{"id":43748,"date":"2021-08-20T17:44:28","date_gmt":"2021-08-20T17:44:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/uncategorized\/2021\/08\/20\/marines-in-afghanistan-pull-baby-over-barbed-wire-to-safety\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T20:41:21","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T20:41:21","slug":"marines-in-afghanistan-pull-baby-over-barbed-wire-to-safety","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/flashpoints\/2021\/08\/20\/marines-in-afghanistan-pull-baby-over-barbed-wire-to-safety\/","title":{"rendered":"Marines in Afghanistan pull baby over barbed wire to safety"},"content":{"rendered":"
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U.S. troops manning the wall at the airport in Kabul are seen taking small children and a woman over the top to board flights as families swarm the facility.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n

A viral video shows a harrowing scene of Marines pulling an infant over a barbed-wire barrier separating U.S. troops defending Hamid Karzai International Airport from the Taliban controlled Kabul, Afghanistan. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is just one scene of many that have come out the past week showing how desperate tens of thousands of Afghans<\/a> are to escape an Afghanistan now under Taliban rule.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Marines seen carrying the baby were with the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, Marine spokesman Maj. Jim Stenger told Marine Corps Times Friday. They were the first U.S. troops on the ground, sent in to secure the airport to help evacuate U.S. citizens and at-risk Afghans from the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe baby seen in the video was taken to a medical treatment facility on site and cared for by medical professionals,\u201d Stenger said in an email. \u201cI can confirm the baby was reunited with their father and is safe at the airport. 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.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The roughly 1,200 Marines in Kabul, Afghanistan, with the 24th MEU came from 1st Battalion, 8th Marines, and Combat Logistics Battalion 24, both located in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marines from 1\/8 were involved in a shooting incident on Monday when Afghan locals took what were described as potshots, or careless gunshots, at Marines setting up the defensive, Brig. Gen. Peter D. Huntley, director of the operations division for Marine plans, policies and operations, told a group of reporters at the Pentagon on Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One Marine was wounded<\/a> in the leg, but received medical attention and quickly returned to duty, the general said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two armed Afghans were killed in the attack, but reports on the ground indicate it was not \u201cTaliban coordinated,\u201d Huntley said.<\/p>\n\n\n\t