Several killed amid stampede, firing by Taliban during rally in Afghanistan

Several people have reportedly been killed in Afghanistan's northeastern city of Asadabad when members of the Taliban fired at people waving the national flag at an Independence Day rally and sparked a stampede.

It was not clear if the casualties were caused by the discharging of the firearms or from the ensuing stampede, witness Mohammed Salim, from the capital city of Kunar Province, told Reuters on Thursday.

Meanwhile, 12 people have been reportedly killed in and around the Kabul airport, as thousands are still awaiting evacuation from Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover of the country's capital. The deaths were caused either by gun shots or in stampedes, Reuters reported on Thursday, citing Taliban and NATO officials.

A Taliban official who declined to be identified said the militant group had urged people still crowding at the gates of the airport to return home if they did not have the legal right to travel, stressing that its members posed no threat to the lives of the people staying in the airport.

"We don't want to hurt anyone at the airport," the Taliban official said.

Following the withdrawal of US-led forces from Afghanistan, the Taliban militant group intensified offensives and rapidly overran major cities. On Sunday, it laid siege to Kabul, forcing the then-sitting Afghan President, Ashraf Ghani, to flee the country.

The unfolding events culminated in chaotic scenes on Monday, with thousands of Afghan civilians and diplomats swarming the Kabul airport, hoping to find seats on flights leaving the country. Some local Afghans tried to hop onto moving planes.

Chaos at the airport prompted the US military to halt flights until the airfield could be secured.

Several Afghans on Monday were run over by or fell from an American military plane that took off from the runway as they clung to it, according to The Associated Press. At least seven people were killed.

In addition, US troops fatally shot two armed men at Kabul's airport, whom they alleged had presented "hostile threats" in two separate incidents.

ME