Firefight Erupts at Kabul Airport as Security Situation Worsens in Afghanistan

A gunbattle broke out early Monday at Kabul’s airport, killing at the very least 1 Afghan soldier, with the security situation deteriorating as the U.S. and its Western allies think about extending an evacuation operation that has been engulfed in chaos for additional than a week.

Afghan, American and German soldiers were being included in an exchange of fire early Monday that left 1 Afghan soldier dead and 3 additional wounded, German armed forces officers stated. No injuries to American or German soldiers were being noted.

The situations remained unclear, together with who opened fire, stated the officers. Some remnants of the Afghan army that didn’t surrender when the Taliban swept by the place this month are doing work with intercontinental troops to offer security all-around the perimeter of the U.S.-managed airport.

The firefight underscored the problems dealing with the U.S. and its partners in Afghanistan as the Biden administration considers no matter whether to prolong the evacuation program past a deadline it has set for Aug. 31. It has pledged to finish all those efforts and withdraw all U.S. troops from Afghanistan by then.

The Taliban seized Kabul on Aug. 15, following a rapid-fire conquest of most of the rest of the place. That has driven Westerners, alongside with hundreds of Afghans who assisted them above the program of two many years, to seek to flee the place on evacuation flights the U.S. and its allies have arranged above the past week.