Taliban Seize Power in Afghanistan: People Desperately Try to Flee the Country, Airlines to Avoid Afghan Airspace

The Taliban's "rule" will not be recognized by Western democracies, at least.

After the radical Islamists of the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan, many airlines stopped flying over the country's territory, while residents, terrified, are trying to leave Afghanistan en masse.

We present the latest events and accounts from residents about what the establishment of Sharia threatens for the citizens of Afghanistan, and why the democracy that briefly and fragilely reigned in this once long-suffering country was so valued among them.

What exactly frightens the residents of Afghanistan

The fact is that Taliban rule had already been established in Afghanistan in the 1990s. Back then, their arrival heralded hope for a better life for Afghans, as the Taliban drove out the radical mujahideen.

However, the Afghans' expectations then turned out to be quite different—the introduction of harsh public executions for the slightest offenses, the beating of women who appeared without a male escort, a complete ban on schools and education for girls from the age of 10, television, the intelligentsia and freedom of speech.

The established dictatorship was explained by a "fundamentalist understanding of Islam." To this day, the Taliban's goals have not changed one iota.

The Guardian quotes a 24-year-old anonymous student of Kabul University. The news of the Taliban's arrival in Kabul caught her as she was walking to class at the university.

Anonymous student from Kabul

We all wanted to return home, but we could not use public transport. Drivers would not let us into their cars because they did not want to take responsibility for transporting a woman... Meanwhile, the men standing around laughed at the girls and women. "Go and put on your chadari [burqa]," one of them shouted. "These are your last days on the street," said another. "I will marry four of you in one day," said a third.

The Economist tells the story of Abdul, a retired teacher from Kandahar. With the arrival of the Taliban, he decided to hide all his books, which included literature on psychology, terrorism and politics.

Before the Taliban, Abdul was a member of a book club in which residents exchanged books. Now, for any book or item in the house that the Taliban do not like, people can be instantly killed, Abdul says.

What is happening in Kabul and at the airport

Literally right after the Taliban began negotiations with the authorities on the surrender of Kabul, people began hastily trying to leave the city. As a result, huge traffic jams formed on the city's roads, and there was a crush near ATMs.

Before reaching the airport, many left their cars on the road with the ignition keys inside and continued on foot.

US military, for their part, established full control over the airport. Two unidentified individuals opened fire on the military but were shot dead by return fire.

The US State Department said that all of its embassy personnel had been evacuated to the airport, which is protected by American troops.

A flood of Afghans overwhelmed the airport—they besieged the departing evacuation flights and even clung to the aircraft fuselage before takeoff. As a result, eight deaths are known, of people who fell from the planes after takeoff.

Uzbekistan shoots down Afghan Air Force aircraft

Uzbekistan's air defense forces shot down an Afghan Air Force aircraft—an attempt to illegally cross the state border was stopped.

The two pilots of the downed fighter survived and are in a hospital in Termez.

Airlines to avoid Afghanistan

The largest global airlines have begun avoiding Afghan airspace amid the seizure of power by radical Islamists. Among the companies is also Ukraine International Airlines (UIA), which will operate flights to India avoiding Afghanistan.

United Airlines, British Airways and Virgin Atlantic have already stopped using Afghan airspace—the Afghan aviation regulator notified the companies that the country's airspace had been handed over to the military. This is either related to the Taliban's seizure of power or to US military actions to control the airport.

Later, European airlines such as Air France and Lufthansa also refused to fly over Afghanistan.

Ukraine's position

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba reported that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has reinforced the Ukrainian embassy in Tajikistan in connection with the transfer of power in Afghanistan to the Taliban, to help Ukrainians.

Thus, on the night of August 16, a Ukrainian plane evacuated 78 people from Afghanistan, including eight Ukrainians. Nine citizens of Afghanistan applied for asylum in Ukraine.

Later, another 90 Ukrainians of Ukrainian origin and members of their families requested evacuation from Afghanistan. It is known that another Ukrainian aircraft is waiting in Afghanistan for departure, but the problem with its departure is the residents of Afghanistan storming it.

International reaction

US President Joe Biden, in his address, said that although the US "made many mistakes" during the war in Afghanistan, he justified the withdrawal of American troops by saying that the main purpose of the war in Afghanistan was not the fight against insurgents (the Taliban) or the building of a democratic system, but only the defeat of al-Qaeda, which was achieved 10 years ago.

Joe Biden
President of the United States

We must be honest: our mission in Afghanistan made many mistakes, many missteps over the last two decades... But I do not regret my decision to end America's war in Afghanistan, because American troops cannot and should not die in a war in which Afghan forces are not prepared to fight for themselves.

However, he stressed that the US will continue to support the Afghan people.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, in her first statement on the situation in Afghanistan, also spoke of "mistakes made." According to her, more time was needed to stabilize the situation in the region.

Angela Merkel
Chancellor of Germany

We all—and I must take responsibility myself—miscalculated regarding the development of events in Afghanistan... We were in Afghanistan for almost 20 years, and over this period we did not manage to achieve this. Therefore, it must be said that the efforts were not successful, and lessons must be drawn from this and more manageable goals set.

EU foreign ministers will hold crisis talks on the situation in Afghanistan on August 17.

Josep Borrell
EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs

Afghanistan stands at a crossroads, and the safety and well-being of its citizens, as well as international security, are under threat.