A day after the Taliban took control of the capital city Kabul, hundreds of Afghan nationals looked in desperation, fear and panic at Hamid Karzai International airport to probably take the last few flights leaving Afghanistan.
A video shared over social media shows how hundreds of Afghan people were fighting to board a plane and fly abroad. People were seen pushing each other to get into the aircraft from the only ladder connected to the front door.
Sharing a video from airport Saad Mohseni of the Moby Group, a media company in Afghanistan informed how almost 1,000 people were trying to get on board a flight that could only take 300.
The few US troops, who are guarding the airport, fired shots into the air to disperse the crowd this morning. “I feel very scared here. They are firing lots of shots into the air,” a witness told news agency.
Reuters have informed that at least five civilians had been killed at the airport. However, it is still not confirmed that whether they were killed by gunshots or in a stampede.
Meanwhile, the Kabul airport authorities have issued a notice to civilians to not approach the area. Now, the civilian side of the airport has been closed and the airspace has been released to the military. Air India has also suspended operations over the Afghan airspace.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani fled the country and insurgents took control of the presidential palace, setting up the Taliban to retake control of Afghanistan 20 years after being removed by US-led forces. According to sources, Ghani has gone to Oman after Tajikistan denied his plane to land on its ground.
