thousands of Afghans invade airport as gunshots ring out

Thousands of people gathered again this Saturday morning at Kabul airport in an attempt to flee Afghanistan, amid growing chaos and fear sparked by the incessant gunfire that was heard in the surrounding area.

The US Embassy in Afghanistan has advised US citizens to avoid approaching the site due to “potential security threats” in a complicated evacuation operation.

According to witnesses from the DPA agency, the Afghans were there with the news that the north gate of the airport would remain closed for the next two days, after a week of chaos, clashes and a permanent avalanche of Afghans and foreigners trying to leave the country after the Taliban returned to power.

Another witness said that outside the airport there were actors, television personalities, young people, women with newborns or people in wheelchairs, among others, who desperately seek to leave a country plunged into uncertainty and fear for the future.

Witnesses from the British network Sky News speak of a particularly critical situation, regarding “worst day so far” since the start of the evacuations.

Channel sources confirmed that many Afghans waiting in the area were already receiving medical treatment and that the shooting in the area was the work of military forces clearing the area to “relieve the pressure on the front”.

Afghans have been waiting for six days for someone to allow them to board a flight to leave the country via from Kabul airport, the only part of the capital controlled by international troops.

Many desperate Afghans who have worked with international troops for the past two decades or who are involved in areas such as human rights they fear for their life, and many try to get themselves or their relatives into the airport.

Fear of revenge

A report compiled for the United Nations warned that the Taliban are carrying out selective searches for suspected collaborators of the overthrown government, despite assurances from the radical Islamist group that it would not retaliate.

So far, there have been repeated armed clashes at the airport gates.

The US military decides when and how to open and close the entrances without clear criteria, a situation that inflames the fury of Afghans waiting to enter.

Negotiations to form a government

While chaos persisted at the airport, senior officials of the Taliban movement met this Saturday in the Afghan capital to negotiate a future “inclusive” government.

A Taliban leader reported that the group’s co-founder, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, had come to Kabul “to meet with leaders of jihadist fighters and with political leaders in order to form an inclusive government.”

Taliban leaders said the meetings included senior leaders from the Haqqani Network, considered a terrorist organization by the United States, which offers millions of dollars for its leaders.

United States Warning

Amid the chaos, the US Embassy in Afghanistan advised US citizens to avoid traveling to Kabul airport due to “potential security threats” as the US military began to expand its operations. evacuation beyond these facilities.

In a notice published on its website, the embassy insists that citizens stay away from airport entrances “Unless they receive individual instructions from a representative of the United States government” to attend.

“US citizens requesting assistance in leaving the country and who have not yet completed the Repatriation Assistance Request for each traveler in their group should do so as soon as possible,” the note notes.

The warning adds that “spouses and minor children of US citizens in Afghanistan who are awaiting immigrant visas must also complete the relevant forms if they wish to leave.”

Source: DPA and AFP

CB