Thousands gather at Kabul airport, hoping to get out of the country / Article

Thousands of Afghans are still gathering at Kabul Airport in Afghanistan, hoping to be on one of the evacuation planes for fear of their safety and future in a Taliban-controlled country of the Islamic fundamentalist movement. In recent days, the West has evacuated thousands of its citizens from Kabul, as well as locals who have helped Allied forces.

On Saturday, another military plane with evacuees took off from Kabul airport, firing signal missiles for safety reasons, the task of which is to confuse the feet of heat-seeking missiles. Since the Taliban captured the Afghan capital on Sunday, more than 18,000 people have been evacuated, a NATO official told Reuters.

But thousands of Afghans are still gathering at the airport walls, hoping to get on one of the planes.

The order is being sought, on the one hand, by US and British soldiers controlling the airport, and, on the other, by Taliban militants who use rifles and make warning shots in the air.

Many Afghans, however, do not have the appropriate documents and visas to hope to enter the West.

Daz McMahon, a spokesman for the British Army: “Sometimes we can calm the crowd through local citizens. When they see the process work and move on, they calm down. When they get hot, lack water, people start to get irritated.”

The United States has urged its citizens not to try to drive to the airport themselves, warning of possible security threats at the gate. They are transported to the airport by helicopter from a nearby hotel complex.

Mullah Abdul Gani Baradar, one of the founders of the Taliban, meanwhile arrived in Kabul today to negotiate the formation of a new government, as the Taliban have announced.

–