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12 people have been killed at Kabul airport since Sunday as Taliban urge people to leave
The Taliban have urged people to leave Kabul airport after 12 people were killed there since Sunday.
They died in and around the airport either as a result of gunshots or a stampede, Taliban and NATO officials said.
Hundreds are still trying to flee Afghanistan via the capital’s Hamid Karzai International Airport.
But the Taliban have warned people to leave and go back to their homes, with an official saying: “We don’t want to hurt anyone at the airport.”
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New footage shows crowds gathered at the airport at night, while shots are fired into the air
Scenes there have become increasingly desperate in recent days, with new footage showing a child being passed to a foreign soldier in the hope they might be able to escape.
Another clip, thought to have been filmed on Tuesday, captures shots being fired near large crowds and fighters kicking those trying to flee.
Foreign embassies have set up evacuation centres inside the airport compound, including the UK and US who have committed to airlifting thousands of their own nationals and eligible Afghans in the coming weeks.
Speaking to Sky News this morning, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said that the Taliban are cooperating with the British by letting people through to be evacuated.
The airport compound is surrounded by barbed wire
But he said the real challenge for embassy staff at the airport is “crowd issues” as hundreds battle for safety.
“It is very, very difficult for those soldiers dealing with some desperate, desperate people,” he told Kay Burley.
In terms of numbers, he committed to “calling forward nearly 2,000 people” to board evacuation flights in the coming days.
Asked about footage of parents offering up their children to be rescued by Western soldiers, he said the armed forces cannot take youngsters without their families.
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Thousands of people have gathered outside Kabul airport, scrambling to get on flights
“We can’t just take a minor on their own,” he said.
Meanwhile, President Joe Biden has committed to keeping US troops on the ground for as long as it takes to get every last American out.
Speaking to ABC News, he said: “If there’s American citizens left, we’re gonna stay till we get them all out.”