Evacuation Flights Halted due to Mayhem at Kabul’s Airport

  • Why the U.S. military is stopping evacuation flights
  • Update on the chaos at Kabul’s Airport

Due to recent reports of gunfire at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul as Afghan civilians try to flee the country, all evacuation flights were halted. Evacuation flights were stopped because desperate Afghan citizens were swarming planes as they were taking off, hanging on to the side and eventually falling off the plane to their demise.  A U.S. military official later told CBS News’ David Martin that U.S. troops had killed two armed Afghans who were part of the huge crowd that breached the airport perimeter. Reports said seven people died in total. While the cause of the other deaths was not immediately clear, at least one person was seen falling off an aircraft after it took off.  

As of Sunday,  the U.S. Embassy in Kabul had completely evacuated and Ned Price, the State Department spokesperson, said everyone has been relocated to the Kabul airport. The perimeter of the airport is secured by the U.S. military, but violence is still happening in and around the airport.  1,000 U.S. troops are being sent to Afghanistan to support the troops already there, bringing the total troops to 6,000 with 3,000 on the ground. 


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