Afghan crisis: Seven dead at Kabul airport, Taliban blames US for chaos

A panicked crush of people trying to enter Kabul's international airport killed seven Afghan civilians in the crowds, the British military said Sunday, showing the danger still posed to those trying to flee the Taliban's takeover of the country.
 
The deaths come as a new, perceived threat from the Islamic State group affiliate in Afghanistan has seen US military planes do rapid, diving combat landings at the airport surrounded by Taliban fighters. Other aircraft have shot off flares on takeoff, an effort to confuse possible heat-seeking missiles targeting the planes.
 
The changes come as the US Embassy issued a new security warning Saturday telling citizens not to travel to the Kabul airport without individual instruction from a US government representative. Officials declined to provide more specifics about the IS threat but described it as significant. They said there have been no confirmed attacks as yet by the militants, who have battled the Taliban in the past.

 

On Sunday, the British military acknowledged the seven deaths of civilians in the crowds in Kabul. There have been stampedes and crushing injuries in the crowds, especially as Taliban fighters fire into the air to drive away those desperate to get on any flight out of the country.
 
“Conditions on the ground remain extremely challenging but we are doing everything we can to manage the situation as safely and securely as possible," the Defence Ministry said in a statement.
 
On Saturday, British and Western troops in full combat gear tried to control the crowds pressing in. They carried away some who were sweating and pale. With temperatures reaching 34 degree Celsius (93 degrees Fahrenheit), the soldiers sprayed water from a hose on those gathered or gave them bottled water to pour over their heads.

 
Amir Khan Motaqi, chief of the Taliban's guidance council, criticised America over the situation at the airport in an audio clip posted online Sunday.
 
He described the US' actions as “tyranny" — even as it is Taliban fighters who have beaten and shot at those trying to access the airport over the last week.
 
“All Afghanistan is secure, but the airport which is managed by the Americans has anarchy,” he said. “The US should not defame itself, should not embarrass itself to the world and should not give this mentality to our people that (the Taliban) are a kind of enemy.” Speaking to an Iranian state television channel late Saturday night in a video call, Taliban spokesman Mohammad Naeem also blamed the deaths at the airport on the Americans in what quickly became a combative interview.

 
“The Americans announced that we would take you to America with us and people gathered at Kabul airport," Naeem said. “If it was announced right now in any country in the world, would people not go?” The host on Iranian state TV, which long has criticised America since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, quickly said: “It won't happen in Iran.” Naeem responded: “Be sure this will happen anywhere.” Thousands rushed the airport last Monday in chaos that saw the US try to clear off the runway with low-flying attack helicopters. Several Afghans plunged to their deaths while hanging off the side of a US military cargo plane. It's been difficult to know the full scale of the deaths and injuries from the chaos.

 
New orders
 
New Taliban rulers imposed some order around chaotic Kabul airport, firing in the air and using batons to make sure people formed orderly queues outside the main gates and did not gather at the perimeter, witnesses said.
 
There were no major injuries and long lines of people were forming in front of the airport gates, the witnesses said.
 
Australia ran four flights into Kabul on Saturday night, evacuating more than 300 people, including Australians, Afghan visa holders, New Zealanders, US and British citizens. On Saturday, the United States and Germany told their citizens in Afghanistan to avoid travelling to Kabul airport, citing security risks as thousands of desperate people gathered trying to flee.