Taliban takes over three gates of Kabul Airport, stops outgoing flights

The US may have given the response to the terrorist attack outside Kabul Airport in Afghanistan by a drone attack, but the fear of the Taliban is increasing continuously. Now it has been reported that the US and coalition forces have handed over the control of three gates of Kabul airport to the Taliban, after which the Taliban fighters have started the work of evacuating the airport.

Giving this information on Sunday, an official of the group Inhamullah Samangani said, "US troops now control a small part of the airport, including an area where the airport's radar system is located." The official said that the Taliban had deployed a unit of special forces at the airport main gate about two weeks ago, who were ready to take over the security and technical responsibility of the airport.

The US handed over control of the airport gate to the Taliban days after ISIS-K terrorists carried out a suicide attack on the eastern gate of the facility on August 26, killing 170 Afghans and 13 American soldiers. Earlier, a Taliban official had reportedly said that the group's special forces and a team of technical professionals and qualified engineers were ready to take charge of the airport after US forces leave.

At the same time, dozens of planes, including military planes, took off from the airport late on Saturday night. About 6,000 US and a unit of Afghan special forces, including coalition forces, deployed at Kabul's since the Taliban took over Afghanistan on August 15 were reportedly evacuated. All US and coalition forces are expected to leave the country on August 31, according to a deadline set by President Joe Biden.

(With IANS inputs)