Afghans fear Taliban revenge squads as 150 Brits left behind after last flight leaves – World News

Afghanistan will wake up to a terrifying new dawn on Sunday after the last civilian flight to the UK left Kabul tonight.

Around 150 Brits were left behind, as well as more than 1,000 Afghan allies at risk of brutal revenge attacks from the new Taliban regime.

The true horror of life in the war-torn country was tonight emerging from those who will not make it out.

Terrified Afghans have told how Taliban fighters have taken over the streets and begun lashing women, taking teenage sex slaves and threatening retribution on former government workers.

Humanitarian agencies warned that millions of Afghans urgently need food assistance and have no access to cash as banks remain closed.

The World Health Organisation said only a few days of medical supplies remain.

It’s a stark contrast to the picture of a more modern Afghanistan which emerged in the past decade and saw women ­allowed to work and study and the scrapping of many brutal laws.

Shadow Mental Health Minister Rosena Allin-Khan is speaking to desperate families still trapped.

The MP for Tooting, South London, told the Sunday People last night: “No-one should be left behind. The Government must understand this is a disaster of their own making and do all they can to step up capacity to support those eligible.

“The Government has fallen short and, instead of moving heaven and earth to save people, they’ve abandoned them to their fate. It’s heartbreaking that it’s come to this.

“I’ve been inundated with emails and calls from local people worried about loved ones stuck in Afghanistan and my heart goes out to them all.

“My team and I have spoken to people fleeing the Taliban, currently in hiding. They include relatives of Afghan politicians, people who ­assisted Nato forces and those who were Government supporters. Some have been threatened, with the Taliban actively searching for them.”

Former PM Gordon Brown said that as the crisis deepened, he had worked day and night to get desperate Afghans out of the country.

But with the window for leaving now closed, he called on Prime Minister Boris Johnson and other leaders to commit to spending billions to support those left behind “with no hope of ever leaving”.

Among them is primary school teacher Siddiqi, 46, who lives in Kuznan, 200 miles north of Kabul.

She said: “There is a constant threat to us and we can’t go to school or go outside. Everybody is scared and hiding.

“There is a lot of fear. If women go out on our own, they lash us with cables. They look so scary.”

Siddiqi, who has six children, ­including one in London, added: “They are looking for younger girls aged 14, 15, 16, to take as brides.

“They become slaves… I am very worried they will take my 16-year-old daughter.”

Ahmed, 27, is hiding in Kabul with his family, including his father – a retired anti-narcotics judge who fears a revenge attack is imminent.

“He worked very closely with the National Crime Agency and the FBI and many Taliban members were involved in the narcotics trade so we are worried they will now come after him,” Ahmed said. “The Taliban are saying they will forgive everyone, but nobody is confident they will keep their word.”

The head judge of the Anti Narcotics Court was ­assassinated by the Taliban outside his home in 2012.

The Taliban has also previously declared judges, prosecutors and legal staff will be a target for them.

Ahmed said there was now an “obvious Taliban presence” on the city’s streets, sparking terror among the population.

“Nobody wants to face them,” he said. “We are scared to look them in the eye. There are less people on the streets and there is confusion.”

He said many key facilities, including some medical centres, were now shuttered with no sign as to when or if they will reopen, leading him to fear “life is stopping in Kabul”.

Ahmed added: “Some public hospitals are open but the private ones are mostly closed. Schools and universities are all closed. Some shops are open, but not the big markets or bazaars.

“Banks have also been closed so it is a very big problem accessing money. Everyone is short of money, ­including us.

“We need to be very careful with the money we have now. We’re afraid we may not get salaries in the next month.”

Ahmed said there had been lots of local anger about the UK and US decision to pull out of the country.

“What they made here over 20 years, they now just gamble it in one day,” he said. “People are angry at the previous government and the allies.

“We are still in complete shock and want to find a way to make our lives work again.” Abdul, a former government worker, is also in fear of his life after receiving an anonymous phone call from a Taliban fanatic threatening that: “Judgement Day is very close.”

He said: “I am very scared. The country has collapsed and I’m hiding in a house in Kabul.

“I can’t stay at my own house because the Taliban are looking for me there and I am not even able to contact my family.

“The last time I spoke to my wife, she said the Taliban had been knocking at the door asking about me and said I should cut off all my contact.

“I do not want to leave Afghanistan because it will be difficult for me to adjust to a new society, but I fear I’ll be assassinated here.

“I want to get to the UK to give my children a bright future.”

Former PM Mr Brown told how he had been trying to help Afghans escape after being left horrified by pictures of the chaos at Kabul airport. Now there is no hope of more evacuation flights, he is urging Western nations to step up aid efforts.

Writing exclusively for the Sunday Mirror, Mr Brown said: “My thoughts are now firmly on what happens to the millions who are in Afghanistan with no hope of ever leaving.

“Reports already show conquering fighters seizing young girls as ‘wives’. Women are afraid to leave their homes unless clad in full burqas and niqabs.”

And he called on G7 leaders to ensure that the gains in education made over the past 20 years – particularly for girls – are not thrown away.

Mr Brown said: “Wherever humanly possible, no child in difficulty should be left behind and unaided.

“For now, they [the Taliban] say schools will open for grades 1 to 6 but grades 7 and above will remain closed. For the future they say their religious leaders ‘will decide whether girls are allowed to go to school or not’.

“All this puts in jeopardy perhaps the biggest social achievement in Afghanistan in the last 20 years – the exponential rise in education from one million to 9.5 million pupils.

“G7 nations should make a bold offer of international aid for Afghan education – to repeat for the next 20 years the $8billion we gave in the last 20 years, to be overseen by Unicef.

“Even in these most unpromising of circumstances, we must help the children of Afghanistan.

“Many who are among the 90,000 girls in further education are training to be doctors, scientists, lawyers.”

Mr Brown added: “Even when our options are limited, we can show our determination to help girls continue to fulfil their potential.”