Taliban takeover of Afghanistan

Whoever this person was, no longer has an account on twitter

Zoya
@Zoya_nafidi

Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan
"Zoya" is a pseudonym for an active member of RAWA's Foreign Committee who has traveled to many countries, including the United States, Spain and Germany.


but the Zoya on the twitter account was either in Afghanistan, or posting photos from Afghanistan.

SAS in dramatic desert raid to save troops from Taliban: As Kandahar fell, how our elite soldiers were stranded hundreds of miles from safety... until a daring rescue in the dead of night

20 elite SAS troops were left stranded in the province away from friendly forces
They sent an SOS request to Special Forces as enemy fighters closed in
Soldiers were forced to fight their way to secret desert location to go into hiding

The plan to rescue the stranded SAS troops was put together by the Joint Special Forces Aviation Wing. The aircraft and crew came from the RAF’s 47 Squadron. It comes as Taliban fighters were on the move last night to take over a key Afghanistan province currently outside of their control.

Hundreds of troops are heading towards Panjshir Valley, an area above Kabul long known for its opposition to extremists.


In a statement, the insurgents said their soldiers were planning to take control of the region ‘after local state officials refused to hand it over peacefully’. But they are expected to meet significant resistance from thousands of ex-government troops who have joined forces with local militia.

They are led by Ahmad Massoud, the leader of the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan, who warned that a new civil war is inevitable without a comprehensive power-sharing agreement.

Massoud claims to have some 9,000 fighters and has openly conducted training exercises showing recruits performing fitness routines. He also claims to have hundreds of military vehicles as well as five helicopters.

Pictures have emerged of a string of armoured vehicles lining up on the banks of the Panjshir River.

Defences are being bolstered at entrances to the Panjshir Valley, the south of which is guarded by a narrow gorge. Massoud said his group wants to push for a new system of government, but is prepared to fight if needed.

‘The Taliban will not last long if it continues on this path,’ he said. ‘We are ready to defend Afghanistan and we warn of a bloodshed.’

Inspired by past victories against the Soviets and the Taliban, Panjshiri soldiers have spoken in recent days about ‘a fight to the death’.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9917109/SAS-dramatic-desert-raid-save-troops-Taliban.html

flamming_python wrote:https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/blinken-says-12-nations-to-host-afghan-evacuees/article36026865.ece

Mr Blinken said in a Friday statement that potential Afghan refugees not already cleared for resettlement in the United States will be housed at facilities in Albania, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Chile, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Mexico, Poland, Qatar, Rwanda, Ukraine and Uganda.

Nice coalition of countries to dump unwanted refugees into there
What happens to the Afghans that are ultimately not cleared for entry into the US? These countries will have to host them forever?

Well Columbia, Chile, Albania, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Qatar, Poland and Ukraine are self-explanatory really. Lots of favours they owe the US. The blowjob Radislav Sikorsky referred to

And Costa Rica, Rwanda and Uganda can sure use any money they can get. Don't think the refugees will see any of that money spent on housing them though.

Canada is woke to all hell although it comes as a surprise to me I must say. They tend to only take in skilled immigrants and why would they agree to potentially host the refugees that the US will reject?

Not sure what's in it for Mexico.

Mr. Blinken. What a disaster.

Well, if they go to Mexico, they can just stroll through our Southern border, everyone else does. Same for Columbia, Chile. The rest, if they can fly to Mexico, easy peasy!

This interview by @bbclysedoucet with @BSaraway as he leaves #Afghanistan will have been painful for both. Bilal is one of the country’s brightest and best journalists, departing with no idea when he might be able to return.



https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1429495279141548041.html

Kabul's airport is the epicenter of a desperate and deadly scramble to escape the Taliban
By Sheena McKenzie, Nick Paton Walsh and Sam Kiley, CNN

Updated 1:28 PM ET, Sun August 22, 2021

(CNN)One week after the Taliban takeover of Kabul, the situation at the capital's airport has become increasingly desperate, with more than 20,000 people in and around the facility trying to board flights and another seven Afghan civilians killed in crushes, amid one of the largest airlifts in history.

The airport is the epicenter of a chaotic scramble to escape the country for tens of thousands of people -- including international workers, Afghan interpreters and women now at risk under Taliban rule.

By Sunday morning, the number of people at the airport awaiting flights had swelled to 18,500, with another 2,000 at the gates waiting to get in, a source familiar with the situation told CNN.

One reason for the chaos was the decision to issue electronic visas to Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) applicants, without names or document numbers. The visas were then copied as screen shots and sent by Afghans to thousands of other Afghans who were not eligible for access to the airport, the source said.


(When CNN criticizes Joe Biden, then Biden must now be a liability to the powers who made him President.)

Among those criticizing the US withdrawal is former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, who was leader when his country helped the US push the Taliban from power in 2001.
"The abandonment of Afghanistan and its people is tragic, dangerous, unnecessary, not in their interests and not in ours," Blair wrote Saturday in an article published on his Institute for Global Change think tank website.
He added that the decision to pull troops out of the country had been done "in obedience to an imbecilic political slogan about ending 'the forever wars.'"

https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/22/asia/kabul-airport-chaos-evacuations-intl/index.html



Muslim Shirzad
@MuslimShirzad
·
15h
A besieged airport of the world - Taliban, Americans & Frustrated People

Muslim Shirzad
@MuslimShirzad
·
7h
New Frontline Again- Panjsher
Registani fought against both U.S.S.R and Taliban alongside commander Massoud in the valley and young faces are those anti-Taliban commanders/commandos that fought against Taliban from North to South in the last 20 yrs.

Seems history repeating!

Taliban again confirms the deadline of the 31st of August:
https://sputniknews.com/world/202108231083689434-red-line-taliban-warns-of-consequences-if-us-occupation-of-afghanistan-extended/

So, with 7 days to go and over 6000 troops and equipment there. Time is Up.

----

I really do not know what is worse, Saigon 2.0 at Kabul Airport.
...Or the Absolute Stupidity on social media related to Saigon 2.0.

Check this diamond out of situational awareness:
People are piling up on this supposed "disrespect of U.S troops".

Do people actually think troops carefully read the labels of MRE's before throwing them to the starving mass outside?.
You be suprised how many MRE's contain pork somewhere. There was like ONE veggie pack in the whole box.

PapaDragon wrote:No matter how hard you try to fight it you will still get lots and lots chocolate grandkids and you will love it

Not gonna happen. Putin has decided not to allow Afghans to enter Russia Though Western leaders might let a few in.

https://nypost.com/2021/08/22/vladimir-putin-refuses-to-allow-afghan-refugees-into-russia/

Fake Whites like you who pretend to be Serbs will of course get their black, brown ass deported to third world states.....maybe Afghanistan.

@ Airbornewolf

".....Taliban again confirms the deadline of the 31st of August......."

The Super powers of the day , with much more financial backing and military support and local popular support , and better planning , could not rule Afghanistan . I think the chances of the Taliban , an absolute minority , with limited support from Pakistan ( Pakistan itself , is a chaotic space ) or Persian Gulf Monarchies , and with tribalistic tendencies being able to unite Afghanistan or rule is Zero . The Chances are that , their deadlines will fall on dead ears . And so will anyone else fall , should they attempt dominance by force .

The Evac of "own" personell is starting it seems:
Like i said before, They need to start now if they want to get out in time.

Not only sputnik is reporting it, i see it too on other news sources.

Taken this morning:



There will be a point soon where things will no longer be this "organised".
No sneaking away in the middle of the night this time.

Unless they actually get the Taliban to take over the NATO positions at the gates.
There will be another storming of the airfield by civilians.

Cowboy's daughter wrote:The Taliban is in control of the civilian airport in Kabul, correct?

I did not know either how far exactly NATO's perimiter stretched into the civilian part.
But here is the answer:
Taliban right outside the terminal, with NATO forces in and around the cvilian terminal.

Airbornewolf wrote:The Evac of "own" personell is starting it seems:
Like i said before, They need to start now if they want to get out in time.

Not only sputnik is reporting it, i see it too on other news sources.

I don't have words.

JohninMK wrote:US SF 160th SOAR in Kabul. Yet more valuable gear to remove or destroy by the 31st. Must be one hell of a journey to fly those helicopters all the way to/from the Gulf. Ten hours+? They say they that the US Gov hasn't allowed their use so far.

First photo is labelled a Black Hawk MH-60, there looks to be 4 in the third picture and 4 MH-6 Little Birds in the second.

]

They can load up the choppers here pretty easily on C-17's or A400's.
Its easier than loading it up with regular cargo.
It takes two minutes, seriously.
Strap it down in another two-three minutes and it's ready for Take-off.

All it takes is removing the fuel and rotor blades and some heavy-duty straps inside the C-17.
Considering the pricetag here involved, i'd take them with me.

However the question is if there is time and an airplane available to take these with you back home?.
If they can not take them with them because of time constraints, they propably roll an Magnesium grenade into them when they board the last transport out of there.