Civilian flights out of Kabul airport have been suspended indefinitely, as the airspace above Afghanistan is closed.
United Airlines, British Airways and Virgin Atlantic said they were not using the country’s airspace.
A United spokeswoman said the change affects several of the airline’s U.S.-to-India flights.
Flight-tracking website FlightRadar24 showed few commercial flights over Afghanistan at 0300 GMT on August 16, but many planes overflying neighbouring Pakistan and Iran.
Back in July, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration imposed flight restrictions over Afghanistan for U.S. airlines and other U.S. operators.
🔺Warning: The video contains scenes that may be harsh.
The Afghan contractors fell from the giant American C-17 plane after taking off, high meters from the surface !#Afghanishtan #Kabul #Taliban #USA pic.twitter.com/Enhst6nXSE
— The RAGEX (@theragex) August 16, 2021
The Kabul Airport is engulfed in chaos as people try to flee, and they realize they’ve been largely abandoned.
Meanwhile, social media platforms are flooded with news detailing the struggles faced by foreign entities trying to evacuate their members from Afghanistan.
I think the White House could liable to prosecution under AML/CFT. Not even joking
— Bruno Maçães (@MacaesBruno) August 15, 2021
3. There is reporting that the US is paying vast sums of cash to Taliban to allow the evacuation to proceed. Is this true?
4. What steps are being taken to ensure the billions of reserves in the Afghanistan Bank are not accessed by the Taliban?
— Elise Stefanik (@EliseStefanik) August 15, 2021
As soon as news of the Taliban being at the outskirts of Kabul broke out, questions over foreign embassies started to rise, especially that previous statements had confirmed no plans to evacuate anyone since intelligence reports did not warn of an approaching take over by the Taliban.
The unanticipated arrival of the Taliban at Kabul on Sunday accelerated efforts to transfer diplomats and embassy personnel to Kabul’s international airport on very short notice, which urged western governments to “buy more time” to complete the process.
Overnight, the US, French, German, Saudi, and other diplomatic missions’ staff have been able to reach the airport and leave Afghanistan for good, with no attacks by the Taliban.
To guarantee their citizens’ safe evacuation, U.S. forces fired in the air at Kabul’s airport on Monday to prevent hundreds of civilians running onto the tarmac, a U.S. official, cited by Reuters said.
“The crowd was out of control,” the official told Reuters by phone. “The firing was only done to defuse the chaos.”
Hundreds of Afghans have jammed the airport trying to get out of the country after Taliban insurgents entered the capital on Sunday. U.S. troops are in charge at the airport, helping in the evacuation of embassy staff and other civilians.
Massive crowds of Afghan civilians inside the Kabul International Airport this morning.
It should be noted that the US troops’ main mission is to secure the military section of the airport, hence they make little effort to control the flow of people. pic.twitter.com/xUvn2feKdt
— Status-6 (@Archer83Able) August 16, 2021
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin approved 1,000 more US troops into Afghanistan, for a total of 6,000 US troops that will be in the country soon.
Their primary mission is the security of Kabul’s international airport, which is the entry point for the troops and the exit point for the US embassy staff and Afghans who are leaving the country.
“We are not assuming that every inch of the airport is secure,” said the official, noting reports of Afghan civilians rushing to the airport.
As of right now, there are approximately 3,000 US troops in Afghanistan. The remaining troops are en route or will be in the imminent future.
There have been security incidents at or near the airport, the official said, but US forces have not been targeted, nor have they fired on anyone. Turkish forces remain at the field and are also taking part in the efforts to secure the field. The official could not say whether Turkish forces had been engaged in exchanges of fire.
The US military will have the maximum capacity to move about 5,000 people per day out of Kabul international airport, though they are not able to move that number yet, the official said. They will reach that capacity “within days.”
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US, Britain, Australia, Turkey……BAM!!!!!! You have been banned by the Taliban!!!!!!
1. The EU and US are going to sanction Afghanistan “Taliban”.
2. Afghanistan at best would be Pakistan 2.0.
3. None of those countries need or would like to work with the Taliban.
4. The US is still going to bomb Afghanistan if they want to.
5. Incoming ISIS – Backward Sunni terrorist groups under different names, and you know what we might see Osama the goat fuker come back from Israel.
>1. The EU and US are going to sanction Afghanistan “Taliban”.
The Taliban don’t give a damn. The Iranians, Chinese, Russians, Uzbeks, Tajiks, Pakistanis will trade all the Taliban need.
The EU and US will lose all hope of stopping the BRI or exploiting Afghan resources – all those opportunities will be taken by Chinese and Russians.
>2. Afghanistan at best would be Pakistan 2.0.
That’s not too bad for starters, all countries are on an evolutionary curve.
>3. None of those countries need or would like to work with the Taliban.
China, the only one that matters, has been making very clear overtures that they want to work with the Taliban to complete the BRI.
Since the Chinese share a border with Afghanistan, nobody can stop this cooperation.
>4. The US is still going to bomb Afghanistan if they want to.
That’s going to be an expensive and useless proposition and it will cease as soon as Russia and Pakistan extend their no fly zone over Afghanistan.
>5. Incoming ISIS – Backward Sunni terrorist groups under different names, and you know what we might see Osama the goat fuker come back from Israel.
ISIS proliferates wherever Western forces hold sway.
Now that the Americans are out, the Taliban will wipe out Daesh and their friends, no US Marines to stand between the terrorists and the Taliban.
From other reports, there are about 88,000 Afghans that helped the US occupation forces. It doesn’t seem realistic that all of them will be given an American visa and settled in New York City.
Canada takes in 20,000 of them, the others run away to Iran and Turkey by now, they most likely go to the EU and The USA.
If they will vote for Democrats, they are welcome in Texas and Florida.
So they occupy your country, keep your billions in their banks and refuse to release those funds to a government that won’t play fetch. When will the world learn that the West is never up to any good besides looting countries dry? Give the Afghan money back to its people, the Taliban are the new government.
Crumbling pedonazi americant empire makes the final days of the Soviet union looks glorious in comparison.
It looks like the Taliban have imposed their first “no-fly zone.” Now it’s time to enforce it: ring the airport with anti-aircraft guns and SAMs.
Have you been to India or Pakistan? They aren’t in war or anything yet their population is just stupid.
Holy crap, lucky no one ended up being sucked into an engine intake…chaos indeed.
Ahmad Shah Massoud’s son, Ahmad Massoud calls for the fight against the Taliban from the Panshir region of Afghanistan, I hope their futile resistance will be failed and destroyed. let the Taliban’s enemies fall to the ground all of them.
With what’s going on in US, with the not vaccines, the odds are about the same for US citizens in Afghanistan, maybe better.
The US military, and US defense contractor’s, don’t have it too good, but shoulda’ left.
So far there’s no evidence to suggest Taliban is going to be killing civilian’s, and acting like Western military’s. Taliban stated it was doing thing’s different, and has made commitments to Russia, China, and Iran.