August 21, 2021, 04:37 PM
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An Afghan baby was seen lifted over a wall with barbed wire on top at the Kabul international airport on Aug. 19.
The video captured the ongoing chaos in Afghanistan as a result of the Taliban taking over many parts of the country.
Can’t comprehend the desperation to hand over your baby to a soldier to possibly never see them again. #Afghanistan pic.twitter.com/BkfEeMUZUn
— Aurora Intel (@AuroraIntel) August 19, 2021
Baby was sick
A U.S. Marine was seen lifting the infant, its diaper slipping off, by one arm, over the barbed wire as a crowd of desperate Afghans sought entry into the airport.
According to the Agence France-Presse (AFP), a Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby said the unidentified baby was sick, and that the soldiers had been asked to look after the infant by the parents.
The baby was then taken to a hospital at the airport, and treated by medical professionals on site.
The baby was subsequently returned to the parents.
Major James Stenger, a spokesman for the U.S. Marines, wrote in an email to the New York Times, saying: "I can confirm the baby was reunited with their father and is safe at the airport".
It is not known who the family was or what was their status, or whether they had been accepted to immigrate to safety by U.S. forces, according to Kirby.
Scenes of desperation
This scene was not an isolated incident though.
The Independent reported that some mothers started throwing babies over the barbed wires to British soldiers, in attempts to save their children from the unfolding chaos.
Afghanistan: Desperate women throw babies over razor wire at compound, asking British soldiers to take them https://t.co/mUWOCN9XGP
— Sky News (@SkyNews) August 18, 2021
https://twitter.com/Caucasuswar/status/1428857609243725825
@deepsource So #Sad To Watch 😣 #Afghanistan #News
♬ оригинальный звук - 😞эажд
Nearly 6,000 heavily armed U.S. troops took control of the airport, alongside 900 troops from the U.K., to assist in the evacuation of foreigners and Afghans.
Meanwhile, the Taliban patrol the streets just outside the airport, a harbinger to a return of what many fear to be harsh, anti-American rule.
Images of violence near the airport, including of Taliban beating people to control the crowd and firing shots into the air, provided a stark contrast to the more moderate image the Taliban have been trying to portray to international media, according to the New York Times.
A part of our world is falling apart and the whole world is a silent Spectator, The world seems to have failed in the humanitarian crisis, #KabulAirport pic.twitter.com/C0m1i3RAKj
— Aima Khan (@aima_kh) August 21, 2021
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Top image via Omar Haidari via Fox 7 Austin Facebook
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