KABUL, Aug 17 (NNN-XINHUA) – Military planes evacuating diplomats and civilians from Afghanistan, started taking off from Kabul airport this morning, after the airport runway and tarmac were cleared of crowds, media reports said.
The airport was shut down yesterday, after crowds of people surged onto the runways, leading to a chaos and the deaths of several people. Two armed Afghan men were reportedly killed by U.S. forces, as thousands sought to board flights.
The airport reopened at 19:35 GMT yesterday, and the United States was taking charge of air traffic control at the airport, for military and commercial flights, media reports quoted Major General Hank Taylor, a logistics specialist on the Pentagon’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, as saying in Washington.
Taylor said, around 2,500 U.S. soldiers are in Kabul, to assist the evacuation of U.S. personnel and Afghans, who have worked for them, adding that, more troops are expected to arrive, according to the reports.
Afghanistan’s civil aviation authority, in a statement yesterday announced the closure of the airport, saying it was trying to resume the flights as soon as possible.
The Taliban in a statement yesterday told Kabul residents that, their lives and properties are safe and they can carry on with their normal work.– NNN-XINHUA
