Western Troops Firefight With Unidentified Mobs Around Kabul Airport, One Dead, Three Injured

JAKARTA - Gunfire erupted between unidentified gunmen, Western security forces, and Afghan guards at the North Gate of Kabul airport on Monday, German armed forces said, as thousands of Afghans and foreigners thronged the airport, trying to escape Taliban rule.

Citing Reuters on Monday, August 23, an Afghan guard was killed and three others injured in the fighting, which also involved US and German forces, the German military said on Twitter, without elaborating on whether the Afghan killed was one of the Taliban fighters deployed to guard the airport.

In the shootout that occurred at around 04.13 local time, it was stated that none of the US and German soldiers were injured.

Kabul airport has been the scene of chaos since the Taliban seized the Afghan capital on August 15, when US and international forces tried to evacuate vulnerable Afghans and citizens.

On Sunday, Taliban fighters pushed back a crowd at the airport a day after seven Afghans were killed in clashes at the gate as the deadline for the withdrawal of foreign troops approached.

Foreign troops in Afghanistan have not sought to extend the August 31 deadline to leave the country, a Taliban official said Monday, after President Joe Biden said US troops might stay longer to oversee the "hard and painful" evacuation.

The Taliban seized power in Afghanistan more than a week ago, when the United States and its allies withdrew their troops after a 20-year war aimed at toppling the Taliban and hunting down al Qaeda in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks.

Foreign forces are working towards the late August deadline agreed with the Taliban to leave the country and have not sought to extend it, a senior legal adviser to the Taliban leadership told Reuters on Monday.

Earlier, US President Joe Biden said yesterday that the security situation in Afghanistan is changing rapidly and remains dangerous.

"Let me be clear, the evacuation of thousands of people from Kabul is going to be difficult and painful, it will be like that, no matter when it begins. We have a long way to go and a lot can go wrong," President Biden said at the White House.