Amid the chaos that has become Kabul’s international airport since Sunday (15), with Afghans and foreigners trying to leave the country after the Taliban seized power, a crowd of people swarmed the runway and marched out. is hanging from moving planes, videos posted on social media show.
According to a reporter for the Afghan news channel TOLOnews, three residents died after hiding in the wheel and wing of a plane and falling on the city’s rooftops.
According to the Reuters news agency, witnesses reported that five people were killed at the airport. The American newspaper The Wall Street Journal claims that three people were shot dead.
An American agent claimed that the military fired in an attempt to prevent people from forcing entry into the take-off area of the American plane, which was leaving the Afghan capital with embassy officials. Another video posted on social media shows three bodies lying at the entrance to the airport.
Since the Taliban led the military offensive and seized de facto power in Afghanistan, against the backdrop of the withdrawal of Western military troops after 20 years of war, crowds have tried to leave the country, with the memory of the regime marked by the violence and disrespect for rights. the last time the fundamentalist group was in power, between 1996 and 2001.
In addition to the diplomatic corps of Western countries being evacuated, entire families went to Hamid Karzai International Airport to try to find an emergency exit.
On Monday (16), the US government said the main priority is to ensure the security of the airport, which has become the temporary seat of the country’s embassy. Germany, France and the Netherlands have also started operating from the airport.
According to a NATO official, all commercial flights have been suspended and only military planes have been allowed to operate.
Another movement in the city was a run on the banks. The Al Jazeera news site said hundreds of residents were lining up at ATMs to withdraw money from their accounts in a bid to drain their savings and leave the country.