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classyfoxdestiny · 3 years

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Horror at Kabul’s gate to freedom #ٹاپسٹوریز

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Horror at Kabul’s gate to freedom

| Special report

Inside the final deadly moments of the US’ longest-running war

By Nick Paton Walsh, Sandi Sidhu, Julia Hollingsworth, Masoud Popalzai, Sitara Zamani, Abdul Basir Bina, Katie Polglase and Gianluca Mezzofiore

February 8, 2022

On August 26, 2021, a blast ripped through a crowd outside Kabul airport. More than 180 people were confirmed dead, including 13 American troops.

The Pentagon says all were killed by an ISIS-K bomb.

A CNN investigation raises questions over whether some may have been shot.

Thursday, August 26, 2021 17:36:52 p.m.

The blast ripped through the desperate mass of people outside Kabul airport, turning the sewage canal they’d been standing in red with body parts and blood.

Shogofa Hamidi opened her eyes to find the air thick with smoke, she said. Bodies had fallen on top of each other, and human flesh had splattered onto her face and into her mouth. The travel documents she had been holding had turned to ash.

Around her, people were screaming and wailing. Within minutes, according to Shogofa, the shooting started.

What happened next is part of the untold — and still disputed — story of the attack on Abbey Gate.

Clothes and blood stains in the sewage canal following the blast. Credit: Wakil Kohsar/AFP/Getty Images

Backpacks and belongings of Afghans who were waiting to be evacuated. Credit: Wakil Kohsar/AFP/Getty Images

The Pentagon said Friday all 170 Afghans and 13 United States service members who died that day were killed in the blast. A three-and-a-half-month US military investigation involving interviews with 139 people concluded that while US Marines opened fire twice after the blast, none of the bullets hit anyone, according to a detailed media briefing by the investigating team on February 4.

The British military say their troops fired into the air to clear a pressing crowd, but nobody was hit. ISIS-K claimed responsibility for the bombing, which caused the highest US death toll from a single incident in Afghanistan in more than a decade.

But a four-month CNN investigation raises hard questions over what really happened that day — and how so many people died.

CNN spoke to more than 70 witnesses and families of the dead, reviewed medical records and analyzed video, photos and audio of the scene. Medical staff and administrators at five hospitals that received victims from the attack noted the presence of bullet wounds, and one doctor described removing bullets himself. Hospital statements and patients’ medical records reference bullet wounds. Survivors and families of some of the dead insisted some of the dead and wounded were shot.

Two forensic blast analysts said it was unlikely that so many people could have died in a single person-borne explosion, though other experts told CNN it was possible.

But there are limits to what can be learned. Autopsies are not common in Afghanistan, leaving the medical assessments inconclusive. Video from social media and the military is spotty, and there are gaps in the timeline of events where no footage seems to exist. There are limits to the US military investigation as well. Investigators did not speak to any staff at Afghanistan hospitals or medical staff outside of the US military. Nor did they interview any Afghan civilians.

Still, the information obtained by CNN raises the possibility that gunfire could have played a role in injuries and deaths on that terrible day, despite American and British military denials. This reporting prompts questions about whether the full story has been told about military conduct in the aftermath of the blast.

How it happened

In the days leading up to the blast, Afghans thronged around the perimeter of Kabul airport, clamoring for a flight out of the city.

The Taliban had taken the capital on August 15, plunging the country back into the hands of a repressive regime the US and its allies had fought for almost 20 years to repel.

By August 26, the desperation outside the airport’s walls was at its peak.

A US Marine at Hamid Karzai International Airport on August 26, 2021. Credit: Staff Sgt. Victor Mancilla/US Marine Corps/Reuters

People gather near an evacuation control checkpoint on the perimeter of Kabul airport on August 26, 2021. Credit: Wali Sabawoon/AP

Afghans attempting to flee the country try to reach foreign forces outside Kabul airport on August 26, 2021. Credit: Akhter Gulfam/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

The US soldiers were just five days away from their deadline to leave and the risks were increasing of an ISIS-K attack. The US Embassy in Kabul warned people to stay away from the airport, unless specifically invited by a US representative.

But the crowds came anyway. Some Afghans arrived at the airport clutching visas or passports for other countries. Others held only hope that they would somehow be ushered through the airport gates.

After the capital fell, thousands of Afghans gathered daily at Hamid Karzai International Airport.

It was the main US evacuation route out of the country and the last place in the capital still under US control.

But getting into the airport — and out of the country — wasn’t easy.

Afghans needed to get through one of the airport gates — and for many, that meant going through Abbey Gate.

Some evacuees stood in a sewage canal that runs along the perimeter of the airport, waving their documents.

Then evacuees needed to get past the allied forces manning the entrance.

This satellite photo shows crowds gathering at the Abbey Gate checkpoint on August 25 — the day before the blast.

The following day, a suspected suicide bomber would detonate an explosive near Abbey Gate.

In the hours before the August 26 blast, video shows people massing near the razor-wire fence guarded by allied troops that separated them from the airport.

Watch what it was like on the ground

Shogofa and her sister Morsal were among the crowd of people standing in the filthy sewage stream, hoping to show their travel documents to French soldiers. Morsal, then 17, had been accepted to a French university and her sister and parents had been told they could evacuate with her.

Nearby, Ahmad, who does not wish to use his real name for safety reasons, was standing with more than a dozen of his family members, including women and children. Some clutched bags stuffed with clothes and belongings for the journey.

Unlike thousands of others, they had valid travel documents: One was a US citizen, some had green cards, and another obtained a visa after working for the Americans.

Shortly before the blast, most of Ahmad’s family had crossed the sewage canal to the area near where US troops were checking documents. The men were passing up the last of their luggage behind them.

Then the bomb detonated…

“The sky turned red with dust.”

“The canal was filled with blood.”

“There was a mountain of dead bodies.”

“(I saw) pieces of human limbs and clothes flying in the air.”

Some Afghans were killed instantaneously. Others were thrown to the ground. On the airport side of the canal, foreign troops lay dead or injured, according to witnesses. Others were still blocking the gate to the airport as dazed Afghans struggled to their feet.

As Shogofa lay in a pile of bodies, she said she saw soldiers in American uniforms rush to pull their injured comrades to safety. Then Shogofa says she saw troops firing on injured Afghans.

“I saw people who were injured in the explosion trying to get up, but they fired on them,” she said.

Shogofa felt someone pulling on her head. It was her sister Morsal, who was bleeding and moving her mouth as if to call her sister’s name, but was unable to speak.

“There was so much blood coming out of her face, like a faucet running full of blood,” Shogofa said.

“There was no shooting in the air. They were targeting people. It was intentional”

Nazir, an eyewitness

Morsal had been hit by shrapnel in the shoulder in the blast but was still able to stand. Shortly after the blast, she said she also saw soldiers firing on those who were standing. Then a bullet struck her jaw and came out the right side of her neck, she said. A medical report from the Italian-run Emergency Surgical Center in Kabul, seen by CNN, confirmed she had been hit by a bullet.

Nineteen witnesses said they either saw people being hit by gunfire or were hit by gunfire themselves. While CNN has not been able to verify each witness account of seeing gunfire, it adds to the pressing questions the US military faces over the incident.

When he came to after the explosion, Ahmad leapt into the canal, where he found his cousin, Mohammad, injured but conscious. He pulled him to the side of the putrid water. As Ahmad tried to help his other relatives, he saw a bullet strike Mohammad’s forehead, killing him instantly.

This medical report from the Italian-run Emergency Surgical Center in Kabul diagnoses Morsal with a “B.I.” — or bullet injury — to the left side of her face. Credit: Supplied

This death certificate notes that Mohammad died from “shot injury and blast injuries.” Credit: Supplied

Nazir, 16, who was at the airport with his brother, his brother’s wife and their children, said the shooting seemed to start straight after the explosion.

“There was no shooting in the air. They were targeting people. It was intentional,” he said. “In front of me, people were getting shot at and falling down.”

Another survivor, Noorullah Zakhel, was also standing in the canal when the blast went off. He said he turned to his cousin, Suhail, who appeared uninjured by the blast. “Run,” he said.

Noorullah said he heard shooting as he clambered up the canal wall, so he dropped to the ground and hid among dead bodies. Noorullah noted that the bullets seemed to hit those who tried to flee, so he turned to a family lying next to him and said: “Please don’t run, they will shoot you.”

He recalled soldiers standing in front of him. “They said nothing — they just shooted people.” The next day, Noorullah’s family told him that Suhail had died after being hit by what appeared to be a bullet.

Who fired shots

The US military confirmed only American and British troops were in the area at the time — but they say witnesses who claim to have seen people being shot were mistaken.

“The testimony you describe is not inconsistent with the recollections of people with jumbled memories from a concussive event who witnessed trauma and are doing their best to piece together what their brain is unlikely to remember clearly,�� said Captain Bill Urban, the spokesman for US Central Command (CENTCOM), the part of the US military overseeing Afghanistan, among other countries. “The testimony of people being shot is not, however, supported by any of the other facts as we know them.”

One of the US investigators, Colonel CJ Douglas, told reporters Friday that US Marines and troops from the United Kingdom did fire after the blast over the canal at two “military-aged males,” but he added that none of the bullets hit their target or any Afghans.

In one incident, Marines “fired four warning shots over the head of an individual who displayed concerning behavior and appeared to be observing the casualty site,” Douglas said. “This individual of interest ultimately fled unharmed,” he added.

That day, US or UK troops were in control of all major compounds around the blast site.

Airport security was run by the US military, although they were joined at the gates in the days ahead of the blast by other allied nations.

The other side of the canal was also largely controlled by UK forces.

The Zohak — which has a helipad — was used by the British and US intermittently, according to two people familiar with the situation.

Nearby Baron Hotel was used by the British to process visa applications.

At about the same time, UK troops fired a small number of warning shots into the air from a tower inside a nearby compound called the Zohak Village in the hopes of preventing a “crowd surge,” according to a UK defense spokesperson. These also hit no one, according to the spokesperson. Another US investigator, Brig. Gen. Lance G. Curtis, said Friday the British fired 25 to 35 rounds over the crowd.

In another incident, a unit of Marines just inside the airport’s outer walls opened fire on a man seen holding an AK-47, CENTCOM spokesman Urban said in a separate statement to CNN. It was not clear how many rounds were fired, but it was likely less than a magazine — 30 rounds — as it did not require a magazine change, he said. “They did not see if the rounds struck the male, but they did not see him again either,” Urban added.

But a senior military official familiar with the investigation denied anyone was hit by gunfire. “Nothing in the investigation — we interviewed all these Marines — led us to conclude that any of that fire struck civilians in any way,” said the official. “All the civilian casualties were attributed to the blast itself.”

“Nothing in the investigation…led us to conclude that any of that fire struck civilians in any way”

senior US military official

“There were warning shots fired by both Brits and others that were misconstrued as a complex attack,” the official said, using a term that refers to an attack with more than one weapon type or attacker. He added that if there were civilian casualties from gunfire, US military ethics would mean personnel on the scene would have reported them.

“I don’t find it credible,” he said. “Not a single Marine in all our interviews was (saying) ‘Listen, I need to talk to you individually. I saw a war crime.’”

Inside the hospitals

Survivors’ claims that they saw people shot are supported by medical documents and interviews with doctors. In 14 cases, medical reports or statements indicate the patient or victim was hit by gunfire.

Three survivors provided medical reports that confirmed bullet wounds, including one from the US military’s Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Maryland. That report was provided by a survivor who was evacuated to the US and spoke on condition of anonymity. The report says the person sustained a gunshot wound to the chest, as well as blast injuries. Morsal Hamidi’s report from the Italian-run Emergency Surgical Center in Kabul says she was shot in the face. Another man provided a report that confirmed a bullet injury in his arm.

This medical report states that the patient had a gunshot injury to their right arm. Credit: Supplied

A medical document from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center describing a gunshot wound. Credit: Supplied

CNN also obtained medical documents and a hospital statement confirming that 11 of the dead had been hit by bullets. Ahmad, who lost three relatives in the blast, showed CNN two separate reports from the Daoud Khan Military Hospital stating that his brother and cousin died “due to gunshot injury and blast injuries” from the airport attack.

The Italian-run Emergency Surgical Center also said in a statement they received nine bodies with gunshot wounds in the hour after the explosion. Seven had apparent gunshot injuries to the head, and two had injures to the chest, a spokesperson said, adding the diagnosis was based on the “appearance of the wounds” and not an X-ray or autopsy.

CNN spoke to medical staff at five Kabul hospitals where patients were treated that night who said some had been hit by bullets, suggesting the total hit by gunfire could be much higher. It was not possible for CNN to access the bodies or assess the methodology of the doctors and hospital staff, and autopsies are rare in Afghanistan. While inconclusive, the pattern of testimony from staff across these separate institutions generates further doubt as to whether more than 180 people were killed by one bomb, as the Pentagon insists.

Wounded women arrive at a hospital for treatment. Credit: Wakil Kohsar/AFP/Getty Images

Volunteers and medical staff help an injured man. Credit: Wakil Kohsar/AFP/Getty Images

A wounded man arrives at a hospital in Kabul after the blast. Credit: Victor J. Blue/The New York Times/Redux

One hospital, Wazir Akbar Khan, received approximately 60 injured people and 145 dead bodies, according to a doctor from the emergency ward who asked not to be named over safety concerns.

The doctor said he had examined the bodies both at night to search for anyone who might be alive among the dead and in the morning to look at the nature of the injuries.

“There was two kinds of injuries,” he said. “People burned from the blast with lots of holes in their bodies. But with the gunshot you can see just one or two holes — in the mouth, in the head, in the eye, in the chest.

“I removed bullets from four or five injured (people),” he said.

Another doctor at the same hospital’s emergency ward said he searched for his own relatives and any survivors among the bodies. He asked not to be identified for his own safety and said he saw many gunshot wounds.

“I can easily recognize gunshot wounds since we have long dealt with them in the hospital,” the doctor said.

Two other hospitals received a total of seven dead bodies with what doctors assessed as bullet wounds, according to medical sources.

“According to my 15 years of surgery in Afghanistan, bomb and bullet injuries are very different”

doctor at Wazir Akbar Khan hospital

CENTCOM spokesman Urban told CNN the medical staff had assessed the injuries incorrectly. US military medical examiners found there was no definitive way to determine objectively and scientifically the cause of death as being from a ball bearing or similar size bullet without a careful study of the internal wounds and finding the projectile that caused it, he said.

“(That was) unlikely to have occurred for a deceased mass casualty victim that arrived (at) a hospital during an ongoing massive trauma event,” Urban said. Investigators asserted there was “a lack of point of injury care, triage, and effective casualty evacuation” for Afghans in Kabul after the blast, he added.

The doctor who removed bullets from patients at Wazir Akbar Khan hospital disagreed and said he was able to determine the different injuries. “According to my 15 years of surgery in Afghanistan, bomb and bullet injuries are very different,” he said. “When a ball bearing enters the body it makes a big hole — different from a sharp bullet. When a bullet enters, it makes a small hole with a specific border and when it leaves it makes a big hole.”

US investigators accepted Friday they had obtained testimony solely from US and coalition personnel. “During the course of our investigation, we did not have an opportunity to speak with Afghans on the ground,” said one of the investigators, Army Brig. Gen. Curtis.

What the video evidence shows

Despite a large number of security cameras around Kabul airport and many Afghans posting videos on social media from the scene, there is limited footage of gunfire in the aftermath of the August 26 blast.

But some video appears to contrast with the US account.

This 33-second video was filmed at 5:40 p.m., about three minutes after the explosion.

It shows survivors of the blast frantically fleeing the scene. Gunshots can be heard.

The video also corroborates some witness testimony, as it shows what appear to be US troops on the airport wall and UK troops on the nearby tower.

The senior military official familiar with the investigation said any rounds were likely fired in the first three minutes after the blast, because no gunfire was apparent on a five-minute video shot by a drone, which started recording three minutes after the blast detonated. “At no point in time throughout this video can you see gunfire,” said the official.

CENTCOM’s Urban added of the drone video: “While this video is not definitive proof that no one was shot during periods of time when the scene was not observed by overhead cameras, they did conclusively demonstrate that the scene of the explosion was not the site of a mass shooting.

“Such an incident would have caused panicked fleeing that continued long after the shooting ended and the likes of which were never observed by any video,” he said.

On Friday, the Pentagon released that drone footage, which the senior military official said was never timestamped. The footage does not provide a stable, constant shot of the bomb’s aftermath, and it does not conclusively support the US assertion that there was no gunfire.

None of the footage obtained by CNN, or the Pentagon, shows US troops firing at civilians. The US official said investigators had not obtained surveillance video of the incident or aftermath.

What the experts say

The senior US military official familiar with the investigation told CNN during a three-and-a-half-hour briefing at the Pentagon in January that everyone who died in the August 26 attack was killed in the blast.

A number of bodies are visible at the start of the US drone footage, though the US official said they had not counted them.

The US official said their experts estimated the size of the bomb to be around 20 pounds (9 kilograms). However, the official noted that their explosives experts had only been able to access the scene 13 hours after the blast. “Their ability to do some forensic collection got really disrupted,” he said. “They did pick up some backpack pieces, things they thought might be part of a vest. None of it came back with any conclusive evidence.” Experts estimated the size of the bomb by comparing it to previous explosions done in tests, he said.

CENTCOM spokesman Urban said in addition to the 13 service members killed, 45 were injured, despite wearing body armor. “The device would have caused catastrophic injuries to the majority of Afghan civilians in the canal,” he said.

Possible blood stains on the wall of the sewage canal. Credit: CNN

The number of casualties attributed to the blast “and the analysis of our experts demonstrated that such a device could reasonably be expected to have killed all of the 160 to 170 Afghan civilians,” he said.

But experts CNN spoke to were divided as to whether the death toll was unusually high for a 20-pound device.

Pete Norton, an experienced bomb scene investigator and former British Army ammunition technical officer with 30 years’ experience, said it was possible that a 20-pound bomb could have caused over 180 deaths near in the Abbey Gate setting, given the conditions at the time.

Other experts say the damage to the walls around Abbey Gate indicate the bomb may not have been that powerful.

Possible ball bearings found in a pole near the Abbey Gate entrance. Credit: CNN

Possible shrapnel marks from the blast. Credit: CNN

The scene of the blast when CNN visited in November. Credit: CNN

When CNN visited the site in November, the stone walls were marked by what appeared to be pockmarks and blood stains. But there was an absence of significant damage to the walls and infrastructure, suggesting the device may have been smaller than 20 pounds, according to Chris Cobb-Smith, a war crimes investigator and ballistic and blast forensic analyst with 38 years’ military experience. Cobb-Smith, also a former United Nations weapons inspector, was hired by CNN and flown to Kabul to conduct a site survey.

“The number of casualties both dead and wounded is unprecedented for the alleged size of the device utilized in this incident,” he wrote in a statement.

Rachel Lance, an assistant consulting professor at Duke University, who specializes in injury biomechanics and the trauma patterns from blasts, also said the death toll of 180 didn’t align with the size of the bomb. She said the toll was much higher than any other explosion she was aware of from an improvised, person-carried bomb that hadn’t also involved a plane crash or building collapse.

“This death toll is wildly inconsistent compared to all known historical case reports for a bomb that was carried by a single person in an outdoor setting,” said Lance, who based her analysis on images provided by CNN from the scene.

The Pentagon account

The witness accounts, medical reports and expert evidence all raise doubts over the US version of events, which has changed in the months after the blast.

In a press conference on August 27, Maj. Gen. Hank Taylor, deputy director of the joint staff for regional operations, said one suicide bomber was backed by gunmen.

“What we know, there was shooters,” he told reporters. “(We) don’t know the exact number, but one with the suicide vest.”

He did not specify where they were located, only saying that the shooters were in an “enemy position” that was “just north of that gate area.”

In an interview published on September 15, the ground commander of the Abbey Gate unit, US Marine Major Ben Sutphen, told CBS News he had been standing 15 feet (4.5 meters) from the blast and witnessed a fellow American Marine get shot in the shoulder. The soldier managed to retrieve his weapon and “puts the opposing gunman down,” Sutphen said.

Following its investigation, the US military concluded that only UK and US troops fired their weapons near Abbey Gate that day, according to the senior military official. The Taliban did not fire at the scene during the aftermath of the blast, and there were no other gunmen present, the official said.

The Pentagon has since assessed that Sutphen’s statements were in error and based on what he had been told by fellow Marines, rather than what he saw, according to the official.

The US official said this, and “a small number of inconsistencies” in other sworn testimony from US personnel, were common in the aftermath of a devastating blast and did not alter their confidence in the narrative provided to investigators by US personnel.

“In general, the investigation did not believe that anyone who testified about an unsupported event was intentionally lying to investigators and attributed the most likely cause of the inconsistency to the concussive blast effect on the individual’s memory,�� CENTCOM spokesman Urban added.

Families left behind

For relatives of those killed and wounded, the evidence poses questions that need answers.

On August 26, they hoped to flee the repressive Taliban regime.

Now, months later, many are stranded, in a worse situation than before the takeover.

Some families are still grieving loved ones who were killed. Others are separated by continents.

Ahmad went to the airport to help his family members leave the country. Now his family is torn apart. Some of his relatives who reached the area where the US was processing visas before the blast escaped on flights and received treatment in the US for their injuries. But three of his relatives who tried to flee Afghanistan died in the attempt.

Morsal had been accepted to a French university and was trying to leave Afghanistan. Credit: CNN

Noorullah says his cousin was hit by a bullet. Credit: CNN

Before the attack, Noorullah wanted to be in the US with his cousin Suhail, working towards a new life. After the blast, he visited Suhail’s grave each day, where he mourned both his cousin and lost dreams. Now he is in Pakistan, where he is being treated for the shrapnel stuck in his head, according to his uncle.

Morsal, who was hit in the jaw, is still recovering from her injuries. She and her family have since managed to escape to France, but the horror of the attack is still with her.

“Every night is like a nightmare for me. I cannot sleep. I just try to remember all my hopes, all my wishes to just live.”

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mr-michael-kyle · 3 years

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The Taliban has declared August 31, the day after U.S. forces left Afghanistan, “Freedom Day.” Images by AFP via Getty Images (L) and courtesy of Twitter/Zhman TV (R)

August 31 has been declared “Freedom Day” in Afghanistan by members of the Taliban, who celebrated the final departure of the US by parading through the streets with coffins draped in American and NATO flags. Other coffins at the mock funeral, which occurred in the eastern city of Khost on Tuesday, had been cloaked in the flags of France and the UK – all countries which have now totally withdrawn from Afghanistan following a humiliating and ignominious defeat by local militant forces.

The white flag of the Taliban was waved on high by members of the procession.

“August 31 is our formal Freedom Day,” Taliban official Qari Saeed Khosti informed local tv station Zhman TV throughout its coverage of the event. “On this day, American occupying forces and NATO forces fled the country.”

The final U.S. evacuation flights lifted off from Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International airport at 11:59 p.m. local time on Monday, marking the official end of the longest war in American history and the complete surrender of Afghanistan to the Taliban, after almost 20 years of occupation. It additionally marked the end of a chaotic and at times disastrous evacuation mission that flew more than 120,000 U.S. citizens, allies and Afghans out of the country over the course of some 17 days following the fall of Kabul. Tens of thousands have been left behind.

Elsewhere around Afghanistan members of the Taliban celebrated by lofting rifles over their heads and firing into the air. Taliban militants roamed the capital and the airport clad in U.S. fatigues, brandishing American-made rifles and sporting state-of-the-art tactical gear as they inspected helicopters and planes left behind by Western forces. It is understood that the aircraft can’t be flown, having been disabled by Western troops prior to their departure. As one former special forces soldier who fought in Afghanistan told VICE World News: “If anything captured at Kabul ever flies again I’d be really shocked.”

Nonetheless, the footage coming out of Afghanistan following the departure of U.S. forces reaffirms the extreme new reality on the ground: that the country belongs to the Taliban now. And for those left behind in what has recently been renamed the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, the future is uncertain.

Less than a day after the U.S. left, reports suggested that the Taliban have been cementing the composition of their government. Citing Taliban sources, some reports stated the new appointments included Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the group’s co-founder, as foreign minister; Mullah Yaqub Akhund, the son of the group’s former leader Mullah Mohammad Omar, as defense minister; and Sirajuddin Haqqani, leader of the notorious Haqqani Network and one of the world’s most wanted terrorists, as interior minister. VICE World News haven’t been capable of verifying the positions independently.

Other members of the Haqqani Network have been previously spotted roaming freely through the streets of Kabul, stoking fears that the Taliban can be no less brutal in their governance of the country than when they had been last in power, between 1996 and 2001. During that time, the Taliban ruled a reign of terror with rife human rights abuses, as a result of their strict interpretation of Sharia law.

Additionally on Tuesday, al Qaeda released a statement on the Taliban’s victory in Afghanistan, congratulating the leaders of the Islamic emirate and the Islamic community at large for what they described as “a symbol of resilience and resistance against invading imperialist powers.”

“We praise the Almighty, the Omnipotent, who humiliated and defeated America, the head of disbelief,” reads the impassioned statement. “We praise Him for breaking America’s back, tarnishing its global reputation and expelling it, disgraced and humiliated, from the Islamic land of Afghanistan.”

“Afghanistan is undoubtedly a graveyard of empires and an impregnable fortress of Islam,” it continues. “Regardless of how well-equipped, numerically superior, hegemonic and brutal the enemy could be, it shall never have the ability to stand the test of time in the face of a nation that strongly holds onto the Book of Allah.”

Al Qaeda concluded by calling on the nation of Afghanistan to unite around the new leadership, and to “abide by the decisions and Shariah-based policies of the blessed Islamic Emirate.” The extremist group also advised that America’s defeat in Afghanistan set a precedent for Islamic groups all over the world, including in Europe and East Asia, to rise up in opposition to the West.

Speaking from the White House on August 31, President Joe Biden defended his decision. He also stated that “for those who remain, we will make arrangements to get them out if they so choose.”

“We’ll continue to work to assist more people leave the country who’re at risk. We’re far from done,” Biden stated, noting that “the Taliban has made public commitments, broadcast on tv and radio throughout Afghanistan on safe passage for anybody wanting to leave, including those that worked alongside Americans.”

The Taliban has reportedly agreed to permit foreign nationals and Afghans with relevant travel paperwork to depart the country safely after the international rescue mission ends. Whether or not they are going to honor their word remains to be seen – however Biden stated the U.S. “have leverage” to ensure these commitments are met.

“We’ll continue to support the Afghan folks through diplomacy, international influence and humanitarian aid,” he added. “We’ll continue to push for regional diplomacy engagement to prevent violence and instability. We’ll continue to speak out for the basic rights of Afghan folks, especially women and girls … Human rights will be the centre of our foreign policy. However the way to do this isn’t through endless military deployments, but through diplomacy, economic tools and rallying the rest of the world for support.”

“The war in Afghanistan is now over,” Biden declared. “[It] should have ended long ago.”

#afghanistan #taliban #usanews #worldnews #joebiden

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xtruss · 3 years

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A woman filmed a video screen showing President Xi Jinping commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party in Beijing on Thursday. Andy Wong/Associated Press

Xi Jinping Warns China Won’t Be Bullied as Communist Party Marks 100 Years

Celebrations help leader showcase achievements as he confronts a sluggish domestic economy and frosty ties with the U.S. and other Western powers. In fiery speech, president appeared to hit back at critics of the country's policies, human rights record

— By Chun Han Wong and Keith Zhai | July 1, 2021 | The Wall Street Journal

With a martial message of triumph, Chinese leader Xi Jinping marked his ruling Communist Party’s 100th birthday with calls to rouse patriotic passions, repel foreign coercion and entrench one-party rule, signaling defiance against U.S.-led efforts to pressure Beijing.

Addressing more than 70,000 people gathered Thursday at Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, Mr. Xi struck strident tones in recounting the party’s successes in surmounting challenges at home and abroad—from eliminating rural poverty to resisting imperialist aggression. He insisted that China has irreversibly emerged from past humiliation by foreign powers into an era of pride and prosperity.

The Chinese people “will never allow any foreign force to bully, oppress, or enslave us,” Mr. Xi said, dressed in a gray Mao suit atop the Gate of Heavenly Peace. “Anyone who tries to do so shall be battered and bloodied from colliding with a great wall of steel forged by more than 1.4 billion Chinese people using flesh and blood,” he said, drawing cheers and applause.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, centre, waves next to former president Hu Jintao, right, during a ceremony to mark the 100th anniversary of the founding of the ruling Chinese Communist Party at Tiananmen Gate in Beijing on Thursday. (Ng Han Guan/The Associated Press)

The centennial celebrations help Mr. Xi showcase his achievements as he confronts a sluggish domestic economy, frosty ties with the U.S. and other Western powers, and China’s souring international image. Officials have also used the grandiose festivities to underscore Mr. Xi’s clout as he prepares for a twice-a-decade party congress next year where he is expected to claim a third term as party chief and pick new lieutenants.

State media have echoed Mr. Xi’s messaging while saturating airwaves and newsprint with pro-party publicity. In a Thursday editorial, the party’s official mouthpiece, People’s Daily, called on the party’s 95 million members and the Chinese people to unite more closely around Mr. Xi’s leadership in striving to make China a rich, advanced and truly global power by 2049, the 100th anniversary of Communist rule.

In his speech, Mr. Xi offered little in the way of new policies and mainly restated his priorities, such as fighting corruption, strengthening the military and seeking unification with the democratically self-ruled island of Taiwan. He also offered assurances that China wants to be a peaceful and positive contributor to the global order, countering criticism of what Western governments have called Beijing’s abrasive diplomacy.

While Mr. Xi made no mention of U.S. efforts to assemble an international coalition against China’s industrial policies and suppression of civil liberties in Hong Kong and Xinjiang, he underlined Beijing’s defiance by invoking patriotic language from past speeches. He insisted that China alone would decide its path and brook no foreign meddling in its affairs.

The Communist Party and the Chinese people “welcome all helpful suggestions and constructive criticism,” Mr. Xi said. “But we won’t accept sanctimonious lectures from self-styled preachers.”

In the months before July 1, the party’s designated anniversary date, Mr. Xi directed a nationwide campaign to promote the party’s past glories. Patriotic slogans and floral arrangements have sprung up around Beijing and other cities, and authorities are releasing new movies and television series that dramatize the party’s revolutionary history.

The celebrations culminated in Thursday’s ceremony, where honor guards, military musicians, youthful choristers and thousands of flag-waving guests provided pomp and circumstance for the occasion.

The proceedings, which stretched close to two hours, kicked off with choral renditions of patriotic songs such as “Without the Communist Party, There Would be No New China” and featured a flyover by military helicopters and jets, including China’s J-20 stealth fighter. A phalanx of 56 artillery guns, a nod to China’s 56 officially recognized ethnic groups, fired a 100-shot salute to the party.

Former leader Hu Jintao and other retired party elders attended the ceremony, though 94-year-old Jiang Zemin, who was the party’s general secretary from 1989 to 2002, was absent. Mr. Jiang’s health has long been the subject of speculation in China.

Left: Members of a band representing the People’s Liberation Army played at the CCP’s 100th anniversary ceremony in Beijing on Thursday. Photo: Kevin Frayer/Getty Images. Right: A crowd listening to Xi Jinping speak in Beijing on Thursday. Photo: Kevin Frayer/Getty Images.

The festivities spilled onto Chinese social media, where only one of the top 50 trending topics on the Twitter-like Weibo platform on Thursday morning wasn’t related to the party centenary. On the video-streaming site Douyin, a video showing a girl who used red chile peppers to form a party flag drew nearly seven million views.

Leading Chinese entrepreneurs also took the opportunity to showcase their loyalty to the party amid government efforts to rein in some of the countries’ largest tech companies. Wang Xing, the chief executive of delivery giant Meituan, who sparked a social-media furor in May by posting an ancient poem that some readers interpreted as criticism of Mr. Xi, appeared in state-media footage showing the crowd on Tiananmen Square. China launched an antitrust investigation into Meituan in April.

Attendees wave Chinese flags during the ceremony at Tiananmen Square. (Ng Han Guan/The Associated Press)

On Thursday, meanwhile, Hong Kong marked the anniversary of its handover to China from the U.K. in a starkly different way from years past. A year after Beijing imposed a national security law on the city to stifle dissent, the boisterous and large pro-democracy march that took place annually on July 1 was replaced by a heavy police presence and proud displays of the Chinese flag.

Police officers put Hong Kong’s Victoria Park, where large crowds of protesters traditionally gather—as well as its surrounding areas—on lockdown. Tension in the streets rose as officers searched and detained pedestrians, at times laying out their belongings on the ground. Some who made pro-protest hand gestures or held up signs were also led away by the police.

Late Thursday, in the heavily patrolled Causeway Bay district, a man stabbed a police officer before reportedly stabbing himself to death. Police said in a statement on Facebook that the man attacked an officer with a knife, seriously injuring his back. The man then stabbed himself in the chest, according to local media outlets. A local hospital spokesman confirmed late Thursday that the man had died. It wasn’t immediately clear if the incident was related to the political anniversary.

— Elaine Yu in Hong Kong contributed to this article.

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novumtimes · 3 months

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Missing mother found dead inside 16-foot-long python after it swallowed her whole in Indonesia

A woman has been found dead inside the belly of a snake after it swallowed her whole in central Indonesia, a local official said Saturday, marking at least the fifth person to be devoured by a python in the country since 2017. The husband of 45-year-old Farida and residents of Kalempang village in South Sulawesi province discovered her on Friday inside the reticulated python, which measured around five meters (16 feet). The mother-of-four had gone missing Thursday night and failed to return home, forcing a search effort, village head Suardi Rosi told AFP. Her husband “found her belongings… which made him suspicious. The villagers then searched the area. They soon spotted a python with a large belly,” said Suardi. “They agreed to cut open the python’s stomach. As soon as they did, Farida’s head was immediately visible.” Farida was found fully clothed inside the snake. Graphic video published by TMZ appeared to show the snake being cut open in a wooded area while more footage posted by the Daily Mail appeared showed the woman’s body being carried in a blanket past distressed villagers. Other similar incidents in recent years Reticulated pythons grab onto their prey with dozens of sharp curved teeth and then squeeze it to death before swallowing it whole. They are widespread in Indonesia and other parts of Southeast Asia, and are known to eat monkeys, pigs and other mammals. A reticulated python (Malayopython reticulatus) wriggles over a tree trunk at Hagenbeck Zoo in December 2021. Axel Heimken/picture alliance via Getty Images Reports of humans being killed by pythons are extremely rare but several people have died in Indonesia in recent years after being swallowed whole by pythons. Last year, residents in Southeast Sulawesi’s Tinanggea district killed an eight-meter python, which was found strangling and eating one of the farmers in a village. In 2022, a woman in Indonesia’s Jambi province was killed and swallowed whole by a python, the BBC reported, citing local media. In 2018, a woman was found dead inside a seven-meter python in Southeast Sulawesi’s Muna town. Officials said the victim, 54-year-old Wa Tiba, went missing while checking her vegetable garden near her village. In 2017, a farmer in West Sulawesi went missing before being found eaten alive by a four-meter python at a palm oil plantation. A six-minute video obtained by CBS News showed villagers slicing open the python’s carcass to reveal the legs and torso of the dead victim, named Akbar. Villagers said the victim was likely ambushed from behind. “Reputation for being aggressive” The reticulated python is the longest snake in the world, according to London’s Natural History Museum. They are native to Southern Asia and can grow to be more than 20 feet long. The longest reticulated python ever found in the wild was discovered in 1912, according to the museum, and was measured to be nearly 33 feet long – “more than half the length of a bowling lane and makes this snake longer than a giraffe is tall.” Zoo Atlanta, which houses reticulated pythons, says the snakes “have a reputation for being aggressive.” The snakes are occasionally kept as pets in the U.S. Last year, a 14-foot-long reticulated python was found dead on side of the road on Long Island, prompting a search for its owner. In 2022, a 16-foot albino reticulated python that slithered through a Texas neighborhood for months was finally rescued and returned to its owner. More from CBS News Source link via The Novum Times

#The Novum Times

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dailynewswebsite · 4 years

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Repatriating the archives: Lumbee scholars find their people and bring them home

Jeanette W. Jones holds the September 1957 situation of Ebony journal, which options the article 'Thriller Folks of Baltimore: Neither crimson, nor black, nor white. Unusual ‘Indian’ tribe lives in world of its personal.' She is pictured at heart, together with her hand on her hip. Photograph Sean Scheidt; writer supplied, Writer supplied

Following World Warfare II, hundreds of Lumbee Indians migrated from their tribal homeland in rural North Carolina to industrialized cities, together with Baltimore and Philadelphia.

In search of work and a greater high quality of life, they shaped distinct Lumbee communities. They introduced their meals – cornbread, collards, pastry. They introduced their singing and powerful work ethic. They turned enterprise house owners. They based church buildings and concrete Indian Facilities.

Their lives and contributions turned a part of the historic document and cultural landscapes of those locations, however over time, a posh set of things have resulted within the motion and displacement of the individuals themselves.

We’re Lumbee students Ashley Minner from Baltimore and Jessica Locklear from Philadelphia. We now have mined native archives looking for our forebears. We’ve discovered information articles, images, maps and even video footage documenting kinfolk and buddies who usually don’t know they’re represented in collections.

As safeguarders of historical past, institutional archives essentially have guidelines in place to control entry to their collections. Most of the supplies are additionally topic to copyright, and the rights are owned by the creators of the supplies or their employers. In different phrases, a photographer or the corporate the photographer was working for would personal the rights to a particular {photograph}.

Confronted with restrictions as to how the recollections we discovered will be accessed and shared, we ask: Who has the best to the archives? What are our obligations each as tribal residents and public-facing researchers after we discover “our individuals” in them?

Ashley Minner, Baltimore

When Lumbee Indians moved to Baltimore, they settled in an space on the east aspect of city bridging the neighborhoods of Washington Hill and Higher Fells Level. The blocks of brick row homes with marble steps appeared nothing like the agricultural house they left behind, however as different ethnic communities had carried out earlier than them, they made this place their very own.

In 2018, I hit the archives in earnest, anxious to corroborate tales shared by my elders about “the reservation” they’d shaped there of their youth.

They described a panorama intimately acquainted to me, the place locations I grew up – the Baltimore American Indian Heart and South Broadway Baptist Church – are nonetheless open and working. However their tales had been stuffed with names of companies and other people I didn’t know as a result of this space has been regularly reworked since then.

View of South Broadway from the Baltimore American Indian Heart. Photograph by Colby Ware for OSI Baltimore, 2014

One of many first and richest sources of documentation I discovered was the Baltimore Information American newspaper photograph archive. There have been forgotten photos of neighborhood leaders, legends and even kinfolk.

My instant impulse was to share the images by way of social media so our individuals might get pleasure from them as effectively. To share them legally, I wanted permission from the Hearst Company, which owns the copyright, which I finally acquired, months later.

Within the meantime, I bumped into Hannah Locklear, one other Lumbee lady from Baltimore. She cried glad tears once I confirmed her one of many archival photos I had saved on my telephone. There was her great-grandma, Margie Chavis, younger, standing on the stoop of the Baltimore American Indian Heart. Together with our recollections, photos from archives like these are typically all that stay.

A fellow researcher alerted me to a September 1957 Ebony journal article – “Thriller Folks of Baltimore: Neither crimson, nor black, nor white. Unusual ‘Indian’ tribe lives in world of its personal.”

A grainy print copy is on the market at Baltimore’s Enoch Pratt Free Library. I observed immediately that one of many featured images – taken at a youth social dance and captioned “Typical Indian lady” – was my Aunt Jeanette. Simply 14 years outdated, she was neither interviewed nor informed how her photograph can be used.

With nice celebration, the Ebony and Jet Journal photograph archives had been lately donated to the Nationwide Museum of African American Historical past and Tradition and the Getty Analysis Institute so they might be “broadly accessible to researchers, students and the general public.” However these archives aren’t publicly out there but.

Extremely, a duplicate of the journal itself was listed within the collections of a London prop store. I purchased it and introduced it house to Aunt Jeanette.

She rigorously opened the yellowed, outsized journal and delightedly discovered a teenage model of herself inside, together with images of different Lumbee younger individuals, new on the Baltimore scene, enjoying at youth facilities, sitting on stoops, lounging in Patterson Park.

‘Thriller Folks of Baltimore’ unfold, Ebony, 1957. Photograph by Sean Scheidt

Regardless of the hurtful context of the article, Ebony managed to seize a particular time for our neighborhood. These are among the solely photos we’ve of “the reservation” in its heyday.

Sadly, they’re out there solely to those that can wait an indeterminate time frame till they’re made publicly out there, after which navigate the paperwork of the establishment the place they’re housed.

Jessica Locklear, Philadelphia

In contrast to Baltimore, there was no “reservation” in Philadelphia. Right here, Lumbees settled in pockets throughout the town, but discovered methods to forge a way of neighborhood. Once I began my analysis, I doubted there can be proof of Philadelphia’s Lumbee neighborhood in any archives. I used to be mistaken.

Whereas looking the archives of the Philadelphia Inquirer newspaper, I discovered a narrative a couple of Lumbee man named Thessely Campbell who was set to star in a 1984 PBS documentary. Campbell moved from Fairmont, North Carolina, to Philadelphia in 1952 and located employment as a welder on the Budd Firm.

Acquiring a duplicate of this documentary was a prolonged course of. The closest out there copy was at a college library over 320 miles away. “The Work I’ve Achieved” focuses on Campbell’s retirement, but in addition paperwork Philadelphia’s Lumbee neighborhood, together with footage shot contained in the Native American Freewill Baptist Church, the place Campbell was a minister.

Screenshot exhibiting the Native American Freewill Baptist Church, the place Campbell was a minister. ‘The Work I’ve Achieved.’ Blue Ridge Mountain Movies, Directed by Kenneth Fink, 1984.

In 2019, I carried out an oral historical past interview with Campbell’s spouse, Helen. She wished a DVD copy of the movie to maintain and share with household. It was at this second I requested: What’s my obligation to go alongside materials that’s out there to me, as a scholar, to those that could not have the ability to entry it in any other case?

I felt strongly a duplicate of this movie belonged within the arms of the household represented in it. Asserting a declare of truthful use, I made Ms. Helen a duplicate, and I’m glad I did – she handed away just a few months later.

Extra lately, I stumbled upon a digital copy of the documentary made out there by the Web Archive, a nonprofit devoted to common entry of archival supplies. Nonetheless, “accessible” doesn’t at all times imply findable.

In sifting by means of numerous archival data, I often discover images of acquainted faces, which I attempt to share with these people or households. Most individuals are tickled to seek out they’re within the archives, and most get pleasure from having the ability to view and share photos they might not have discovered themselves.

Rev. Thessely Campbell and Helen Campbell. Photograph courtesy of Maria Luisa Rios.

Accountability in two instructions

The famend Lumbee scholar Malinda Maynor Lowery writes of being “certain by two units of ethics that overlap closely: A Lumbee’s obligation calls for accountability to the individuals who have lived historical past, and a historian’s accountability calls for accountability to the widest doable sources.”

As tribal residents and students doing public-facing work, we contemplate ourselves equally certain. We seek for “our individuals” far and huge. Once we discover them in archives, we really feel obligated to deliver them house to their households.

Understanding our individuals is not going to entry archives as we do, by means of libraries, universities and museum collections, we meet them the place they’re – of their houses, out on the earth, and on social media.

[Deep knowledge, daily. Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter.]

Repatriating the archives isn’t at all times about eradicating supplies from institutional care. It’s ensuring the individuals whose lives and cultures are represented in collections know they’re there, and guaranteeing they’ve the flexibility to view and share these supplies as they see match. When supplies are returned to their communities of origin, they turn out to be reactivated.

If we’ve the flexibility to present a lady – or an entire neighborhood – the chance to disarm a hurtful encounter of their youth, and to permit public affirmation of their magnificence and true historical past, we are going to. If we will return a strolling, speaking, preaching, singing father, husband and minister to his individuals, we are going to.

We’re devoted to sharing the wealthy histories of former Lumbee neighborhoods with current generations. Bringing archival supplies on to our individuals presents alternatives to work together with our shared previous – and that informs our future.

Ashley Minner has acquired funding for her analysis from the College of Maryland School Park, the Dresher Heart for the Humanities at UMBC, the American Folklore Society, and Alternate ROOTS. Ashley is an enrolled member of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina.

Jessica Locklear works as a Area Scholar for the Southern Oral Historical past Program (SOHP). Jessica is a latest graduate from Temple College's Heart for Public Historical past. She acquired funding for her analysis from the Leeway Basis and Oral Historical past within the Mid-Atlantic Area (OHMAR). Jessica is an enrolled member of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina.

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mhsn033 · 4 years

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US Supreme Court rules half of Oklahoma is Native American land

Image copyright Getty Footage

Image caption The 5 Tribes of Oklahoma – Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw and Seminole and Muscogee Nation – proudly uphold their traditions

The US Supreme Court docket has dominated about half of Oklahoma belongs to Native Americans, in a landmark case that also quashed a baby rape conviction.

The justices determined 5-4 that an eastern chunk of the affirm, along side its 2nd-largest metropolis, Tulsa, could nonetheless be recognised as fragment of a reservation.

Jimcy McGirt, who became once convicted in 1997 of raping a woman, introduced the case.

He cited the historical claim of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation to the land where the assault came about.

What does the ruling mean?

Thursday’s resolution in McGirt v Oklahoma is considered as with out a doubt one of many most far-reaching conditions for Native Americans sooner than the very ideal US court docket in decades.

The ruling plan some tribe individuals chanced on guilty in affirm courts for offences dedicated on the land at suppose can now danger their convictions.

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Media captionA characterize album that took 25 years to assemble

Handiest federal prosecutors will keep in mind the skill to criminally prosecute Native Americans accused of crimes in the dwelling.

Tribe individuals who dwell within the boundaries could additionally be exempt from affirm taxes, in step with Reuters news agency.

Some 1.8 million other folks – of whom about 15% are Native American – dwell on the land, which spans three million acres.

What did the justices train?

Justice Neil Gorsuch, a conservative appointed by US President Donald Trump, sided with the court docket’s four liberals and likewise wrote the belief.

He referred to the Path of Tears, the forcible 19th Century relocation of Native Americans, along side the Creek Nation, to Oklahoma.

The US government mentioned on the time that the new land would belong to the tribes in perpetuity.

Justice Gorsuch wrote: “This present day we are requested whether or not the land these treaties promised remains an Indian reservation for applications of federal criminal guidelines.

“Because Congress has not mentioned in every other case, we preserve the federal government to its discover.”

What about the rape case?

The ruling overturned McGirt’s penal advanced sentence. He could nonetheless, nonetheless, be tried in federal court docket.

McGirt, now 71, became once convicted in 1997 in Wagoner County of raping a four-year-gentle lady.

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Media captionWhat took region to Olivia Lone Ranking?

He did not dispute his guilt sooner than the Supreme Court docket, nonetheless argued that finest federal authorities could nonetheless were entitled to prosecute him.

McGirt is a member of the Seminole Nation.

His attorney, Ian Heath Gershengorn, instructed CNBC: “The Supreme Court docket reaffirmed this day that after the US makes guarantees, the courts will withhold those guarantees.”

How could Oklahoma’s criminal justice machine be affected?

In a dissenting belief, Chief Justice John Roberts mentioned the resolution would destabilise the affirm’s courts.

He wrote: “The Whisper’s skill to prosecute serious crimes shall be hobbled and decades of past convictions could effectively be thrown out.

“The resolution this day creates major uncertainty for the Whisper’s continuing authority over any home that touches Indian affairs, ranging from zoning and taxation to family and environmental guidelines.”

An diagnosis by The Atlantic magazine of Oklahoma Division of Corrections files chanced on that 1,887 Native Americans had been in penal advanced as of the stop of closing year for offences dedicated within the boundaries of the tribal territory.

Nonetheless fewer than one in 10 of those conditions would qualify for a brand new federal trial, in step with the evaluation.

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Media captionCan indigenous wellness lend a hand heal historical trauma?

Jonodev Chaudhuri, a gentle chief justice of the Muscogee Nation’s Supreme Court docket, dismissed talk of lawful mayhem.

He instructed the Tulsa World newspaper: “The whole sky-is-falling narratives had been dubious at easiest.

“This could finest apply to a cramped subset of Native Americans committing crimes within the boundaries.”

How did loads of tribal leaders react?

In a joint assertion, the 5 Tribes of Oklahoma – Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw and Seminole and Muscogee Nation – welcomed the ruling.

They pledged to work with federal and affirm authorities to agree shared jurisdiction over the land.

“The International locations and the affirm are dedicated to enforcing a framework of shared jurisdiction that will preserve sovereign interests and rights to self-government whereas placing forward jurisdictional understandings, procedures, guidelines and guidelines that enhance public safety, our economy and private property rights,” the assertion mentioned.

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classyfoxdestiny · 3 years

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Inside the Kabul airport massacre #ٹاپسٹوریز

New Post has been published on https://mediaboxup.com/inside-the-kabul-airport-massacre-2/

Inside the Kabul airport massacre

| Special report

Inside the final deadly moments of the US’ longest-running war

By Nick Paton Walsh, Sandi Sidhu, Julia Hollingsworth, Masoud Popalzai, Sitara Zamani, Abdul Basir Bina, Katie Polglase and Gianluca Mezzofiore

February 8, 2022

On August 26, 2021, a blast ripped through a crowd outside Kabul airport. More than 180 people were confirmed dead, including 13 American troops.

The Pentagon says all were killed by an ISIS-K bomb.

A CNN investigation raises questions over whether some may have been shot.

Thursday, August 26, 2021 17:36:52 p.m.

The blast ripped through the desperate mass of people outside Kabul airport, turning the sewage canal they’d been standing in red with body parts and blood.

Around her, people were screaming and wailing. Within minutes, according to Shogofa, the shooting started.

What happened next is part of the untold — and still disputed — story of the attack on Abbey Gate.

Clothes and blood stains in the sewage canal following the blast. Credit: Wakil Kohsar/AFP/Getty Images

Backpacks and belongings of Afghans who were waiting to be evacuated. Credit: Wakil Kohsar/AFP/Getty Images

But a four-month CNN investigation raises hard questions over what really happened that day — and how so many people died.

Two forensic blast analysts said it was unlikely that so many people could have died in a single person-borne explosion, though other experts told CNN it was possible.

How it happened

In the days leading up to the blast, Afghans thronged around the perimeter of Kabul airport, clamoring for a flight out of the city.

The Taliban had taken the capital on August 15, plunging the country back into the hands of a repressive regime the US and its allies had fought for almost 20 years to repel.

By August 26, the desperation outside the airport’s walls was at its peak.

A US Marine at Hamid Karzai International Airport on August 26, 2021. Credit: Staff Sgt. Victor Mancilla/US Marine Corps/Reuters

People gather near an evacuation control checkpoint on the perimeter of Kabul airport on August 26, 2021. Credit: Wali Sabawoon/AP