Taliban seize Kabul airport following evacuation

摘要

ONE MINUTE before midnight on August 30, the last US aircraft departed from Kabul/Hamid Karzai International Airport, Afghanistan, taking out the remaining military personnel from the country and ending the largest non-combat evacuation in US military history (see 'Escape from Kabul', p70-74, for more details). Almost immediately after the aircraft departed, the Taliban entered the airport and took over control. Video footage that emerged the following morning showed a large number of aircraft that had been abandoned to their fate around the airport, the vast majority of which had belonged to the Afghan Air Force (AAF). Also seen in a hangar, however, were five of the seven US Department of State (DoS) Air Wing CH-46E Sea Knights, which the DoS had previously confirmed were deliberately abandoned after being disabled (see 'US State Dept abandons seven CH-46ES in Kabul', p26).