Taliban celebrates Afghan Independence Day by declaring victory over the U.S.
19 August 2021
The Taliban marked Afghanistan's Independence Day on Thursday by declaring it forced the U.S. out of the country and calling on crowds of Afghans waiting for flights at Kabul's airport to go home, per multiple reports.
What they're saying: The Taliban noted that on Afghan Independence Day, the country celebrates the anniversary of the 1919 treaty that ended British rule, per AP. "We at the same time as a result of our jihadi resistance forced another arrogant of power of the world, the United States, to fail and retreat from our holy territory of Afghanistan."
- A Taliban spokesperson confirmed to Reuters that Afghanistan would not be a democracy under its government, adding Islam's legal system "It is sharia law and that is it.
What else is happening: Chaotic scenes continued at Kabul's airport on Thursday, as the evacuation of Westerners and Afghan citizens who worked at embassies continued, the BBC notes.
- There were reports that Afghans waiting at the airport hoping to board flights out the country had been "beaten by Taliban guards," according to the BBC.
- 12 people have been killed in and around the airport due to gunfire or stampedes, Reuters reports.
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.