Seven Afghans killed in chaos at Kabul airport

Another seven Afghan civilians have been killed in the chaos surrounding Kabul’s international airport, the British military said on Sunday, showing the danger still facing those trying to flee the Taliban’s takeover of the country.

The deaths came as a group of fighters opposing the Taliban’s rule battle the insurgents in the mountains and valleys to the north of the capital, capturing several rural districts.

While details of the fighting remains unclear, it marks the first organised resistance to rise up against the Taliban since they blitzed across Afghanistan in less than a week to seize most of the country and its capital.

The Taliban deployed fighters to launch a possible offensive in the area on Sunday.

Kabul’s airport, now one of the few ways out of the country for the millions in the city, has seen days of chaos since the Taliban entered the capital on August 15.

Thousands rushed the airport last Monday in chaos that saw the US try to clear the runway with low-flying attack helicopters.

Several Afghans plunged to their deaths while hanging off the side of a US military cargo plane, some of the seven killed that day alone.

In chaotic scenes on Saturday, British and Western troops in full combat gear tried to control crowds big enough to be seen in satellite photos pressing into the airport.

They carried away some who were sweating and pale. With temperatures reaching 34C (93F), the soldiers sprayed water from a hose on those gathered or gave them bottled water to pour over their heads.

The British military on Sunday acknowledged the seven deaths of civilians in the crowds.

There have been other stampedes and crushing injuries in the crowds, especially as Taliban fighters fire in the air to drive away those desperate to get on any flight out of the country.

“Conditions on the ground remain extremely challenging but we are doing everything we can to manage the situation as safely and securely as possible,” the Ministry of Defence said in a statement.

It was not immediately clear whether those killed had been physically crushed, suffocated or suffered a fatal heart attack in the crowds.

Soldiers covered several corpses in white clothes to hide them from view. Other troops stood on top of concrete barriers or shipping containers, trying to calm the crowd. Occasional gunshots could be heard.

The chaos at Kabul airport comes as a new, perceived threat from so-called Islamic State in Afghanistan has seen US military planes undertake rapid, diving combat landings at the airport.

Other aircraft have shot off flares on take-off in an effort to confuse possible heat-seeking missiles targeting the planes.

Amir Khan Motaqi, chief of the Taliban’s guidance council, criticised America over the situation at the airport in an audio clip posted online on Sunday.

He described the US’s actions as “tyranny”, even as Taliban fighters have beaten and shot at those trying to access the airport over the last week.

“All Afghanistan is secure, but the airport which is managed by the Americans has anarchy,” he said.

“The US should not defame itself, should not embarrass itself to the world and should not give this mentality to our people that (the Taliban) are a kind of enemy.”

Meanwhile, fighting has erupted in Afghanistan’s Baghlan province, some 75 miles (120km) north of Kabul.

Forces organising under the banner of the People’s Uprising have taken three districts around the Andarab Valley, nestled in the Hindu Kush mountains near Panjshir, the only province not under Taliban control.

On Sunday, the Taliban published video online showing fighters, including their elite special forces, preparing to head to the province, possibly to fight the People’s Uprising forces.

Four officials said the Taliban had gone into the Keshnabad area of Andarab Valley to abduct the children of those opposing them.

Khair Mohammad Khairkhwa, former head of intelligence in Balkh province, and Abdul Ahmad Dadgar, another leader in the uprising, alleged that Taliban fighters had attacked people’s homes and burned them while taking children.

Two other officials also alleged the Taliban had seized fighters’ children.

Later on Sunday, US defence secretary Lloyd Austin activated the initial stage of the Civil Reserve Air Fleet programme, asking for 18 aircraft from American carriers to assist in transporting Afghan refugees once they were evacuated from their country by military aircraft.

Under the voluntary programme, civilian airlines add to military aircraft capability during a crisis related to national defence.

The Biden administration asked for three aircraft each from American Airlines, Atlas Air, Delta Air Lines and Omni Air; two from Hawaiian Airlines; and four from United Airlines.

Meanwhile, the Taliban’s top political leader has arrived in Kabul for talks on forming a new government.

The presence of Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, who returned to Kandahar earlier this week from Qatar, was confirmed by a Taliban official.

Afghan officials familiar with talks held in the capital say the Taliban have said they will not make announcements on their government until the August 31 deadline for the US troop withdrawal passes.