An infant that was captured on camera being passed over razor wire in Afghanistan has been reunited with family, the Department of Defense has confirmed.
Throughout the week, many chaotic scenes from Afghanistan have hit social media following the Taliban's takeover of the presidential palace in Kabul on Sunday.
One of the most harrowing and heartbreaking was a video that showed an infant child being handed over razor wire to US Marines at Kabul's Hamid Karzai International Airport.
The scene, captured by Omar Haidari, was widely shared across social media, but now the Department of Defense has been able to provide clarity on the situation.
As reported by the Daily Mail and The Independent, US Marine Corps has confirmed that the baby "is safe at the airport" and has been reunited with its father, with USMC spokesperson Major Jim Stenger saying in a statement:
"I can confirm the uniformed service member depicted in the video is a Marine with the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit. The baby seen in the video was taken to a medical treatment facility on-site and cared for by medical professionals."
Major Stenger went on to describe the scene as a "true example" of professionalism, and praised the US Marines' ability to make "quick decisions in a dynamic situation in support of evacuation operations."
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said at a press briefing on Friday (August 20) that the child was not passed to US Marines in an effort to have the baby evacuated, but instead to receive medical attention.
"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 clarified.
He added: "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."
Omar Haidari, a student and human rights activist, shared the footage to Twitter where he wrote alongside it: "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."
Haidari's original tweet has since received 2.5 million views.