Stampede at Kabul Airport leaves ‘five dead’ as thousands storm planes to flee Taliban

Stampede at Kabul Airport leaves ‘five dead’ as thousands storm planes to flee Taliban

A STAMPEDE at Kabul Airport has left five people dead as thousands storm planes in a desperate bid to flee Afghanistan.

In chaotic scenes echoing the fall of Saigon at the end of the Vietnam war, petrified men, women and children were filmed trying to get on aircraft after the Taliban stormed the capital

Desperate Afghanis climb stairs in a bid to get onto a plane at Kabul airport
Desperate Afghanis climb stairs in a bid to get onto a plane at Kabul airport
A US helicopter swooping across the runway to clear a way for a plane to take off
A US helicopter swooping across the runway to clear a way for a plane to take off
Desperate Afghans running behind the plane to get on board
Desperate Afghans running behind the plane to get on board
Afghan citizens are doing all they can to flee the country
Afghan citizens are doing all they can to flee the countryCredit: Twitter
People waiting with suitcases near Kabul Airport's runway
People waiting with suitcases near Kabul Airport’s runway
Thousands stormed runways in desperate effort to get last flights out
Thousands stormed runways in desperate effort to get last flights outCredit: Twitter

Desperate people were filmed trying climb up a ladder to get on a plane while others were seen being pulled on board another aircraft.

One witness said he had seen the bodies of five people being taken to a vehicle at the airport.

Unverified reports and video claimed that two people had fallen several hundred feet to their deaths after being thrown from a C-17 transport aircraft taking off from Kabul airport.

At one stage, US troops guarding the airport were forced to fire shots into the air but it’s unclear if those who died were hit by bullets or crushed in the stampede.

At one stage, US Apache helicopter gunships swooped down across a runway to clear desperate people trying to board a transport aircraft.

As the C-17 prepared to take off, hundreds of people were seen running behind it in an effort to get on board.

Residents of Kabul today woke up to their first day under Taliban rule with reports the hardliners were scouring the city looking for military vehicles.

In a bid to flee what they fear will be a return to the Taliban’s brutal rule based on an extreme interpretation of Islam, people raced to the airport in a frantic bid to board a flights.

The stampede began on on Sunday night and daylight saw another wave of people swarm to the airport as the exodus continued

Another clip showed what were apparently US embassy staff attempting to flee by pulling each other into a plane while the ramp was being raised.

The shocking scenes in Kabul come as…

  • Taliban stormed Afghanistan’s Presidential Palace after ripping through Kabul
  • Boris Johnson blamed the US for Afghanistan’s ‘accelerated’ collapse to the Taliban
  • Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said he fled to ‘prevent a flood of bloodshed’
  • UK ambassador Sir Laurie Bristow to remain at Kabul airport to help Brits leave

And a third video showed over a thousand citizens attempting to board a KamAir flight to Istanbul which can only carry 300 passengers.

Footage showed people pushing and shoving as they make their way through the overpacked aisle of the plane which is already over capacity.

It comes as NATO has revealed that all commercial flights are now suspended from Kabul airport with only military aircraft now allowed to operate.

By Sunday night, members of the Taliban members declared that they had been “victorious” in a statement.

In the live broadcast one insurgent said he had spent eight years in Guantanamo Bay.

Now Boris Johnson has blamed the US for the advancement of the Taliban in Afghanistan, claiming President Biden “accelerated” their control.

The Prime Minister said the “difficult” situation had been exacerbated by the President’s decision to withdraw troops from the war-torn country.

Earlier today Afghan President Ashraf Ghani fled the country after the Taliban stormed the capital Kabul and seized his palace.

Mr Ghani later said he left to “prevent a flood of bloodshed”.

Ghani, who did not say where he had gone, said he believed “countless patriots would be martyred and the city of Kabul would be destroyed” if he had stayed behind.

Taliban fanatics have released 5,000 prisoners and taken control of Kabul as the government dramatically collapsed on Sunday.

People scrambling through barbed wire to get into the airport
People scrambling through barbed wire to get into the airportCredit: EPA
Daylight saw another stampede to get to planes
Daylight saw another stampede to get to planes
Shocking video shows people pulling each other onto an aircraft as the ramp rises
Shocking video shows people pulling each other onto an aircraft as the ramp risesCredit: Twitter
Taliban fighters out on the streets of Kabul after taking control
Taliban fighters out on the streets of Kabul after taking controlCredit: AFP
Taliban fighters and locals sit on an Afghan National Army humvee vehicle in Jalalabad
Taliban fighters and locals sit on an Afghan National Army humvee vehicle in JalalabadCredit: AFP
Taliban fighters on the streets of Kabul
Taliban fighters on the streets of KabulCredit: TWITTER/FURKAN

It comes hours after the Taliban took control of Jalalabad and means they now have seized every city in the war-torn country.

Mr Johnson yesterday chaired an emergency Cobra meeting and recalled MPs to Parliament to tackle the crisis.

The speed of the Taliban’s victory has shaken the world and came just weeks after troops from the US, UK and other Nato countries left Afghanistan.

A few days ago US officials predicted it would take 30 days for the jihadis to reach Kabul – and 90 to take the city – but they have swept all before them in a terrifying rampage.

Twenty years after they were ejected by the US and its allies in the wake of 9/11 they stand on the brink of being back in power.

Tory MP Tom Tugendhat, chairman of the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, described the Taliban victory “the biggest single foreign policy disaster” since Suez.

His colleague Johnny Mercer, who fought in the country, said it was “humiliating”.

Ghani left Kabul for Tajikistan only 24 hours after he addressed the nation and said he hoped to fight on – but the speed of the Taliban advance left him no option but to flee.

They had demanded his removal as part of talks to ensure a peaceful transition of power when they reached Kabul to avoid an all out assault on the capital.

In scenes that echoed the fall of Saigon helicopters were seen ferrying US embassy staff to safety at a secure area near the airport.

The US Ambassador left in the early evening with the American flag to a new site at the airport.

Britain’s ambassador Sir Laurie Bristow remains in Kabul where he is working at the airport to help Brits leave the country.

Paras from the 16 Air Assault Brigade have begun deploying to evacuate Brits from the city as well as about 2,000 Afghan nationals who worked with British forces.

Kabul airport is to remain open for foreigners to leave, the Taliban said, and flights were continuing to operate.

Terrified residents have already begun fleeing in their cars leading to traffic jams, with a huge number of people now massing at the country’s borders.

Over 4,000 UK nationals waited for a last-ditch airlift by UK troops as Taliban fighters moved to within seven miles of Afghan capital Kabul
Over 4,000 UK nationals waited for a last-ditch airlift by UK troops as Taliban fighters moved to within seven miles of Afghan capital Kabul

More than 4,000 desperate UK nationals are waiting for a last-ditch airlift.

Whitehall insiders revealed a plan was being drawn up to operate a 770-mile military “shuttle” service to reach the haven of Dubai if commercial airlines become unviable.

The deployment of 600 troops, began at the weekend as part of Operation Pitting, which aims to relocate Brits and Afghans facing Taliban reprisals for helping our forces.

Brit troops have been warned they could be drawn into face-to-face fighting with the Taliban.

AIRLIFT OF BRITS

They were briefed about a series of threats ranging from roadside bombs to suicide bombers and drone attacks.

SAS soldiers will link up with interpreters to secure local intelligence and be briefed by special forces colleagues and MI6 agents already based in Kabul.

Commanders want to avoid fighting but the Paras are deploying with grenade launchers and shoulder-fired anti-tank weapons.

They face the challenge of securing the airhead base at Kabul airport and making sure desperate-to-leave Afghans cannot get access to the evacuating aircraft.

But a major concern for the mission — officially termed Non Combatant Evacuation Operation — is the lack of aviation fuel at the airfield, which could hamper the pace of the airlift.

In addition, there were fears that the Taliban will fire on the airport using the latest US 155mm heavy artillery — which was seized from the Afghan army as they advanced across the country.

Radar to track and trace any in-direct Taliban fire such as mortars, rockets and artillery will also be deployed.

But one Whitehall source told The Sunday Times that the airport “will not hold for more than a few days”.

Mazar-e-Sharif, the capital of Balkh province, and the country’s fourth largest city fell on Saturday night.

A Chinook helicopter flies over the US Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan
A Chinook helicopter flies over the US Embassy in Kabul, AfghanistanCredit: AP
A US helicopter evacuating staff from the country's embassy in Kabul
A US helicopter evacuating staff from the country’s embassy in KabulCredit: AP
Smoke near the US embassy in Kabul as documents are burned
Smoke near the US embassy in Kabul as documents are burnedCredit: AP

source: the-sun.com

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.