CNN releases footage of Taliban threatening Clarissa Ward crew with ‘pistol whip’

CNN reporter describes the situation on the ground in Kabul as ‘very dicey’

CNN has released footage of a tense moment when a Taliban militant confronted the network’s journalists reporting from the streets of Kabul.

Chief international correspondent Clarissa Ward reported that Taliban militants were prepared to “pistol whip” a field producer for the network before a fellow fighter intervened and prevented an attack.

“Quickly we are accosted by an angry Taliban fighter,” Ms Ward reported, adding that it was a “very dicey situation”.

“Suddenly two other Taliban charge towards us. You can see their rifle butt raised to strike. When the fighters are told we have permission to record they lower their weapons.”

“There was a consistent stream of gunfire,” Ms Ward said earlier describing the situation in the Afghan capital.

She added that her team was “accosted” by people asking for help to get out of the country.

“It’s so heartbreaking – everybody coming up to us with their papers, their passports, saying ‘please, I worked at Camp Pheonix, I worked at this camp, I was a translator, help me get in, help me get to America, help me get my SIV – my visa, to get out of the country’. And then the Taliban would just come through, at one stage, this fighter just lifted his gun up into the air as if he was about to start firing so we had to run and take cover,” Ms Ward recounted.

Describing the “most frightening moment” for the CNN crew, Ms Ward said Field Producer Brent Swails was filming with his iPhone when two Taliban fighters approached, ready to assault Mr Swails. The rest of the CNN crew intervened along with another Taliban fighter who told the others not to attack the reporters.

“I’ve covered all sorts of crazy situations – this was mayhem,” Ms Ward said.

Describing the scene outside the Kabul airport, she said: “This was nuts. This is impossible for an ordinary civilian, even if they have their paperwork – no way they’re running that gauntlet, no way they’re going to be able to navigate that. It’s very dicey, it’s very dangerous and it’s completely unpredictable, there’s no order, there’s no coherent system for processing people, separating those with papers from those who don’t have papers.”

“Honestly, to me, it’s a miracle that more people haven’t been very, very, seriously hurt,” Ms Ward added.

The Biden administration faces the daunting task of getting out tens of thousands of Americans and vulnerable Afghans still in the country before the official US withdrawal date of 31 August.

Officials across the federal government held briefings on Tuesday but failed to answer some basic questions. Precisely how many Americans are still in Afghanistan remains unclear and no specific answer has been provided as to how many vulnerable Afghans the US military believes it can get out of the country.

“There have been instances where we have received reports of people being turned away or pushed back, or even beaten,” National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said on Tuesday. “We are taking that up in a channel with the Taliban to try to resolve those issues. And we are concerned about whether that will continue to unfold in the coming days.”

“As things stand right now, what we are finding is that we are getting people through the gate, we are getting them lined up, and we are getting them on planes, but this is an hour by hour issue, and it’s something we’re clear-eyed about and very focused on holding the Taliban accountable to follow through on its commitment,” he added.