Shots fired at Italian military plane that flew out of Kabul - Reuters

An Italian defence source has told Reuters news agency that shots have been fired at an Italian military plane leaving the Afghan capital.

The plane was not damaged during the incident, the source said.

An Italian journalist on the flight told Sky 24 TG the plane, which was carrying almost 100 Afghan civilians, came under fire minutes after take off.

Several countries have already announced plans to stop airlifts out of Kabul due to security reasons, with multiple officials warning there is a high risk of a terror attack at the airport.

This appears to be the first time a plane has been targeted during this month's evacuation efforts.

Shots fired at Italian military plane that flew out of Kabul - Reuters

This is just breaking both via Sky News and Reuters. As was expected with the high tensions around Kabul Airport this could have been an attempt to shoot down a plane. Act of terrorism, maybe? It's highly likely and speculated that evacuations will be grounded but time is really cutting it short. US seem very determined to get out but mixed messages from Biritsh PM recent press statement about time on evacuating and pulling UK troops out of AF.

a reply to: deviant300

and this Sh!t show is just starting. Buckle up buttercup, it's going to be a bloody fall.

I'm really surprised that they haven't already attempted to use some of the equipment that we left there to do just this. Just wait until they use a drone or any of the numerous weapons and artillery at their disposal.

This is nothing compared to what we are going to see.

Several countries have already stopped the rescue missions. I know about US+German special forces still doing Heli rescue missions as I type though. They talk about a 200m long row of people in front of the airport, shoulder to shoulder. Young children and infants screaming.

The people responsible for this cruel menace should all be trialed before an international court. From several countries. France did it right, they knew what was coming but most European governments but also Australia and USA ignored that.

It's a shame, actually it's more than that but I fail the words.

If the plane was not damaged how would the Italian journo know shots were fired at the plane?.

With this story and the story doing the rounds of an imminent ISIS attack, one would start to believe they are just painting a picture so as to have the public believe that abandoning those people to their fate actually saved more lives.

a reply to: Timucuan

This. Though, I feel if an attack were to happen in which US or any other foreign troops, including evacuees were killed, this would change the whole situation in the ground in AF very rapidly and I'm afraid very destructively. A retaliatory response would ensue.

a reply to: Soloprotocol

Witnesses on the ground, and depending on the aircraft type, a spotter on the aircraft seeing tracers heading towards it.

a reply to: deviant300

How to retaliate? The city is infested with terrorists now but there are still civilians, it's the worst scenario that could happen.

This is going to turn out to be a even bigger nightmare than the situation already is. And the remaining soldiers there, no one currently there is at fault for all this, it's politician in their comfy chairs. They risk their lives to go out on rescue missions that would not be necessary.

a reply to: Soloprotocol

Possibly seeing tracer rounds go by. Real question is was this actually targeted or was it a militant shooting into the air as crowd control as a plane flew overhead?

I'm confident that the Taliban has MANPADS, possibly even CIWS and controllers. They certainly have some larger caliber weapons that could be used, or mortars to target aircraft on the ramp or runway. Hell, they could just mortar the runway and taxiways rendering them unusable.

It'll only be a matter of time before something gets shot down or damaged.

Afghan forces near the airport were firing into the air to disperse crowds, so the fire might not have been aimed at the aircraft at all.

originally posted by: Zaphod58
Afghan forces near the airport were firing into the air to disperse crowds, so the fire might not have been aimed at the aircraft at all.

Exactly... Confirmed.

Shots fired at Kabul airport were to disperse crowds, Italian government confirms
More on the shots fired at Kabul airport:

Quoting intelligence reports, the Italian government has confirmed the shots were not fired at the plane, instead they were fired to disperse the crowd at the airport, Reuters reports.

Earlier, a defence source said the C-130 transporter, carrying almost 100 Afghan civilians, had come under attack minutes after take off.

Taken from live news feed - The Guardian (UK)