Deadly gunfire at airport; Taliban insist on US pullout date

KABUL, Afghanistan — A firefight extracurricular Kabul’s planetary airdrome killed an Afghan worker aboriginal Monday, highlighting the perils of evacuation efforts adjacent arsenic the Taliban warned immoderate effort by U.S. troops to hold their withdrawal to springiness radical much clip to fly would “provoke a reaction.”

The shooting came arsenic the Taliban moved to enactment up their presumption and destruct pockets of equipped absorption to their lightning takeover earlier this month. The Taliban said they retook 3 districts northbound of the superior seized by opponents the time earlier and had surrounded Panjshir, the past state that remains retired of their control.

Afghanistan’s information forces collapsed successful the look of the Taliban advance, contempt 20 years of Western aid, grooming and assistance. Tens of thousands of Afghans person sought to fly the state since, fearing a instrumentality to the brutal regularisation the Taliban imposed the past clip they ran Afghanistan. That has led to chaos astatine the airdrome successful Kabul, the main way retired of the country.

U.S. President Joe Biden has not ruled retired extending the evacuation beyond Aug. 31, the day helium had acceptable for completing the pullout of U.S. forces. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson plans to property Biden for an extension.

But Taliban spokesperson Suhail Shaheen, successful an interrogation with Sky News, said Aug. 31 is simply a “red line” and that extending the American beingness would “provoke a reaction.”

Gunfire broke retired aboriginal Monday adjacent an entranceway to the airport, wherever astatine slightest 7 Afghans died a time earlier successful a panicked stampede of thousands of people.

Navy Capt. William Urban, a U.S. subject spokesman, said an chartless assailant changeable astatine Afghan information forces astatine the airport’s bluish gate, starring Afghan, U.S. and allied troops to unfastened occurrence successful response. He said an Afghan worker was killed and “several Afghans” were wounded.

An Italian humanitarian enactment that operates hospitals successful Afghanistan said it had treated six patients with slug wounds from the airport.

There was nary remark from the Taliban, who successful caller days person fired informing shots and lashed retired with batons to effort to power crowds swelling into the thousands extracurricular the airport.

The tragic scenes astir the airdrome person transfixed the world. Afghans poured onto the tarmac past week and immoderate clung to a U.S. subject transport level arsenic it took off, aboriginal plunging to their deaths. At slightest 7 radical died that day, successful summation to the 7 killed Sunday.

The Taliban blasted the chaotic evacuation connected the U.S. subject and accidental there’s nary request for immoderate Afghans to flee. They person pledged to bring bid and information aft decades of warfare and accidental they won’t question revenge connected those who worked with the U.S., NATO and the toppled Afghan government.

Addressing a league of Muslim clerics, Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid urged them to propulsion backmost against Western “propaganda” astir the Taliban and said the U.S. was undermining their regularisation by sending planes and offering Afghans asylum.

But Mohammad Khalid, different Taliban authoritative addressing the aforesaid gathering, struck a much ominous tone, saying “history and Afghans volition not forgive those who were trained successful the U.S. and Europe and returned to termination their ain people.”

He said overseas countries should not interfere successful education, asking the clerics if they would “tolerate a young miss sitting adjacent to a lad astatine school.” He besides praised the relation of termination bombers successful forcing the U.S. to withdraw.

The divergent messages raised doubts arsenic to whether the Taliban are afloat agreed down the much mean representation their enactment is projecting. There person besides been reports successful caller days of the Taliban hunting down their erstwhile enemies.

German Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer told the Bild paper that the main obstacle to getting radical retired was the crowds extracurricular the airport.

Asked astir Taliban assurances of harmless transition to the airdrome she said: “So far, I tin accidental that what we request is being granted; the information comes much from these uncontrollable crowds of people.”

As the airlift continues, the U.S. authorities asked for 18 craft from American commercialized carriers to assistance successful transporting Afghan refugees to their last destinations aft their archetypal evacuation.

Since Aug. 14, the U.S. has evacuated oregon facilitated the evacuation of immoderate 37,000 radical connected subject and conjugation flights. Those efforts are accelerating: In the 24 hours that ended aboriginal Monday, U.S. subject flights ferried astir 10,400 radical to safety, an authoritative said.

Tens of thousands of radical — Americans, different foreigners and Afghans who assisted successful the warfare effort — are inactive waiting to articulation the airlift, which has been slowed by information issues and U.S. bureaucracy hurdles.

There are besides concerns that a section affiliate of the Islamic State radical mightiness people the crowds extracurricular the airdrome with termination bombers oregon occurrence missiles astatine U.S. aircraft. Military planes person been executing corkscrew landings, and different craft person fired flares upon takeoff — some measures utilized to debar rocket attacks.

The Taliban and IS person antithetic ideologies and person fought successful caller years, but 1 interest astir the Taliban’s takeover is that they could again structure extremist groups. The Taliban harbored al-Qaida portion it orchestrated the 9/11 attacks, starring to the U.S. penetration successful 2001. The Taliban present accidental they volition not let Afghanistan to beryllium a basal for attacks connected different countries.

Elsewhere successful Afghanistan, the Taliban person faced constricted equipped absorption from fighters successful Baghlan province, immoderate 120 kilometers (75 miles) northbound of Kabul. The anti-Taliban fighters claimed to person seized 3 districts successful the Andarab Valley connected Sunday, but the Taliban said Monday that they had cleared them retired overnight.

Khair Mohammad Khairkhwa and Abdul Ghani Mahmood, commanders of the anti-Taliban forces, said the caller warring had caused casualties connected some sides and displaced civilians.

Mujahid, the Taliban spokesman, said the group’s forces person besides surrounded adjacent Panjshir, the lone 1 of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces yet to autumn to the Taliban. Several Taliban opponents person gathered there, pledging to defy immoderate effort to instrumentality the state by force.

Mujahid said determination had been nary warring successful Panjshir yet and that the Taliban are seeking a “peaceful solution.”

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Faiez reported from Istanbul and Krauss from Jerusalem. Associated Press writers Tameem Akhgar successful Istanbul, Geir Moulson successful Berlin, Jill Lawless successful London and Jon Gambrell successful Dubai, United Arab Emirates contributed to this report.