Airport in Kabul will be closed for 48 hours

The Kabul airport in Afghanistan will be closed for the next two days to evacuate those already on its territory. The corresponding decision was made by the American military overseeing the evacuation, according to the Afghan news agency. Khaama Press with reference to the US State Department. The agency notes that “thousands of men, women and children” have gathered near the airport, forced to wait around the clock. Many faint from the heat transfers Interfax.

The decision to close the airport was made after seven people were killed in a stampede at the entrance to the airport on Saturday. Death of Afghans reported Sky News TV channel with reference to the UK Department of Defense.

The United States and other countries advised their citizens not to come to the airport, as it became almost impossible to push through the crowd and enter the air harbor. The Pentagon also did not rule out that American troops will begin a rescue operation outside the airport. Evacuation can also be organized from the airfield in Bagram, where the largest US air base in Afghanistan was located. However, the territory of the airbase, according to the Taliban, was seized by them a week ago.

The evacuation of Afghans and foreigners from the airport began on August 15, when Taliban fighters took control of almost the entire territory of the country and entered the capital. All commercial flights were canceled, and only military transport planes were evacuated. The evacuation was accompanied by chaos not only at the airport, but also on the airfield. Crowds of people ran along the runway, seeing off planes and trying to cling to for them in a desperate attempt to fly out of the country. Because of this, other planes could not land or flew out almost empty. It was reported that 12 people died at the airport in a few days. Among them were the victims of the stampede, shooting and those who fell out of the plane that had already taken off.

Sources The Wall Street Journal reportedthat now the United States wants to use civil aircraft for evacuation. To increase the number of flights, it is planned to use about 20 aircraft from five airlines. These liners will not fly to Kabul, but will begin to take Afghans out of US military bases in Qatar, Bahrain and Germany.

The United States has already evacuated 17 thousand people from Afghanistan, writes Kommersant. The NATO spokesman also said that the removal of foreigners and Afghan citizens who worked in embassies and international humanitarian groups is proceeding slowly due to the risk of clashes.