Taliban takes over three gates of Kabul airport

Afghans queue at the main entrance gate of Kabul airport hoping to leave Afghanistan. Pic/AFP

The US and coalition forces have handed over the control of three gates, including the entrance to the military section, of the Kabul airport, to the Taliban, an official of the group told local media.

"The US troops are in control of a small part of the airport, including an area where the radar system of the airport is located," Xinhua news agency quoted the official Enhamullah Samangani as saying to TOLO News. Taliban deployed a unit of special forces at the main gate of the airport about two weeks ago.

"We are ready to take over the security and technical responsibility of the airport," he said. The takeover came after a deadly suicide bomb blast and gun firing claimed by IS-K, a local affiliate of the Islamic State terror group, killed 170 Afghans and 13 US troops at an eastern gate of the facility on August 26.

Earlier, a Taliban official reportedly said that the group's special forces and a team of technical professionals and qualified engineers were ready to take over all charges of the airport after the departure of the US forces.

Dozens of planes, including military planes, took off from the airport late Saturday (August 28). Most of some 6,000 US and coalition forces and a unit of Afghan Special Forces who were deployed to the airport before the Taliban's takeover of Kabul on August 15 had reportedly evacuated. All US and coalition forces are expected to leave the country on August 31, a planned deadline set by President Joe Biden.

Journalists, athletes among victims of Kabul airport explosion

Two journalists, including a female TV anchor and two athletes, were killed in a deadly explosion at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul. Citing an independent Afghan media group Afghanistan Journalists Center (AFJC), Xinhua reported that Ali Reza Ahmadi, a reporter for Raha News Agency and Najma Sadeqi, former presenter at Jahan-e-Sihat TV channel were killed in Thursday's (August 26) airport attack.

Also Read: Afghan crisis: US warns of credible threat at Kabul airport

Two Afghan national-level athletes - Mohammad Jan Sultani in taekwondo and Idrees in wushu - among those killed in Kabul airport attack, reported 1TVNewsAF.

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