82nd Airborne in Kabul. (Via @RudKap on Twitter)

Photo purportedly showing the last flight from the United States Embassy, which is carrying the flag. The Embassy has been seized by the Taliban.

I’ve been monitoring the situation all night and not much has changed so that’s why I haven’t posted anything in a few hours.

Been waiting 12 hours for them to officially declare the IEA, but from the looks of it they are waiting for more Taliban leadership to arrive in country for it. Obviously the entirety of Afghanistan has fallen and is now under Taliban control and the declaration is more symbolic than anything.

Also big ups on gaining 28k followers today. Hope to get atlas.news2 up to speed with the 230k the main page had sooner rather than later.

If I get the main page back I’m considering disabling on my own temporarily for a month or two to really clear the heat off it. I would then archive almost every post involving Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and any terror attacks. I hope to transfer them over to a website to be accessed as a reference page. By then the atlas.news2 might be as big as the main so who knows. Only good thing to come out of the main page being taken down is that I have a true clean slate with content and so far no posts have been removed or reported (knock on wood). I will probably make it a habit to archive content a few days after posting to make sure the page won’t be at risk.

Also big thanks to all the Patreon supporters. Working with some people to get a podcast, website, and merch through suppliers so they can be cheaper. I hope to get out incentives for backers soon. Things out of my control move at their own pace so it’s just a waiting game.

Also just to clarify, at the Kabul airport there is a military side and a commercial side. The military side is secure and most of the chaos we are seeing is on the commercial side. NATO and remaining Afghan forces are keeping the crowds back.

I’m going to bed, see you all in the morning.

I’m aware of the footage going around of at least three dead bodies at the Kabul airport. There is a lot of conflicting reports whether or not they died by military gunfire or one of the many stampedes that have taken place in the last 24 hours. Just waiting for more clear information.

Taliban flying an ANA Mi-17

Lmao gained 40,000 followers in 24 hours. Page is now at 100,000.

There are some egregiously terrible reporting on Twitter of what is happening at the Kabul airport. I take the time to verify information and see what is credible and you should too if you are trying to get information for yourself. Just because a post has a bunch of retweets doesn’t make it true. This is mostly in reference to people claiming the Taliban is inside the airport or the military is mowing down crowds.

Apparently the Taliban are posted up outside the airport as “security” to not allow anyone in. There doesn’t appear to be any plans by then of entering the airport, likely until all foreign forces have left.

NatSec Jeff coming in clutch with context for this video

20 years for nothing?

20 years for nothing.

🎵Money for Nothing- Dire Straits

Possibly tried to pose as Taliban to make things easier on their part? But who knows. There is a lot of kit and weapons floating around the city now from looting. There is even a video on snap map of some kids in Kabul wearing chest rigs they probably found.