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In the grip of the GI: the baby was taken to a medical station
Photo:
Social media / via REUTERS
The escalation of the situation at Kabul airport continues to produce depressing images.
A few days ago, people desperately clung to planes, and 19-year-old youth footballer Zaki Anwari died trying to escape.
Now another moving scene is making headlines.
A video clip that spreads across social and US media shows a crowd handing a baby over a wall of barbed wire to the US military.
A soldier grabbed the baby by the right arm and passed it on to colleagues.
Apparently the desperation of those people is increasing, so that they are taking drastic steps at the airport of the Afghan capital for fear of the Taliban.
Many hope to leave the country to save their lives - and that of this baby too.
Given more children over the wall?
A spokesman for the US Marines confirmed that the soldier in the clip was a member of one of their units.
The baby has been taken to a medical station on the premises and is being looked after by health workers.
The spokesman did not initially comment on the circumstances of the scene - for example, what happened to the child's parents.
There may even be other similar cases.
Other videos on social media, which have not yet been officially confirmed, also show how people apparently passed small children over walls with barbed wire to soldiers.
Meanwhile, the time pressure is growing to get people to safety from the Taliban.
Chaos and violence around the airport are increasing.
Thousands of Afghans are still hoping for an opportunity to use western flights to get to safety after the militant Islamist Taliban came to power.
The nerves of many people are also on edge because the foreign troops could soon withdraw completely.
The US actually wants to complete its withdrawal from Afghanistan by August 31st.
And the evacuation flights from Kabul depend on the protection of the several thousand US soldiers.
apr / dpa