Taliban blames US for Kabul airport chaos; says rest of Afghanistan is in 'peace and calm'

A senior Taliban leader said that the United States should be blamed for the chaos at the Kabul airport as thousands of Afghani nationals flooded the area hoping to be evacuated. As per reports, one of the prominent members of the Taliban Amir Khan Mutaqi, who was also in touch with former Afghan political leaders after the insurgents captured the nation, said that America “with its power and facilities...has failed to bring order” to Kabul’s airport. While heart-wrenching images and videos of Afghans clamouring the Kabul airport have continued to merge, Mutaqi reportedly said, “There is peace and calm all over the country, but there is chaos only at Kabul airport.”

Earlier, the United States Department of Defence or the Pentagon had addressed the situation at Kabul’s airport and stated that security threats delayed the progress of evacuation. As people scrambled to get on flights out of the country amid worries that only a few days more will be available to leave the war-torn nation, the Pentagon said that around 3,800 civilians have been already evacuated from Afghanistan over the past day. The flights left the nation amid widespread logistical challenges as well as backlogs at waystations in the Middle East and Europe.

6 US military aircraft left Kabul in 24 hours

Pentagon has also said that at least six US military C-17 aircraft and 32 charter flights departed Kabul airport over the past 24 hours carrying just 1,600 of the total people. Army Major General Hank Taylor told the reporters on August 21 that out of 17,000 people evacuated since August 15, when took control, just 2,500 were Americans. As per The Associated Press report, the US officials have estimated that as many as 15,000 US nations are present in Afghanistan but don’t have solid numbers. 

Meanwhile, the British military also said on August 22 that the chaos at Kabul’s airport led to the death of seven Afghan nationals further revealing the danger posed to the ones trying to flee the Taliban takeover. These deaths came as a fresh, perceived threat from the Islamic State group affiliate in Afghanistan.

(Image credit: AP)