Brave Kiwi journalist describes face-to-face moment with the Taliban
The pictures coming out of Afghanistan this week have shocked the world as terrified civilians attempt to flee the Taliban in Kabul.
Among the chaos, brave female journalist Charlotte Bellis, 35, from Christchurch, New Zealand, came face to face with the Taliban at their first ever press conference.
Bellis is in the Afghan capital reporting for Al Jazeera English and while nearly anyone else with a foreign passport has been trying to escape, Bellis has stayed on to report about the unbelievable events taking place.
“When I woke up Monday morning, the checkpoints were no longer Afghan army and police, they were Taliban with machine guns and rocket launchers,” Bellis said.
She was applauded around the world for asking the first question about women’s rights.
“What assurances can you give to women and girls that their rights will be protected?” she asked the Taliban.
“Islamic Emirate is committed to rights of women within the framework of Sharia,” they responded.
The journalist also asked the militant group whether she “should be scared of the Taliban” as a woman, to which they said, “you should never be afraid of us”.
Bellis explained that being a Westerner, “we were a bit nervous because we didn’t know what to expect”.
“Most Westerners have been evacuated,” she told A Current Affair reporter Dan Nolan.
Growing up in New Zealand, Bellis said she never thought she would be attending a Taliban press conference.
“It’s always been a dream of mine to be here and doing this type of work,” she said.
“But the timing, we came in a month ago expecting to see some clashes in the provinces and the continuation of peace talks and no one could have expected how it’s played out. Just a total collapse of the Afghan government.
“Everyone’s shocked, even when I talk to the Taliban, they say ‘we’re shocked, we can’t believe this has played out like it has’.”
Bellis believes female Afghan journalists are the ones who deserve the most praise as images emerge of them fearlessly standing up to the Taliban.
“They are so brave because they remember the 90s and how oppressive it was and that they could be punished for critiquing the Taliban. They’re not sure what to expect and yet they still stood up at that press conference and asked really hard questions,” Bellis said.
Images of women on shop fronts have already been scrubbed across the city as the world watches to see what version of Sharia Law the Taliban will implement, and Afghans are now adjusting to the way the Taliban are now filling the role of police.
On one occasion after receiving reports of looting the Taliban arrived at the location, armed with rocket launchers.
“Shops have started re-opening here today. People are kind of getting used to the idea that they’re gonna see Taliban on every street corner. Driving here this morning I saw hundreds of Taliban in a 10-minute drive sitting on a street corner, having a cup of tea and settling in,” Bellis said.
While it may be relatively calm in parts of the city, the airport is still chaotic.
The Taliban have been on one side using gun fire as a crowd control method, while civilians including children have been scattering and hoping they’re not hit.
Anyone who has a visa allowing them to leave must find a way through the urban battlefield first.
Bellis said the situation at the airport was still very volatile with “a lot of gunfire” and “a lot of beatings”.
“One of my colleagues tried to evacuate last night but he went to the airport and he was beaten by the Taliban and he was back at work today. He couldn’t get on an evacuation flight,” she said.
On the military side of the airport, US troops remain in control, sparking desperate scenes.
In one instance a small baby was passed over a razor wire in the hope of escape.
“There’s a few hundred metres between thousands of US troops and hundreds of Taliban with machine guns and yet they’re kind of walking that tightrope,” Bellis said.
“But there’s thousands of people trying to get out and as far as I can see the Taliban are fairly overwhelmed and are responding quite forcefully, pushing people back.”
The Kiwi journalist said at the moment all people can do is “watch and wait” to see if the Taliban will be different this time, as they claim.
“They’re acting differently, they’re acting more progressively, more inclusively, respecting people, but the problem is – will it hold?” Bellis said.
