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Afghanistan evacuations enter final phase
The US troops have began their withdrawal from Kabul airport, Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby confirmed on Saturday, and was also keeping up airlifts ahead of President Joe Biden’s Tuesday deadline for withdrawal.
Taliban forces sealed off Kabul’s airport on Saturday to most Afghans hoping for evacuation and most Nato nations flew out their troops after two decades in Afghanistan, winding down a frantic airlift that Western leaders acknowledged was still leaving many of their citizens and local allies behind.
The US troops have began their withdrawal from Kabul airport, Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby confirmed on Saturday, and was also keeping up airlifts ahead of President Joe Biden’s Tuesday deadline for withdrawal.
Taliban forces were holding some positions within the airport, ready to peacefully take control as American forces fly out, spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said. The Pentagon stressed on Friday that the Taliban, who now run Afghanistan, were not in control of any operations at the airport.
Outside the airport, Taliban leaders deployed extra forces Saturday to prevent large crowds from gathering after a devastating suicide attack two days earlier. New layers of checkpoints sprang up on roads leading to the airport, some manned by uniformed Taliban fighters with Humvees and night-vision goggles captured from Afghan security forces.
Areas where large crowds had gathered over the past two weeks in the hopes of fleeing the country were largely empty.
A suicide attack on Thursday by an Islamic State group affiliate killed 169 Afghans and 13 US service members, and there were concerns that the group could strike again.
An Afghan who worked as a translator for the US military said he was with a group of people with permission to leave who tried to reach the airport late on Friday. After passing through three checkpoints they were stopped at a fourth. An argument ensued, and the Taliban said they had been told by the Americans to only let US passport-holders through.
“I am so hopeless for my future,” the man told The Associated Press after returning to Kabul, speaking on condition of anonymity because of security concerns. “If the evacuation is over, what will happen to us?”
The Pentagon said on Friday that Afghans with the proper documents still were being allowed in.
On Saturday, the Taliban fired warning shots and deployed some kind of coloured smoke on a road leading to the airport, sending dozens of people scattering, according to a video circulating online that was consistent with AP reporting.
