‘What I Saw at Kabul Jail Day After Viral Video of Prisoners Fleeing'

A local from Kabul reports from outside the Pul-e-Charkhi prison complex.

(Photo: Arnica Kala/The Quint)

Walid Arman, a citizen journalist from across the border, reports from Kabul's central jail. 

Video Producer: Maaz Hasan
Video Editor: Ashutosh Bhardwaj
Text: Aastha Gulati

(Several media reports suggest the Taliban has freed prisoners from prisons in Kabul, Kandahar, and Bagram. A resident from Kabul claims that inmates at Pul-e-Charkhi in Kabul were released right before the Taliban captured the city.)

Three days since the Taliban conquered Kabul, Afghanistan's capital city and the place I call home. Fear surrounds each family as they try to find a way out.

Hardly anyone is going to work, even as the Taliban have asked everyone to resume. People who were working for the government aren’t working anymore. Everyone is under stress and many have been crying in the confines of their home. I cried a lot on the first day, too, uncertain about times to come. Locals were earlier asked to be patient for a few days as the Taliban decides on the future course of action and government-formation.

While visuals from the airport in Kabul are now viral, another video of prisoners fleeing Kabul's Pul-e-Charkhi, the country's largest detention cell, was also uploaded on social media.

This happened when the Taliban were on the outskirts of the city. I visited the jail the next day to gauge the situation.

Several prisoners jumped over the walls of the jails. Some reportedly fled with weapons. They also took away other government equipment along with them. Leftover equipment was also looted from jail.

Kandahar jail was similarly overran and prisoners released.

Now, a Talib can be seen standing on the tower, overseeing the 'security' of the jail.

(All 'My Report' branded stories are submitted by citizen journalists to The Quint. Though The Quint inquires into the claims/allegations from all parties before publishing, the report and the views expressed above are the citizen journalist's own. The Quint neither endorses, nor is responsible for the same.)