Afghan staff at US embassy trying to flee Kabul report being marked with paint by Taliban who follow them home

Local staff members who worked at the US embassy in Kabul have reported harassment at the hands of Taliban fighters on ground in their desperate attempt to leave Afghanistan.

On their way out, many were spat on, cursed, almost separated from their children and some have now come under Taliban’s scrutiny as the armed group reportedly marked the house of a local embassy staff member with paint for further questioning, according to a report by the NBC news.

The report, citing a State Department’s diplomatic cable, says “disheartened” local staff members are feeling a sense of betrayal and distrust in the US government who has prioritised Afghan government elites.

For a week now, Afghanistan is under a forced rule by the ultra-religious conservative militant group which stormed to power on 15 August after capturing Kabul from under President Ashraf Ghani. As a result, tens of thousands are fleeing the country to escape the reign’s stringent rule.

According to the cable sent on Wednesday, local staff members were asked to head to Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul with food. It asked them to prepare for difficult conditions, but “no one anticipated the brutal experience that occurred,” the report said.

Upon reaching the Taliban checkpoints — an extremely dangerous hurdle in the way of Kabul airport for people fleeing Afghanistan — the staffers said they were jostled, hit, spat on and cursed by the Taliban fights, the cable said. It added that criminals are benefitting from the chaos even as the US military personnel are trying to maintain order “in an extremely physical situation.”

Some almost lost their children in the crowd of thousands, some collapsed after getting crushed and injured in the stampede-like situation and had to be rushed to the hospital. The evacuation efforts are taking place in peak-heat like situation and several staffers collapsed in exhaustion.

The cable, quoting a staffer, read: “It would be better to die under the Taliban’s bullet” than face the crowds again.

Another said in the cable: “Happy to die here, but with dignity and pride”.

Another staff member who was forced to flee but was unable to even reach the airport said his home in Afghanistan has been tagged with spray paint. This is a tactic used by the Taliban previously to identify occupants in the house for further questioning.

Many locals who worked with the US and other foreign countries are fearing getting targeted by the Taliban, who is likely to be vindictive towards those helping Western forces.

Another staff member has accused the US of prioritising the elite from the Afghanistan government who have contacts in the US and already carry the correct paper work to flee the conflict-torn country.

A race against time is underway for the US rushing to evacuate its citizens, diplomatic staff members and locals from Afghanistan who worked with them as translators and communicators in the last two decades as the Taliban waits and watches till the end of this month.

US has maintained that it has a “special commitment” to local embassy staff members suffering the hardship, pain and loss “because of their dedication to working with us to build a future for all Afghans.” The country has been “working tirelessly to improve access to the airport” in order to assist the eligible people that can be flown out of the south Asian country.

In the last nine days, nearly 30,300 people have been evacuated on military and coalition flights by the US, officials said.

The evacuation efforts started hours before the Taliban structured a political collapse on 15 August and captured Afghanistan in a swift motion, without firing a single shot in some regions.

Tens of thousands of people still remain in Afghanistan to be rescued and airlifted amid security and US bureaucracy hurdles.

In a press briefing on Sunday, President Biden said the “hard and painful” airlift of Americans and tens of thousands of others from Afghanistan‘s capital is accelerating. “The evacuation of thousands of people from Kabul is going to be hard and painful, no matter when it started, when we began,” Biden said.

He added: “It would have been true if we’d started a month ago, or a month from now. There is no way to evacuate this many people without pain and loss of heartbreaking images you see on television.”

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to ask US President Joe Biden to extend the Kabul evacuation deadline in the G7 meeting today. Hinting at a likely extension, Mr Biden said, “Our hope is that we don’t have to extend but there are discussions going on about far we are.”