(Dan Tri) – The British military said today that 7 Afghans were killed in a panicked crowd trying to enter Kabul International Airport in the hope of being evacuated abroad.
US and British soldiers coordinated to protect the evacuation campaign at Kabul airport on August 20 (Photo: AP).
According to British military sources, there was jostling and trampling when the crowd gathered at the airport on August 21, especially when some Taliban gunmen shot into the air to threaten people.
British, American and Western troops with full combat weapons tried to control the chaotic crowd.
At the scene, soldiers covered the bodies with white sheets.
`Developments on the ground remain extremely challenging but we are doing everything we can to stabilize the situation and ensure security and safety,` the British Ministry of Defense said in a statement.
It is unclear whether the cause of death of the 7 victims was due to trampling, suffocation or heart attack.
The above incident shows the immediate danger for those fleeing the Taliban takeover.
Kabul airport has continuously witnessed days of chaos since the Taliban took control of the capital on August 15.
The head of the Taliban’s guidance council, Amir Khan Motaq, criticized the US for the current situation at the airport in a recording posted online on August 22.
Speaking in a video call with an Iranian state television channel on the evening of August 21, Taliban spokesman Mohammad Naeem also blamed the administration of US President Joe Biden for the chaos at the airport.
The anti-Taliban resistance movement exploded
The tragedy at Kabul airport occurred amid fighting breaking out in Afghanistan’s Baghlan province, about 120 km north of the capital Kabul.
A resistance group under the banner of the `People’s Revolt` protested against the Taliban in the mountains and valleys north of Kabul and captured three districts surrounding the Andarab Valley, nestled in the Hindu Kush mountains near
Although details of the fighting remain unclear, the incident marked the first organized resistance to emerge against the Taliban since the group expanded its offensive and took control of Kabul.
On August 22, the Taliban released video online showing fighters, including elite special forces, preparing to move there, possibly to fight forces they called `insurgents`.
Khair Mohammad Khairkhwa, the former head of Balkh province’s intelligence agency, and Abdul Ahmad Dadgar, another leader in the uprising, also accused Taliban fighters of attacking and burning protesters’ homes.
