The United States and other countries continue to evacuate their nationals and Afghan civilians amid continuous chaos, with crowds of people wishing to leave Afghanistan concentrating in the vicinity of Kabul Airport, and more casualties as a result of the stampede.

While the Taliban reinforced its forces in the vicinity of the airport in order to secure it.

Today, Sunday, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said that his country has so far evacuated 30,000 Americans and Afghans from Afghanistan.

Blinken added - in statements to "Fox News" - that the situation in Kabul is very volatile, pointing to large crowds of people near the airport, and that his country is addressing the issue of crowds outside the airport, at the present time.

In turn, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said that his country's military will make sure that Kabul airport remains safe and will defend it.

And he added - in an interview with the American network "ABC" - that any possible way to deliver the Americans to the airport will be considered.

As for National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, he said that during the past 24 hours, 3,900 people were evacuated on US military planes, up from 1,600 the day before.

However, the number of evacuees in the past 24 hours is lower than Washington's target of between 5,000 and 9,000 per day.

The United States is seeking to evacuate between 10,000 and 15,000 Americans, and up to 65,000 Afghans.

For his part, the British ambassador to Afghanistan said that during the last 24 hours, his country had evacuated 5,000 people.

Several countries, such as Turkey, India and Ukraine, are also carrying out similar evacuations, but in much smaller numbers.

Regarding the situation in the vicinity of Kabul Airport, CNN reported that about 20,000 Afghans and foreign nationals were crowded today in and around the airport.

The American network said that the situation worsened after the closure of a number of airport gates, noting that in the midst of the chaos prevailing at the airport, family members were separated from each other and sent on planes to other countries.

Yesterday, 7 people were killed in a new stampede at Kabul Airport, bringing the number of people killed in similar circumstances within a week to 20.

This one is for the Qatari government who have been incredible helping those who rescue the #Ka fear for their livesbul.

Credit where credit is due @MofaQatar_EN pic.twitter.com/CIORGuB2JJ

— Ian Pannell (@IanPannell) August 22, 2021

Qatar's participation in the evacuation

In addition to other countries, the State of Qatar is directly involved in the evacuation operations that were launched after the Taliban took control of Kabul.

Al-Jazeera correspondent Haitham Abu Saleh said that a Qatari plane arrived today at Al-Udeid base, carrying 110 evacuees from the Afghan capital.

The reporter added that this plane is the third to reach Qatari territory from Afghanistan.

He also indicated that Doha had announced that its evacuation operations would continue, and that Qatari planes had evacuated within 72 hours more than 500 people, including 200 media professionals, from Afghanistan.

Al-Jazeera correspondent explained that the French Press Agency quoted a Qatari official that his country had facilitated the evacuation of nationals from the United States, Britain, Germany and other countries.

In this context, ABC correspondent Lan Bannell published a tweet praising Qatar's efforts in the ongoing evacuations, and attached to the tweet a photo of an Afghan girl who was among the civilians evacuated by Qatari planes.


Taliban reinforcements

Meanwhile, Al-Jazeera correspondent quoted a Taliban source as saying that the movement today assigned a battalion of its special forces to secure Hamid Karzai International Airport and its surroundings in Kabul.

Mullah Fateh, the Taliban security official at this airport, said he expected it to open to civilian shipping within a week.

In a statement to Al Jazeera, Mullah Fateh added that the Americans are the ones who prevent people from entering the airport.

And the French Press Agency quoted Taliban leader Amir Khan Muttaki as saying today, "America, with all its might and facilities, failed to restore order at the airport. Peace and calm prevails throughout the country, but there is only chaos at Kabul airport."

As for Reuters, it quoted an official in the Taliban as saying that the movement is seeking to obtain a clear plan regarding the exit of foreign forces from the country, adding that dealing with the chaos outside Kabul Airport is a complex task.