Joe Biden claims 'chaos' was inevitable in Kabul
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They died in and around the Hamid Karzai International Airport, either as a result of gunshots or a stampede, Taliban and NATO officials said. Scenes have becoming increasingly desperate in recent days following the footage of hundreds of Afghans attempting to board a US-bound military plane as it was taking off.
Other footage shows children being passed to soldiers at the airport in the hope they will be able to escape.
Despite reports of Taliban fighters blocking Afghans from reaching the airport, Taliban officials insist they are not hindering access, but attempting to control crowds.
The Taliban have told people to leave and return to their homes, with an official saying: “We don’t want to hurt anyone at the airport.”
Although the US military has established control inside the airport and military flights have resumed, the situation outside the airport remains volatile.
At the airport, foreign embassies have set up evacuation centres inside a compound, including the UK and US who have committed to airlifting thousands of their own nationals and eligible Afghans.
The airport has three gates which people can enter through, as verified by the New York Times, amid confusion of how to access the airport, shown in the map below.
The tweet read: “To all those helping evacuees seeking access to Kabul airport in Afghanistan, here is a map of the gates to the airport’s grounds, verified by a Times reporter who is inside the airport.”
The Taliban are still pushing back on letting Afghan nationals leave the country, with a number of checkpoints surrounding the airport.
Speaking to Sky News this morning, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said that the Taliban are co-operating with the British by letting people through to be evacuated.
But he said the real challenge is being posed at the airport as “crowd issues” grow, with thousands battling for a way out of the country.
He said: “It is very, very difficult for those soldiers dealing with some desperate, desperate people.”
It comes after the recall of parliament yesterday in the UK to discuss the ongoing crisis.
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Boris Johnson felt the wrath of MPs from all sides, with the opposition leader Sir Keir Starmer accusing him of “careless leadership”.
The Prime Minister was accused of relying too heavily on the USA for direction when he made the decision to pull out troops alongside the US.
Former Prime Minister Theresa May asked her successor: “Was our understanding of the Afghan government so weak? Was our knowledge of the position on the ground so inadequate?”
“Or did we just feel that we have to follow the United States and hope that, on a wing and a prayer, it would be alright on the night?”
Britain has said it will welcome up to 5,000 Afghans during the first year of a new resettlement programme that targets a total of 20,000 and will prioritise women, girls and religious and other minorities.
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