Afghanistan crisis: Chaos, panic as thousands gather at Kabul airport to flee country, US troops fire shots to disperse crowd

Kabul: In view of the Taliban taking control of entire Afghanistan, thousands of panic-stricken Afghan people had gathered at the Kabul Interntional Airport to board flights to flee the country on Sunday.

Several disturbing images and videos of thousands of worried Afghan citizens rushing to the Kabul airport forcing the US troops to fire shots in the air to disperse the crowd have now surfaced online

According to reports, the US troops were forced to fire warning shots at the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul to prevent crowds of desperate citizens running to board planes as the Taliban took over the Afghan capital city, international media reported.

One such video of the maddening crowd at the Kabul airport was shared by Zee News Editor-in-chief Sudhir Chaudhary.

Latest pictures from Kabul Airport. People are on their own now while the world watches in silence. Only sane advise to Afghan people…RUN pic.twitter.com/RQGw28jFYx — Sudhir Chaudhary (@sudhirchaudhary) August 16, 2021

"The crowd was out of control. The firing was only done to defuse the chaos," a US official was quoted as saying. Gunfire could be heard in several videos doing the rounds on social media. The desperate scenes include crowds hovering around jets and clambering up staircases.

The videos and images show hundreds of Afghans jamming the Kabul airport and trying to get out of the country after Taliban insurgents entered the capital on Sunday. 

US troops are in charge at the airport, helping in the evacuation of embassy staff and other civilians. The US earlier said that it had evacuated all of its embassy staff to the airport. "I feel very scared here. They are firing lots of shots into the air," a witness told an international news agency.

There are reports that US flights carrying diplomatic staff out of the country are being prioritised, causing anger and leading to more chaos and confusion.

Meanwhile, the Taliban declared the war in Afghanistan was over after insurgents took control of the presidential palace in Kabul as US-led forces departed and Western nations scrambled on Monday to evacuate their citizens.

President Ashraf Ghani fled the country on Sunday as the Islamist militants entered the city, saying he wanted to avoid bloodshed, while hundreds of Afghans desperate to leave flooded Kabul airport.

"Today is a great day for the Afghan people and the mujahideen. They have witnessed the fruits of their efforts and their sacrifices for 20 years," Mohammad Naeem, the spokesman for the Taliban`s political office, told Al Jazeera TV. "Thanks to God, the war is over in the country."

It took the Taliban just over a week to seize control of the country after a lightning sweep that ended in Kabul as Afghan forces, trained for years and equipped by the United States and others at a cost of billions of dollars, melted away.

Al Jazeera broadcast footage of what it said were Taliban commanders in the presidential palace with dozens of armed fighters. Naeem said the form of the new regime in Afghanistan would be made clear soon, adding the Taliban did not want to live in isolation and calling for peaceful international relations.

"We have reached what we were seeking, which is the freedom of our country and the independence of our people," he said. "We will not allow anyone to use our lands to target anyone, and we do not want to harm others."