Baby passed to Marine over barbed wire in SHOCKING clip returned to Afghan parents
The newborn baby who broke a million hearts when she was seen in a video being handed to a US Marine over a wall topped with barbed wire at Kabul airport, becoming the very emblem of a panic-stricken Afghanistan under the Taliban's rule, has been reportedly reunited with her father.
The video which went viral was taken by Omar Haidari, a human rights activist. In the heart-wrenching clip, a crying infant girl was seen being handed off to a Marine across a reinforced wall at Hamad Karzai International Airport. The Marine then handed the child to a soldier. The child was hoisted up by someone in the crowd and the Marine leaned down as far as he could to take the child from the other side. The video stood out as a stark visual of Afghan parents willing to depart from their kids in order to secure what they believed to be a better future for the young ones.
The chaos & fear of people is a testament to the international community’s role in AFG’s downfall & their subsequent abandonment of Afghan people. The future for AFG has bn decided for its people without its people’s vote & now they live at the mercy of a terrorist group. #Kabul pic.twitter.com/k4bevc2eHE
— Omar Haidari (@OmarHaidari1) August 19, 2021
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Uploaded on August 19, the video is currently pinned on the top of Haidari's Twitter channel and has received 2.6 million views so far. "The chaos & fear of people is a testament to the international community’s role in AFG’s downfall & their subsequent abandonment of Afghan people. The future for AFG has bn decided for its people without its people’s vote & now they live at the mercy of a terrorist group. #Kabul" he captioned it.
The Marine Corps officials confirmed on Friday, August 20 that a member of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit was seen on video receiving the child in a viral video. "The baby seen in the video was taken to a medical treatment facility on-site and cared for by medical professionals. I can confirm the baby was reunited with their father and is safe at the airport," Major Jim Stenger told CBS News. "This is a true example of the professionalism of the Marines on site, who are making quick decisions in a dynamic situation in support of evacuation operations."
Contrary to what the video looked like, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said at a press briefing on Friday afternoon that the baby was taken by the Marines so that she could receive medical treatment and wasn't taken to board a flight. The baby received medical treatment at a Norwegian field hospital at the airport. After that, the Marines returned the infant back to the father.
"The parent asked the Marines to look after the baby because the baby was ill. The Marine you see reaching over the wall took it to a Norwegian hospital at the airport. They treated the child and returned the child to the father," Kirby explained. "The baby was returned to its father. I don’t know where they are now. Obviously, we have a responsibility to return a child to the parent. I don’t know who the parent is if they're an SIV applicant. It was a humane act of compassion by the Marines."