KABUL, Afghanistan (ENB) - A firefight at one of Kabul's airport gates killed at least one Afghan soldier early on Monday morning, German officials said, in the latest riots to end Western attempts to evacuate Taliban refugees.
A near-military shooting incident at the airport occurred when Taliban sent troops north of the capital to clear anti-lightning bags earlier this month. The Taliban claimed to have recaptured three regions that had collapsed yesterday and had surrounded Panjshir, the last province out of control.
Afghan security forces have fallen while facing the advancement of the Taliban, although for 20 years they have been helped, trained and assisted by the West. But some armed Afghan people live in Kabul airport assisting with Western transport efforts.
A gunshot exploded near the north gate of the airport, killing at least seven Afghans the previous day as thousands of people trying to flee the country evacuated. The shooting conditions, which took place in the early hours of the morning, were not immediately clear.
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German troops wrote on Twitter that one member of the Afghan security forces had been killed and three others wounded by "unknown assailants." It later clarified that it was targeting "members of the Afghan army" involved in security at the airport.
The US military and NATO did not immediately accept the shooting. There were no comments from the Taliban.
Horror scenes around the airport have taken over the world. Afghans arrived on the trail last week and some clung to a U.S. military airliner as it took off, later falling to their deaths. At least seven people died that day, more than the seven killed on Sunday.
Crush at Kabul Airport Kills 7 As Afghan People Try to Escape
ASIA
Crush at Kabul Airport Kills 7 As Afghan People Try to Escape
The Taliban have blamed the US military for the unrest, saying there was no need for Afghans to be intimidated, even though their opponents fired shots into the air and beat people with sticks as they tried to control the crowd outside the airport.
The Taliban have pardoned those working with the U.S., NATO and the ousted Afghan government, but many Afghan people are still afraid of retaliation. There have been reports in recent days that the Taliban are hunting down those who were their enemies. It is not clear whether the Taliban leaders say one thing and do another, even if the warring factions take matters into their own hands.
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As the flight progressed, the U.S. government launched the Civil Reserve Air Fleet program, requesting 18 flights from American carriers to help transport Afghan refugees after they have been flown to other countries. The volunteer program, born after a Berlin flight, adds to military capabilities in times of disaster.
On Monday morning, a Delta Air Lines flight arrived in Dubai and later took off for Al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar, where the exit was full of hangar. The steady flow of military transport planes continues to take people from Kabul to airports across the Mideast.
There have also been concerns that an Islamic State contact could target crowds outside the airport with suicide bombings or firearms on U.S. planes. Military aircraft have been using ancestral aircraft, and some aircraft have been fired in takeoff, a move that has been used to prevent arrow attacks.
Elsewhere in Afghanistan, the Taliban are facing a limited armed conflict with the invaders of Baghlan province, 120 kilometers (75 kilometers) north of Kabul. The suspects claimed to have seized three districts in the Andarab Valley on Sunday, but the Taliban said on Monday they had released them overnight.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the group's troops had surrounded Panjshir, which is the only one in 34 Afghan provinces that has not yet fallen into the hands of the military.
Many Taliban opponents gathered there, including Amrullah Saleh, a vice-president of the ousted government who claims to be an acting president under the constitution. Ahmad Massoud, the son of a North Alliance military commander who allied with the US to drive the Taliban into power in 2001, is also in Panjshir.
In talks with Arab media over the weekend, Massoud said his troops would oppose any attempt to seize the province by force but be open to talks with the Taliban.
Mujahid, a spokesman for the Taliban, said there had been no fighting in Panjshir and his party was seeking a "peaceful solution" to the crisis.