Afghanistan Is Overrun By Taliban

By Kylie Hapuarachchi

The war in Afghanistan officially ended in 2014, 14 years after it had started, one of the longest wars ever to be fought by the US. What started with the Trump administration planning an exit of American troops from Afghanistan led to an overtaking of the Afghan government during the Biden administration. 

Originally, the Trump administration wanted to decrease the number of troops that were present from roughly 13,000 to 2,500. At this time the Taliban which now included al- Qaeda terrorists were a constant threat to the Afghan government. 

This plan could not be fully done until the Biden administration when the original May 1st date was delayed. Biden extended the date to August 31st with the idea to withdraw all troops, however even before this could happen chaos quickly unfolded.

By August 15th, the Taliban would invade Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, and leave the former President Ashraf Ghani fleeing the country with truckloads of the country’s money. The U.S. embassy also had an immediate evacuation of their diplomats. 

Within a couple of days, the country that was once beginning to recover itself from a long and tiresome war had become ravaged with soulless terrorists. 

The Afghan citizens have an unforeseeable future, especially their women, whose rights have almost immediately been stripped away from them.

Women who were beginning to be allowed to go to school, are being forced into hiding due to the Taliban’s threats. The Taliban have been going door to door taking all young girls 12 to 45 for sex slaves.

Women are fearful for their lives, worried that the Taliban will take them away. They are being forced to wear burqas (a garment that covers the body and the face) and can only be out if they have a male escort. 

The Taliban have even shot and killed a woman for not complying to the new rules. She was then left to bleed out while her loved ones remained around her hopeless. 

These young women have nowhere to hide and if the family tries to hide their daughters, they will all be executed. 

Those very women and children are fleeing the country in masses in fear of what is to come of their futures. Parents are forced to hand over their newborn babies to US troops at the Kabul airport to try and save them from what is to come. 

Children are being pulled up over the barbed wire to ensure safety in the hands of US soldiers away from their parents, away from their family.

Within all of this, those Afghan citizens that worked with US troops acting as interpreters have been left with no way of getting out. 

Human rights lawyer Kimberley Motley has received calls from an Afghan interpreter that has worked with the US army pleading to be helped in fear and knowing that they will be murdered.

While other interpreters such as Ziaullah Omer have already stated that his baby and father-in-law have been murdered as punishment for being so-called traitors to the Afghan people. 

Within all the chaos, 3,500 US troops have been sent back into Afghanistan to get the remaining Americans and Afghans who helped them out of the country. 

Countries have opened up their borders to take in Afghan refugees. The UK has planned to take in 20,000 refugees in the next five years. 

However, a devastating moment in time occurred as of August 26th, there had been two suicide bombings at the airport by the Taliban which had led to the deaths of 13 US servicemen and more than 100 Afghan citizens during the final evacuation. 

The names of the lost Americans are: Marine Corps Lance Cpl. David Espinoza, Marine Corps Sgt. Nicole Gee, Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Darin Taylor Hoover, Army Staff Sgt. Ryan Knauss, Marine Corps Cpl. Hunter Lopez, Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Rylee McCollum, Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Dylan R. Merola, Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Kareem Nikoui, Marine Corps Cpl. Daegan William-Tyeler Page, Marine Corps Sgt. Johanny Rosario, Marine Corps Cpl. Humberto Sanchez, Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Jared Schmitz, and Navy Hospital Corpsman Max Soviak. 

These men and women sacrificed their lives to help Afghanistan in their time of need and will forever be remembered for their selfless lives. 

The Biden administration is now facing harsh criticism due to the fact that there is American blood on their hands. 

People have been displaced due to the terrorist activity in Afghanistan. Rights and freedom have been stripped from the citizens from the Taliban.

Mothers have given up their children in hopes that they can somehow survive the world that has now come. 

Americans trying to help have been murdered. 

The chaos and strife that has risen in Afghanistan will continue to get worse. Innocent men, women, and children will be left to fend for themselves. A country that was beginning its rebirth has been ripped apart once again.