The streets are quiet, but a feeling of panic is brewing.
Certainly, the Taliban declared the war over, and assured that they wanted to "appease" the country now that they hold the capital Kabul and the presidential palace.
But thousands of people fear reprisals and want to flee.
Witnesses describe real chaos at Hamid Karzai International Airport, located a stone's throw from the city center and a few kilometers from the "green zone", which houses - housed - foreign embassies.
The American forces, which secure the airport the time to evacuate the foreign nationals, even fired in the air this Monday morning at the Kabul airport, to stop the crowd.
"The crowd was out of control," a US official told Reuters by telephone.
"The shots were fired only to defuse the chaos."
“I am very scared.
They fire shots in the air.
I saw a young girl being crushed and killed, ”a witness told AFP.
The BBC Afghanistan and Pakistan correspondent says at least two people have died.
US Troops Fire Shots In Air As Crowd Mobs Tarmac At #Kabul Airport https://t.co/78t7S9RzUh pic.twitter.com/fhp3CtRwbe
- Ghulam Abbas Shah (@ghulamabbasshah) August 16, 2021
On social media, we can see hundreds of men storming a cabin ladder that leads to a plane's boarding bridge, hoping to climb it.
Under their weight, the ladder twists.
Latest from Afghanistan, Kabul airport # Kabul #Afghanishtan pic.twitter.com/BOyGd6lqjX
- Shikari ... (@faizanshahm) August 16, 2021
Last struggle to get onboard… # KabulAirlift pic.twitter.com/58nydCpHS3
- Sultan Faizy سلطان فیضی (@SultanFaizy) August 16, 2021
The planes are "only intended to transport diplomats, foreign personnel and personnel of local embassies", continued the American official.
"Several dozen" of French people to be evacuated
The US military has already embarked some 500 staff from its embassy, according to defense officials quoted by the US press. Their objective is to be able to repatriate 5,000 people per day, but this capacity cannot be achieved without a gradual increase in power, which will be spread over several days. Almost all of the consular staff have been transported to the airport, and the American flag no longer flies over the huge bunker that served as the embassy.
The first air rotation of evacuation of Kabul organized by the French army between its base in the Emirates and the Afghan capital fallen to the hands of the Taliban is planned by "the end of Monday", declared the French Minister of the Armies Florence Parly on France Info, specifying that there were “several dozen” of French people to be evacuated, as well as “people who are under our protection”.
To read also "Everyone is afraid in Kabul": wind of panic in Afghanistan after the takeover of the Taliban
Saudi Arabia claims to have completed the evacuation of all its diplomats.
On Monday morning, the first Czech evacuation flight left Kabul and landed in Prague.
According to Prime Minister Andrej Babis, 46 people were on board.
Among them were Czech nationals, Afghan staff from the Czech Embassy and Afghan interpreters who assisted the Czech armed forces on NATO missions, as well as their families.
New Zealand charters a C-130 Hercules military transport aircraft to evacuate 53 New Zealanders still in Afghanistan.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said 37 Afghans who worked with New Zealand have been identified, but including families and dependents, several hundred people will need to be taken care of.
VIDEO. Afghanistan: 20 years of war for that?
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