Afghan families, including young children, face harsh beatings by the Taliban while trying to flee the country.
As numerous reports have suggested, people, both Afghan and foreign, who are trying to reach the international airport in Kabul to escape the country are facing violence at Taliban checkpoints.
“There have been instances where we have received reports of people being turned away or pushed back or even beaten,” US national security adviser Jake Sullivan previously admitted.
“We are taking that up in a channel with the Taliban to try to resolve those issues. And we are concerned about whether that will continue to unfold in the coming days.”
Though the Taliban have promised safe passage to anyone who wishes to leave the country, plenty of reports suggest otherwise.
In one instance, Taliban fighters allegedly stopped an Afghan family and proceeded to beat the parents and their two young kids even after they presented valid travel documents. Following the punishment, the family was forced to return home to treat their injuries.
Meanwhile, the Taliban have been pictured using batons and whips to beat civilians who are rallying outside the Kabul international airport in an attempt to flee the new regime.
Among other concerning stories is also that of a British man and his wife who were told by their embassy to go to the Baron Hotel in Kabul in order to be rescued.
As the man, who chose to remain anonymous, explained, the only way for him and his wife to reach the hotel is to go through three Taliban checkpoints. After attempting to reach the hotel, the couple got severely beaten by the insurgents before they could even reach the second checkpoint, prompting them to return to the house where they were staying.
According to the man, who spoke to The Independent, he and his wife are now terrified of not being able to get to the airport before all of the troops are fully withdrawn from the country.
“People from the Foreign Office were instructing us to go to the Baron Hotel – but before you get to the Baron there are three Taliban checkpoints,” the man said.
“When we went to the first one last night, there were about four to five Taliban there and they would not let us get through.
“We showed them our documents, emails, and our Foreign Office details, but the Taliban attacked us because they knew we were fleeing the country. They said there’s no way we could go to the hotel and that we should go back or they would shoot.”
He added: “I spoke to them and started arguing with them, saying: ‘Please let us go. We don’t want to stay here in Afghanistan. We are going back to the UK.’ But they said no and started to fire on our car.
“My wife escaped from the car and another guy, who had a Kalashnikov, started to beat my wife. I tried to save her from the beating and then he started to beat me as well. We were in so much pain so we told them we would leave.”
Meanwhile, a UN document has warned that the Taliban have initiated door-to-door searches in an attempt to get revenge on individuals who worked for the government or NATO forces despite the group’s leaders claiming they would not be carrying out revenge killings.
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