Last 24 Hours Of U.S. Presence In Kabul Sees Bizarre Collaboration

Tameem Akhgar, Matthew Lee, Lolita C. Baldor, Rahim Faiez and Calvin Woodward / APBone-tired like everyone else in Kabul, Taliban fighters spent the last moments of the 20-year Afghanistan war watching the night skies for the flares that would signal the United States was gone. From afar, U.S. generals watched video screens with the same anticipation.For those in between and left behind — possibly a majority of the allied Afghans who sought U.S.

The Taliban had worried that the Americans would rig the airport with mines. Instead the Americans left them with two useful fire trucks and functional front-end loaders along with a bleak panorama of self-sabotaged U.S. military machinery. “I refused to send another generation of America’s sons and daughters to fight a war that should have ended long ago,” he said.

A small unit at the airport for unaccompanied children set up by Norway was quickly overwhelmed, prompting UNICEF to take over. UNICEF is now running a center for unaccompanied child evacuees in Qatar. By then, he said, “everyone was calm. Just normal chitchat.” Yet, “We were just counting minutes and moments for the time to rise our flag after full independence.”

“It involved some really painful trade-offs for everyone involved,” the official said of the selections for evacuation. “Everyone who lived it is haunted by the choices we had to make.” But a 24-year-old former U.S. contractor, Salim Yawer, who obtained visas and a gate pass with the help of his brother, a U.S. citizen, never got out with his wife and children aged 4 and 1 1/2. They tried four times to get to the airport before the Americans left.

On the ground, Najibullah Ismailzada said his brother-in-law Zemarai Ahmadi had just arrived home from his job working with a Korean charity. As he drove into the garage, his children came out to greet him, and that’s when the missile struck. Again, Islamic State militants, common foe of both the Taliban and the Americans, were suspected as the source.

Singapore Latest News, Singapore Headlines

Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.

Tennis: Svitolina sees off Halep in US Open fourth roundNEW YORK: World number five Elina Svitolina produced a solid performance to dispatch Simona Halep 6-3 6-3 in the fourth round of the US Open on Sunday. The 12th-seeded Romanian won an epic 33-shot rally in the second game but a dozen unforced errors in the first set handed Svitolina the upper hand.
Source: ChannelNewsAsia - 🏆 6. / 66 Read more »

Tennis:Tiafoe stuns Rublev to move into US Open last-16NEW YORK : American Frances Tiafoe pulled off a remarkable comeback to upset fifth seed Andrey Rublev 4-6 6-3 7-6(6) 4-6 6-1 in a see-saw encounter to move into the fourth round of the U.S. Open on Friday.In a match that lasted nearly four hours and finished at 2:15 am local time, Tiafoe was spurred on by
Source: ChannelNewsAsia - 🏆 6. / 66 Read more »

Tennis: Relentless Raducanu races into US Open last 16NEW YORK: British teenager Emma Raducanu extended her dream run at Flushing Meadows with a comprehensive 6-0 6-1 victory over Spain\u0027s Sara Sorribes Tormo to storm into the last 16 the U.S. Open on Saturday. The 18-year-old Raducanu, who burst onto the scene earlier this year by reaching the fourth round at
Source: ChannelNewsAsia - 🏆 6. / 66 Read more »

Taliban battle for Panjshir as US warns of Afghanistan civil warKABUL: Taliban fighters advanced deep into the last holdout province of Panjshir on Sunday (Sep 5), as the top US general warned Afghanistan faces a wider civil war that would offer fertile ground for a resurgence of terrorism. Following their lightning-fast rout of Afghanistan\u0027s army last month - and
Source: ChannelNewsAsia - 🏆 6. / 66 Read more »

Kabul airport reopens to receive aid, domestic flights restartDUBAI: Ariana Afghan Airlines resumed some flights in Afghanistan between Kabul and three major provincial cities on Saturday (Sep 4), the carrier said, after a technical team from Qatar reopened the capital\u0027s airport for aid and domestic services. Flights between Kabul and the western city of Herat, Mazar
Source: ChannelNewsAsia - 🏆 6. / 66 Read more »