- The White House said on Tuesday that the Taliban promised to let civilians leave Afghanistan safely.
- But Clarissa Ward of CNN reported that Afghans who tried to reach the airport were turned away by gunfire.
- Ward could hear gunshots during the live broadcast outside the airport.
- For more stories, please visit Business Insider.
CNN’s Clarissa Ward said Wednesday that civilians in Kabul are facing danger and chaos as they try to reach Kabul’s airport and flee Afghanistan.
The ward is Live report On the ground in Kabul, less than 200 yards from Hamid Karzai Airport, gunshots could be heard during the broadcast. She said hundreds of people desperately fled the country after trying to reach the airport and being repelled by the Taliban.
“It’s absolutely chaotic and absolutely dangerous,” she said. “I won’t lie, you are going all out to try to get in there because a lot of different things are happening. When the Taliban is trying to push people back, you can hear the gunshots almost constant.”
Ward said that the gunshots did not seem to be directed at people, but shot into the air to disperse the crowd. People will be harmed by roads and civilian vehicles,” she said.Thousands tried to flee Afghanistan Since the Taliban quickly seized control of the country on Sunday, Put militant groups back in power 20 years after being expelled by the US-led army.
The White House said on Tuesday Taliban promised to allow safe evacuation from Afghanistan The civilians the United States is trying to evacuate include Americans and Afghans who help or work for the U.S. military. General Frank MacKenzie, the commander of the US military in Kabul, said that intervention in the evacuation would be “overwhelming force.”
But Ward said that the situation at the scene seemed to contradict these claims.
Some people she talked to, including a man who claimed to have a US green card, said that the Taliban pushed them away and prevented them from entering the airport.
She asked another man what his message about the United States was, and he replied: “We help the American people, so this is their job now, here now. The situation is very bad.” Ward pointed out that as part of the U.S. evacuation , People with US green cards should be allowed to enter the airport, but the chaos of the situation and subsequent crowds may make the Taliban worry about optical problems.
“The Taliban know that there are thousands of people on the street desperately trying to squeeze into the airport because they are too scared, because they just want to leave, they know it looks bad,” she said. “It is therefore not entirely surprising that the Taliban did not fully accept this mass exodus.” Compared with earlier incarnations, the Taliban tried to redefine themselves as moderate.It said it would respect women’s rights, but the history of the organization and its last brutality swept the country Raise major concernsThe United States is seeking to evacuate 10,000 to 15,000 Americans currently in Afghanistan, as well as 50,000 to 65,000 Afghans and their families, President Joe Biden told ABC News Wednesday.
