Evacuation flights out of Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, are taking off near-empty after the Taliban formed a ring of steel around the airport – blocking tens of thousands of westerners from leaving, the Daily Mail of UK reported.
Those on the ground say the Taliban are blocking anyone who does not have a foreign passport from entering the airport, while foreigners including British and German expats, say they have become trapped in the chaos, unable to get through the disorderly crowds to board flights home.
The situation is fueling fears that the West’s Afghan allies have almost no hope of making it out of Afghanistan.
And there are growing fears that the fate of Westerners could become a bargaining chip fo the Taliban and they could even end up as hostages.
Massive US cargo planes are taking off with an average of just 100 passengers from Kabul – despite being able to carry more than 600.
Flights bound for Germany, Australia, the Netherlands, France and Italy – which between them have vowed to rescue thousands of people – have been taking off with just a few dozen people on board despite having capacity to take hundreds.
In one case, a German plane with room for 150 departed Kabul on Tuesday with just seven on board.
Overnight, the US only put 2,000 people on 18 C-17 planes – an average of 110 per flight. A single C-17 has been used to transport more than 600 people out of a typhoon before, and one took off on Sunday with 640 Afghans on board because the crew decided not to leave them behind.
This despite Washington’s pledge to ferry out at least 20,000 people at a rate of 9,000 per day.
Meanwhile the UK has managed to rescue around 1,000 people out of a total of 7,000 the Ministry of Defence said needed to be evacuated, meaning there are around 6,000 left.
There are now thought to be around 50,000 people – mostly Afghans – gathered outside two entrances to Hamid Karzai airport – the civilian south side and military north side, both of which are under Taliban control.
Vanessa Faizi, a German national who was visiting family in Afghanistan when fighting broke out, said she is now trapped at Kabul airport and trying desperately to get back to her fiance in the city of Hesse.
“People are trampled, children are trampled, please get us out,” she said in a tearful video sent to German newspaper, Bild.
YOU SHOULD NOT MISS THESE HEADLINES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
FACT CHECK: MTN Nigeria Not Celebrating 20th Anniversary With N20,000 Cash, 5GB Data
CLAIM: A viral Whatsapp message claims that mobile telecommunications company, MTN, is giving out N20,000 cash, 5GB worth of data, and cars to celebrate its 20th anniversary in Nigeria.Thousands of foreigners in dilemma as Talibans shut down airport
Thousands of foreigners in dilemma as Talibans shut down airport