KABUL (AFP) – Western security forces exchanged fire with unidentified gunmen yesterday at Kabul airport, as United States (US) President Joe Biden sought to speed up the chaotic evacuation of tens of thousands of people from Taleban-controlled Afghanistan.
One Afghan was killed and three others were injured in a dawn firefight that according to the German military erupted between Afghan guards and unknown assailants.
German and American troops “participated in further exchange of fire”, the German army said in a statement.
This was the latest episode in a chaotic operation overseen by the US army that has seen about 30,000 people evacuated from Afghanistan since the Taleban marched into Kabul on August 15, taking effective control of the country.
The Taleban’s victory ended two decades of war as they took advantage of Biden’s decision to withdraw nearly all US troops from the country.
Biden, who redeployed thousands back to Afghanistan to oversee the evacuations, has insisted he wants to end the US military presence and the airlifts by August 31.
But with the European Union and Britain saying it would be impossible to get everyone out by then, Biden is under pressure to extend the deadline. Speaking at the White House, Biden said on Sunday he hoped the airlift would not be extended, but said talks were underway to explore that possibility.
“There’s discussions going among us and the military about extending,” Biden said.
He acknowledged the tragic scenes at the airport, which have also included babies and children being passed to soldiers over razor-wire fences and men clinging to the outside of departing planes. But he said they were part of the cost of departure.
“There is no way to evacuate this many people without pain and loss and heartbreaking images you see,” he said.
Biden spoke after the Taleban, who have been holding talks with elders and politicians to set up a government, slammed the evacuation.
“America, with its power and facilities… failed to bring order to the airport,” Taleban official Amir Khan Mutaqi said. “There is peace and calm all over the country, but there is chaos only at Kabul airport.”
In the streets of the capital, the Taleban enforced a calm of a kind, with their armed forces patrolling the streets and manning checkpoints.
Visually, they have also been looking to stamp their authority, ensuring the tri-coloured national flag is replaced with their white banner.
At a roadside in Kabul at the weekend, young men sold Taleban flags, which bear in black text the Muslim proclamation of faith and the regime’s formal name: “Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan”.
