about whether all of the effort, the sacrifice was really worth it. They are again grieving for fallen comrades who didn't come home. But whatever the outcome is in Afghanistan, those men and women and their families should be proud of their service and we must be proud of them."
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MORE ON THERESA MAY’S SPEECH TO THE COMMONS
Theresa May said the withdrawal set a worrying example to the UK’s rivals around the world about its capabilities on the world stage in her comments to the House of Commons earlier.
She said: “The message it sends about our capabilities and most importantly about our willingness to defend our values. What does it say about us as a country, what does it say about Nato if we are entirely dependent on a unilateral decision taken by the US?
She added: “I do find it incomprehensible and worrying that the UK was not able to bring together not a military solution but an alternative alliance of countries to continue to provide the support necessary to sustain a Government in Afghanistan. Surely one outcome of this must be a reassessment of how Nato operates.”
She said: “Russia will not be blind to the implications of this withdrawal decision and the manner in which it has been taken. Neither will China and others have failed to notice the implications because in recent years the West has appeared to be less willing to defend its values, this cannot continue, because if it does it will embolden those who do not share those values and wish to impose their way of life on others.”
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TOM TUGENDHAT’S MOVING SPEECH ON HOW VETERANS FEEL ABOUT WITHDRAWAL
Foreign affairs select committee chair Tom Tugendhat’s moving speech to the normally rowdy House of Commons left MPs in almost complete silence.
He said he had found this week incredibly difficult like many Afghan veterans.
Speaking on his time in the army, he said: “I’ve watched good men going into the earth taking with them with a part of me and a part of all of us.
He said he had received messages from fellow veterans this week and it had left them all “raw”.
He said he had already spoken to Health Secretary Sajid Javid who has agreed to do more for veteran mental health.
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KEIR STARMER PAYS TRIBUTE TO THE SACRIFICE OF UK SERVICEMEN AND WOMEN IN AFGHANISTAN
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said “it’s been a disastrous week, an unfolding tragedy” in Afghanistan.
Speaking in the House of Commons, he described some of the conditions in Afghanistan prior to the intervention in 2001.
He added: “Since then a fragile democracy emerged. It was by no means perfect, but no international terrorist attacks have been mounted from Afghanistan in that period, women have gained liberty and won office.
“Schools and clinics have been built, and Afghans have allowed themselves to dream of a better future.
“Those achievements were born of sacrifice, sacrifice by the Afghan people, who bravely fought alongside their Nato allies, and British sacrifice, over 150,000 UK personnel have served in Afghanistan, including members across this House.”
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AFGHAN TRANSLATORS PROTEST OUTSIDE PARLIAMENT
Dozens of demonstrators have gathered at Parliament Square to protest over how the Government has handled supporting citizens in Afghanistan after the Taliban launched a takeover of the country.
The protesters, who are former translators for the British Army, held banners and signs up in front of Parliament on Wednesday as MPs returned to the House of Commons after it was recalled.
Signs they held included images of people gravely injured in Afghanistan, with the caption “Protect our loved ones”.
One former interpreter, who only gave his name as Rafi, told the PA news agency: “Today we are representing all those employees of the British Government in Afghanistan who have served the British forces.
“Today, their lives are at a very high risk, them and their families, and our families, they need protection and safety.
“The Taliban will butcher every single one of them if they are left behind.”
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TOM TUGENDHAT SAYS WITHDRAWAL WILL LEAD TO FUTURE WAR
Tom Tugendhat said he had spent a year working as an adviser the Afghan government where he had helped set up new schools.
He remembered the joy and pride of parents whose daughters were going to school for the first time.
The Army veteran condemned the rhetoric saying that Nato forces could not remain in Afghanistan forever.
He said: “Let’s stop talking about forever wars and start talking about forever peace and how it can be achieved with patience”.
He added that “the tragedy of Afghanistan” is we are now swapping that patience for more forever war.
In a final remark he said “this doesn’t have to be defeat but at the moment it sure feels like it”.
He received a round of applause as he sat down – which is unusual and frown on in the chamber where MPs are instead encouraged to cheer in agreement.
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TOM TUGENDHAT TEARS INTO DESMOND SWAYNE OVER COWARD COMMENTS
Tom Tugendhat had has torn into fellow Tory Desmond Swayne over his comments suggesting the people attempting to flee Afghanistan in rescue planes were cowards.
He said he had served with numerous men and women from – both Western and Afghanistan – who spent years putting themselves under threat to rebuild the country and now needed to escape.
He called the MP’s comments “shameful” in an unusual rebuke as MPs are often reluctant to criticise other members in Commons due to strict rivals on civility in the House.
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