KABUL, Aug. 30 (Xinhua) -- One year has passed since the last batch of U.S. troops left Afghanistan at midnight on Aug. 30, 2021, yet the trauma lingers on from the chaotic and deadly withdrawal.
During the evacuation, thousands of Afghans, especially those who had worked for the U.S. army and companies, flooded to the airport to leave the country. Two Afghans even tied themselves to parts of a U.S. military plane, and fell from the plane and died after it took off.
"It was an inhumane and immoral treatment," said Nisar Ahmad, who witnessed the tragedies at the airport a year ago.
Shooting also happened during the withdrawal. "I heard and saw on TV that the Americans were also shooting," Kabul resident Aqal Khan sobbed while recalling the scene of U.S. troops firing at civilians after a terrorist attack at the airport last year.
The nightmare for locals did not end at the airport as killing continued. On Aug. 29 last year, a U.S. drone attacked a vehicle in Kabul, killing 10 civilians, including seven children. U.S. officials said they thought it was a vehicle carrying a bomb from Islamic State fighters, but further investigations proved the victims' innocence.
"It was a very tragic scene and scary, and I am still terrified when recalling the bloody scene of bodies of innocent children and their families lying and rolling in blood," Muzamill Amiri, 17, said two of the victims were his good friends with whom he used to play volleyball and football.
"The tragic incident was like a nightmare, and would haunt me forever," Amiri added.
During the past two decades, the U.S.-led military operations in Afghanistan have caused more than 30,000 civilian deaths, and turned 11 million people into refugees, leaving Afghanistan in desperate need of stability and rehabilitation.
