Video: https://www.dropbox.com/s/eur5uf8es9pauh4/VRP53925.mp4?dl=0
Hundreds of desperate Afghans slept overnight at an airport in Kabul, Afghanistan as they waited for flights out of the Taliban-occupied city on August 16.
Footage shows civilians slumped on the tarmac of the Hamid Karzai International Airport early in the morning on Monday.
Afghan air space has been closed following mayhem at the airport, with commercial flights from Kabul being cancelled. The Afghanistan Civil Aviation Authority has advised transit aircraft to take longer alternative routes instead.
Taliban forces seized Kabul on August 16, settling into the presidential palace after Afghan President Ashraf Ghani fled the country.
A Taliban spokesman said the war was ‘over’ and that the militants have accomplished their objective or retaking the Middle East country following two decades of western occupation started by former leaders George Bush and Tony Blair.
Mohammad Naeem said: ‘We have reached what we were seeking, which is the freedom of our country and the independence of our people. We will not allow anyone to use our lands to target anyone, and we do not want to harm others.’
Meanwhile, the US State Department said there has been no formal transfer of power from the Afghan government to the Taliban, but declined to say if Ghani was still recognised as Afghanistan’s president.