New Delhi: Over the next 48 hours, the US will expand its security presence at the Kabul airport to 6,000 troops for the evacuation of US allied personnel as well as Afghan civilians, according to a joint statement by the Department of State and Department of Defense Monday.
“Tomorrow and over the coming days, we will be transferring out of the country thousands of American citizens who have been resident in Afghanistan, as well as locally employed staff of the US mission in Kabul and their families and other particularly vulnerable Afghan nationals,” read the statement.
It added that Afghans who have cleared security screening will continue on directly to the US.
Two days earlier, Biden had sent in an additional 1,000 US troops for deployment to Afghanistan, raising the number to roughly 5,000.
At Kabul airport, scenes of chaos
The US announcement comes as people thronged the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul Sunday night hoping to find a way out of the country as the Taliban entered the capital city.
The Taliban in the past week quickly advanced across the country, taking over major cities and provinces, leading to an unprecedented collapse of the Afghan government led by President Ashraf Ghani. On Sunday, as Kabul was being breached, Ghani fled to neighbouring Tajikistan.
A video posted by TOLO News showed a large number of people gathered on the tarmac of the Kabul airport where aircraft were parked.
The situation didn’t look any better Monday morning, with passengers having a tough time reaching departure terminals, sources told ThePrint, adding that there were reports of sporadic firing.
At the departure terminals, there was damage to equipment, the sources said, and noted that hardly any airport staff are present. Meanwhile confusion over flight schedules remained, with passengers struggling to find out which flights are available and will be flying out.
ویدیو: شمار زیادی از مردم شب گذشته در میدان هوایی کابل گرد آمدند تا کشور را ترک کنند. pic.twitter.com/LO4zFMVaIu
— TOLOnews (@TOLOnews) August 16, 2021
Former New York Times journalist Jawad Sukhanyar released footage early Monday morning of crowds rushing into the Kabul airport terminal.
Another day begins in Kabul, a sea of people rushing into the Kabul airport terminal. #AFG pic.twitter.com/UekpGJ2MWd
— Jawad Sukhanyar (@JawadSukhanyar) August 16, 2021
On social media, the comparison between the current US evacuation from Afghanistan and the ‘Saigon moment’ — when in the final days of the Vietnam War in 1975, American helicopters evacuated people from the rooftop of the US embassy — continued.
Amnesty media manager and investigative journalist Stefan Simanowitz offered a side-by-side comparison with pictures.
PHOTO 1: US diplomat evacuate US from embassy via helicopter as the #Taliban enter #Kabul from all sides. #Afghanistan (2021)
PHOTO 2: US diplomat evacuate US from embassy via helicopter as the PAVN & Viet Cong capture of Saigon, Vietnam (1975) pic.twitter.com/YamWmzjOay
— Stefan Simanowitz (@StefSimanowitz) August 15, 2021
(Edited by Manasa Mohan)
Also read: Collapse of Kabul will go down as one of the greatest defeats in American history, says Trump