![]() ![]() On Tuesday, after a night that saw the Taliban fire triumphantly into the air, guards now blearily on duty kept out the curious and those still somehow hoping to catch a flight out. acknowledged they didn't evacuate all who wanted to go. But for all who got out, foreign nations and the U.S. Coalition forces also evacuated their citizens and Afghans. citizens, foreigners and Afghans, according to the White House. service members.ĭuring the evacuation, U.S. Last week, an Islamic State suicide attack at an airport gate killed at least 169 Afghans and 13 U.S. Thousands of Afghans besieged the airport, some falling to their death after desperately hanging onto the side of an American C-17 military cargo jet. The airport had seen chaotic and deadly scenes since the Taliban blitzed across Afghanistan and took Kabul on Aug. He said troops did not blow up equipment needed for eventually restarting airport operations. military's Central Command, earlier said troops disabled 27 Humvees and 73 aircraft so they cannot be used again. He didn't elaborate on what was destroyed. If there is need for technical or logistics help to repair the destruction, then we might ask help from Qatar or Turkey." "If we are able to fix everything on our own, then we won't need any help. "Our technical team will be checking the technical and logistical needs of the airport," he said. In an interview with Afghan state television, Mujahid also discussed restarting operations at the airport, which remains a key way out for those wanting to leave the country. "Our nation has suffered war and invasion and the people do not have more tolerance."Īt the end of his remarks, the Badri fighters shouted: "God is the greatest!" "I hope you be very cautious in dealing with the nation," he said. ![]() Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid addressed the gathered members of the Badri unit. Before dawn broke, heavily armed Taliban fighters walked through hangars, passing some of the seven CH-46 helicopters the State Department used in its evacuations before rendering them unusable. Vehicles carrying the Taliban raced back and forth along the Hamid Karzai International Airport's sole runway on the military side of the airfield. Concertina wire stills separated areas while overturned cars and parked vehicles blocked routes around the civilian airport - a sign of measures taken to protect against possible suicide car bombers entering the facility. In the terminal, rifled luggage and clothes were strewn across the ground, alongside wads of documents. On Tuesday morning, signs of the chaos of recent days were still visible. military had wrapped up its largest airlift of non-combatants in history. "Slowly we will get everything back to normal. Wasiq also urged people to return to work and reiterated the Taliban pledge offering a general amnesty. Hopefully, we will be announcing our Cabinet. "The military and civilian side (of the airport) are with us and in control. "Afghanistan is finally free," Hekmatullah Wasiq, a top Taliban official, told The Associated Press on the tarmac. Getting the airport running again is just one of the sizeable challenges the Taliban face in governing a nation of 38 million people that for two decades had survived on billions of dollars in foreign aid. The commandos in camouflage uniforms proudly posed for photos. In a show of control, turbaned Taliban leaders were flanked by the insurgents' elite Badri unit as they walked across the tarmac. Standing on the tarmac, Taliban leaders pledged to secure the country, quickly reopen the airport and grant amnesty to former opponents. troop withdrawal that ended America's longest war. The Taliban triumphantly marched into Kabul's international airport on Tuesday, hours after the final U.S. ![]()
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