Buses with Dutch on board reach Kabul airport just in time
Three buses containing about 140 Dutch-Afghans arrived at Kabul airport at around 2:00 a.m. on Thursday morning, Dutch time, after a grueling day, NU.nl reports after having contact with people who were on the buses. Access to the airport was closed not long after the buses arrived.
The buses were allowed to continue on to the airport after negotiations between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Taliban. The Ministry confirmed the buses' arrival a the airport, saying that the people on board will be evacuated as soon as possible. Sources told NOS that Taliban members roughly pulled seven people who did not have passports of the buses before they reached the airport.
NU.nl reported that it took the buses about 22 hours to reach the airport. NOS said more than 24 hours. They were stopped by Taliban fighters a few hundred meters from the entrance gate, and were stuck there for hours. "It was tough, especially for the small children," one person directly involved said to NU.nl. "The buses had no air conditioning, there was no food, only water."
The Dutch passport holders were among the last groups able to enter the airport. The United States embassy urged all Americans in Kabul to get away from the airport on its website. Anonymous sources told CNN that this is because of information that terrorist organization ISIS was planning to attack the airport. The British authorities also warned citizens to leave the airport, go to a safe location, and await further instructions.
There were reports that the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a similar warning, but a spokesperson would not confirm this to ANP.
