Brussels (Brussels Morning) German armed forces noted on Monday that a gunfight broke out between unidentified shooters, Western and Afghan troops at the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul.
The report says that one Afghan guard was killed and three others wounded at the north gate of the airport, and that US and German troops were involved, according to Reuters reporting on Monday.
Western forces and Afghan guards are inside the airport, while Taliban forces have been deployed outside, where they tried to maintain some kind of order as thousands of Afghans and foreign nationals are flocking to the airport to leave the country.
NATO says airport under control
According to NATO officials at Kabul Airport, the situation was under control and airport gates were closed.
While US President Joe Biden stated that his country’s troops might stay beyond the 31 August deadline to oversee evacuations, the Taliban said that foreign forces had not sought to extend the deadline.
Biden’s predecessor Donald Trump reached an agreement with the Taliban in 2020 to withdraw US troops by May this year, which Biden moved to the end of August.
Commenting on evacuation efforts, Biden stressed “the evacuation of thousands from Kabul is going to be hard and painful” and added that this would have been the case irrespective of when it started.
He assured all Americans in Afghanistan that they will be able to return home and added that the US will help Afghan allies, especially journalists and women activists.
Ahmad Massoud, Afghan politician and anti-Taliban leader, expressed hope on Sunday that representatives of the militant movement will be open to negotiations, but stressed that his forces are prepared to fight.
Anti-Taliban forces in the north of Afghanistan reported they took three districts near the Panjshir Valley, which is an old stronghold of anti-Taliban forces.
“We want to make the Taliban realise that the only way forward is through negotiation,” he noted and added “we do not want a war to break out.”
The Taliban reported they were moving hundreds of troops to the Panjshir Valley.
