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Reporter's Diary: The Day Kabul Fell

Ayesha Tanzeem

   KABUL - I woke up with ajolt.

   Was it a blast? No, justnearbyconstruction. Everyone had been on edge
   for days.TheTaliban'sadvances across the country had been much faster
   than anticipated.

   SeniorWestern sources had said it would be a coupleof days before
   theTaliban wouldarrive on the doorstep of Kabul.

   "Try to get out by the 19th(of August),"they said. Ibooked a flight for
   the 17th.

   More thanformyself, I was worried about my Afghan colleague who had
   been threatened by Taliban supporters on Twitter. He had applied for
   passports for his kids.
   Trying desperately to speed up the process,hewent tothe passport
   officeSunday morning.Weekends areThursday and Fridayin Afghanistan.

   He calledwhileI wasat a clinicgettingtested forCOVID-19ahead ofmy
   flight.

   He was breathless as he spoke:"They are throwing us out, telling us to
   go home. Everyone in the passport office is rushing out. The Taliban
   are inside Kabul."

   I told him to go homethenquickly tweeted the information.

   As I walked out of the clinicand back to the guest house where I was
   staying,I saw people rushing. Everyone seemed to be in a hurry.

   I learnedthe Taliban were not inside Kabulbuton the outskirts-- for
   now. They had issued a statement saying they did not intend to enter
   Kabul.With the president having left the country, the Talibanwere
   negotiatingwiththe governmentfor a peaceful handover.

   Twenty years after they were ousted, the Taliban had walked back
   victoriously and taken the capital without a shot fired.

   History was in the making, so two other journalists and Iwent for a
   drive tosee the mood of the city.

   Panicked drivers, some driving on the wrong side of the street, caused
   traffic jams.News ofthenearness of theTalibanhadprompted offices,
   shopsandclinicsto close. The city seemed to shut down, pushing everyone
   ontothe streets at the same time.

   Whenour car came to a standstill, we got out and started talking to
   people. As the car inched along, we did this several times.There was
   little or no security presence on the streets, except around the
   airport.

   Here is what people were saying:

   Hamidullah, who did not want to give his last name, said people were
   panicking.

   "I'm feeling really bad. Unfortunately, we will lose everything, the
   achievements of the last 20 years," he said.

   He said hehad worked with the U.S. military and as an Afghan government
   employee and hewas scared for his life.

   "If Taliban control Kabul, they will try to kill me if they know about
   me," he said.

   Even though theTaliban had announced a general amnesty and reassured
   people there would be no revenge killings,their promises were not
   enough to assuage Hamidullah's fears.

   As part ofmy reporting,Ichecked various social media accountsto monitor
   how the story was developing.

   The most moving tweet of the day was by Omaid Sharifi. His brainchild,
   an artist collective in Afghanistan calledArtLords,isfamous for
   painting murals on the thick,gray concrete walls of Kabul, to make them
   look less menacing.

   "We are painting a mural today-now," he said. "It reminded me of the
   famous scene from @TitanicMovie, where the musicians play until the
   ship sinks."

     Good morning [1]#Kabul ð«ðð - we are painting a mural today-now. It
     reminded me of the famous scene from [2]@TitanicMovie, where the
     musicians play until the ship sinks. I hope you are enjoying as you
     see our miseries - world ð [3]pic.twitter.com/5JXsVhxQkJ
     -- Omaid H. Sharifi-اÙÛد ØÙÛظ٠شرÛÙÛ (@OmaidSharifi) [4]August
     15, 2021

   Other observations from the city Sunday were aboy inabright orange
   shalwar kameez, a local dress, throwing 12-packs ofwater intothe back
   of a car.

   Down another street, a young man who said he studied economics claimed
   the government had "surrendered" Kabul to the Taliban.

   Some people said they were happy with the bloodless transition.

   "I was very tense this morning, but I am feeling much better now," said
   one man,who did not want to be named.

   Back at the guest house, the cook, the cleanerandothers had tears in
   their eyes and tension on their faces.

   One man, when askedwhether he was afraid for his future, said:"It's
   about staying alive right now."

References

   1. https://twitter.com/hashtag/Kabul?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
   2. https://twitter.com/TitanicMovie?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
   3. https://t.co/5JXsVhxQkJ
   4. https://twitter.com/OmaidSharifi/status/1426787945814577153?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

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