Chaos at Kabul airport as Taliban retakes Afghanistanan
At least five people are reported dead after panic rush of crowds at Kabul airport as Taliban seize power.
The Taliban has declared the war in Afghanistan over after its fighters swept into the capital, Kabul, and President Ashraf Ghani fled the country.
Victorious Taliban fighters patrolled the streets of Kabul on Monday as thousands of Afghans mobbed the city’s airport trying to flee the group’s feared hardline brand of rule.
Meanwhile, many nations were scrambling to evacuate their diplomats, citizens and some local Afghan staff.
Al Jazeera’s Charlotte Bellis, reporting from Kabul, says “the airport has been the real crisis point of the roll-in of the Taliban”.
“Outside of that it has been relatively smooth. Security forces have for the most part laid down their weapons,” she says.
Mohammad Naeem, a spokesman for Taliban’s political office tells Al Jazeera the group does not want to live in isolation and says the type and form of the new government in Afghanistan will be made clear soon. He also calls for peaceful international relations.
The United Nations Security Council will discuss the situation in Afghanistan later on Monday.
Swiss development agency workers escape on US flight
Switzerland’s last three development agency workers have been airlifted from Afghanistan on a US military plane, the foreign ministry has said, adding it is working hard to evacuate local personnel from Kabul.
The three workers left Kabul with members of staff from the German embassy and other international personnel for Doha, Qatar, arriving early on Monday morning, the foreign ministry said.
Belgium to send four aircraft for evacuations
The Belgian Ministry of Defence has announced it is planning to send four aircraft to help with evacuations from Kabul airport.
Defence Minister Ludivine Dedonder took the decision in light of the “very worrying situation in Afghanistan,” a short statement from her cabinet carried on Belga news agency said.
Interpreters and other Afghans who worked to serve Belgian interests would have the possibility to be recognised by the European state, Belga reported, citing the same statement.
Afghan pullout is ‘biggest NATO debacle’: Merkel party chief
The withdrawal of Western troops from Afghanistan is the “biggest debacle” that NATO has suffered since its founding, the head of German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s party has said.
