Afghanistan Taliban Crisis: Truth behind viral video of man dangling from helicopter

The United States had given the Taliban an August 31 deadline to leave the country after the Taliban took control of Afghanistan. But a day earlier, the US had completed its return campaign. The last U.S. plane took off from Kabul on Monday afternoon. The Taliban took control of Kabul airport after the US return operation. The Taliban celebrated the victory overnight. Distributed sweets. There was heavy firing in the air at Kabul airport. "Our military has been here for the last 20 years," said US President Joe Biden. This presence is now over. In the last 17 days, our troops have flown the largest airlift in US history to date.

Meanwhile, a video of a man "hanging" from a US Blackhawk being flown in Kandahar went viral on social media. As per reports, the video surfaced on Monday just after the US troops left the country and went viral. 

It was being claimed that the man in the video has been punished by the Taliban for aiding the US military, and has claimed that the Taliban have begun to show their true colors after the withdrawal of troops. But now Afghan journalists have uncovered a different truth about the viral video.

The man seen dangling from the helicopter was actually a Taliban fighter who was trying to install a Taliban flag from the air. The Blackhawk was also being flown by an Afghan pilot. Reports claimed that the man was actually trying to install a flag on the governor's office, from the air. But it did not work in the end.

Afghan pilot flying this is someone I have known over the years. He was trained in the US and UAE, he confirmed to me that he flew the Blackhawk helicopter. Taliban fighter seen here was trying to install Taliban flag from air but it didn’t work in the end. https://t.co/wnF8ep1zEl

— BILAL SARWARY (@bsarwary) August 31, 2021