One dead in gunfight amid chaotic scenes at Kabul airport

KABUL/WASHINGTON: A firefight broke out between unidentified gunmen, Western security forces and Afghan guards at the north gate of Kabul airport yesterday, Germany’s armed forces said, as thousands of Afghans and foreigners thronged the airport, seeking to flee Taleban rule.

One Afghan guard was killed and three others were injured in the battle, which also involved US and German forces, the German military said on Twitter, without specifying whether the dead Afghan was one of the Taleban fighters deployed to guard the airport.

The airport has been a scene of chaos since the Taleban seized the Afghan capital on Aug 15, as US and international forces try to evacuate citizens and vulnerable Afghans.

On Sunday, Taleban fighters beat back crowds at the airport a day after seven Afghans were killed in a stampede at the gates, as the deadline for the withdrawal of foreign troops approaches.

Foreign forces in Afghanistan have not sought to extend the Aug 31 deadline to leave the country, a Taleban official said yesterday, after President Joe Biden said US troops might stay longer to oversee a “hard and painful” evacuation.

Mr Biden, who last week flagged the possibility of troops remaining longer, said on Sunday the security situation in Afghanistan was changing rapidly and remained dangerous.

The US on Sunday sought the help of six commercial airlines to transport people after their evacuation from Afghanistan.

Mr Biden said people fleeing Afghanistan were being assisted by more than two dozen countries in four continents.

Singapore will offer the US the use of one of its tanker aircraft to airlift evacuees from Afghanistan, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said yesterday.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he had called a G-7 leaders’ meeting today to discuss the crisis in Afghanistan and urged the international community to find ways to prevent it from escalating.

“It is vital that the international community works together to ensure safe evacuations, prevent a humanitarian crisis and support the Afghan people to secure the gains of the last 20 years,” Mr Johnson said on Twitter on Sunday.

Britain currently holds the rotating leadership of the G-7, which also includes the US, Italy, France, Germany, Japan and Canada. – REUTERS