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One week after the, Islamist group, Taliban returned to power in a rapid victory that stunned the world, the group on Sunday blamed the United States for the chaotic evacuation of tens of thousands of Afghans and foreigners from the capital.
The United States has warned of security threats and the European Union admitted it was “impossible” to evacuate everyone at risk from the Taliban, who have vowed a softer version of their brutal rule from 1996-2001.
But terrified Afghans continue to try to flee, deepening a tragedy at Kabul airport where the United States and its allies have been unable to cope with the multitude of people trying to get on evacuation flights.
“America, with all its power and facilities… has failed to bring order to the airport. There is peace and calm all over the country, but there is chaos only at Kabul airport,” Taliban official Amir Khan Mutaqi said.
Britain’s defence ministry said Sunday seven people had died in the crowds, without giving further details.
A journalist, who was among a group of other media workers and academics lucky enough to get to the airport on Sunday for a flight, described desperate scenes of people surrounding their bus on the way in.
“They were showing us their passports and shouting ‘take us with you… please take us with you’,” the journalist told AFP.
“The Taliban fighter in the truck ahead of us had to shoot in the air to make them go away.”
Britain’s Sky News on Saturday aired footage of at least three bodies covered in white tarpaulin outside the airport. It was unclear how they had died.
Reporter Stuart Ramsay, who was at the airport, called the deaths “inevitable” and said people were being “crushed”, while others were “dehydrated and terrified”.
The footage was the latest imagery of utter despair, after video of a baby being lifted over a wall at the airport and horror scenes of people hanging onto departing planes.
The United States, which has thousands of troops trying to secure the airport, has set a deadline to complete the evacuations by August 31.
But according to the Biden administration, there are up to 15,000 Americans and 50,000 to 60,000 Afghan allies who need to be evacuated.
Countless others fear repression under the Taliban and are also trying to flee.
US President Joe Biden has described the evacuation operations as “one of the largest, most difficult airlifts in history”.
The situation was further complicated on Saturday when the US government warned its citizens to stay away from the airport because of “security threats”.
No specific reason was given, but a White House official later said Biden had been briefed on security threats, including from the Islamic State jihadist group.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell gave a bleak assessment of whether the airlift would succeed.
“They want to evacuate 60,000 people between now and the end of this month. It’s mathematically impossible,” he told AFP.
Borrell added that “we have complained” to the Americans that their airport security was overly strict and hampering attempts by Afghans who worked for the Europeans to enter.
On Saturday, the Pentagon said 17,000 people had been taken out since the operation began on August 14, including 2,500 Americans.
Thousands more have left on other foreign military flights.
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