Chaos and violence erupted at Kabul’s international airport Monday, as thousands of people swarmed to get on an evacuation flight.
Things began to escalate when U.S. troops shot and killed two armed men at the airport, according to a U.S. official. The men approached U.S. troops deployed to the airport to provide security and assistance to fleeing Americans, per the Wall Street Journal. Few details were available on how things went down.
Separately, witnesses reported three bloody bodies lying on the ground just outside the terminal building.
Indeed, troops were deployed to the airport to assist with a massive airlift of foreign diplomats and citizens after the Afghan government collapsed on Sunday.
Thousands of Afghans also rushed to the airport in hopes of escaping the Taliban.
U.S. Marines fired warning shots Sunday when hundreds of Afghans who breached the perimeter rushed to board an idling aircraft, according to a Western military official.
The U.S. military used two military helicopters flying low to try and disperse crowds of people surrounding the aircrafts and attempting to get on board.
There were roughly 6,000 American troops in the airport.