Tonight, the US military reopened Kabul airport to resume evacuations after massive chaos in which there were casualties, and while the Taliban movement tightened its grip on the capital, and gave guarantees not to attack the Americans, an Afghan delegation is heading to Doha for consultations with the movement's leaders to discuss forming a new government for Afghanistan.

General Hank Taylor, an official in the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the US Department of Defense (Pentagon), announced that the airport reopened around midnight on Tuesday, Afghanistan time.

Taylor said that a C-17 military transport plane landed at the airport with members of the US Marines on board, and that a second similar plane carrying an army unit would follow, in reinforcements aimed at ensuring the airport's security.

In turn, Reuters news agency quoted security sources tonight as saying that a German warplane landed in Kabul to evacuate foreign nationals and local Afghan workers to Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, provided that they travel in a civilian plane from there.

On Monday afternoon, the US military was forced to close Kabul Airport due to the chaos that prevailed inside it, with the start of the first evacuation of American nationals and Afghan employees who were working with foreign forces.


clutter and bullets

An Afghan security source told Al Jazeera that the death toll at the airport due to the chaos had risen to 10, after thousands of people sought to leave the country, shortly after Taliban militants entered the Afghan capital on Sunday afternoon.

Al-Jazeera correspondent reported that the vicinity of the airport witnessed heavy shooting.

Taliban fighters were seen in the vicinity of the airport trying to discourage people from entering.

The Pentagon said that US forces responded to two shooting incidents;

Which led to the killing of two gunmen at Kabul airport, and revealed preliminary information that an American soldier had been wounded, without confirming that.

He added that he will raise the number of American soldiers at the airport in the Afghan capital in the coming days to 6,000, and that commercial and military flights will resume as soon as the regime returns to the airport and security is established there.

In this context, US Defense Department spokesman John Kirby said that the Pentagon could not confirm that the security incidents that occurred in Kabul were from Taliban militants.


Guarantees for Americans

Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen said that the movement is committed not to targeting Americans, and added - in an interview with the American station "MSNBC" that the movement has previously committed to this matter, and it continues to abide by it.

He described allegations that the movement committed atrocities during its recent encroachment on Afghan cities as untrue, stressing that the Taliban did not search homes for those who worked with the Americans.

Washington had said that it had sent a direct warning to the Taliban leadership against attacking US forces that are carrying out the evacuation of foreigners and Afghans from Kabul.


cable under control

For its part, the Taliban reiterated on Monday that the situation in the capital is under control, and that it arrested a number of those it said were involved in looting, a day after the movement took control of the city, and the US-backed government collapsed.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said that the situation in Kabul is under control, and that those involved in sabotage operations have been arrested, stressing the movement's keenness not to allow entry to the homes of former officials or threaten them.

Afghan activists broadcast - through their Twitter accounts - a video clip of the Taliban's arrest of a group of thieves who stole a number of homes in the Afghan capital, Kabul.

Taliban officials had said that the situation in Afghanistan on Monday was calm, and that the movement's fighters were not clashing with outgoing government forces or civilians in any area.

The Taliban announced that it had deployed an intelligence network affiliated with it throughout the Afghan capital, and before that the movement had taken control of all the main security headquarters, as well as the presidential palace and the parliament building.

Arrest of thieves

The head of Kabul's intelligence in the movement, Mullah Fathullah Madani, said - in a video clip via Twitter - that "it was planned to control some of the existing partial challenges, and all the thieves and perpetrators of looting were arrested."

A video clip published by close to the Taliban showed that its special forces patrolled the streets of the capital, Kabul, with the aim of maintaining security. These special forces were brought in from Jalalabad, the capital of Nangarhar province (east).

In a related context, the Taliban spokesman said that "Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaki, a member of the Leadership Shura Council and head of the Call and Guidance Committee of the Islamic Emirate, arrived in the capital, Kabul, and met a number of former officials in the Afghan government."

With regard to the situation in Kabul as well, Afghan activists posted a video on Twitter of the leader of the Taliban, Abdul Hamid Hamasi, while he was in a hospital in the capital, reassuring the medical team, and encouraging them to practice their work.


Government formation talks

Politically, the leader of the Islamic Party in Afghanistan, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, announced that he will travel Tuesday to Doha with former President Hamid Karzai, and the head of the reconciliation committee, Abdullah Abdullah;

To meet the Taliban delegation in the Qatari capital.

Hekmatyar said that the visit aims to discuss arrangements for the transfer of power and the formation of a new government in the country as soon as possible.

For his part, Karzai said that communication channels have been opened with the leaders of the Taliban movement, and expressed his hope that they will be fruitful.

He added - after a meeting with the head of the reconciliation committee - that they discussed with Taliban leaders the crucial issues regarding the future of Afghanistan.

For his part, Abdullah said he hoped that all Afghan leaders would agree to resolve the crisis.

Shortly after its fighters entered Kabul on Sunday, the Taliban movement sent messages of reassurance to the Afghan people and the international community about the next stage in the country, and confirmed the existence of talks to form an inclusive government.

In turn, the former Taliban ambassador to Pakistan, Abdul Salam Zaeef, expressed his belief that the next step in Afghanistan will be to lay the foundations for peace.

He said - in an interview with Al-Jazeera - that the next step will be dialogue with the opposition and political figures in Kabul in order to choose the country's president.