Afghan girl skips and hops on way to new life

Afghanistan has been one long story of desperation, grief and worst tragedies unfolding over the past weeks as the world watches in horror. In the midst of this chaos, there are a few glimpses of unfiltered joy that have won hearts, making people forget the horror unleashed by the Taliban for a moment.

One such image is that of a young Afghan girl hopping and skipping on the tarmac of the Melsbroek military airport in Belgium after being evacuated along with her family.

The image captured by Reuters journalist Johanna Geron shows evacuated Afghans arriving at the military airport in groups and in the middle of the crowd, the child skips on her way to a new life away from the terror unfolding her home country.

The Reuters journalist has captured a series of images from the Belgium evacuation drive. Another haunting image shows a little girl standing alone on the vast, empty tarmac all by herself, carrying one bag on her shoulders and another in her hand.

A security person looks on as the girl makes her way into Belgium after being evacuated from Afghanistan on a special flight flown from Kabul.

Belgium, like most other nations, had sent military planes to Kabul to evacuate its nationals along with the few Afghans who were working with them.