Paralympic Committee display Afghan flag during opening ceremony in 'solidarity' with athletes who were forced to withdraw due to Taliban takeover

• The International Paralympic Committee displayed an Afghanistan flag at the Tokyo Games opening ceremony on Tuesday.
• The committee said it did so in "solidarity" with Afghan athletes.
• Afghanistan's two paralympic athletes were unable to fly to Japan because of the Taliban takeover.

The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) displayed an Afghanistan flag at the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Games on Tuesday in "solidarity" with Afghan athletes who had to withdraw from competing due to the Taliban takeover.

Two Afghan athletes were scheduled to compete in the Paralympics this year, but had to withdraw after their flights out of Kabul were canceled as the Taliban took over the city earlier this month.

IPC President Andrew Parsons told Olympics.com that the Afghan flag would still be displayed as an "act of solidarity and peace."

The flag was carried by a Tokyo 2020 volunteer during Tuesday's ceremony.