Firefight involving Western forces erupts amid Kabul airport evacuation chaos

[August 23, 2021]  KABUL (Reuters) - A firefight involving Western forces erupted at Kabul airport on Monday when Afghan guards exchanged fire with unidentified gunmen, Germany's military said, adding to the evacuation chaos as the United States faces pressure to extend its deadline to withdraw.

Thousands of Afghans and foreigners have thronged the airport for days, hoping to catch a flight out after Taliban fighters captured Kabul on Aug. 15, as U.S.-led forces aim to complete their pullout by the end of the month.

Twenty people have been killed in the chaos at the airport, most in shootings and stampedes, as U.S. and international forces try to evacuate citizens and vulnerable Afghans. One person was killed in Monday's clash.

CNN said the clash began when a sniper outside the airport fired at Afghan guards - some 600  former government soldiers are helping U.S. forces at the airport - near its north gate.

U.S. and German forces were involved in the clash, Germany's military said. Three wounded Afghan guards were being treated at a field hospital in the airport, it said.

Two NATO officials at the airport said the situation was under control after the firing.

The Taliban have deployed fighters outside the airport, where they have tried to help enforce some kind of order.

On Sunday, Taliban fighters beat back crowds at the airport a day after seven Afghans were killed  in a crush at the gates as the deadline for the withdrawal of foreign troops approaches.

The Taliban seized power just over a week ago as the United States and its allies withdraw troops after a 20-year war launched in the weeks after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks as U.S. forces hunted al Qaeda leaders and sought to punish their Taliban hosts.

A soldier assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division provides security at Hamid Karzai International Airport, Afghanistan, August 21, 2021. U.S. Marine Corps/Cpl. Davis Harris/Handout via REUTERS

The administration of Biden's predecessor, Donald Trump, struck a deal with the Taliban last year allowing the United Sates to withdraw its forces in exchange for Taliban security guarantees.

'HOURS, NOT WEEKS'

President Joe Biden said on Sunday the security situation in Afghanistan was changing rapidly and remained dangerous.

"Let me be clear, the evacuation of thousands from Kabul is going to be hard and painful" and would have been "no matter when it began", Biden said in a briefing at the White House.

"We have a long way to go and a lot could still go wrong."

Biden said U.S. troops might stay beyond their Aug. 31 deadline to oversee the evacuation. But a Taliban leadership official said foreign forces had not sought an extension and it would not be granted if they had.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will urge Biden  this week to extend the deadline. Defence Minister Ben Wallace said Britain was "down to hours now, not weeks" in its evacuation plan and forces on the ground needed to use every moment they had to get people out.

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