‘It was a cross between Mad Max and 28 Days Later’: British soldiers reveal scenes of mayhem as they destroyed equipment worth billions to stop it falling into enemy hands as Kabul fell to the Taliban
- Footage shows destroyed helicopters, vehicles, and swathes of abandoned kit
- Troops attack equipment with sledgehammers and spear cars with forklifts
These are the shocking moments of mayhem as British troops destroyed ‘billions of pounds’ of equipment to stop it falling into enemy hands as Kabul fell to the Taliban.
The footage shows destroyed helicopters and military vehicles, with vast swathes of abandoned kit strewn across Hamid Karzai International Airport in the Afghan capital.
The chaotic military withdrawal from the war-torn nation in 2021 will be revealed through unseen footage in three-part series Evacuation, airing today on Channel 4.
Speaking about the chaotic scene, Gaz McMahon – a sergeant major in the Parachute Regiment – described the huge cost of the necessary destruction.
He said: ‘I can’t describe how much kit and equipment was lying around everywhere.
The footage shows destroyed helicopters and military vehicles
Vast swathes of abandoned kit can be seen strewn across Hamid Karzai International Airport in the Afghan captal
Troops burn ther manifests to stop the names of people who had left getting into the hands of the Taliban
A military vehicle is destroyed as a soldier whacks its dashboard and controls and abandoned helicopters lie in sheds with their engines open and debris lying around them
Speaking about the chaotic scene, Gaz McMahon (pictured) – a sergeant major in the Parachute Regiment – described the huge cost of the necessary destruction
‘HKIA airport was like a cross between “Mad Max” and “28 Days Later”.
‘In the back of every military equipment pamphlet there is a page of how to deny that equipment, which nobody ever reads. But we destroyed loads of kit.
‘There was sand being put into petrol tanks, engines being run to seize engines up. The Embassy vehicles were being destroyed by diggers.
‘Billions of pounds of equipment left there.’
Afghanistan fell back into Taliban hands in 2021 after President Joe Biden made good on a deal struck by Donald Trump to fully withdraw US forces from the country after a 20-year conflict.
It was hoped that government forces which America spent decades training and billions of dollars arming could fight the Islamists to a stalemate, before striking a power-sharing deal.
In the end, Ashraf Ghani’s forces capitulated with barely a fight – leaving US forces and allied troops trapped in the Afghan capital as it fell to the Islamists and sparking a hasty and dangerous evacuation mission.
Biden’s allies both home and abroad openly accused him of blindsiding them with his rush to exit by August 31 and slammed his handling of the ensuing crisis.
Diana Bird (pictured), a Squadron Leader of the RAF police, took part in the demolition – and photos show her armed with a sledge hammer as she destroys a military vehicle
Photos show her armed with a sledge hammer as she destroys a military vehicle
Taliban fighters pose for photographers with their weapons in 2021 as they patrol the streets of Kabul, amid reports they were hauling away British and American collaborators for ‘punishment’
Taliban fighters flying their flag drive through the centre of Kabul in 2021 as they try to maintain security in the capital
Pictured: Women filmed pleading with US troops that the ‘Taliban are coming’ in footage that appeared to have been taken at Kabul airport
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that Britain’s hasty withdrawal from Afghanistan was ‘the culmination of a mission unlike anything we’ve seen in our lifetimes’.
READ MORE: US troops fire shots into the air and use teargas on desperate crowds as chaos at Kabul airport enters fifth day
Diana Bird, a Squadron Leader of the RAF police, took part in the demolition – and photos show her armed with a sledge hammer as she destroys a military vehicle.
She said: ‘Taking a bit of the built-up aggression and anger and frustration of the last few weeks out was a really good way to start that decompression process.
‘We burnt all of our manifests, because we didn’t want the names of the people who had left getting into the hands of the Taliban. So we had a huge bonfire.’
Horrific scenes from the evacuation saw people run over by taxiing jets, stowaways plummeting from the engines of an airborne plane and babies being handed by desperate mothers to departing soldiers.
The video looks on as manic troops react in amazement while they destroy their equipment.
In one scene, a squaddie points to a bag on the floor, shouting: ‘Free bag, free bag! Look! Look! Look! Wild! Wild!’
A military vehicle is destroyed as a soldier whacks its dashboard and controls and abandoned helicopters lie in sheds with their engines open and debris lying around them.
In other clips, and embassy Toyota and a Landrover are seen being speared by a forklift
Jeeps are destroyed with sledgehammers and blocks of cement
An Afghan child walks near abandoned military uniforms at Kabul airport on Monday after the Taliban took control of the city in 2021
A little girl is thrown over the wall of the airport in 2021 as the Taliban started moving through the city of Kabul. The airport was the last part of the city being defended by US troops
In one scene, a squaddie points to a bag on the floor, shouting: ‘Free bag, free bag! Look! Look! Look! Wild! Wild!’
Jeeps are destroyed with sledgehammers and blocks of cement.
In other clips, and embassy Toyota and a Landrover are seen being speared by a forklift.
Ms Bird now lives with PTSD, and talked about the Afghan woman targeted by the Taliban she had to turn away because they were not eligable for transit.
One of the few female leaders in the RAF, she had to quickly assemble a team to take to Kabul.
She continued: ‘I was taking nineteen-year-olds. I basically took a sixth-form field trip to Kabul.
‘You absolutely feel for each and every one of these people, but we couldn’t save everybody.
‘I’ve got my stone. Yeah, it’s my… my PTSD stone. It’s just off a beach down in Cornwall, but it’s got lots of little rough areas and sort of sharp bits and stuff.
‘You have something that helps you get back where you are, reminds you that you’re here instead of there.’
- Evacuation is going out on Channel 4 on Sunday July 2 at 9pm, and will continue on consecutive nights. This clip is from episode 3, which will be aired on Tuesday
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