Taliban largely seal off Kabul airport as airlift winds down
Taliban man airport, say they’ve been told only to let holders of US passports pass; UK winds up last of its evacuations
KABUL: The Taliban deployed extra forces around Kabul’s airport on Saturday to prevent large crowds from gathering after a devastating suicide attack two days earlier, as the massive US-led airlift wound down ahead of an August 31 deadline.
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 of people have gathered over the past two weeks in hopes of fleeing the country following the Taliban takeover were largely empty.
A suicide attack on Thursday by an Islamic State affiliate killed 169 Afghans and 13 US service members, and there are concerns that the group, which is far more radical than the Taliban, could strike again. Many Western nations have completed their evacuation operations ahead of Tuesday’s deadline for the withdrawal of all US forces.
An Afghan who had 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?”
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.
More than 100,000 people have been safely evacuated through the Kabul airport, according to the US, but thousands more are struggling to leave and may not make it out by Tuesday.
President Joe Biden has said he will adhere to a self-imposed deadline for withdrawing all US forces. The Taliban, who control nearly the entire country outside Kabul’s airport, have rejected any extension.
Britain’s defence ministry said the final UK evacuation flight for Afghan nationals left Kabul on Saturday, as the country’s ambassador to Afghanistan Laurie Bristow announced that it’s “time to close this phase of the operation”. “But we haven’t forgotten the people who still need to leave,” Bristow said in a video.
The UK military says further flights over the weekend will bring home British troops and diplomats, though they may also carry some remaining UK or Afghan civilians.
Italy said its final evacuation flight had landed in Rome but that it would work with the United Nations and countries bordering Afghanistan to continue helping Afghans who had worked with its military contingent to leave the country.
The Taliban have encouraged Afghans to stay in the country, pledging amnesty even to those who fought against them. They have said commercial flights will resume after the US withdrawal, but it’s unclear if airlines will be willing to offer service.
Separately, the Pentagon said on Friday the Taliban had not taken control of any operations at Kabul airport after reports that the movement now running Afghanistan had entered the US military-controlled facility.
“They are not in charge of any of the gates, are not in charge any of the airport operations. That is still under US military control,” said Pentagon spokesman John Kirby.