Taliban largely seal off Kabul airport as airlift winds down

The Taliban deployed extra forces around Kabul's airport on Saturday and laid new layers of checkpoints on roads leading to the airport to prevent large crowds from gathering after a devastating suicide attack two days earlier.

The Taliban deployed extra forces around Kabul's airport on Saturday to prevent large crowds from gathering after a devastating suicide attack two days earlier, as the massive U.S.-led airlift wound down ahead of an August 31 deadline. New layers of checkpoints sprang up on roads leading to the airport, some manned by uniformed Taliban fighters with Humvees and night-vision goggles captured from Afghan security forces. Areas where large crowds of people have gathered over the past two weeks in hopes of fleeing the country following the Taliban takeover were largely empty. A suicide attack on Thursday by an Islamic State affiliate killed 169 Afghans and 13 U.S. service members, and there are concerns that the group, which is far more radical than the Taliban, could strike again. Many Western nations have completed their evacuation operations ahead of Tuesday's deadline for the withdrawal of all U.S. forces.