Chaos escalated at Afghanistan’s international airport in Kabul Monday as the U.S. and other nations rushed to evacuate citizens while the Taliban continued its rapid takeover of the country amid the U.S. military withdrawal.
Disturbingly vivid images from the airport showed dozens of desperate Afghans clinging to a U.S. Air Force C-17 jet as it took off from Hamid Karzai International Airport. At least seven people died in the chaos, USA TODAY reported. U.S. soldiers killed two armed people after being fired upon.
The U.S. has about 2,500 troops at the airport, and 500 more are expected by Tuesday, Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby said.
Taliban’s rapid advance
Taliban forces moved across Afghanistan with a speed that surprised U.S. officials. President Joe Biden announced April 14 that all American troops would be withdrawn by Sept. 11. The drawdown began May 1.
The Taliban incursion started about a week later. It captured the Nerkh district outside Kabul on May 11 and began a series of attacks across Afghanistan. The militants took Kandahar, the country’s second-largest city, on Friday and entered Kabul on Sunday.
Fall of the Presidential Palace and US Embassy
The Taliban entered Kabul on Sunday, and the Afghan government collapsed. The U.S. evacuated its embassy and moved diplomats to the airport. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani left the country by air for an undisclosed location.
Images of turmoil at the palace and embassy swept across social media, prompting critics from both parties to compare the chaos in Kabul to the fall of Saigon at the end of the Vietnam War in 1975.
Chaos at Kabul airport
Panic intensified across Afghanistan as the Taliban took over the country. Many feared retribution from Taliban fighters, and thousands tried to flee.
Those who died included some who fell from a U.S. military transport jet as it left the airport.
Videos showed people clinging to the sides of the plane as it taxied on the runway. The Washington Post reported that an Afghan news agency showed images of a body that fell on a roof in Kabul.
“It’s an absolute unmitigated disaster for our counterterrorism efforts,” said Brett Bruen, who was director of global engagement in President Barack Obama’s White House, USA TODAY reported.
The Pentagon temporarily suspended flights as U.S. troops set up barriers between military and commercial sides of the airport.
According to Defense One, A U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III safely evacuated some 640 Afghans from Kabul late Sunday.
In an address to the nation Monday afternoon, Biden defended his decision to withdraw troops from Afghanistan. “I cannot and will not ask our troops to fight on endlessly in another country’s civil war,” he said.
The U.S. military reopened the airport and a C-17 carrying Marines was able to land, the Pentagon told reporters.
About 2,500 troops were positioned at the airport and another 500 will arrive by Tuesday. In all, about 6,000 American forces will be at the airport.
CONTRIBUTING: Matt Brown, Jenna Hecker, Luciana Lopez, Javier Zarracina, and Shawn J. Sullivan/USA TODAY
SOURCE USA TODAY reporting and research; longwarjournal.org; Associated Press; Council on Foreign Relations
Published
12:02 am UTC Aug. 17, 2021
Updated
4:40 pm UTC Aug. 17, 2021
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