The only word that describes what’s been going on at the airport outside of Kabul this morning is “chaos.” People have been flooding the tarmac and scrambling in an attempt to get on any plane leaving the country. While getting definitive confirmation of anything going on there at the moment is challenging, multiple reports indicate that between three and five people were killed during the crowding and confusion. What’s unclear is how they died. Gunfire was heard, but American troops guarding the evacuation reportedly fired into the air in an attempt to drive the crowds back and clear the runways. The victims may have simply been trampled to death. All of this is taking place after all outgoing civilian flights were put on pause, with only American diplomats, along with their families and staff being given seats. (Yahoo – Reuters)

At least five people have been killed at Kabul airport, it has been reported, as thousands try to flee Afghanistan after the Taliban seized power.

The Reuters news agency reported on Monday that witnesses said five people had been killed at the airport.

One witness told the news agency he had seen the bodies of five people being taken to a vehicle.

American soldiers took control of the capital’s international airport as the US tried to evacuate its embassy staff, while commercial flights were halted.

How crazy are things at the airport? Just watch this brief video and you’ll see how crazy it is.

فیلم اندوه‌برانگیز دیگری از فرودگاه کابل و آویختن پناهجویان افغان به هواپیمای نظامی و در حال حرکت pic.twitter.com/xePDDMAjWd

— morteza kazemian (@morkazemian) August 16, 2021

People were seen running alongside and sometimes under the massive transport planes as they taxied along the runways. In other instances, Afghan men climbed along the tops of the jet bridges, hoping to jump into the open plane doors to get inside. The military claims that, at full capacity, they should be able to evacuate 5,000 people per day through the airport, but they haven’t reached that level yet.

Meanwhile, back in Washington, the Democrats are trying to spin this debacle to deflect blame. During a conference call with the Secretary of State and Pentagon officials, Congresswoman Elise Stefanik (NY) claims that Speaker Nancy Pelosi blocked her and other Republicans from asking any questions about the situation in Afghanistan. Stefanik sits on both the House Armed Forces Committee and the Intelligence Committee.

“On this morning’s bipartisan conference call regarding Afghanistan with Secretaries Austin, Blinken, and Chairman Milley, Authoritarian Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi blocked me and multiple Republican Members from asking questions and lied and said, ‘there were no further questions in the queue,’” Stefanik said in a statement. “I sit on the House Armed Services Committee, the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and represent the 10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum, the most deployed US Army division since 9/11.”

“I have led and participated in multiple bipartisan delegations to Afghanistan,” Stefanik added. “This Lame Duck Authoritarian Speaker of the House is shielding a feckless, weak, and failed Commander in Chief and his Administration. Nancy knows that this is Joe Biden’s Saigon.”

Ouch. That’s going to leave a mark.

Stefanik was attempting to ask several questions about how many US citizens were left to be evacuated and the status of weapons and other military equipment which has reportedly been seized by the Taliban. She also wanted to ask about reports claiming that the United States has already agreed to pay billions of dollars to the Taliban in exchange for allowing the evacuation to continue. These seem like reasonable requests by Congress for information on the evacuation, but they were not addressed by the State Department or the Pentagon.

If we can keep the airport secure for another week or so, we may be able to get all of our own people out of there, as well as at least some of the Afghan translators and helpers who are scrambling to escape. That’s a pretty big “if” at this point, however. We now have six thousand US troops stationed at the airport and that should give the Taliban pause if they’re considering trying anything. But with all of the rockets and other equipment they’ve been picking up, they don’t need to defeat our troops. They only need to do enough damage to the runways and the terminals to make the airport unusable. We’re nowhere near being out of the woods on this yet.