Evacuation flights taking off at Kabul airport, crowds cleared: reports

Kabul, Afghanistan | Xinhua | Military planes evacuating diplomats and civilians from Afghanistan started taking off from Kabul airport on Tuesday morning, after the airport runway and tarmac were cleared of crowds, media reports said.

The airport was shut down on Monday after crowds of people surged onto the runways, leading to chaos and the deaths of several people. Two armed Afghan men were reportedly killed by U.S. forces as thousands sought to board flights.

The airport reopened at 19:35 GMT Monday, and the United States was taking charge of air traffic control at the airport for military and commercial flights, media reports quoted Major General Hank Taylor, a logistics specialist on the Pentagon’s Joint Chiefs of Staff as saying in Washington.

Taylor said around 2,500 U.S. soldiers are in Kabul to assist the evacuation of U.S. personnel and Afghans who have worked for them, adding that more troops are expected to arrive, according to the reports.

Afghanistan’s civil aviation authority in a statement on Monday announced the closure of the airport, saying it was trying to resume the flights as soon as possible.

The Taliban in a statement on Monday told Kabul residents that their lives and properties are safe and they can carry on their work.

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Xinhua