Afghan women, children chase false rumor to Kabul airport

ISLAMABAD [PAKISTAN]: Hundreds of Afghans, including women and children, dashed toward the Kabul airport after a false rumor spread that flights were leaving for Turkey to help rescue earthquake victims.

Videos and photos posted on social media since Wednesday showed dozens of desperate people running on foot in the darkness and cold towards the airport.

The scene harked back to August, 2021, when thousands of desperate people stormed the airport for the airlift for those fleeing the Taliban takeover. Life in Afghanistan has only grown more grim with the onset of winter, limits on women and grinding poverty.

“I heard that Turkey is taking out people, so I thought I can go and help people in need,” said Abdul Ghafar, 26, a Kabul resident who rushed to the airport Wednesday, adding, “Also this can be an opportunity for me to find a way out of the country.”

Ghafar waited for three hours in the cold weather near the airport, heading back home after Taliban forces said there were no such flights to Turkey.

Khalid Zadran, spokesman for the Kabul police chief, said no such flights existed, and he said the situation has returned to normal by Thursday morning. He asked people not to disrupt the public order with “baseless lies.”

The Taliban government in a statement expressed condolences to Turkey and Syria for the tragedy, in which at least 16,000 people have been killed. The government announced a relief package of 10 million Afghanis to Turkey and 5 million Afghanis to Syria.