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Kabul airport was the scene of shocking images on Monday, with people attempting to cling to a taxiing military plane, as thousands of Afghans desperately seek flight to flee the new Taliban regime.
Aerial footage shows the crowds on the runway, as thousands more attempt to reach the terminal. Meanwhile, the videos reflect scenes of utter chaos on the runways, with civilians struggling to climb the gangways or stairs that lead to the planes. Others even show Afghans trying to grab hold of takeoff machines in an attempt to escape.
All are desperately trying to flee Afghanistan, where the Taliban seized power on Sunday. There is widespread fear that the Taliban will install the same fundamentalist regime that reigned when they ruled the country between 1996 and 2001.
Under the gaze of hundreds of people, those who made it to the top of the stairs, mostly young people, then tried to help others to do the same, and many of them clung with all their might to the bars. Terrified families, with frightened children, tried to flee, with their heavy suitcases.
The uproar was such that American troops, who guarantee the security of the airport, fired in the air to control the crowd. The Pentagon has confirmed that the soldiers killed two armed people.
The State Department said US troops were guarding the perimeter of the airport. Washington has sent 6,000 soldiers to evacuate some 30,000 American diplomats and Afghan citizens who have cooperated with the United States and who fear retaliation from the Taliban.
The US embassy in Kabul on Twitter asked its citizens who may still be in the country, as well as Afghans, “not to go to the airport.”
Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, co-founder of the Taliban, urged his men to behave in a disciplined manner. “Now is the time to assess and demonstrate that we can serve our country and ensure safety and well-being in life,” he said in a video.
The scenes of chaos at the airport bring back a painful memory for the United States, that of the fall of Saigon in Vietnam in 1975. But the comparison was dismissed by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who assured the CNN: “It’s not Saigon.”
(With information from AFP. Photos by Maxar Technologies)
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