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| On August 15, some Afghan Air Force personnel were fighting each other instead of launching air strikes against advancing fighters. * Photo: Reuters |
A few hours before the Taliban took control of Kabul on August 15, some Afghan Air Force personnel were fighting each other instead of launching airstrikes against advancing fighters, a British News Agency (Reuters) report revealed. Were
According to the report, on 15 August, some Afghan Air Force personnel guarding Kabul Airport tried to board a military helicopter ready to take off.
The pilot of the Afghan Air Force told the British news agency Reuters that the helicopter had to go out of the city.
The Afghan Air Force pilot added that in order to stop the men, a guard aimed his gun at the cockpit and opened fire, injuring the pilot and an airman aboard the plane, while my face was covered in blood. ۔
According to the report, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani fled the country on the same day, after which they fall of the US-backed government began rapidly and within a few hours, the Taliban captured Kabul and the US withdrawal began.
The report said that before the Taliban took control of Kabul, members of the Afghan Air Force had not reported any riots before.
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| The pilots had flown planes and helicopters to Kabul to protect the capital. * Photo: Reuters |
Reuters also learned special details from airmen and former Afghan officials who took part in an undercover operation to escort Ashraf Ghani and his associates to neighboring Uzbekistan on August 15.
Reuters reports that the United States spent billions of dollars on a force in Afghanistan to protect Kabul from the Taliban, but to no avail. Began to seek support for his final evacuation.
According to Reuters, fighters in broken pick-up trucks quickly took over the country's unsafe airports as most of the soldiers guarding them surrendered in the first place, while the pilots shot down the planes working to protect the capital and Helicopters headed for Kabul.
The report said that the news of President Ashraf Ghani's departure from the country motivated the Afghan Air Force pilots who were trying to save their luggage and themselves, after which the pilot, aircrew, and even some of their relatives Dar also fled the country aboard a plane.
"Truth be told, we finally lost control," a former Afghan Air Force official told Reuters.
Also, an Afghan pilot recalling an evacuation operation in July to evacuate wounded and dead soldiers at Spin Boldak near the Pakistani border told Reuters that he had a 2MD530 helicopter UH60 black helicopter chopper to evacuate. But he was warned by a pilot that we have less weapons and will not be able to help you if you are shot by the Taliban.
Hamadullah Mohib, Afghanistan's national security adviser, said the lack of laser-guided bombs used to accurately target Taliban strongholds was a secret in Kabul in the final weeks of the war, according to Reuters.
"Our fear is that if we make this information public, it will only embolden the Taliban and demoralize the troops," he told Reuters.
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| Afghanistan's Wing Commander Col. Saif Muhammad Tawfiq, who oversaw operations in northern and northeastern Afghanistan - Photo: Reuters |
Afghan Wing Commander Col. Saif Mohammad Tawfiq, who oversaw operations in northern and northeastern Afghanistan, told Reuters he knew trouble was beginning on August 14 when local Afghan army troops intercepted his phone calls. Stopped answering.
However, he ordered about 150 Air Force personnel to return 200 miles to Kabul, where the Afghan Air Force was expected to reorganize for counter-attacks.
Col. Saif told Reuters that the militants hit his plane and tried to land, but he was seriously injured. However, he was rescued by helicopter and flown to Uzbekistan, where he was taken to hospital.
The report further states that the Taliban focused on killing Afghan Air Force personnel in the last months of the war, a deliberate ploy to undermine the deteriorating airspace of the US-backed government. At least seven pilots have been killed this year in targeted killings.
Reuters reports that the last person to die in the Taliban campaign was Hamidullah Habibi, a pilot of a US-trained Black Hawk helicopter. One week before the Taliban took control of Kabul, Habibi was assassinated in the capital on August 7.
In addition, the report revealed that a clash between the pilots of the plane at Kabul Airport on August 15 was predicted a few days ago in the northwestern Afghan province of Herat.
The Taliban captured the Afghan capital, Kabul, on August 15, 2021, after which several key government officials, including US troops and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, fled the country.
