News / National
US troops takes control of Kabul's international airport
16 Aug 2021 at 08:20hrs | Views
US troops are taking control of Kabul's international airport, as desperate residents try to flee the city following the Taliban's return to Kabul.
The US military has secured the site and is taking over air traffic control to evacuate American and allied staff.
But commercial flights have mostly been suspended, stranding hundreds of Afghans and other foreign nationals.
Footage shared online showed hundreds of people running towards the airport after the militants took control of the presidential palace on Sunday.
The US said it has moved all of its embassy staff to the airport to await evacuations, with nearly 6,000 troops sent in to assist in the operation.
US troops claim that they were forced to fire warning shots into the air at Kabul's airport to prevent crowds of desperate citizens running onto planes, an official has told the Reuters news agency.
The official was quoted as saying: "The crowd was out of control. The firing was only done to defuse the chaos."
Gunfire could be heard in several videos on social media. The desperate scenes include crowds hovering around jets and clambering up staircases.
US troops are in charge at the airport, where they are reportedly prioritising the evacuation of embassy staff on military flights.
The US earlier said that it had evacuated all of its embassy staff to the airport.
The US military has secured the site and is taking over air traffic control to evacuate American and allied staff.
But commercial flights have mostly been suspended, stranding hundreds of Afghans and other foreign nationals.
Footage shared online showed hundreds of people running towards the airport after the militants took control of the presidential palace on Sunday.
The US said it has moved all of its embassy staff to the airport to await evacuations, with nearly 6,000 troops sent in to assist in the operation.
US troops claim that they were forced to fire warning shots into the air at Kabul's airport to prevent crowds of desperate citizens running onto planes, an official has told the Reuters news agency.
The official was quoted as saying: "The crowd was out of control. The firing was only done to defuse the chaos."
Gunfire could be heard in several videos on social media. The desperate scenes include crowds hovering around jets and clambering up staircases.
US troops are in charge at the airport, where they are reportedly prioritising the evacuation of embassy staff on military flights.
The US earlier said that it had evacuated all of its embassy staff to the airport.
Source - bbc
