either, the u.s. citizens bringing them back to the united states. or afghan evacuees to qatar, bahrain, to try to get evacuees out of the country. oren liebermann, cnn in the pentagon. seven afghan civilians were killed while desperately trying oh get in the airport on saturday in kabul. large crowds have been swarming these airport gates for days now. hoping to catch a flight, any flight, out of afghanistan. the uk defense ministry says the victims died in two separate incidents as crowds were trying to push their way near the facility. one incident happened just outside the airport, while the other was at a nearby hotel. the ministry could confirm the exact causes of death. now, jomana karadsheh is following all of these developments for us from istanbul. jomana, hi. i mean, just talk us through the backlog of people. so many people. the logistics. the red tape is certainly amplifying the crisis, isn t it?
waiting. oren lieberman explains how u.s. troops in kabul are trying to help them get through the traumatic ordeal by often making tender human connections, take a look. reporter: kabul has become a tale of two cities. outside the gated walls of the airport, panic, despair. inside the compound, there is what so many afghans feared was lost, a measure of hope. there are 5,800 troops at hamid karzai international airport. some for security of the most important piece of real estate in the country right now. for many others, this is a humanitarian mission. the military has come with food, water, and medical supplies. here, something as simple as water in large, clear plastic bottles, something that small as an impact on those fleeing for their lives, especially after hours of waiting in the summer heat of afghanistan. a father passes his child to a marine for medical help. the marines say the infant was
different level. military planners have begun preparing alternative routes, according to two defense officials, as a way of getting american citizens and afghan evacuees from their location to the airport in light of this emerging threat. as far as we know, they haven t started using these routes. but it s a response to the changing environment. the growing crowds around the airport that might be a very tempting target for groups like isis k. modes of attack could be vehicle board improvised explosive devices. mortar attacks or suicide bombers and it s because of a threat like that, that they have developed these plans. the senior diplomat in kabul who spoke with one of our colleagues says that there is a credible threat there but not, it appears, an imminent one. nevertheless, because of what has been a constantly evolving situation on the ground, the military went ahead and began to develop these plans and routes that would give u.s. troops there and the u.s., in general, more oversi
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international airport on average now, more than double the number from just a couple of days go. that pace will need to continue if the u.s. military hits the numbers it s looking for. that 5,000 to 7,000 per day to get them out, to evacuate them from kabul. for all the trials and tribulations, for all the challenges, the logistical difficulties, the issues and the problems and the criticism of this evacuation, it is u.s. troops on the ground there making this happen. marines, soldiers, and others not only doing the security at the perimeter of the airport, but helping with the processing, the medical, and all the other work that it takes to get tens of thousands of people out. not only u.s. citizens, but afghan interpreters and their families trying to flee the country, and others. it is u.s. troops in kabul who are at the spear of that effort. oren lieberman, cnn, at the pentagon. i m robyn curnow. stay right here, more cnn after the break.