One Afghan guard killed, three injured in firefight at Kabul airport
One Afghan guard has been killed and three others wounded in a "firefight" between Afghan security forces and "unknown attackers" at Kabul airport, which also involved American and German troops, according to Germany's military.
The firefight broke out Monday morning at the north gate of the airport as thousands of people scrambled to flee Taliban rule.
American and German forces were also involved in the fight, Germany’s military said on Twitter without specifying the details.
Kabul airport has been the scene of chaos and sporadic violence since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan on August 15, with panicked Afghan and foreign nationals desperately trying to catch evacuation flights out of the country.
Seven Afghan civilians were killed in a crush at the airport's gates on Saturday.
The Taliban have blamed the United States for the mayhem at the airport.
“America, with all its power and facilities … has failed to bring order to the airport,” Taliban official Amir Khan Mutaqi said on Sunday, adding that “there is peace and calm all over the country, but there is chaos only at Kabul airport.”
The area in and around Kabul airport becomes increasingly perilous as the August 31 deadline for the complete withdrawal of foreign troops approaches. US President Joe Biden has floated the possibility of extending the deadline.
“Our hope is we will not have to extend but there are going to be discussions I suspect on how far along we are in the process,” Biden said in a briefing at the White House on Sunday.
“Let me be clear, the evacuation of thousands from Kabul is going to be hard and painful,” he added.
Biden, who has come under fire at home and abroad for his handling of the withdrawal, has argued that he had to go along with the plan because of an agreement the US had reached with the Taliban under his predecessor, Donald Trump.
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