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Images coming out of Afghanistan on Monday morning showed large numbers of people running in front of U.S. military cargo planes that were taking off, forcing the military to use helicopters to clear people off the tarmac so the planes could takeoff.
Other disturbing images showed objects falling from the cargo planes once they were hundreds, if not a couple thousand feet, above the ground after takeoff. Various news reports, including Newsweek, the Daily Mail, and Hareetz reported that the objects falling from the planes were people.
WATCH:
Afghanistan’s tragedy right now in Kabul international airport: Afghan youth on the engine of American plane to leave the country. pic.twitter.com/CoTS8sq9c3
— Muslim Shirzad (@MuslimShirzad) August 16, 2021
16 August , 2021, Hamid Karzai international Airport. pic.twitter.com/DiPlvnsaaZ
— BILAL SARWARY (@bsarwary) August 16, 2021
It is chaos at Kabul airport. Planes are taking off and landing and people are running across the runway. pic.twitter.com/kKrg667AQB
— Sowaibah Hanifie (@SowaibahH) August 16, 2021
— Sowaibah Hanifie (@SowaibahH) August 16, 2021
Below are videos that allegedly show people falling from the planes (warning: graphic):
Exclusive- A clear video (from other angle) of men falling from C-17. They were Clinging to some parts of the plane that took off from Kabul airport today. #Talibans #Afghanistan #Afghanishtan pic.twitter.com/CMNW5ngqrK
— Aśvaka – آسواکا News Agency (@AsvakaNews) August 16, 2021
BREAKING: At least 2 people fall to their death after holding on to a plane as it takes off from Kabul Airport pic.twitter.com/m7XU8lwo5S
— BNO News (@BNONews) August 16, 2021
The Wall Street Journal noted that the Afghan military collapsed because they relied heavily on U.S. air support, and it could not function after Biden pulled U.S. support:
The Afghan army fighting alongside American troops was molded to match the way the Americans operate. The U.S. military, the world’s most advanced, relies heavily on combining ground operations with air power, using aircraft to resupply outposts, strike targets, ferry the wounded, and collect reconnaissance and intelligence.
In the wake of President Biden’s withdrawal decision, the U.S. pulled its air support, intelligence and contractors servicing Afghanistan’s planes and helicopters. That meant the Afghan military simply couldn’t operate anymore. The same happened with another failed American effort, the South Vietnamese army in the 1970s, said retired Lt. Gen. Daniel Bolger, who commanded the U.S.-led coalition’s mission to train Afghan forces in 2011-2013.
Biden tried to blame former President Donald Trump in a statement on Saturday for his own actions; however, experts quickly pushed back on Biden’s attempts to deflect blame: