Taliban escorted Americans to Kabul airport gate

One of the officials also revealed that the US special operation forces set up a “secret gate” at the airport and established “call centres” to guide Americans through the evacuation process.

While one of the military officials said the arrangement with the Taliban “worked beautifully”, Americans involved in an unofficial network dedicated to helping Americans and vulnerable Afghans said there were problems — particularly in the beginning — as the Taliban turned away US citizens and legal permanent residents whom the militant group was supposed to allow through.

The two US defence officials said that Americans were notified to gather at pre-set “muster points” close to the airport, where the Taliban would check their credentials and take them a short distance to a gate manned by American forces who were standing by to let them inside amid huge crowds of Afghans seeking to flee, CNN reported.

The US troops were able to see the Americans approach with their Taliban escorts as they progressed through the crowds, presumably ready to intervene in case anything happened.

Multiple sources in the US, who were in contact with people trying to escape, reported that American citizens and passport holders in Kabul were in disbelief that they were being told they would receive safe passage from the Taliban. Many thought they were misunderstanding the directions and sought clarification, the report said.Meanwhile, The Taliban has accused the US of intentionally damaging equipment at Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport during their withdrawal from Afghanistan. Anas Haqqani, a key Taliban me ber, visited the Kabul airport a day after the last American soldier left Afghanistan, and said the US had deliberately destroyed military equipment including helicopters, military vehicles, and facilities, Ariana News reported.

“For years they called us destroyers. But now you are witnessing those who are destroyers. They have destroyed our national assets,” Haqqani said. The last flight carrying American forces left Kabul in the early hours of Tuesday morning ending 20 years of military presence in the country. Videos shared on social media show that dozens of vehicles, helicopters, military equipment, and facilities at the Kabul Airport have been destroyed, the report said.

A member of the Taliban stated: “We are trying to get the airport ready to use and operational. This is what all leaders of the Emirate want. “The important point is that invaders never managed to last in Afghanistan.

The invaders have been defeated at all times (in history). This is a reality that the Americans were defeated and they withdrew.” – CNN, IANS