Firefight hampers Kabul airlift

Taliban step up criticism of US for chaos as Biden mulls longer stay

KABUL－A firefight at one of the gates of Kabul's international airport killed at least one Afghan security officer early on Monday, German officials said, in the latest chaos to engulf Western efforts to evacuate those fleeing the Taliban takeover of the country.

The shooting came as the Taliban sent fighters northward to face a nascent rebellion against them following their seizure of the country over a week ago in a lightning offensive.

Though the security forces of the central government largely collapsed or fled the Taliban advance, some armed Afghans remain at Kabul airport. It remains unclear whether they belong to the Afghan border forces that once guarded the airport or are attached to the Western armed forces as private armed guards now providing security there.

The gunfire on Monday broke out near the airport's northern gate－the scene of similar chaos on Saturday that resulted in a crush among a panicking crowd. Seven Afghans died in that episode.

In Monday's incident, CNN reported that a sniper outside the airport had fired at Afghan guards inside the facility and they returned fire, but US forces then fired back at the Afghan guards.

Two NATO officials at the airport said the situation was under control and all airport gates had been closed.

The Taliban blame the chaotic evacuation on the United States, saying there's no need for Afghans to fear them. They have been holding talks with elders and politicians to set up a government, and have been quick to slam Washington's handling of the evacuation.

"America, with all its power and facilities ... has failed to bring order to the airport," Taliban official Amir Khan Mutaqi said.

"There is peace and calm all over the country, but there is chaos only at Kabul airport."

The Taliban have pledged an amnesty to president Ashraf Ghani and those who worked with the US and NATO, but many Afghans still fear revenge attacks.

In an effort to ramp up the airlift, the US government ordered six major commercial airlines to fly back to the US those who have been evacuated from Kabul to US bases in the Persian Gulf region and Europe.

There also have been concerns about a potential attack on the Kabul airport by a local Islamic State affiliate, whether through suicide bombers targeting the gathered crowds there or use of portable surface-to-air missiles to bring down aircraft. US military planes have been executing corkscrew landings, and other aircraft have fired flares upon takeoff－measures used to thwart missile attacks.

Aug 31 deadline

The Taliban's victory ended two decades of war as they took advantage of US President Joe Biden's decision to withdraw nearly all US troops from the country.

Biden's predecessor Donald Trump struck a deal with the Taliban last year allowing the US to withdraw its forces in exchange for Taliban security guarantees.

Biden has not ruled out extending the airlift beyond the Aug 31 deadline he set before the Taliban's swift takeover in Afghanistan, but he said he hoped it would not be necessary.

However, a senior legal adviser to the Taliban leadership told Reuters on Monday that Western forces were working toward the deadline to leave and had not sought to extend it.

Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen, in an interview with Sky News, said Aug 31 is a "red line" and that extending the US presence would "provoke a reaction".

On Monday, a Taliban spokesman said their forces have recaptured three districts in northern Afghanistan that fell to local militia groups last week.

The districts of Bano, Deh Saleh, Pul e-Hesar in Baghlan Province were taken by local militia groups in one of the first signs of armed resistance to the Taliban since their seizure of Kabul on Aug 15.

Agencies - Xinhua