Taliban fighters patrol in Wazir Akbar Khan in the city of Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday, Aug. 18, 2021.
Taliban fighters patrol in Wazir Akbar Khan in the city of Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday, Aug. 18, 2021.
AP Photo/Rahmat Gul
  • CNN correspondent Clarissa Ward captured the chaos and "mayhem" outside Kabul's airport.
  • The Taliban is setting up checkpoints and clashing with Afghan citizens trying to leave the country.
  • "Even if they have their paperwork, no way they're running that gauntlet," she said of Afghan civilians.
  • See more stories on Insider's business page.

CNN correspondent Clarissa Ward detailed the chaotic scene and violent clashes between Taliban fighters and Afghans trying to get to the airport as "mayhem" and "nuts" on Wednesday, and captured Taliban gunfire on camera.

The efforts to evacuate US citizens and Afghans seeking visas following the collapse of the Afghan government over the weekend were hampered first by the airport in Kabul being overrun by Afghans desperate to leave, and now, by the Taliban controlling the crowd flow to the aiport and setting up checkpoints that intimidated many from making the journey.

While US and UK officials still control Hamid Karzai airport itself, the US warned its citizens seeking evacuation from Afghanistan on Tuesday that they could not guarantee their safety on their way to the airport. The conditions for Afghans trying to leave the country, even those with the requisite visa paperwork, are even more perilous.

"The Taliban are being put in charge of crowd control, and the way the Taliban carries out crowd control is very different than the way it would be carried out elsewhere," Ward explained in an appearance on CNN's "New Day," adding, "They've been whipping people using trenchants, they've been firing shots in the air, firing shots at people."

"On the perimeter, it's incredibly intimidating for people who desperately want to leave this country," Ward said.

In a later live shot, Ward described "a consistent stream of gunfire," saying she and her team were approached by a "constant stream" of Afghans desperately asking the CNN crew for help getting the paperwork and documentation to leave the country.

At one point, gunshots could be heard in the background as Ward reported live from outside the airport. "When there's bullets firing like that..it's clearly not a game," she said.

Ward said that "the most frightening moment for our team" was when a Taliban fighter came up and threatened to "pistol whip" one of her producers while he was filming on his iPhone, leading both her crew and another Taliban member to intervene and prevent the producer from being injured.

"Really, I've covered all sorts of crazy situations. This was mayhem. This was nuts," Ward said. "This was impossible for an ordinary civilian. Even if they have their paperwork, no way they're running that gauntlet, no way they're going to be able to navigate that."

Ward added: "It's very dicey, it's very dangerous, and it's completely unpredictable. There's no order. There's no coherent system for processing people who do have papers from those who don't. And honestly, to me, it's a miracle that more people haven't been seriously hurt."

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