Home ›› 17 Aug 2021 ›› World Biz
As thousands swarmed Kabul's airport in a bid to escape the Taliban's takeover in Afghanistan, videos circulating on social media appear to show armed Taliban soldiers enjoying amusement park rides after their victory last weekend, reports Yahoo News.
One video posted by Reuters senior reporter Hamid Shalizi depicts soldiers driving bumper cars while touting their guns.
In another video posted by French news outlet Mediavenir, soldiers are seen riding on a merry-go-round.
More footage put on Twitter by freelance journalist Asaad Hanna shows purported Taliban soldiers bouncing on a trampoline in glee.
Yet another video reportedly shows Taliban soldiers playing on a trampoline at the presidential palace gym.
The hardline Islamist group ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001 until being removed from power by US-led forces following the September 11 attacks. According to Foreign Policy, the US has invested nearly $83 billion in training Afghanistan's security forces to defend against a Taliban incursion.
After years of fighting, the Taliban swarmed Afghanistan's capital Kabul last weekend, with its leaders declaring that the "war is over" in the country.
On Monday, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani went into exile, effectively handing the country over to the Taliban.
Following Ghani's capitulation, crowds swarmed the Hamid Karzai International Airport on Monday in a desperate attempt to flee the country. Video footage shows crowds of Afghanis clambering aboard departing flights, with some even falling off planes mid-air.
