Taliban Says No To Evacuation Extension

An Afghan security officer was killed when members of the Afghan security forces and soldiers from Germany and the US clashed with attackers at the north gate of Kabul airport, Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa) reported.

Photo Insert: Members of the Bundeswehr assistant refugees who fled the Taliban.

Three Afghan personnel were injured in the incident at 6:43 a.m. (0243 GMT) on Monday, the German army tweeted. They were treated by Norwegian paramedics at the airport compound. The north entrance has two sets of gates: The outer ones are guarded by soldiers from the Afghan military, the inner ones by US troops. It is not known who carried out the attack.

On Sunday the US government had expressed concern about a potential attack by the terrorist militia Islamic State at the airport or in the vicinity.

The airport has seen tumultuous scenes in recent days as Western states evacuate their citizens and local Afghan staff in the wake of the Taliban militants taking over the country. Seven Afghan civilians had died amid the chaos around the airport, according to the British Ministry of Defence.

The NGO Emergency, which operates a hospital in Kabul, said on Monday they had received 14 people with severe injuries since Saturday morning. Six people brought from the airport had bullet wounds, the group tweeted, adding that none were in life-threatening condition.

Members of the opposition, journalists, human rights activists, and local staff who worked for Western countries have feared acts of revenge from Afghanistan's returned hardline rulers.

A Taliban spokesman said the group would not agree to an extension of the evacuation mission. Speaking to British news channel Sky News on Monday, spokesman Suhail Shaheen said: "If the US or UK were to seek additional time to continue evacuations - the answer is no. Or there would be consequences."

He added: "It's a red line. [US] President [Joe] Biden announced that on August 31 they would withdraw all their military forces. So if they extend it that means they are extending occupation."

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