by Chris Pleasance and James Fielding at The Daily Mail
Ex-pats and western visa holders cannot get ‘anywhere near’ Kabul airport today because ‘huge crowds’ of ‘terrified locals’ are blocking the way, MailOnline has been told, despite UK ministers insisting Taliban guards are letting people through checkpoints and planes are not taking off empty.
Videos captured snapshots of the chaos as gunmen fired shots over the heads of panicked crowds while hitting people with rifles – as those on the ground said Taliban fighters were dishing out beatings and lashings seemingly at random, with people being trampled and crushed in the throng.
Paul ‘Pen’ Farthing, a former Marine who now lives in Kabul with his wife, described the scene as a ‘clusterf***’, telling MailOnline: ‘Two ex-pats – one British and one Norwegian – have already been forced to turn back this morning because they can’t get through.
‘And last night a UN convoy carrying various foreign nationals, who had been working in Afghanistan for NGOs, had to turn round because of the sheer volume of people on the street.’
Such is the desperation among crowds at the airport that women have resorted to passing babies over barbed wire to soldiers in a vain attempt to get them out of the country.
An Afghan-Australian trying to leave the country also told ABC it is ‘not possible’ to get to the airport because there is ‘lots of firing’ and ‘too many people’ while Max Sangeen, a Canadian interpreter, said his wife and children – including a 20-day-old baby – are trapped in Kabul despite having the correct documents.
But it is not clear what western troops can do to help. There are around 6,000 American and 900 British soldiers at the airport – alongside smaller numbers of Turks and Australians – but their jurisdiction only extends up to the perimeter wall. Beyond that, the Taliban is in charge.
The huge US contingent keeping the airport secured piles pressure on Britain to get its citizens out quickly, with the smaller UK force unlikely to be able the hold the site if the Americans leave.
Those on the ground say the Islamists have little or no idea what they are doing or who to let through, as the UN warned fighters are hunting through the crowd for those who collaborated with British or American forces so they can be ‘punished’ – despite public reassurances that there will be no reprisal attacks.
UK defence secretary Ben Wallace said today Taliban guards are allowing people with travel documents through checkpoints and British flights are not leaving the country empty – insisting that ‘not a single seat is wasted’.
He revealed 120 people were evacuated this morning, with 138 due to follow later. There were eight RAF transport planes – made up of A400 Atlas, C-130 Hercules and C-17 Globemasters – scheduled to leave Kabul today.
But with military transports able to carry up to 150, it means there will have been empty seats on the flights despite Mr Wallace’s claims.
The passengers were made up of British citizens, media and human rights staff and Afghans who had worked for the British.
The Ministry of Defence confirmed there were six British flights out of Kabul yesterday – despite Mr Wallace saying there were seven to 10 daily – meaning a maximum of 900 passengers were on board and free from the Taliban.
Meanwhile President Joe Biden said when pressed Wednesday US troops were ‘going to stay’ in Afghanistan until they get American citizens out, even if it means running through an August 31 deadline order.
He made the statement despite his own order soldiers will leave by the date, acknowledging the effort could run over if its citizens are still stuck in Afghanistan amid security and bureaucratic hurdles…
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