Absolute chaos prevails at Kabul International Airport, from which Afghan citizens and non-Afghans are trying to leave the country, after yesterday’s seizure of power by the Taliban.
Runways, boarding stairs, planes, are full of panicked people who want to get out of Afghanistan before the insurgent group is well established in power.
The sheer helplessness at Kabul airport. It’s heartbreaking! #KabulHasFallen pic.twitter.com/brA3WRdPp8
— Ahmer Khan (@ahmermkhan) August 16, 2021
This morning, American soldiers who were assigned to guard the airport, fired in the air to repel thousands of Afghans who had entered the runway.
“I am just scared. They fired into the air. “I saw a young girl being crushed and dying as she was trampled by the crowd”, an eyewitness said to AFP.
The news of the shootings was confirmed by the American official, who stated to the Reuters news agency that “the crowd was out of control”, adding that the American Marines “shot only to prevent chaos”.
Several Afghans seems to have been killed or wounded in the Kabul airport @Nrg8000 verified that the footage was from the airport but we don’t know about the circumstances
US military acknowledged of shooting in the air to disperse the crowds
— Ragıp Soylu (@ragipsoylu) August 16, 2021
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Nearly 6,000 U.S. troops, according to the State Department, are guarding the airport through from which members of diplomatic missions and citizens of various countries, as well as Afghan employees at foreign embassies, are being evacuated from Afghanistan.
In a video circulating on the internet, people appear to be lying on the floor. Some are dead and some are injured.
However, the deaths have not been confirmed, and it remains unclear whether any deaths or injuries were caused by American fire or by the panic and trampling.
Happening now at #Kabul airport. The American army members are screaming at the people to prevent . pic.twitter.com/bcn2at6NlK
— Ananda Nepali (@anandanepali99) August 15, 2021
The country is being renamed the “Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan”, according to initial statements by Taliban spokesman Mohammed Naim, shortly after the capture of the Presidential Palace in Kabul.
According to a report in the Turkish newspaper Sozcu, Naim said: “Today is a great day for the Afghan people and the mujahedeen. We began to reap what we sacrificed for 20 years. Thank God, the war in the country is over”.
Naim said a new Afghan regime would be created and that “the Taliban do not want to live in isolation”, while expressing a desire for “peaceful international relations”.
It took less than a week for the Taliban to take control of Afghanistan, with the surrender of the country’s official army – which the US has been training for years with US made equipment – being a shock.
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