20 People Killed In Last Week, Kabul International Airport Operations Suspended

Illustration of Afghans waiting for a flight at Kabul airport. (Twitter/@DeptofDefense)

JAKARTA - Afghanistan's national civil aviation authority announced the suspension of all flights to and from Kabul International Airport, until further notice, Monday local time.

Citing TASS Monday, August 23, the suspension was due to large crowds trying to flee Afghanistan, as well as the chaos surrounding the airport.

"All flights at Hamid Karzai International Airport are suspended until further notice. Passengers wishing to fly to various regions across the country and abroad will be notified in advance when flights will resume. These steps are taken to avoid crowds and riots at the airport," wrote the authorities on his Facebook account.

The statement also underlined that Afghan aviation authorities are working hard for domestic and international flights to and from Kabul airport to resume as soon as possible.

Crowds around Kabul's airport have caused several riots as efforts to flee the country after the Taliban entered Kabul and took over the government on August 15.

About 800 NATO allied civilian representatives guard Kabul airport operations around the clock. Meanwhile, the internal security inside the airport is controlled by Western forces, the Taliban sends its troops to maintain security on the outside of the airport.

The Taliban said it has a working relationship with the United States on security arrangements at Kabul International Airport Hamid Karzai, a member of the militant group's cultural commission told Al-Jazeera.

According to Abdul Kahar Balchi, checkpoints outside the airport site are under militant control, while inside are controlled by US forces.

"They keep in touch with each other," said the spokesman, as quoted by the Daily Sabah Sunday, August 22.

However, a number of unavoidable incidents occurred, as people scrambled to be evacuated and out of the country. According to the latest reports, at least 20 people have died in the past week in such incidents.

Most recently, one Afghan soldier was killed and three others injured in a gunfight that took place on Monday. The cause of the incident was not immediately clear, but CNN reports that the incident began when snipers outside Kabul airport opened fire on security forces near the airport's north gate.

In the shootout that occurred at around 04.13 local time, it was stated that none of the US and German soldiers were injured. Two NATO officials at the airport said the situation was under control and all airport gates had been closed.