The week since the capture of Kabul on August 15 by the Taliban has not changed the chaos at the airport in the Afghan capital. Last enclave controlled by Western forces in Afghanistan, while thousands of Afghans try to enter to flee the new Taliban regime, it is still the site of an operation to evacuate Afghans and foreigners, qualified , Friday August 20, by US President Joe Biden, from “One of the most difficult” of the history of the United States. It puts to the test the most solid characters and the outcome of twenty years of Western presence in the country.
On Sunday, the British Ministry of Defense assured that “Seven Afghans died in the crush”, without providing further details. An Afghan guard was killed in an exchange of fire early Monday morning at Kabul airport, prompting the intervention of German and American forces, the German army said. Responsible for securing the area, 6,000 US marines and hundreds of British SAS and French soldiers from the Special Operations Command (COS) ensure that planes can land and take off. Anglo-Saxon armored vehicles had to be stationed against the doors of the three main accesses to the airport so that they were not breached by the crowd.
Since August 14, some 17,000 people have been evacuated by the United States, including 2,500 Americans. “The Americans want to get 60,000 people out by the end of the month. It’s mathematically impossible ”, judged, Sunday, the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell. Biden on Sunday raised the possibility that operations could expand beyond August 31, the official date of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Dramatic scenes
Many of the NATO members who have participated in the Afghan war over the past two decades are now attempting to evacuate Afghans. In addition to the Anglo-Saxon countries, there are, in particular, France, Denmark, Spain, Italy, Romania and Poland. The French foreign affairs and defense ministers, Jean-Yves le Drian and Florence Parly, were to go on Monday to the United Arab Emirates, the first stop for the planes that left Kabul, to demonstrate their involvement.
The term “chaos” is not an empty word to define the situation around Kabul airport. The world was able, on Friday, to contact military and police sources present inside the airport besieged by thousands, even tens of thousands of Afghans, Afghans, often come with their children, with the hope of crossing the high protective walls and the two or three rows of barbed wire. The most dramatic scenes take place during attempts by foreign forces to recover aspirants who were initially stranded on the other side of the perimeter walls. Because the soldiers cannot leave the airport, perimeter under Taliban control. They often see, behind the crowded crowd, a few dozen meters away, the people they are supposed to pick up.
You have 57.44% of this article to read. The rest is for subscribers only.