After hours of paralysis, operations were able to resume at Hamid Karzai International Airport in the late afternoon on Monday.
At least seven people have died in the frenzy of evacuations at Kabul airport, the scene of scenes of panic as Afghans pour in by the thousands in the hope of fleeing the country, now in the hands of the Taliban.
Military and commercial aircraft chartered for evacuation operations were able to start landing at and take off at the airport again at the end of the afternoon, the Pentagon said during a briefing. Air traffic control is in the hands of the Americans.
The rescue of diplomats, foreign nationals, and Afghans who collaborated with the ousted regime has been suspended for several hours as hundreds of desperate citizens burst onto the tarmac.
The American army, supposed to secure the premises, was struggling to contain the flow of Afghans who rushed towards the only exit door of the country. Of the seven victims of the chaos recorded so far, two were shot dead by American soldiers.
In Washington, a Pentagon official reports that soldiers killed two men who brandished their weapons threateningly, without giving further details.
Sunday’s conquest of the capital by the insurgents, members of the radical Islamist movement of the Taliban, took everyone by surprise. The Afghan government forces simply collapsed in the face of their advance.
Videos posted on social media showed scenes of utter chaos, thousands of people waiting on the tarmac itself, and clusters of young men, above all, clinging to catwalks or stairs in an attempt to get on a plane.
Hundreds of people, in particular, tried to prevent an American military plane from taking off. Some clung to the aircraft that was advancing on the runway and a few of them died when they fell from the aircraft, according to US military sources.
US soldiers there even resorted to midair fire in an attempt to control the crowd.
We are afraid to live in this city and we are trying to flee Kabul, told AFP a 25-year-old man.
I read on Facebook that Canada is accepting asylum seekers from Afghanistan. I hope I will be one of them. As I served in the army, I lost my job, and it’s dangerous for me to live here, because the Taliban will target me, for sure, he explained.
Elsewhere in the capital, the streets seemed calm, but several armed Taliban are stationed in the most sensitive streets, even in the green zone, previously heavily fortified, which houses embassies and international organizations.
Wanting to be reassuring, Taliban spokespersons said they had informed their fighters that no one is allowed to enter another’s home without permission. It cannot be attacked with the life, the property, the honor of anybody.
The insurgents deployed in the capital after President Ghani left the country.
“Now we need to show that we can serve our nation and provide security and comfort in life.” Statement by Abdul Ghani Baradar, co-founder of the Taliban
Within 10 days, the radical Islamist movement, which launched an offensive in May with the start of the withdrawal of foreign troops, took control of almost all regions of the country.
The Americans were quick to remove their flag from the United States embassy in Kabul and put the embassy staff to safety while awaiting the evacuation operations for which 6,000 soldiers were mobilized.
Disgruntled Washington allies
The fall of Kabul sparks criticism against the United States in London and Berlin, a rare occurrence among allies within NATO.
It is a failure of the international community which has not understood that things cannot be resolved overnight, said British Defense Minister Ben Wallace.
For all those who have tried to work for progress and freedom in this country, especially women, these are bitter events , said German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
This conflict is not in the best interests of the United States, Biden argues
Coming under heavy criticism from some of his allies, Joe Biden defended his decision to withdraw his troops from Afghanistan in a televised address Monday.
We went to Afghanistan 20 years ago with specific goals, namely to catch those who attacked us on September 11, 2001, and so that this country is no longer a terrorist base, he insisted.
“Our mission was not to create a unified democracy, our goal was to prevent terrorist attacks on American soil.” A quote from: Joe Biden, President of the United States
But the scenes of people clinging to an American plane in Kabul are a serious blow to the image of the United States, which laments 2,500 people dead, as well as a bill of more than $ 2 trillion in the last two decades in Afghanistan.
I do not want and I will not pass this war on to a fifth [president], President Biden previously explained.
United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Monday called on the international community to unite to suppress the terrorist threat in Afghanistan after the capture of Kabul by the Taliban.
The international community must unite to ensure that Afghanistan is never again used as a platform or safe haven for terrorist organizations, Guterres said at an emergency Security Council meeting.
In Kabul, as in neighboring regions, tens of thousands of people who had taken refuge there in recent weeks to flee the violence do not know what awaits them.
I’m afraid there is a lot of fighting here, a doctor said on condition of anonymity.
When they ruled this country, between 1996 and 2001, the Taliban imposed their very strict version of Islamic law.
In the newly conquered areas, they have already been accused of many atrocities: the murder of civilians, beheadings, kidnapping of teenage girls to marry them by force, among others.
With information from Agence France-Presse, Reuters, and CBC
