Seven-month-old infant 'separated' from parents during chaos at Kabul airport, photo goes viral
The photograph, which was posted by a local news agency on Twitter, shows an infant who was reportedly separated from parents during the chaos at Kabul airport. The child, who according to the agency is no older than 7 months, is now waiting to be united with parents with the help of authorities.
With the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan's capital Kabul, the scramble of panicked and desperate residents to leave the country has triggered a major refugee crisis. As the insurgents, now in control of the country, solidify their rule, a gut-wrenching visual reportedly emerging from the Kabul airport on August 17 has rattled global humanitarian watchdogs. The photograph, which was posted by the Aśvaka news agency on Twitter, shows an infant who was reportedly separated from parents during the chaos at Kabul airport. The child, who according to the agency is no older than seven months, is now waiting to be united with parents with the help of authorities issuing missing announcements on social media.
"A couple living in PD-5 Kabul blame that their 7 months' baby went missing from Kabul Airport yesterday during the chaos," the news agency posted from its official handle on Twitter. "Up to this instance, they couldn't find him. The Aśvaka news agency is trying to help them find their baby through missing announcements on social media."
The photographs attached by the news agency show the infant who was reportedly separated from parents at the Kabul airport during the scramble to leave the country. While netizens expressed their anguish at the Taliban for the fate of the seven-month-old infant along with many others who saw their lives come down to ruin with the Taliban offensive, several Twitter users also came out with scathing remarks against international agencies as well as the United States for allowing such a situation to unfold.
Several horrific visuals have emerged from Afghanistan's capital Kabul since the Taliban took control. While a video showed hundreds surrounding a taxiing aircraft at the Hamid Karzai International Airport, another showed the true desperation, sadness, and panic of citizens as they tried to board the last flights leaving Kabul before the airport was shut.
Perhaps the most haunting visual to emerge from the Kabul chaos was of two persons, who were clinging to an aircraft in desperation to flee the country, falling from the sky after losing grip mid-air.
Meanwhile, more than 2,200 students of Afghan-origin studying in India on scholarship stare at an uncertain future with the Taliban seizing control of Afghanistan that has forced thousands to either flee or seek evacuation from the country. The Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), a nodal agency for international students that promotes cultural exchange with other countries by formulating and implementing policies and programmes, has also been receiving requests from students in Afghanistan for expediting their visas to permit entry into India.