NewsMilitary

Actions

Taliban largely seal off Kabul airport as airlift winds down

Afghanistan
Posted at 11:36 AM, Aug 28, 2021
and last updated 2021-08-28 11:36:31-04

KABUL, Afghanistan — The Taliban are sealing off Kabul’s airport to most would-be evacuees to prevent large crowds from gathering after this week's deadly suicide attack.

The massive U.S.-led airlift was winding down Saturday ahead of a U.S. deadline to withdraw from Afghanistan by Tuesday.

Most allies have completed their own airlifts and flown out after 20 years of deployment in the country.

The Taliban on Saturday set up new layers of checkpoints on roads leading to the airport, some manned by uniformed fighters with Humvees and night-vision goggles captured from Afghan security forces.

Areas where large crowds had massed for the past two weeks were largely empty.

In Virginia, thousands of people who evacuated Afghanistan are landing in Dulles International Airport. A mass COVID-19 vaccination site for arriving Afghans near Dulles International Airport has been set up.

Related: 'One of the largest air lifts in history of the U.S.': Northam gives updates on Virginia resettling people from Afghanistan