Taliban keep some evacuees from reaching Kabul airport

Armed members of the Taliban kept people desperate to flee Afghanistan from reaching Kabul's airport on Wednesday, witnesses said, while President Joe Biden vowed to keep US troops in the country until all Americans are evacuated.

Since the Taliban entered Kabul over the weekend, scenes of chaos have unfolded as thousands seek to leave.

Witnesses said Taliban members prevented people from getting into the airport compound, including those with the necessary documents to travel.

A Taliban official said commanders and soldiers had fired into the air to disperse crowds outside Kabul airport, but told Reuters: "We have no intention to injure anyone."

As the airlift of Western citizens and Afghans who worked for foreign governments sought to ramp up, Biden said US forces would remain until the evacuation of Americans was finished, even if that meant staying past the August 31 US deadline for complete withdrawal.

The president, who has faced criticism about the US departure, said chaos was inevitable. Asked in an interview with ABC News if the exit of US troops could have been handled better, Biden said: "No. ... The idea that somehow, there's a way to have gotten out without chaos ensuing, I don't know how that happens."

US officials have told the Taliban "that we expect them to allow all American citizens, all third-country nationals, and all Afghans who wish to leave to do so safely and without harassment," US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman told reporters in Washington.

But the 4,500 US troops in Kabul cannot help bring people to the airport for evacuation because they are focused on securing the airfield, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told a Washington news conference, acknowledging that evacuations had not reached targets.

General Mark Milley, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, said security at the Kabul airport was stable and the Taliban were not interfering with US military operations.

Foreign ministers of the Group of Seven nations are due to discuss the evacuation effort and seek to coordinate flights at a virtual meeting on Thursday, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said.

About 5,000 diplomats, security staff, aid workers and Afghans have been evacuated from Kabul in the past 24 hours and military flights will continue around the clock, a Western official told Reuters.

ANTI-TALIBAN PROTESTS IN JALALABAD

Some 150 km east of Kabul in Jalalabad, at least three people were killed in anti-Taliban protests on Wednesday, witnesses said. The protests provided an early test of the Taliban's promise of peaceful rule.

After seizing power, the Taliban said they would not take revenge against old enemies and would respect the rights of women within the framework of Sharia law.

Two witnesses and a former police official told Reuters that Taliban fighters opened fire when residents tried to install Afghanistan's national flag at a square in the city, killing three and injuring more than a dozen.

Taliban spokespeople could not be reached for comment.

A new government to replace that of President Ashraf Ghani, who is in exile in the United Arab Emirates, may take the form of a ruling council, with Taliban supreme leader Haibatullah Akhundzada in overall charge, a senior member of the group said.