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The tension at the Kabul airport does not cease: at least 12 dead and an increasing control of the Taliban

2021-08-19T14:40:59.757Z


US military control the airfield, but fighters from the Islamic group patrol all the streets and make access difficult.


08/19/2021 9:47 AM

  • Clarín.com

  • World

Updated 08/19/2021 9:47 AM

Four days after the fall of Kabul to the Taliban, the airport in the capital of Afghanistan remains a scene of

high tension and drama

: at least 12 people have died since Sunday, after hundreds of terrified people began to crowd in the place to try to flee.

A senior Afghan official recounted scenes of horror at the airport.

"It was horrible, the

women threw their children on the other side of the barbed wire

" at the airport, "asking the soldiers to catch them," said the officer, adding that some children "got caught in the fence."

Following the dramatic scenes, British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said that

no unaccompanied children will be taken out of Afghanistan

.

US soldiers help a woman climb the wall at Kabul airport.

Photo: REUTERS

The minister explained to Sky News that the government simply "cannot take care of a single minor," adding that the children will be assisted along with their families.

Since Sunday, the day the Taliban completed the seizure of power,

more than 8,500 people have been evacuated from Afghanistan

through the Kabul airport.

Until now, the United States transported the largest number of people: more than 5,200, of which 2,000 in the last hours.

The UK followed with 1,200 people (including Afghan citizens) and Germany with 900 people (including 100 Afghans).

On Wednesday, a member of CNN's television team in Kabul came

close to being attacked by two

Taliban

fighters

as the team followed the uproar outside the airport.

A Turkish Defense Ministry plane with people seeking evacuation from Afghanistan.

Photo: AFP

It was told in a video by the network's international correspondent, Clarissa Ward.

In

the airport area, the situation was chaotic

, the journalist said, explaining that a Taliban fighter began to yell at her, urging her to cover her face.

Meanwhile, CNN producer Brent Swails was filming the chaos scenes in front of the airport with his iPhone when two Taliban approached him and came close to butting them with their pistols.

"We had to intervene, we shouted and then another Taliban fighter came in and said '

no, no, don't do it, they are journalists,

'" Ward added.

"I covered all kinds of situations, this was chaos, it was crazy," he concluded, underlining that the situation is "

very risky, very dangerous

. It is completely unpredictable. For me, it is a miracle that there have not been more seriously injured people" .

Taliban fighters patrol the streets of Kabul.

Photo: AP

From early on, Taliban checkpoints

prevented Afghans from reaching Kabul airport on Thursday

.

Some 4,500 US soldiers control the airport, but all the arteries leading to the terminal are under the control of the Taliban.

Insurgents

do not allow undocumented Afghans to get to the airport

, but they often also block those who have them.

Evacuation progresses

Meanwhile Western authorities continue to organize evacuation flights.

The Italian consul in Kabul, Tommaso Claudi, confirmed in television statements that "at this time

flights

are being

organized for compatriots

, for the personnel of Italian institutions, for Afghan collaborators and the personnel of international organizations in the country."

Outside the Kabul airport, people are still concentrating.

Photo: EFE

Turkey also established an airlift to evacuate its citizens.

A new Turkish Airlines flight with 273 people on board landed this Thursday in Istanbul from Islambad, in Pakistan.

In the past two days, Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said, Ankara's armed forces carried out 64 flights to and from the airport in the Afghan capital.

There

are about 1,500 Turkish citizens in Afghanistan

but not all asked to be repatriated, said Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.

Meanwhile at night the first flights of people evacuated from Afghanistan landed in Madrid, confirmed the Spanish Minister of Inclusion and Migration, José Luis Escrivá, on Cadena Ser radio.

On the first flight there were "more than 30 people", collaborators from European institutions.

In the other there were 53: five with Spanish citizenship and 48 Afghans.

With information from the ANSA agency

Look also

Chaos in Afghanistan: Joe Biden admits US troops could stay longer

Afghanistan: UN withdrew most of its staff, IMF blocked funds, and Human Rights Watch is on alert

Source: clarin

All news articles on 2021-08-19

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