it’s tonight did not work to evacuate a group of Afghans and Dutch from Kabul. The large cargo plane that was intended for that purpose took off tonight with only 40 people on board. According to Defense, Afghans were not allowed access to the airport. The American soldiers who secure the airport and coordinate the flights are said to have stopped them.
A source who maintains close contact with Dutch people at the airport tells NOS that Americans fired shots in the afternoon, presumably as a warning in connection with the crowds arriving at the entrance. One person was killed as a result. This source believes that the incident contributed to the closure of access to the airport.
The family of 20-year-old Aryan also failed to board the military transport plane. His parents, his 3-year-old brother and 17-year-old sister were visiting relatives in the Afghan capital because his grandmother is seriously ill.
‘A big chaos’
Aryan, who remained in the Netherlands, made efforts to have his family evacuated. “They were eventually allowed to go to the airport,” he says on the phone. Shortly before that, he spoke to his family. “On the way they heard a lot of shots, grenades also fell. My sister passed out in the car. Once at the airport she had recovered, but when my family got out of the car everyone was pulled. It was a big chaos.”
Finally, Aryan’s father and uncle started looking for a place to enter the airport. “I tried to get to the gate,” his father told the NOS. After much effort, he succeeded, for example by showing his passport and an e-mail.
Musa also missed the flight tonight. His sister Brishna called him when he discovered he had missed the flight:
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