In a chilling story that reveals the uncertain future of a war-torn nation, New York Post journalist Hollie Mckay narrated what Afghanistan looks like after the Taliban takeover.
Mckay entered Afghanistan via Uzbekistan using a small overpass called Friendship Bridge. Upon entering the country, she says she encountered a few sleepy Talibanis with guns around a rundown hut beside a faded “Welcome to Afghanistan” side.
From the northern border to capital Kabul there are 16 checkpoints in total and “the presence of a woman in the car typically prompts the Taliban to ask a few questions. Nobody makes eye contact with me, and if they accidentally do, they are quick to avert their gaze. Some Taliban are especially welcoming at the sight of foreigners, wishing “guests” in their country a safe journey. The main thing anyone wants to know is where you have come from and where you are going,” she wrote.
On the journey, she saw small girls wrapped in colored hijabs with their backs bent over in the scorching heat carrying heavy bundles on their heads along with burqa-clad beggars with their young beside bombed-out roads, waiting for those passing by to throw a coin or a bottle of water their way.
“Evidence of heavy fighting is everywhere – decimated homes with their masticated contents rotting under the daylight, broken and barren villages turned gray by relentless aerial bombing, and even mosques burned and razed almost to oblivion. The Taliban flags fly high into the clear sky at ruined outposts that belonged to the US-backed Afghan forces just weeks ago. Dozens of wrecked armored personnel carriers, once the staple of the defunct Afghan military, dot the roadsides,” she wrote.
She spoke to a local who said that she could not eat and cried for days when she saw the Taliban enter her village.
“When I first saw the Taliban flag come into my village, I could not eat, and I cried for days,” she says. “And I asked the Taliban commander to just please allow us to fly the Afghanistan flag next to it too.”
Her driver and his brothers were constantly asking opinions, wanting to understand how the outside world sees their country. They are all disappointed that the US left, although none express anger or blame. None support the Taliban, insisting life was better before, but express genuine confusion as to why the US military destroyed millions of dollars worth of high-powered equipment given to the Afghan forces before its final frenetic departure from the Hamid Karzai International Airport last week.
After the fall of darkness, she reached Parwan, and most notably the Jabal Sijaj – the turnoff point to Panjshir Valley, the iconic resistance province. The presence of Taliban surrounding the entryway was the biggest she saw, and the only time that a checkpoint pulled the cover over and called a commander to come and check passports and fire off questions as rumors swirled that the Taliban was launching a dramatic offensive to push its way further inside.
“The Taliban patrol in white armored vehicles, in police cars and on foot – always armed – their signature white-and-black flag already splayed across everything they possess. As I get closer to one vehicle, I see that the flag is painted across the back, yet a sticker promoting “Brooklyn Zoo” is beneath it,” she wrote.
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