Five Killed In Gunfire At Kabul Airport As Afghans Flee Taliban Rule

In a concerning development, at least five people were killed by gunfire on Monday at the passenger terminal of the Kabul international airport, where thousands of Afghans who fear for their lives after the Taliban takeover of the country have converged in hopes of getting an evacuation flight, India Today reports.

Witnesses reported seeing the bloodied bodies lying on the ground just outside the terminal building, according to the report. However, it was not clear whether the victims were killed by gunshots or in a stampede, add the report.

The US military has taken over security of the Kabul airport to execute the massive airlift of foreign diplomats and citizens after the Afghan government collapsed on Sunday.

Those evacuation flights are processed on the separate, military, side of the airport.

The US military extended its footprint to the civilian terminal, where thousands of desperate Afghans, many of whom used to work for the American forces, continued to flock as the victorious Taliban combed Kabul for those who had collaborated with the West.

The US Marines fired warning shots late on Sunday when hundreds of Afghans who breached the perimeter rushed to board an idling C-17 transport aircraft, a Western military official said.

With IANS Inputs