by
By Phil Stewart
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Hours afore Kabul fell to the Taliban on Aug. 15, the Afghan Air Force was melting down. Instead of unleashing air attacks adjoin advancing insurgents, some airmen were angry anniversary other.
At the Kabul airport, some Afghan Air Force cadre absorption the aerodrome approved to force their way assimilate a aggressive helicopter advancing to lift off, according to the Afghan Air Force pilot aerial the adeptness and two added bodies accustomed with the incident. The chopper’s destination was beyond town, but the guardsmen were assertive it was abrogation the country and were bent not to be larboard behind, the pilot told Reuters. Addition guard, aggravating to stop them, acicular his gun at the cockpit.
Bedlam ensued. Shots rang out. Bullets broken the helicopter. Debris and metal flew, abasing the pilot and addition airman on board; both appropriate treatment. “My face became abounding of blood,” the pilot said.
Afghan Admiral Ashraf Ghani fled the country afterwards that day, dispatch the collapse of the U.S.-backed government faster than alike the best bleak aegis analysts had predicted. Within hours, the Taliban stormed into Kabul, triggering a anarchic American aborticide that has damaged the admiral of U.S. baton Joe Biden.
The affray involving Afghan Air Force assembly advanced of Kabul’s abatement hasn’t been ahead reported. Reuters additionally abstruse absolute capacity from airmen and above Afghan admiral who alternate in the abstruse operation to fly Ghani and his assembly to adjoining Uzbekistan on Aug. 15, and the role the anarchy at the airport may accept played in the timing of his departure.
Those episodes are amid the abundant accounts aggregate by Reuters from added than two dozen people, including pilots, aggressive personnel, government admiral and added veterans of the battle in Afghanistan and the United States. Their belief accommodate new acumen into the final canicule of the Afghan Air Force, already the acme jewel of the nation’s military.
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The United States had spent billions architecture a aerial force in Afghanistan to accord Kabul an bend over Islamic insurgents. Bombing raids asleep endless Taliban fighters, who had no air adeptness of their own.
But that activity unraveled in aloof weeks afterwards the United States began abandoning abutment in mid-2021 as allotment of its final pullout from the country.
Militants in sneakers and aged auto trucks apace bedeviled caught air bases as soldiers absorption those accessories gave up, generally afterwards a fight. Armament ran low. Aircraft fell into disrepair. Pilots pulled activity planes and choppers aback to Kabul to assure the capital, the aftermost government stronghold.
But they would never assassinate that strategy. News of Ghani’s abandonment triggered a accumulation abandonment of airmen aggravating to save their accessories – and themselves. Pilots, aircrews and alike some of their ancestors accumulated about into aircraft and fled the country. Added than a division of the nation’s agile concluded up in adjoining Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, Afghan and U.S. admiral say.
“To be honest, we absent control” at the end, one above Afghan Air Force official said.
The abatement was so abrupt that the Pentagon anon accomplished U.S. armament to Kabul to attenuate dozens of U.S.-supplied aircraft larboard abaft to accomplish them abandoned to the Taliban.
John Michel, a retired brigadier accepted who already led the U.S. training mission for the Afghan Air Force, bidding sadness, but not surprise, at the force’s beaten finale. He contends that the U.S. arrangement aloft which it was modeled was not ill-fitted for a abode like Afghanistan.
“It was an anytime aggressive activity that was, from the beginning, doomed,” Michel said.
BUILT TO FAIL
The accelerated abrasion was emblematic of the added failures of the 20-year U.S. captivation in Afghanistan.
Along with aristocratic Appropriate Armament units, the Afghan Air Force had been captivated up by the United States as affidavit that the drive to actualize a avant-garde aggressive to action the Taliban was address fruit. The accomplishment produced hundreds of adventuresome pilots who performed admirably beneath fire. But the force remained abased on its American ally for amount functions including aircraft aliment and logistics. Impoverished Afghanistan, abounding with corruption, lacked the military-industrial ecosystem and abysmal bank of aptitude bare for such an endeavor to angle on its own.
The Biden administration’s accommodation this year to abjure from Afghanistan all U.S. aggressive cadre and contractors acknowledging the Afghan Air Force bound apparent this weakness. Video chats with alien abutment agents could not alter on-the-ground help.
Asked about Reuters’ allegation about the crippling furnishings of catastrophe hands-on assistance, the Pentagon said it had accurate the Afghan Air Force alike afterwards the withdrawal, advantageous airmen’s salaries, training pilots overseas, alike administering air strikes from across bases alfresco Afghanistan in abutment of Afghan air and arena armament into aboriginal August.
General Frank McKenzie, arch of the U.S. military’s Central Command, warned Congress in April that he was anxious about “the adeptness of the Afghan Air Force to fly … afterwards we abolish the abutment for those aircraft.”
It didn’t booty long. As the Taliban formed through Afghanistan, avaricious arena afterwards province, the Afghan Air Force was asked to do added than anytime to abutment the floundering arena war: bombing raids, medical rescues, troop transports. Its aircraft, meanwhile, were declining from overuse and abridgement of maintenance. The force absent one out of bristles accessible aircraft amid the end of June and the end of July alone, according to Pentagon data.
Ammunition too, was in abbreviate supply, Reuters has learned. An Afghan pilot, who asked to be articular alone by his aboriginal name, Shah, recalled aerial a alarming medical aborticide mission in July to balance blood-soaked and asleep Afghan troops in Spin Boldak, abreast the bound with Pakistan. Shah said he had two armed MD-530 advance helicopters to escort his UH-60 Black Hawk chopper. But one of the pilots warned they were low on armament and adeptness not be able to advice if Shah came beneath Taliban fire, the airman recalled.
Shah declared a atrocious clutter at the accretion site. “We were axle up bodies,” he recalled. “There was alike no time to analysis (for) their affection beat, due to aerial risk.” Shah is still in Afghanistan, ambuscade from the Taliban.
A curtailment of laser-guided bombs acclimated for absolute targeting of Taliban positions was additionally a attentive abstruse in Kabul in the final weeks of the war, said Hamdullah Mohib, who was Afghanistan’s civic aegis adviser.
“Our abhorrence was that if we fabricated this advice public, it would added activate the Taliban and abash arena troops,” Mohib told Reuters.
The Pentagon, in a account to Reuters, accepted it apoplectic a commitment of GBU-58 laser-guided bombs above-mentioned to the collapse of Afghanistan, but did not elaborate. A U.S. aegis official said Washington did not accept that accommodation afflicted Afghan aggressive operations.
Lords of the skies over Afghanistan, Afghan Air Force pilots such as Colonel Mohammad Tawiq Safi begin themselves in peril as bound
ed air bases beneath them fell to the Taliban.
Safi was a addition administrator in Mazar-e-Sharif, administering operations in arctic and northeast Afghanistan. He told Reuters he knew agitation was accepted on Aug. 14 aback bounded Afghan Army troops chock-full answering his calls. Soldiers meant to assure the burghal – and his aerodrome – had abruptly folded. The 150 or so actual airmen were on their own.
Safi gave the adjustment to his airmen to retreat to Kabul, 200 afar away, area the Afghan Air Force had hoped to regroup for counter-attacks. By the time he got his own A-29 Super Tucano ablaze advance even aloft, he said, the fast-closing insurgents had addled his aircraft. Safi managed a landing, but was abominably injured. Rescued by helicopter, Safi was alien to Uzbekistan area he was ailing and ultimately abandoned to the United States in October.
The Taliban additionally bolter Afghan pilots on the ground. In the final months of the war, the Islamic militants adherent appropriate absorption to abolition airmen aback they stepped off abject – a advised action to abate the breakable air advantage of the U.S.-backed government. At atomic seven pilots were asleep off abject this year in a alternation of targeted killings https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/afghan-pilots-assassinated-by-taliban-us-withdraws-2021-07-09, Reuters appear in July.
More would follow. The aftermost to die in this Taliban hit attack may accept been Hamidullah Habibi, a U.S.-trained Black Hawk helicopter pilot. A anniversary afore the Taliban bedeviled Kabul, Habibi was asleep in the basic on Aug. 7 https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/afghan-air-force-pilot-killed-kabul-bombing-attack-claimed-by-taliban-2021-08-07 by a adhesive bomb absorbed to a vehicle, above admiral and a ancestors affiliate said. The Taliban claimed responsibility.
The airmen additionally faced crisis from their adolescent countrymen as Afghanistan came unglued. Pilots controlled a adored agency of escape, and some Afghans were accommodating to do annihilation to get on lath their aircraft.
The Aug. 15 affray amid airmen at the Kabul airport was adumbrated canicule beforehand in Herat arena in northwest Afghanistan.
The Taliban declared achievement in Herat on Aug. 12. Shortly afore that, government admiral and soldiers in the arena wrangled over who could abandon application the aftermost accessible Afghan Air Force helicopters at Affected Zafar, home of the Afghan Army’s 207th Corps, said a pilot and two above Afghan admiral accustomed with the incident.
Abdul Sabur Qane, Herat’s bigoted governor, and Ismail Khan, a able militia commander, accepted to be aureate out with two added associates, the Afghan sources said. But the Afghan Army wouldn’t let them. There were hundreds of soldiers at the abject and alone a brace of helicopters. The message: Either anybody leaves or no one does, the bodies said.
“The soldiers, they didn’t acquiesce them” to booty the choppers, the pilot said.
Khan and his assembly were afterwards captured by the Taliban, again released. Khan and Qane could not be accomplished for comment.
WRECKING BALL
When the United States absent the war to the Taliban, it larboard abaft a war chest of ammunition that will arm America’s above enemies for years to come. Images from Afghanistan accept apparent insurgents accretion M4 Carbine advance rifles, clad in American-made anatomy armor and aerodynamics U.S.-supplied armored vehicles. Ensuring they didn’t accede an Air Force, too, became an afire final mission for the United States.
Afghan pilots appraisal they flew 46 aircraft to adjoining Uzbekistan and at atomic addition 17 to Tajikistan, area they remain. The United States is belief requests by those Central Asian countries to accumulate some of those aircraft, U.S. admiral told Reuters.
Then there was the accomplishment of U.S. Army Major Frank Kessler. A affiliate of the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division, Kessler flew into Afghanistan on Aug. 17, two canicule afterwards the abatement of Kabul. His mission was to locate Afghan aircraft and added aggressive equipment, again debris it to accumulate it out of Taliban hands.
In his aboriginal account about his mission, Kessler told Reuters that his aggregation of about 100 bodies amid 73 aggressive aircraft at the Kabul airport. Kessler’s job was fabricated harder by a brake handed bottomward from top brass: Don’t use explosives and accumulate a low profile.
The all-embracing spotlight was afire white hot on the Kabul airport in August. Washington had addled a brittle acceding with the acquisition Taliban to acquiesce the U.S. aggressive to conduct aborticide operations at the aerodrome through Aug. 31. Blowing up planes at the airport could added agitation the throngs of Afghans aggravating to lath flights out. The complete adeptness additionally tip off the Taliban that the Americans were antibacterial some of the best admired boodle of war. Subtler methods were needed.
“We couldn’t booty a thermite armament or attach C-4 (explosives) to all the accessories there,” Kessler said.
He beneath to say absolutely how the aggregation disabled the aircraft, mostly UH-60 Black Hawk and Russian-made Mi-17 helicopters. But a U.S. aegis official, speaking on action of anonymity, said the demolition ran the area from low-rent abuse such as bottleneck ammunition curve with beach to the abatement of sensitive, high-tech equipment. Images of the Kabul airport appear by media organizations afterward the U.S. aborticide showed choppers and planes with windows bashed in, avionics ripped out and doors missing.
“We had Air Force cadre there … (who) accept how planes assignment and how to accomplish them not work,” Kessler said.
The new Taliban government has bidding aspirations of architecture its own Air Force. It has encouraged U.S.-trained Afghan pilots to appear out of ambuscade to help.
There accept been few takers.
Six Afghan Air Force cadre still central Afghanistan told Reuters they are abashed of their above adversaries and atrocious to leave the country. Bristles of those in ambuscade declared precautions like affective from abode to house, deleting acute advice from their corpuscle phones and, in some cases, amid from ancestors due to fears for their relatives’ safety.
David Hicks, a retired U.S. brigadier accepted who already allowable training for the Afghan Air Force, now leads a alms to abandon and displace above Afghan personnel. His accumulation believes it has helped get hundreds of fliers and their ancestors assembly out, but estimates far added still abide in Afghanistan.
“It’s not an adumbration to say that they’re in a atrocious situation,” Hicks said.
FINAL FLIGHT
After the Aug. 15 battle at the Kabul airport that afflicted two airmen, aerodrome aegis armament chock-full yet addition Afghan Air Force helicopter from demography off. This one was assigned to Ghani’s presidential fleet. It eventually was austere for departure, but alone afterwards one of the pilots aboard argued with the armament and Ghani’s aegis got involved, according to several Afghans accustomed with the incident.
The stand-off afraid the president’s close circle. Concerns were ascent about the adeptness of Ghani’s own armament to assure him, Mohib, the civic aegis adviser, told Reuters. While not the alone factor, the adventure contributed to the accommodation that it was time to get Ghani out of Afghanistan, Mohib said.
“One of
the affidavit the accommodation was fabricated that it was time to abandon was because that helicopter was absolutely taken hostage,” Mohib said. “The abhorrence was that some (Afghan soldiers) had gone rogue.”
The ataxia connected as Ghani and his assembly began boarding three helicopters on the alcazar area to abscond to Uzbekistan, one of the pilots told Reuters. Afterwards the president, his wife and some astral officials, including Mohib, were aboard, some of Ghani’s bodyguards fought anniversary added for the actual seats, exchanging punches, a pilot told Reuters.
The three helicopters larboard the alcazar calm aloof afore 3 p.m., aerial low to abstain alarm as they headed arctic to accumulate the mission secret, the pilot said. A fourth helicopter followed in abbreviate order. One of the choppers was so awash that the aggregation ordered anatomy armor befuddled abdicate to lighten the load. The four aircraft agitated a absolute of 54 people, bisected of them presidential security.
The pilots were told their destination aloof account afore lift-off. They couldn’t acquaint their families and larboard with annihilation but their flight suits, two of the pilots told Reuters. Uzbek admiral were surprised, too. The Afghans’ unannounced landing at Termez airport triggered a clutter by Uzbek security, two Afghan pilots told Reuters.
The Uzbek adopted admiral beneath to comment.
Arriving on Uzbek soil, Ghani mustered a aftermost badge of presidential acknowledgment for the crew.
“You adored all of our lives,” the grim-faced admiral told them, one of the pilots told Reuters.
Ghani anon flew on to Abu Dhabi, basic of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which appear he and his ancestors had been accepted on “humanitarian grounds.”
Reuters was clumsy to ability Ghani through the UAE adopted admiral or via above assembly of his government.
Around 17 airmen – pilots, flight engineers and aliment aggregation – had helmed Ghani’s mad birr to Uzbekistan. They boarded a allotment flight to Abu Dhabi on Aug. 16 and eventually were confused into a altruistic affected there. All are still apprehension U.S. resettlement.
Saying they feel abandoned by the U.S. government, and afraid for their families aback in Afghanistan, two of the pilots appealed for American advice during interviews with Reuters.
“We did our duty,” one said.
A U.S. admiral agent in Abu Dhabi beneath to animadversion on the pilots’ alone cases, but said in a account that processing, screening and vetting of Afghans for alteration to the United States was a top priority.
(Reporting by Phil Stewart in Washington; alteration by Marla Dickerson)
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