Chaos erupted outside Kabul’s international airport on Wednesday as thousands of people tried to make their way there to flee Afghanistan. There were conflicting reports about what exactly was happening on the streets outside the airport, which the Taliban now control. A NATO security official at the airport told Reuters that 17 people had been injured in a stampede at one gate to the airport. Whole families sat under rows of pine trees lining the main airport road, while others, carrying sparse belongings, were still trying to gain entrance, to little avail. There were volleys of rifle fire, pushing, pulling and beating with wooden sticks, Kalashnikovs and pieces of cut hoses.

Source: New York Times August 18, 2021 12:16 UTC