'Game over': Westerners rush to leave Kabul, rescue Afghans

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The chop of U.S. subject helicopters whisking American diplomats to Kabul’s airdrome connected Sunday punctuated a frantic unreserved by thousands of different foreigners and Afghans to fly to information arsenic well, arsenic a stunningly swift Taliban takeove r reached Afghanistan’s capital.

U.S. reports of gunfire astatine the airdrome threatened to unopen down 1 of the past avenues of flight successful an ever-more chaotic and compressed evacuation.

NATO allies that had pulled retired their forces up of the Biden administration's intended Aug. 31 withdrawal deadline were rushing troops backmost successful this play to airlift their citizens, portion the Pentagon was sending successful caller reinforcements.

Some complained the U.S. was failing to determination accelerated capable to bring to information the Afghans who fearfulness retribution from the Taliban for past enactment with the Americans and different NATO forces.

“This is execution by incompetence,” said U.S. Air Force seasoned Sam Lerman, struggling Sunday from his location successful Woodbridge, Virginia, to find a mode retired for an Afghan contractor who had guarded Americans and different NATO forces astatine Afghanistan’s Bagram aerial basal for a decade.

Massouma Tajik, a 22-year-old information analyst, was among hundreds of Afghans waiting anxiously successful the Kabul airdrome to committee an evacuation flight.

“I spot radical crying, they are not definite whether their formation volition hap oregon not. Neither americium I,” she said by phone, with panic successful her voice.

Educated Afghan women person immoderate of the astir to suffer nether the fundamentalist Taliban, whose past government, overthrown by the U.S.-led penetration successful 2001, sought to mostly confine women to the home.

Taliban forces moved aboriginal Sunday into a superior beset by fearfulness and declared they were awaiting a peaceful surrender, capping a stunning expanse of Afghanistan successful conscionable the past week.

That accomplishment of the archetypal waves of Taliban insurgents into Kabul prompted the U.S. to evacuate the embassy successful full, seemingly leaving lone a halfway of U.S. diplomats astatine the airdrome for the clip being. Even arsenic CH-47 helicopters shuttled American diplomats to the airport, and facing disapproval astatine location implicit the administration's handling of the withdrawal, Secretary of State Antony Blinken rejected comparisons to the 1975 autumn of Saigon.

“This is being done successful a precise deliberate way, it’s being done successful an orderly way,” Blinken insisted connected ABC’s “This Week.”

John Kirby, the main Pentagon spokesman, said the evacuation was pursuing plans developed and rehearsed months ago.

“One of the reasons we person been capable to respond arsenic rapidly arsenic we person these past fewer days is due to the fact that we were acceptable for this contingency,” Kirby said.

To many, however, the evacuations, and last-ditch rescue attempts by Americans and different foreigners trying to prevention Afghan allies, appeared acold from orderly.

An Italian journalist, Francesca Mannocchi, posted a video of an Italian chopper carrying her to the airport, an equipped worker lasting defender astatine a window. Mannochi described watching columns of fume rising from Kabul arsenic she flew. Some were from fires that workers astatine the U.S. Embassy and others were utilizing to support delicate worldly from falling successful Taliban hands.

She said Afghans stoned an Italian convoy. She captioned her little video: “Kabul airport. Evacuation. Game Over."

Hundreds oregon much Afghans crowded successful a portion of the airdrome distant from galore of the evacuating Westerners. Some of them, including a antheral with a breached limb sitting connected the ground, lined up for what was expected to beryllium a past formation retired by the country's Ariana Airlines.

U.S. officials reported gunfire adjacent the airdrome Sunday evening and urged civilians to halt coming. U.S. subject officials aboriginal announced closing the airdrome to commercialized flights, shutting 1 of the past avenues of flight for mean Afghans.

U.S. C-17 transport planes were owed to bring thousands of caller American troops to the airport, past alert retired again with evacuating U.S. Embassy staffers. The Pentagon was present sending an further 1,000 troops, bringing the full fig to astir 6,000, a U.S. defence authoritative said Sunday, speaking connected information of anonymity to sermon a deployment determination not yet announced by the Pentagon.

The Pentagon intends to person capable craft to alert retired arsenic galore arsenic 5,000 civilians a day, some Americans and the Afghan translators and others who worked with the U.S. during the war.

But tens of thousands of Afghans who person worked with U.S. and different NATO forces are seeking to fly with household members. And it was by nary means wide however agelong Kabul’s deteriorating information would let immoderate evacuations to continue.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, whose authorities had been 1 of galore expressing astonishment astatine the velocity of the U.S. withdrawal, told reporters successful Berlin connected Sunday that it was “difficult to endure” watching however rapidly the Taliban took power of Afghanistan and however small authorities troops were capable to bash to halt them.

At a North Carolina-based adoption agency, Mary Beth Lee King sought a mode to extricate 2 Afghan boys, ages 11 and 2, owed for adoption by families successful America.

“I americium terrified and heartbroken. I tin lone ideate what they themselves are feeling,” King said of the children’s adoptive parents and Afghan families.

“Even if the U.S. won’t admit them to the U.S., get them somewhere, truthful that ... we cognize that they are live and safe,” she said of the 2 Afghan children.

In Virginia, Lerman, the Air Force veteran, stayed up overnight Saturday to Sunday to decorativeness an exertion for a peculiar U.S. visa programme meant to rescue Afghans who had worked with Americans.

When Lerman deed “send,” helium got a connection saying the State Department email container for the rescue programme was full, helium said, sharing screenshots.

The Afghan information contractor helium was moving to get retired was sitting frightened wrong his location with the blinds drawn and Taliban fighters outside, helium said.

The State Department said precocious Sunday day it believed it had fixed the problem.

“Never successful my beingness person I been ashamed to beryllium an American before," Lerman said. "And I am, deeply.”

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Knickmeyer reported from Oklahoma City and Barry from Rome. Samya Kullab successful Baghdad, Krista Larson successful Dakar, Frank Jordans successful Berlin and Robert Burns successful Washington contributed.

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