KABUL, Aug 16 (Reuters) - Thousands of civilians desperate to flee Afghanistan thronged Kabul airport on Monday after the Taliban seized the capital, prompting the U.S. military to suspend evacuations as the United States came under mounting criticism at home over its pullout.
Crowds converged on the airport seeking to escape, including some clinging to a U.S. military transport plane as it taxied on the runway, according to footage posted by a media company.
U.S. troops fired in the air to deter people trying to force their way on to a military flight evacuating U.S diplomats and embassy staff, a U.S. official said.
Five people were reported killed in chaos at the airport on Monday, although a witness said it was unclear if they had been shot or killed in a stampede. A U.S. official told Reuters two gunmen had been killed by U.S. forces there over the past 24 hours.
The Taliban's rapid conquest of Kabul follows U.S. President Joe Biden's decision to withdraw U.S. forces after 20 years of war that cost billions of dollars.
The speed at which Afghan cities fell in just days and fear of a Taliban crackdown on freedom of speech and women's rights gained over 20 years have sparked criticism.
Biden, who said Afghan forces had to fight back against the Islamist Taliban, was due to speak on Afghanistan at 1945 GMT.
Five people were reported killed in chaos at the airport on Monday, although a witness said it was unclear if they had been shot or killed in a stampede. A U.S. official told Reuters two gunmen had been killed by U.S. forces there over the past 24 hours.
The Taliban's rapid conquest of Kabul follows U.S. President Joe Biden's decision to withdraw U.S. forces after 20 years of war that cost billions of dollars.
The speed at which Afghan cities fell in just days and fear of a Taliban crackdown on freedom of speech and women's rights gained over 20 years have sparked criticism.
Biden, who said Afghan forces had to fight back against the Islamist Taliban, was due to speak on Afghanistan at 1945 GMT.
NO ONE SHALL BE HARMED'
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani fled on Sunday as the Islamist militants entered Kabul virtually unopposed, saying he wanted to avoid bloodshed.
The United States and other foreign powers have rushed to fly out diplomatic and other staff but the United States temporarily halted all evacuation flights to clear people from the airfield, a U.S. defense official told Reuters.
Suhail Shaheen, a spokesperson for the Taliban, said in a message on Twitter that their fighters were under strict orders not to harm anyone.
"Life, property and honour of no one shall be harmed but must be protected by the Mujahideen," he said.
It took the Taliban just over a week to seize control of the whole country after a lightning sweep that ended in Kabul as government forces, trained for years and equipped by the United States and others at a cost of billions of dollars, melted away.
U.S. officers had long worried that corruption would undermine the resolve of badly paid, ill-fed and erratically supplied front-line soldiers.
Al Jazeera broadcast footage of what it said were Taliban commanders in the presidential palace with dozens of fighters.
Mohammad Naeem, spokesman for the Taliban's political office, told Al Jazeera TV the form of Afghanistan's new government would be made clear soon. He said the Taliban did not want to live in isolation and called for peaceful international relations.
The militants sought to project a more moderate face, promising to respect women's rights and protect both foreigners and Afghans.
But many Afghans fear the Taliban will return to past harsh practices. During their 1996-2001 rule, women could not work and punishments such as public stoning, whipping and hanging were administered.
"Everyone is worried," a former government employee now in hiding in Kabul said. "They're not targeting people yet but they will, that's the reality. Maybe in two or three weeks, that's why people are fighting to get out now."
Both the United Nations and the United States said last week they had received reports that Taliban fighters were executing surrendering government soldiers.
Videos circulated online showed people falling from the sky as civilians clung to planes in desperate attempts to leave the capital ahead of the anticipated return to a brutal regime.
One video posted by Twitter account AEROSINT Division PSF showed Afghan citizens swarming a US Air Force plane taxiing on the Kabul tarmac. Another showed bodies falling from a plane that had already taken off.
“I can’t believe the world abandoned Afghanistan,” one woman told the ANI news agency upon arrival in New Dehli after fleeing Kabul.
“Our sons are going to get killed. They’re going to kill us. Our women are not going to have any more rights,” she added.
As tensions escalate, US soldiers shot and killed two people at the airport on Monday after they opened fire on troops stationed there to assist evacuations.
All flights from the airport, which is currently under the control of the US military, were later halted “out of an abundance of caution”. A Pentagon spokesperson said US forces are working with Turkish and other international troops to clear the airport and allow evacuation flights to resume.
Afghan civilians expressed fury at the US focus on evacuating its own citizens, warning that it would leave the local population at the mercy of the insurgents.
There were reports that US troops fired gunshots into the air on Monday morning to disperse surging crowds at the civilian portion of Kabul airport.
A warning boomed over the airport radio in Pashto: “Please go back, please go back.”
CNN reports that US forces shot and killed two armed men at the airport on Monday, in what is described as an isolated incident. The Pentagon did not clarify whether the men were Taliban militants.
The US embassy issued an alert that the situation at the airport was fast deteriorating, with political commentators comparing the scene to Saigon – when the Viet Cong captured the Vietnamese city in 1975.
An emergency Nato evacuation operation involving 6,000 US marines and 600 British troops is still underway.
Smoke rose from the American compound in Afghanistan on Sunday as staff burnt sensitive documents and the US flag was lowered and removed.
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