Afghan crisis: Taliban uses gunfire, whips to control crowd at Kabul airport

People sit in a German Bundeswehr airplane at the Kabul airport on Tuesday. Pic/AP, PTI

The Taliban is using gunfire, whips and sticks to control thousands of Afghans looking for a way out of the war-torn country at the Kabul airport. A photojournalist for the Los Angeles Times on Tuesday captured graphic images of wounded Afghans after Taliban fighters used lethal weapons to control the crowd at the airport.

"Taliban fighters use gunfire, whips, sticks and sharp objects to maintain crowd control over thousands of Afghans who continue to wait for a way out, on airport road. At least half dozen were wounded while I was there, including a woman and her child," tweeted Marcus Yam.

‘Smiling at each other'

Yam captured harrowing photos of the violence near the Kabul airport, which he described as "indiscriminate." He said he saw one Taliban fighter fire into "the crowd, smiling at another Taliban fighter as if it were a game."

Also read: France evacuates 21 Indians from Kabul

Demonstrators, including former interpreters for the British Army in Afghanistan, hold placards as they protest opposite the Houses of Parliament in London on Wednesday. Pic/AFP

He said Afghans were waiting outside the airport to "try their luck" and get on a flight out of the nation, which is now under Taliban control.

The Taliban swept into Kabul and seized power on Sunday after President Ashraf Ghani left the country, bringing an end to a two-decade campaign in which the US and its allies had tried to transform Afghanistan. Earlier, the Taliban pledged to protect the rights of women and minorities and assured that the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan would not pose a threat to any country.

Doubts remain

Political experts say that it might not be as plain as that and doubt whether the terror group which is yet to moderate its "draconian views" on justice will stand by its promises.

‘China's position on Afghanistan issue clear'

China on Wednesday said it will decide on extending diplomatic recognition to the Taliban in Afghanistan only after the formation of the government in the country, which it hoped would be "open, inclusive and broadly representative". "China's position on the Afghan issue is consistent and clear," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told a media briefing here answering a question on when would China accord diplomatic recognition to the Taliban insurgents, which has taken control of Afghanistan.

US freezes USD 9.5 bn of Afghan reserves

The Biden administration on Tuesday froze about $9.5 billion of Afghan reserves to keep cash away from the Taliban after it captured Afghanistan. United States Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and personnel at the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control had decided to freeze the accounts, reported Dawn citing The Washington Post.

Germany to send 600 troops for evacuation

Germany will send up to 600 army personnel to Kabul to help evacuate German citizens and former Afghan local embassy staff. Chancellor Angela Merkel's Cabinet on Wednesday gave a go ahead to the mission. Germany's Bundestag Parliament will have to vote on the military mission as well. Every armed foreign deployment of the German army has to be approved by parliament in Germany.

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