Rush on Kabul airport as Afghans flee Taliban takeover

KABUL, Afghanistan — Afghans rushed onto the tarmac of the capital’s airdrome connected Monday arsenic thousands tried to fly the state aft the Taliban seized powerfulness with stunning speed. Some clung to the broadside of a U.S. subject transport level earlier takeoff, successful a wide shared video that captured the consciousness of desperation arsenic America’s 20-year warfare comes to a chaotic end.

The Taliban swept into Kabul connected Sunday aft President Ashraf Ghani fled the country, bringing an extremity to a two-decade run successful which the U.S. and its allies had tried to alteration Afghanistan. The country’s Western-trained information forces collapsed oregon fled successful the look of an insurgent violative that tore done the state successful conscionable implicit a week, up of the planned withdrawal of the past American troops astatine the extremity of the month.

In the capital, a tense calm acceptable in, with astir radical hiding successful their homes arsenic the Taliban deployed fighters astatine large intersections. There were scattered reports of looting and equipped men knocking connected doors and gates, and the streets were eerily quiescent for a metropolis of 5 cardinal radical usually jammed with traffic. Fighters could beryllium seen searching vehicles astatine 1 of the city’s main squares.

Many fearfulness chaos, aft the Taliban freed thousands of prisoners and the constabulary simply melted away, oregon a instrumentality to the benignant of brutal regularisation the Taliban imposed erstwhile they were past successful power. Residents raced to Kabul’s planetary airport, wherever the “civilian side” was closed until further notice, according to Afghanistan’s Civil Aviation Authority. The U.S. subject and different Western forces continued to signifier evacuations.

Videos circulating connected societal media showed hundreds of radical moving crossed the tarmac arsenic U.S. troops fired informing shots successful the air. One showed a assemblage pushing and shoving its mode up a staircase, trying to committee a plane, with immoderate radical hanging disconnected the railings.

In different video, hundreds of radical could beryllium seen moving alongside a U.S. Air Force transport level arsenic it moved down a runway. Some clung to the broadside of the pitchy conscionable earlier takeoff. That raised questions astir however overmuch longer craft would beryllium capable to safely instrumentality disconnected and land. The Pentagon declined to remark connected the chaos astatine the airport.

Shafi Arifi, who had a summons to question to Uzbekistan connected Sunday, was incapable to committee her level due to the fact that it was packed with radical who had raced crossed the tarmac and climbed aboard, with nary constabulary oregon airdrome unit successful sight.

“There was nary country for america to stand,” said the 24-year-old. “Children were crying, women were shouting, young and aged men were truthful aggravated and upset, nary 1 could perceive each other. There was nary oxygen to breathe.”

After different pistillate fainted and was carried disconnected the plane, Arifi gave up and went backmost home.

The U.S. Embassy has been evacuated and the American emblem lowered, with diplomats relocating to the airdrome to assistance with the evacuation. Other Western countries person besides closed their missions and are flying retired unit and nationals.

Afghans are besides trying to permission done onshore borderline crossings, each of which are present controlled by the Taliban. Rakhmatula Kuyash, 30, was 1 of the fewer radical with a visa allowing him to transverse into Uzbekistan connected Sunday. He said his children and relatives had to enactment behind.

“I’m mislaid and I don’t cognize what to do. I near everything behind,” helium said.

A elder U.S. authoritative said “it’s heartbreaking” to spot what’s happening successful Kabul, but that President Joe Biden “stands by” his determination to propulsion retired due to the fact that helium didn’t privation the warfare determination — already the longest successful U.S. past — to participate a 3rd decade.

In interviews with U.S. tv networks, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan blamed the Afghan subject for the Taliban’s accelerated takeover, saying it lacked the volition to fight.

The easiness with which the Taliban took power goes beyond subject prowess, however, the Texas-based backstage quality steadfast Stratfor wrote.

“The velocity of the Taliban’s last beforehand suggests little subject dominance than effectual governmental insurgency coupled with an incohesive Afghan governmental strategy and information unit struggling with flagging morale,” it said.

The lightning Taliban violative done the state appears to person stunned American officials. Just days earlier the insurgents entered Kabul with small if immoderate resistance, a U.S. subject appraisal predicted it could instrumentality months for the superior to fall.

The rout threatened to erase 20 years of Western efforts to remake Afghanistan that saw much than 3,500 U.S. and allied troops killed arsenic good arsenic tens of thousands of Afghans. The archetypal penetration drove the Taliban from powerfulness and scattered al-Qaida, which had planned the 9/11 attacks portion being sheltered successful Afghanistan. Many had hoped the Western-backed Afghan authorities would usher successful a caller epoch of bid and respect for quality rights.

As the U.S. mislaid absorption connected Afghanistan during the Iraq war, the Taliban yet regrouped. The militants captured overmuch of the Afghan countryside successful caller years and past swept into cities arsenic U.S. forces prepared to retreat up of an Aug. 31 deadline.

Under the Taliban, which ruled successful accordance with a harsh mentation of Islamic law, women were mostly confined to their homes and suspected criminals faced amputation oregon nationalist execution. The insurgents person sought to task greater moderation successful caller years, but galore Afghans stay skeptical.

Suhail Shaheen, a Taliban spokesman, tweeted that fighters had been instructed to support “life, spot and honor,” and the radical has besides said it volition enactment retired of the upscale diplomatic 4th lodging the U.S. Embassy complex.

But immoderate disquieted those promises are hollow. On Monday, Nillan, a 27-year-old nonmigratory of Kabul, said she didn’t spot a azygous pistillate retired connected the streets during a 15-minute drive, “only men and boys.”

“It feels similar clip has stopped. Everything’s changed,” she told The Associated Press. She said adjacent the astir autarkic Afghan women present person to interest astir the simplest things, specified arsenic however to get groceries successful the lack of a antheral escort.

Nillan, who spoke connected information that she lone beryllium identified by her archetypal sanction retired of fearfulness for her safety, said the Taliban ran TV ads urging radical to instrumentality to work, without mentioning women.

“We don’t cognize what to do, we don’t cognize if we inactive person jobs,” she said. “It feels similar our beingness and our aboriginal has ended.”

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Faiez reported from Istanbul, Krauss from Jerusalem and Gannon from Guelph, Canada. Associated Press writers Jon Gambrell successful Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Samya Kullab successful Baghdad, Daria Litvinova successful Moscow and Zeina Karam successful Beirut contributed.