Pentagon: US troops fired crowd-control shots at Kabul airport

US troops guarding the evacuation effort at Kabul airport fired some shots overnight as crowd-control efforts, but there were no indications of casualties or injuries, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said on Aug. 18, Report informs referring to Reuters.

Kirby told a news briefing that no shots were fired by American troops at Afghans or anybody else. Kirby said the number of US troops at Kabul’s international airport reached about 4,500 on Aug. 18, and several hundred more were expected over the next 24 hours.

A Taliban official separately said Taliban commanders and soldiers were firing into the air on Aug. 18 to disperse crowds at the Kabul airport.

“We have no intention to injure anyone,” the official told Reuters.

Chaos has continued outside the airport, the official said, blaming Western forces for a “chaotic evacuation plan” from Afghanistan.