The Taliban marched into Kabul before the last US troops had withdrawn.

The Afghan government fled. Thousands of panic-stricken Afghans desperate to leave the country flocked to the airport, fearing for their lives. How did things get that far? "I left my 26 years of achievement behind. My certificates, my university documents, my awards - everything.” Zarifa Ghafari was one of the few female politicians in Afghanistan and one of the youngest. When the Taliban seized power again, her life was suddenly in danger. Hers was a fate shared by thousands of Afghans who had worked with international or foreign organizations, or who had chosen a Western lifestyle. Many were hoping to be evacuated abroad - often in vain. 

A team of journalists has reconstructed the dramatic fall of Kabul, interviewing eyewitnesses, those involved, and those responsible. For the first time since the Taliban seized the Afghan capital Kabul, Germany’s Special Operations Forces offer detailed insight into the largest foreign evacuation mission staged by the country’s armed forces to date.

Members of the former Afghan government describe what happened on August 15, 2021 and the events that unfolded in the presidential palace. "We started the morning not thinking that this was going to be the last day in Kabul,” recalls Hamdullah Mohib. The then-national security advisor unexpectedly decided to leave Afghanistan at midday along with the president, sealing the fall of the government. Markus Potzel, who was meant to fly to Kabul on August 15 to take up the job of German ambassador for the second time, never reached his destination. Instead, he was sent to Doha where the Taliban leaders were headquartered.

From there, he followed the stages of the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan and the evacuation mission at the Kabul airport. He speaks frankly about Germany’s political and diplomatic miscalculations - and the critical mistakes of the 2020 Doha Agreement, which was made with the Taliban during the presidency of Donald Trump and led to the disastrous end of two decades of Western military intervention in Afghanistan.

 

 

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