Hundreds Flee Kabul as Taliban Takes Over Afghanistan's Capital

Hundreds desperate to flee Afghanistan’s capital crowded the tarmac at Kabul international airport Sunday night. The Taliban retook the city 2 decades after they were removed by the U.S.

Though the Taliban had promised a peaceful transition, the U.S. Embassy suspended operations and warned Americans late in the day to shelter in place and not try to get to the airport.

Commercial flights were suspended after sporadic gunfire erupted at the Kabul airport, according to two senior U.S. military officials.

Evacuations continued on military flights, but the halt to commercial traffic closed off one of the last routes available for fleeing Afghans.

U.S. officials say they are taking steps to secure Kabul’s international airport to enable the safe departure of thousands of U.S. and allied personnel from Afghanistan by way of civilian and military flights.

In a joint statement Sunday night, the State Department and the Pentagon say the U.S. security presence will have expanded to nearly 6,000 troops over the next two days.

Those forces will take over air traffic control and focus on civilian and military departures.

The officials say those leaving include American citizens who have been living in Afghanistan, locally employed staff of the U.S. mission in Kabul and their families, and other particularly vulnerable Afghan nationals.

Also part of the departure plan are thousands of Afghans eligible for U.S. special immigrant visas.

Nearly 2,000 of those with special visas have arrived in the United States over the past two weeks.

A State Department official said almost all U.S. Embassy personnel have relocated to a facility at the Hamid Karzai International Airport.

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