Two videos from late Sunday night and one early Monday morning show crowds of people bolting to Kabul airport in Afghanistan as artillery is heard in the background.
The Taliban quickly seized the capital city of Kabul early Sunday and took over several other major cities throughout Afghanistan days earlier, The Associated Press (AP) reported. The U.S. Embassy reportedly warned American citizens still on the ground to “shelter in place” and not try to get to the airport.
A video late Sunday night shows hundreds of people waiting at the Kabul International Airport to escape the insurgents. Commercial flights were suspended after gunfire was heard near the airport, according to the AP.
Kabul tonight.pic.twitter.com/uxipwrIASv
— Trey Yingst (@TreyYingst) August 15, 2021
State Department spokesman Ned Price said Sunday that all embassy personnel have been evacuated and are currently “on the premises of Hamid Karzai International Airport, whose perimeter is secured by the U.S. Military.”
A second video taken early Monday morning shows hundreds of people fleeing toward the airport’s tarmac as gunfire is heard in the background. (RELATED: ‘To Be Commended’: Nancy Pelosi Praises Biden After Taliban Advances Into Kabul)
Afghanis begin the morning sprinting to the airport in #Kabul to avoid the Taliban rule pic.twitter.com/bFZaNKmlJJ
— Emily Schrader – אמילי שריידר (@emilykschrader) August 16, 2021
President Joe Biden faced criticism from some for being at Camp David as the crisis in Afghanistan continues to unfold.
“I don’t think he’s taken one question from the press this entire weekend, so this is a frightening situation,” said Republican Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan.
The president is set to address the nation about the ongoing crisis in the “next few days,” a senior administration official told CNN.