Afghanistan has seen war for decades, but none of them has involved so decisive a military takeover of the country as the latest. The speed with which the Taliban swept the country has shocked the world.
Why did the Afghan army collapse? Did president Ashraf Ghani have to flee? Is this a betrayal by the US administration? And what about the safety of Afghans, particularly women, under Taliban rule? These are some of the many questions people in the country are asking, but there are no easy answers.
This week on Beyond the Headlines, host Sulaiman Hakemy examines what happened in the crucial hours before Kabul fell to the Taliban, and what’s next for the country.
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
