KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – AUGUST 24: When an Afghan soldier opened fire at the entrance to the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, four soldiers were killed and three injured in the turmoil when foreign security forces responded.
It occurred late Monday (Aug. 23) after special forces soldier found his friend’s body in a vehicle in front of the airport.
The soldier allegedly had a nervous breakdown and opened fire into the air. International forces on watch in the region, responded, thinking that they were being attacked.
The German militray confirmed the deadly gun fire at the airport, saying in a tweet that a member of the Afghan security force was killed and three others were wounded by “unknown attackers”.
Anadolu Agency Video News (AAVN) on Tuesday (Aug. 24) videoed the German soldiers on duty conducting checks at northern gate of Kabul airport.
Roughly 37,000 people have been evacuated from Afghanistan since the US took control of the airport on Aug. 14. That figure includes about 10,400 who were evacuated on US military flights from early Sunday until early Monday, according to the White House.
The Taliban’s lightning takeover of the capital on Aug. 15 set off a scramble to leave Afghanistan, including among locals who have worked with US forces and organizations and fear for their lives under Taliban rule.
As part of a peace deal reached in February 2020 between the US and the Taliban, international forces began their withdrawal process from Afghanistan this year.
The agreement mandated that the Taliban not target foreign forces, but there was no provision regarding its actions towards Afghan security forces.
While maintaining negotiations with the government in the Qatari capital Doha, the Taliban intensified its attacks since June, taking control of many districts and provincial centers.
The group took the capital Kabul under its control on Aug. 15.