After the bomb explosion at Kabul Airport that killed 13 US soldiers and almost 200 civilians during the evacuation, many of the wounded were sent to Emergency. Emergency, was an NGO in the city were most of the casualties went to.
We went during the times of the protests around the town and the Taliban fired bullets in the air. Thing was, bullets do come down and one of the protest was close to Emergency, so you had the sound of bullets dropping on the rooftops.
Lucky enough the hospital had sheltered pathways because bullets did rain down on them. We met many of the wounded from the. bomb blast. It is quite thankful that this service is free. Most of the people were hoping to escape the Taliban, to make it to a safer life. So many lives had been lost.
ISIS claimed responsiblity and the US dropped a targeted missile strike in Jalalabad area. Apparently they had killed the mastermind. We decided to plot a trip out there when we could get the time. The Taliban said they also held one of their commanders. They claimed a conspiracy took place where the US with a faction they sponsor to detonate a bomb. They obviously were not expecting US lives to be lost.
They said the ISIS member held was a dual citizen of Afghanistan and Australia. Unfortunately the Taliban would not give access to this person so it is hard to verify this is true.
But after the blast, the Americans left the airport in a rush leaving the thousands wish to flee to fend for themselves. Lucky enough a few of my friends made the last flight out. The Taliban celebrated their departure and their now total control of the city.
One child at the Emergency who was operated on, listened back and forth to a message from his mother from his phone. It soothed him listening to her voice. Many of the wounded were silent. It was hard to comprehend their future. Being handicapped in Afghanistan was a torture.
Handicapped people have it hard finding good jobs or be able to find opportunities in Afghanistan. I felt something for the boy who lost both legs and fingers. He looked with sadness in his eyes. He spoke
The protest on women were getting more aggressive on the streets and the Taliban made it example of two local journalist beating them. They almost beat me and then realised I was a foreigner and chose not to hit me with their rubber tyre whips. I also had a letter from the Ministry.
I brought in my two motorcycles I had back in the day from Homayun's cafe. He had managed to flee and his place was being taken over by his landowner. I pushed them to the house. They were an Enfield Bullet 350 and old 1974 T100 Tiger Triump. I changed the oil and sparks and gave the Enfield some love. It started again with a kick but I would need a new battery to make it consistant. I felt great, it was like an old tractor, unstoppable given a little love.
Happily I rode it around Kabul. The Taliban didn't seem to mind. Occasionally I would get stopped at checkpoints but when they knew I was a foreigner that waved me past. The news on the ground was that the Taliban had won Panjshir and the last restance had fled into the mountains. We began trying to get access to go there.
It seemed like a twist of fate but we now where going to embed with the Taliban.
Emergency is an amazing NGO doing great work and you can find out more about them here at