US resumes flight operations at Kabul airport as troops clear crowd; kill two gunmen

The United States on Tuesday, 17 August 2021, resumed flight operation in Kabul’s airspace after a ban imposed on all the commercial planes against entering into Afghanistan’s air corridor amid chaotic scenes that ensued after the Taliban takeover. A large crowd of panicked civilians was seen at the entrance to the Hamid Karzai International Airport attempting to board a US-bound plane in the bedlam engulfed airport as it taxied the runway.

Some of the devastated stowaways attempted to flee the fundamentalist Taliban rule into the Capital by dangling themselves from the gangplank of the US military aircraft on the tarmac as it took off. US troops shot dead two armed gunmen at Kabul’s Airport shortly before closing the airport due to overcrowding.

Shocking visuals depicted civilians clinging to the C-17 flight’s wheel and falling to their death from the height. A US defence official told the news agencies that the Afghan citizens that clung to C-17 were not special visa applicants, and had breached the runway. The military crew attempted to unload the cargo, but due to mobbing, the aircraft had to abandon the tasks and was instead seen taxiing on the runway to safety and flying away. 

As people flocked the tarmac, uncontrollably jumping the airport wall and hanging from the departing aircraft, Garry Reid, the Defense Department’s lead for Afghan nationals’ relocation effort told a presser that some of the civilians will be evacuated in the coming days.  At least seven people died during the storming of the airport, The Associated Press reported, including those that dropped from the aircraft as it gained altitude.

Pointing at the Maj. Gen. William “Hank“ Taylor, the Joint Staff’s deputy director for regional operations and force management, Reid stated that a military team in Kabul is in coordination with the ambassador and his staff to prepare for the future airlift operations. 

The US Embassy in Afghanistan had earlier warned the Americans against travelling to the Kabul airport unless there were ‘explicit instructions to do so. In a statement released earlier on Monday, the US Department of State had cautioned the major US airlines to avoid Afghanistan aerospace after the Taliban seized political control of Kabul, and the Afghan President Ashraf Ghani fled the Capital with a chopper full of cash, four cars, aid, RIA news agency reported citing Russian embassy in Kabul. 

The United States armed forces were granted control to the entire perimeter of the Kabul airport as troops assumed the security duties and the air traffic control, diverting flights immediately. Shocking reports of firing in the air and the stampede on the ground emerged. State Department spokesperson Ned Price intervened in the Pentagon‘s news conference, asking American citizens to take shelter in place and not travel to the airport at any cost as flights, similarly, were warned.

[Afghans in a US Air Force C-17 Globemaster III fleeing Taliban takeover. Credit: Twitter/@Conflict_Zones]

Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby told reporters separately that at least 2,500 US troops were mobilized at the Hamid Karzai International Airport. The number of troops stationed at Kabul airport would go up to 6000 in days ahead, and an estimated 3000 within the next 24 hours. At least 6,000 US troops would soon be deployed in Kabul as the military races against time to evacuate the diplomats from the embassies. 

“We believe that we can effectuate an ongoing evacuation of American citizens, of Afghans who worked for us — including interpreters and translators — and other vulnerable Afghans at risk,” national security adviser Jake Sullivan said in a televised interview as the crisis intensified with airport filling in with distressed Afghani citizens 

“Could we have predicted every single scenario and every single breach around the perimeter of the airport with only a couple of thousand troops on the ground?” Kirby asked at a press conference, refering to Kabul airport disorder. 

[AP Photo/Riccardo De Luca]

Flights to India majorly affected 

Of those air carriers that immediately stopped using Kabul’s air corridor were United Airlines (UAL.O), British Airways, and Virgin Atlantic, with Qatar Airways, Singapore Airlines (SIAL.SI), Taiwan's China Airlines (2610.TW), Air France KLM (AIRF.PA) and Lufthansa (LHAG.DE) joining in. Flight durations to India and some other countries were impacted by an hour, adding to the fuel expenses, Air France which quickly diverted the flights off Kabul airspace said in a statement. Six routes including Bangkok, Delhi, Singapore, Mumbai, Madras, and Ho Chi Minh suffered a major hit. 

US Army advised airlines to avoid flying into Afghanistan following the Afghanistan Civil Aviation Authority (ACAA) notice, which warned any plane entering Afghanistan’s airspace will transit without supervision or ATC guidance. 

"Kabul airspace has been released to the military. Advise transit aircraft to reroute," the notice read. ”Any transit through Kabul airspace will be uncontrolled. Surrounding FIRs (air traffic control regions) have been advised.”

Air India flight from Chicago to Delhi turned around shortly after it entered into Afghanistan’s airspace, as per the data on FlightRadar24. It then had to make a stop at Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for refuelling. United Airlines said in a statement would reroute flights around Afghanistan and  "continue to work closely with the FAA and IATA to evaluate the situation." The US-based carrier's flights to India have been affected.