CNN Chief International Correspondent Clarissa Ward left Kabul, Afghanistan, sharing a picture of a U.S. Air Force plane packed with evacuees in a Friday tweet.
“On our flight and getting ready for takeoff,” Ward wrote in the tweet. The correspondent had waited for hours in the airport before she was able to board the plane, as aircrafts they were initially supposed to be on “got pulled.”
Ward quoted one of the Afghans awaiting evacuation from the Taliban-controlled Kabul, who described the situation as “an insult to human dignity” and added that he did not know “why the Americans are doing this.” (RELATED: CNN Reporter Says Taliban Members Who Chant ‘Death To America’ Seem ‘Friendly At The Same Time’)
On our flight and getting ready for takeoff pic.twitter.com/bGaYREsbxT
— Clarissa Ward (@clarissaward) August 20, 2021
Ward confirmed landing in Doha, Qatar, with 300 other people Saturday, saying that they were “the lucky ones” to get such an opportunity.
She reported seeing a “female soldier carrying a weeping Afghan toddler,” a “Marine supporting an elderly man as he struggled to walk” and “servicemen rushing a dehydrated newborn to get medical attention” while waiting for her repatriation at the airport.
An episode of CNN’s “New Day” aired Wednesday showed footage of Ward trying to interview one of the Taliban. Ward and her crew were seen chased by two Taliban fighters after one of the militants refused to talk with the correspondent.