Thousands of terrified families fear for their lives and no longer see Afghanistan as their home
The desperation of those in Afghanistan is heart-rending.
It’s in the faces of those who sit for hours with their children and their suitcases outside the building where one of the few airlifts is being organised.
It’s contained in the dozens of emails sent to me: “You are a journalist. I am too. Please help me. You are my only hope. If I die, tell the UK government that there was a girl that was killed by the Taliban just because of doing something for her people and her country.”
It’s in the multiple texts from human rights defenders who tell me the Taliban are knocking on their door and they don’t want to die.
“Please will anyone help us?”
It’s in the tears of a young journalist who silently shows us a video of himself where he’s being beaten by a Talib.
The Talib is using the butt of his weapon to hit his legs and back. He then ties the reporter’s hands and drags him along by rope that he’s attached to the back of his motorbike.
The torture and humiliation went on for two days before he escaped. The video is a few years old but the trauma is very present day – and back then, the Taliban were not in charge.
Now they are holding the guns and the levers of power. “If they catch me again, they will kill me,” the journalist says. This desperation is everywhere.
The Taliban claim they have changed
The state of Qatar is one of only two nations trying to operate airlifts. Pakistan is the other. But this involves careful and challenging negotiations with the Taliban who go through every flight list and examine every name on it.
The evacuation may be officially over. (It ended with the pull out of the foreign troops at the end of August).
But there are still thousands of terrified families who no longer see Afghanistan as their home and who fear for their lives.
Among them are those who have British and other foreign passports. We see them waving their red or new blue UK passports outside the barricaded building which is guarded by armed Talibs but which beyond, lies the route to safety and home.
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Afghanistan: Women living in fear
They’re struggling to get their names on the flight manifest and many tell us they feel abandoned by the British government.
Like many Afghans, they have large extended families often with multiple relatives employed in the same field – who once worked for the British embassy or British-funded charities or British-run projects rebuilding Afghanistan.
“My father worked for the British embassy”, one tells me. “He has a letter of commendation.” He does and it’s sent to me.
But the commendation once so proudly received is now tantamount to a Taliban death sentence.
The Taliban promised a general amnesty for those who worked with the former government they ousted and the foreign invaders they chased out – but on the ground, the reality is very different. There are scores being settled and revenge being sought.
Taliban fighters repeatedly try to stop us from filming the people trying to secure a ticket out of Afghanistan.
One keeps on hitting my colleague Richie Mockler’s camera, others put their hands in front of his lens. They pull and shove our Afghan colleague who tries to put himself between the Talibs and the Sky team.
The paperwork we have been issued by the Taliban themselves giving us permission to film in the country appears to be worthless at this point. We are repeatedly urged to show “the real image” of the Taliban – by the Taliban and constantly told they have “changed” and evolved.
But there is a real fear amongst those who worked alongside the foreigners and they are not reassured by these claims.
The Taliban don’t want people to leave the country. They don’t want images broadcast of people trying to get out. They want the foreign governments to return, set up their embassies and restart the aid which the bulk of the country has become so reliant on.
Because of this, there are strict rules about who gets on the flight list and it is restricted to those with foreign passports – not their dependants, not the Afghans who worked for the foreigners, not those now being targeted.
It’s tough for those trying to operate the flight lists and work with these conditions. We see the Qatari officials working through the night trying to juggle passports, IDs, and coordinate with multiple countries to verify people on the flight list.
“But you have no passport,” I overhear one say down the telephone. “You need to have a passport to travel – and a visa, only then we can help you.”
They are people with families themselves. They know how hard it must be to leave behind an elderly parent or a sister who is now a Taliban target – and the decision-making does not get any easier.
We meet three men in a Kabul cafe who all have British passports but large families with many relatives who do not.
“I’ve lived in Ilford for about 20 years,” one tells us. “I met Boris (Johnson) when I was a taxi driver. He asked me if he thought he could be Mayor of London. He was that uncertain. I said yes go for it. You can do it, Boris.
“But now, I’m very disappointed with him. He’s left us all here. We are British taxpayers. We don’t pay our taxes for the government to invade countries. We pay them to get their help but we aren’t getting any help for our families. My MP is trying to help us but the Foreign Office isn’t even replying to him. We are told just to wait.”
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Hospitals struggle under Taliban rule
There’s a sudden rush after waiting all day to board the convoy the Qataris have organised to take hundreds of “approved” refugees to the airport. But the Taliban have disputed the flight list that had been drawn up.
The bulk of people who were on it are now NOT on it. Only three coaches carrying about 40 people set off for the heavily guarded airport. There are dozens of armed Taliban around the perimeter wearing army fatigues and special ops goggles, flak jackets, helmets and ammunition belts, carrying brand new American weapons.
They wave the convoy through and the families heave their suitcases out of the coaches and move quickly towards the airport entrance. Qatari officials are trying to rush them through. The deadline is dusk. The plane cannot fly after dark because of security and more practically because there are no lights on the runway.
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The young mother of two toddlers weeps next to me as she lines up waiting to be patted down at airport security. But there are no women to do the physical security checks for the line of females right now. The new Taliban-controlled Afghanistan doesn’t see much of a role for females.
They’ve been told not to report for work unless they are health workers and girls have been told not to return to school “for the time being”.
“My country is gone,” the young mother tells me as she’s cradling her baby girl. “We cannot live here anymore. I don’t know if I will ever return. Everything is broken.”
A short time later, exasperated Qatari officials are returning to the queues of waiting refugees with handfuls of passports.
“The flight has been cancelled,” they say. “There’s no one at immigration.”
We hear the plane taking off – empty – and the refugees turn around to spend another night wondering if they’re going to be allowed to leave this country they don’t recognise anymore.
The Qataris again work throughout the night trying to hammer out an agreement with the Taliban to allow the plane to land in Kabul, and to decide on a flight list that is acceptable to everybody.
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How popular is the Taliban in Afghanistan?
By mid-afternoon the following day, it seems there is. Two hundred and thirty-six people are taken in a convoy to the airport this time after an official called “extensive consultation with parties on the ground”.
It’s the fourth flight Qatar has managed to organise and by far the largest passenger evacuation since 31 August when the foreign troops were still in Afghanistan and the airlifts were in full flow.
This time, the Taliban have called back the former airport staff and there are two women security workers. They tell me how their lives have changed so dramatically in such a short time.
“They tell us to wear long dresses (abaya), to cover our heads. They even tell me I must cut my nails, that they are too long.” She pulls off her plastic gloves to show me beautifully manicured nails now forbidden under the new Taliban rules.
The refugees take final pictures of their country as they board the flight to safety and a new, uncertain life. Few think they’ll be back soon – and they leave behind thousands still fearing for their lives who are trapped.
Alex Crawford reports from Kabul with cameraman Richie Mockler and producers Chris Cunningham and Mark Grant.
Additional pictures by Chris Cunningham.
World
Volodymyr Zelenskyy believes ‘Putin is afraid’ that Donald Trump could still supply Ukraine with Tomahawk missiles
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has not ruled out the possibility that he can secure long-range Tomahawk missiles from the US, adding that he believes “Putin is afraid” of the consequences.
In an exclusive interview with NBC News’s Meet the Press, Ukraine’s president discussed some of the details of his two-hour meeting with Donald Trump on Friday, including his desire for the weapons after three years of war with Russia.
“It’s good that President Trump didn’t say ‘no’, but for today, didn’t say ‘yes’,” he said about the supply of the missiles, as part of a discussion which will air on Sunday.
Ukraine war latest: Zelenskyy proposes ‘drone for Tomahawk’
He admitted the US president was concerned about a potential escalation with Russia, but Mr Zelenskyy told NBC, Sky News’s US partner, that the weapons are a genuine concern for Vladimir Putin.
“I think that Putin [is] afraid that United States will deliver us Tomahawks. And I think that he [is] really afraid that we will use them,” he said.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy still hopes the US will supply Tomahawks. Pic: Meet the Press/NBC News
The weapons have a significantly longer range than any other missiles in Ukraine’s armoury and have the potential to be a game-changer in the war against Russia.
While Mr Trump did not rule out providing the Tomahawk missiles, he appeared cool to the prospect as he looked ahead to a meeting with the Russian president in Hungary in the coming weeks.
‘US doesn’t want escalation’
Following the meeting with Mr Trump, who held a phone call with Mr Putin on Thursday, Mr Zelenskyy told reporters: “We spoke about long-range (missiles) of course. And I do not want to make statements about it.”
But he added: “We don’t speak about it because… United States doesn’t want this escalation”.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s plans to secure new missiles had worried Russia. Pic: Reuters
Later in a post on X, Mr Zelenskyy said he was counting on President Trump to “bring this war closer to an end”.
“We discussed all key issues – our positions on the battlefield, long-range capabilities and air defence, and, of course, diplomatic prospects,” he said.
“Russia must end the aggression it started and continues to deliberately prolong. We count on the United States’ pressure.”
In a roundtable with journalists following the meeting, Mr Trump confirmed that hitting targets deep inside Russian territory would be an “escalation”.
Donald Trump said hitting targets deep inside Russian territory would be an ‘escalation’. Pic: Reuters
He also said he was hesitant to tap into the US’ supply of Tomahawks, saying: “I have an obligation also to make sure that we’re completely stocked up as a country, because you never know what’s going to happen in war and peace.
“We’d much rather have them not need Tomahawks. We’d much rather have the war be over to be honest.”
At Mr Trump and Mr Putin’s last meeting in Alaska in August, there were hopes that the conflict may finally be coming to an end.
But the US president was unable to pressure the Russian leader into accepting a ceasefire or a one-on-one meeting with Mr Zelenskyy.
Read more from Sky News:
Putin’s challenge ahead of summit
Was Putin forced back to talks?
Listen: Trump-Putin – Friends reunited?
Following Friday’s meeting at the White House, UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer confirmed he had called Mr Zelenskyy to reiterate his support.
Ukraine has UK’s ‘resolute support’
A Downing Street spokesperson said: “The prime minister spoke to the president of Ukraine, European leaders and the NATO secretary general this evening following President Zelenskyy’s visit to the White House today.
“The leaders reiterated their unwavering commitment to Ukraine in the face of ongoing Russian aggression. A just and lasting peace for Ukraine was the only way to stop the killing for good, they agreed.
“Further discussions about how they could support Ukraine in the lead up to, and following, a ceasefire would continue this week, including in a Coalition of the Willing call on Friday, the leaders agreed.
“Following the call with world leaders this evening, the prime minister then spoke to President Zelenskyy bilaterally to underscore the United Kingdom’s resolute support for Ukraine.”
Before Donald Trump met with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, he hosted one of his favourite singers, Andrea Bocelli, in the Oval Office.
The Italian tenor serenaded him with the signature track Time To Say Goodbye, a song about hope and new beginnings.
But the next event on his agenda suggested antipathy between Trump and the Ukrainian president are firmly lodged in the past.
On the key issue of whether Vladimir Putin actually wants peace, the pair continue to fundamentally disagree.
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What happened at the Trump-Zelenskyy meeting?
Trump repeated several times his belief that Putin is committed to ending the war, which may come as a surprise to the people of eastern Ukraine, being pummeled by an expanded Russian offensive in the past few months.
Trump also spoke about “bad blood on both sides”, again inferring equal blame on Zelenskyy, whose sovereign nation was invaded, and Putin, who is doing the invading.
It’s in Putin’s gift to stop the fighting immediately, but that was glossed over.
Zelenskyy, clearly contorted by a need to put the record straight but not anger the famously mercurial man on the other side of the table, fired back that it is the Ukrainians who are committed to a ceasefire, a trilateral meeting and ultimately, an end to this war.
Ukraine war: Zelenskyy proposes ‘drone for Tomahawk’ deal
Relations between Zelenskyy and Trump have, obviously, improved from February when the Ukrainian president was berated and left the White House early.
On that occasion, he was mocked for wearing a T-shirt and so, the next two visits, he has sported an all black suit. He has also learned that Trump responds to flattery and, accordingly, he peppered the president with compliments.
Zelenskyy, pictured following his meeting with Trump, has learned that the president responds to flattery. Pic: AP
He credited him with “managing the ceasefire in the Middle East”, and said he believes he has a “chance” to do the same in Ukraine.
Trump came into the meeting buoyed by the diplomatic success of the past fortnight in the Middle East, intoxicated by the praise he has received from all sides for brokering the hostage deal. But the war, he said he could solve in 24 hours, is proving a tougher nut to crack, and he’s growing frustrated with everyone involved.
That much could be gleaned from his Truth Social post after the meeting, which implored Putin and Zelenskyy to end the war along its current lines. “Let both claim Victory, let History decide!” he wrote.
Read more from Sky News:
Zelenskyy on US ‘long-range’ weapons
Putin faces difficult trip to summit
Trump’s ‘game of diplomatic chess’
It was a marked shift from less than a month ago, when Trump, at that point more angered by Putin, suggested Ukraine could potentially win back all its territory.
As recently as Sunday, he was threatening to send long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine but he made clear after their meeting that he wouldn’t be doing that right now. It’s likely he will wait until at least after his trailed meeting with Putin in Budapest.
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I was in Alaska in August when Trump hosted Putin and laid out the literal and metaphorical red carpet for him.
The US president went in with two aims: to broker a ceasefire and a one-on-one meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy. He left with neither and there is no public sign that Putin has shifted from his maximalist aims in Ukraine.
Trump greets Putin on the red carpet in Alaska in August. Pic: AP
Even by Trump’s own measurement, the summit was a failure.
Yet he seems determined to take the Russian president at his word, granting him first a phone call ahead of the Zelenskyy visit to Washington DC and now another meeting.
Putin was first successful in getting Trump to hold off on more severe sanctions on Russia, which were crippling economically. Now he has, seemingly, played a role in persuading Trump to hold off on sending Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine.
The US president was asked by a journalist whether it was possible he was being played by Putin. He admitted it was possible but said he usually comes out of these things pretty well. Time will tell.
It’s the dead of night, and a convoy is driving along a road in Gaza’s far north, 1.4km inside the Israeli area of control.
Few people remain in this part of Gaza, near the Erez border crossing.
Almost all buildings here have been destroyed, and official data says that no aid has come through the crossing since February. These vehicles, however, are loaded with supplies.
They stop briefly as a child and two men disembark to collect water bottles and plastic jerrycans that had fallen off one of the overburdened pickup trucks.
The convoy moves south, past destroyed buildings and debris, ending at an abandoned school.
This is the headquarters of the militia led by Ashraf Al Mansi, which calls itself the People’s Army.
Earlier this week, Al Mansi released a video statement warning Hamas against approaching the areas under his control.
The armed group is one of four active anti-Hamas militias identified by Sky News – all of them based inside parts of Gaza still controlled by Israel.
Hamas has sought to reassert its authority in recent days by clamping down on such groups. Sky News has verified footage of gun battles and public executions on the streets of Gaza City.
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Sky’s Dominic Waghorn reports on violence between Palestinians.
Last week, a Sky News investigation revealed that Israel has been facilitating the supply of guns, vehicles, cash and food to the most influential of these militias, Yasser Abu Shabab’s Popular Forces, based in Gaza’s far south.
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A Sky News investigation has uncovered new details about Israel’s support for a Palestinian rebel group.
The new footage viewed by Sky News suggests a similar arrangement has been set up in Gaza’s far north to supply Al Mansi’s militia.
The IDF and Al Mansi did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Why are the videos important?
Two videos, uploaded by a member of Al Mansi’s militia on 9 and 11 October, show convoys taking an identical route down to the militia’s headquarters.
Neither video shows the supplies being loaded onto the trucks, but both videos begin at a point less than 400 metres from an IDF outpost.
Pic: Planet Labs PBC
To the north of this point, the road branches off in two. The western branch leads to the IDF outpost, while the eastern branch leads to the Erez border crossing.
It’s not possible to determine exactly what is being transported, but we can see food, water bottles and a large amount of fuel.
Water, food and fuel are visible on board the trucks.
At one point in one of the videos, the back of a car is shown filled with plastic jerrycans. These are marked with the branding of SOS Energy, an Israeli fuel supplier.
Hamas is cracking down on the militias
The new evidence of Israeli backing for Gaza’s militias comes as Hamas is attempting to reassert its authority through a violent crackdown on suspected collaborators.
On Thursday, Israeli news website Mako reported that Hamas had managed to take control of at least 45 pickup trucks, cash and hundreds of weapons from militias backed by Israel, citing IDF sources.
The crackdown has included a multi-day assault on Gaza City’s Al Sabra neighbourhood, home to the Doghmosh clan – an influential extended family with a long history of tensions with Hamas.
Clan members told Sky News that Hamas’s attack, which began as an attempt to arrest members of an anti-Hamas militia, had morphed into an indiscriminate campaign of revenge against the family as a whole.
“Hamas has not targeted any family,” Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem told Sky News.
“The occupation has formed armed militias loyal to it, and these militias are accused of high treason – the most severe charge in Palestinian revolutionary law.”
Hamas spokesman Hazem Qasam told Sky News that Gaza’s government was attempting to restore order.
The head of Gaza’s Supreme Council for Tribal Affairs Hosni Al Mughanni tells Sky News that Yasser Abu Shabab “deserves the harshest punishment for his crimes” and that he “threw himself into the enemy’s arms”.
Hosni Al Mughanni, head of Gaza’s Supreme Council for Tribal Affairs, spoke to Sky News in Gaza.
“These rogue groups terrified us more than the enemy at times, violating people’s sanctities and property, stripping them of cash, phones, even watches, and shooting legs,” he says.
We asked Al Mughanni about the summary executions that have taken place in recent days in Gaza City.
“With no functioning courts, prosecution, or police stations, all of which are destroyed, how can formal justice proceed?
“We are for restoring security, security is the basis of life.”
Additional reporting by Celine Alkhaldi, Middle East producer.
The Data and Forensics team is a multi-skilled unit dedicated to providing transparent journalism from Sky News. We gather, analyse and visualise data to tell data-driven stories. We combine traditional reporting skills with advanced analysis of satellite images, social media and other open source information. Through multimedia storytelling we aim to better explain the world while also showing how our journalism is done.
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