Following the Taliban's seizure of Afghanistan this past Sunday, disturbing videos have emerged, capturing what appear to be Taliban member's celebrating Sunday's events at an amusement part.
People from all over the world are still trying to erase the memory of the harrowing scene at the Kabul airport yesterday, capturing some Afghan citizens so desperate to flee, that they even held on to a departing US Military Plane, with at least seven confirmed dead.
But now, more disturbing footage has come to light on the Twitter page of French news source Mediavenir.
It is believed those captured in the video are members of the Taliban celebrating their recent victory in Afghanistann by riding Bumper cars, with at least one man visibly holding a machine gun while riding.
#Afghanistan : les #talibans ont pris le contr\u00f4le d\u2019un parc d\u2019attractions \u00e0 #Kaboul. (t\u00e9moins)pic.twitter.com/BukACDf5v2— Mediavenir (@Mediavenir) 1629144406
The video is credited to a witness in the caption, which roughly translates to "The Taliban have taken over an amusement park."
It was one of two videos taken at the amusement park, which INDY 100 identified as being located in Herat in north-west Afghanistan.
The second video captured Taliban members riding a children's merry-go-round, the rough translation of the caption reading "more footage of the Taliban takeover of the park.
| NEW: More footage from the Taliban taking over a theme park in Kabulpic.twitter.com/FjURHmVqKm— News For All (@News For All) 1629150109
In both videos, the men captured on the rides are heard laughing loudly and unsettlingly.
While INDY 100 reported that the footage was first discovered this past Friday, August 13, shortly after the Taliban had taken over Mazari Sharif, Balkh, the third largest city in Afghanistan, it is unclear when these disturbing videos were actually recorded.
A third video away from the amusement park, also captured members of the Taliban having an unusual celebration, this time inside the gym of Kabul's presidential palace.
The video was shared on the Twitter page of Middle Eastern news source Mulhak, the caption roughly translating to "members of the Taliban exercise in gym hall in the presidential palace ."
\u0639\u0646\u0627\u0635\u0631 "#\u0637\u0627\u0644\u0628\u0627\u0646" \u064a\u0645\u0627\u0631\u0633\u0648\u0646 \u0627\u0644\u0631\u064a\u0627\u0636\u0629 \u0641\u064a \u0642\u0627\u0639\u0629 \u062c\u064a\u0645 \u0628\u0627\u0644\u0642\u0635\u0631 \u0627\u0644\u0631\u0626\u0627\u0633\u064a \u0641\u064a #\u0643\u0627\u0628\u0644pic.twitter.com/A2ZraOqHtm— Mulhak \u0645\u0644\u062d\u0642 \ud83c\uddf1\ud83c\udde7 (@Mulhak \u0645\u0644\u062d\u0642 \ud83c\uddf1\ud83c\udde7) 1629134674
With the democratic and human rights of countless people of Afghanistan, particularly women, now in jeopardy, viewers were at a loss on how to process this bizarre and disturbing footage, expressing their mixture of confusion and repulsion on Twitter.
In crisis-torn #Afghanistan, that is witnessing mass evacuation attempts, bizarre visuals of #Taliban taking over amusement parks and gyms have come to light.\nRead here: https://bit.ly/3yYWew8\u00a0pic.twitter.com/uT0GMcViTW— The Quint (@The Quint) 1629181050
This is all most like brass eye style scene lol\nOr Chris Morris \u201cthe day today \u201c \n\u201cThe headlines this evening, the taliban take over running of a theme park \u201chttps://twitter.com/newsforalluk/status/1427385129907933186\u00a0\u2026— Gregory Taylor (@Gregory Taylor) 1629150751
pic.twitter.com/4eZAaWKeva— Hanane (@Hanane) 1629137314
The Taliban have been playing around in a Kabul fairground. I think this is the first time I\u2019ve seen a militant group riding dodgemspic.twitter.com/54mbrYTod3— Emir Nader (@Emir Nader) 1629182559
Taliban with assault rifles smashing about on the dodgems. Worlds gone mad.https://twitter.com/newsforalluk/status/1427367923132346368\u00a0\u2026— Cigs n\u2019 Alcohol (@Cigs n\u2019 Alcohol) 1629188495
The videos came to light at a very contentious time globally, with several questioning whether President Joe Biden made the right decision in withdrawing the American Troops.
But the president has stood firm in his decision, declaring in a press conference on Monday:
"I will not repeat the mistakes we have made in the past, the mistake of staying and fighting indefinitely in a conflict that is not in the interests of the United States."
As reported by The Independent, the situation at Kabul airport is said to have stabilized as the US prepares to evacuate more citizens seeking Asylum.