KABUL, Aug 16, 2021 (BSS/AFP) – Commercial flights from Kabul were cancelled Monday after chaotic scenes at the airport with thousands looking for a way out after the Taliban re-took power in Afghanistan.
“There will be no commercial flights from Hamid Karzai Airport to prevent looting and plundering. Please do not rush to the airport,” the Kabul airport authority said in a message sent to reporters.
Local media reported that thousands of people were gathered at the Kabul airport to leave the country.
In an earlier joint statement, the U.S. Pentagon and State Department said the American military would take over air-traffic control at the airport.
Thousands of Afghans, fearing a return to the Taliban’s brutal rule, are trying to flee the country through Hamid Karzai International Airport. Videos circulating on social media showed hundreds of people racing across the tarmac as U.S. soldiers fired warning shots in the air.
The Taliban swept into the capital on Sunday, August 15, 2021, after the Western-backed government collapsed and President Ashraf Ghani fled the country, bringing a stunning end to a two-decade campaign in which the U.S. and its allies had tried to transform the country. — NNN-AGENCIES
