One dead in Kabul: German armed forces involved in an exchange of fire

There was an exchange of fire at the airport in Kabul. One Afghan was killed and three others injured. The Bundeswehr and US soldiers were also involved in the battle.

An Afghan soldier was killed in a gun battle between Afghan, German and American soldiers and unknown attackers at Kabul Airport. Three more were injured, as the Bundeswehr announced on Twitter. The Afghan security forces are involved in securing the airport in Kabul as part of the multinational operation. All soldiers in the Bundeswehr were therefore uninjured.

Warning of attacks

According to the Bundeswehr, the exchange of fire took place around 04.15 a.m. (CEST) at the north gate of the airport. However, the gate is closed. The German embassy had only recently warned that dangerous situations and armed clashes were still very common at the entrances. She therefore urgently advises German citizens and Afghan local staff not to travel to the airport.

The US government had only expressed concerns on Sunday about an attack by the terrorist militia “Islamic State” (IS) at or in the vicinity of the airport. “The threat is real, it is acute, it is ongoing,” said US President Joe Biden’s National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan, on CNN. Take the warnings “absolutely dead serious”. According to the White House, the security zone around the airport has meanwhile been enlarged. The Taliban had shown themselves to be cooperative, it said. The militant Islamist Taliban and the regionally active branch of ISIS are enemies and have fought against each other in the past.

Dramatic scenes at the airport

Kabul airport has been secured by foreign soldiers since the radical Islamic Taliban came to power a week ago. For days, thousands of desperate people have been crowding in front of the airport gates, hoping for a place on an evacuation plane. For this reason, the gates were temporarily closed completely on Saturday. Then there was panic and crowding, several people were killed. The evacuation flights also stalled at times.

So far, around 30,000 people have been flown out of the country. The Bundeswehr also has several aircraft in use to bring embassy staff, civilian helpers and Afghans who have supported the Germans to safety. So far it has brought almost 3,000 people out of the country. According to the Bundeswehr, an aircraft with 213 passengers landed in the capital of neighboring Uzbekistan, Tashkent, from the night. The local staff fear acts of revenge by the Taliban if they stay in Afghanistan.