Kabul airport: 3 killed by gunfire outside terminal building, report says

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Three people were killed Monday just outside a terminal at the Kabul International Airport as residents try to flee the country amid the Taliban takeover, a report said.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the bodies were discovered just outside the terminal building. They were apparently victims of gunfire, the report said. Videos that emerged on social media showed hundreds rushing toward the facility with the occasional sound of gunshots.

Reuters, citing a U.S. official, reported that U.S. troops fired shots into the air to prevent hundreds from running onto the tarmac.

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"The firing was done to defuse the chaos," the official said.

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Morning dawned in the city on Monday and videos were posted on social media that showed hundreds sprinting to the airport. Some were seen running in families with young children with luggage and bags in tow. On one side of the fence, they see life under Taliban rule, on the other, a chance at freedom.

The Journal described the conditions inside the airport: "Afghans with small children sat dazed next to European special-forces operators with their sniper rifles and high-tech helmets equipped with night vision and infrared tags. Outside, the engines of helicopters and transport planes provided a steady, almost lulling, hum. Once in a while, groups of evacuees—the staff of the Indian embassy, or Bulgarian security contractors—donned helmets and body armor and set off toward their plane."

Unconfirmed videos showed Afghans running across the runway as C-130s prepared for takeoff. One video claimed to show at least two people falling from one of the planes as it ascended.   

The Taliban said that those at the airport can return to their homes and citizens will not be harmed. But reports out of the city depict a more dire situation. The Journal reported that Taliban fighters are combing the city in an effort to find those who've worked with Western governments Taliban fighters are also collecting weapons from civilians, Reuters reported. 

The U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan at one point told U.S. citizens in Kabul to shelter in place because of the changing security dynamics and reports that the airport was taking fire. 

Passengers walk to the departures terminal of Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, Saturday, Aug. 14, 2021. As a Taliban offensive encircles the Afghan capital, there's increasingly only one way out for those fleeing the war, and only one way in for U.S. troops sent to protect American diplomats still on the ground: the airport. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul) (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)

Ian Bremmer, the political scientist, retweeted the message and posted, "It’s a debacle." 

Commercial flights in the country have been suspended.

Andleeb Rana, a spokeswoman for the British High Commission in Pakistan, took to Twitter to talk about video footage on broadcast news. 

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"Images i will never forget watching the news channels today: fathers carrying their young daughters, running desperately & aimlessly at the #Kabul aiport, just wanting to leave somehow. If not together, then wanting to let daughters just leave. Heartbreaking."

The Associated Press contributed to this report