20 years after the Taliban were ousted by the allied forces in Afghanistan, the militant group took just over a week to seal a nationwide military victory once again. With uncertainty and unpredictability looming large in the region, Afghanistan’s star leg-spinner Rashid Khan called for peace amongst all. On Sunday, the Taliban took control of the presidential palace in Kabul, as President Ashraf Ghani fled the country. Western countries are scrambling to evacuate their citizens from Kabul airport, currently the only route out of the country.
Amid fear and panic following the latest developments at home, the Afghan cricketer shared his thoughts on the rapidly escalating situation and requested for “Peace”, followed by three praying emojis and three Afghan flags in a Twitter post.
Peace — Rashid Khan (@rashidkhan_19) August 15, 2021
The leg spin ace’s appeal for peace was widely shared and liked across social media circuits. However, it is a different story for millions of Afghans in the war-torn nation. The Taliban have been indifferent to peace offers and seem committed on a military victory to crown a return to power after their ouster two decades ago in the wake of the September 11 attacks.
Fighters from the insurgent group reached the outskirts of Kabul on Sunday as the USand other nations battled to evacuate their citizens, Bloomberg reported. Desperation and chaos ruled supreme at Kabul’s international airport on Monday as thousands of countrymen rushed to exit Afghanistan after the Taliban seized control of a bulk of territory in the country, the report further cited.
Meanwhile, Khan has posted on social media several times about the worsening crisis back in his country. Earlier last week, the spinner urged the “world leaders” to not ditch them at a time when they needed them the most and added they want peace and not destruction.
“Dear World Leaders! My country is in chaos, as thousand of innocent people, including children & women, get martyred everyday, houses & properties being destructed.Thousand families displaced. Don’t leave us in chaos. Stop killing Afghans & destroying Afghanistan. We want peace," he wrote on the microblogging site.
At present, Khan is plying his trade for the Trent Rockets in the ongoing The Hundred tournament. The star spinnerpicked up three wickets leaking just 16 runs from his quota of four overs to help his side register a seven-wicket victory over the Manchester Originals on Sunday. He is currently the joint-highest wicket-taker in the competition. English bowler Adil Rashid and Khan share 12 wickets each in the competition so far.
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