US troops fired crowd-control shots at Kabul airport, Pentagon says

US troops guarding the evacuation effort at Kabul airport fired some shots overnight as crowd-control efforts, but there were no indications of casualties or injuries, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said on Wednesday.

Kirby told a news briefing that no shots were fired by American troops at Afghans or anybody else. Kirby said the number of US troops at Kabul's international airport reached about 4,500 on Wednesday and several hundred more were expected over the next 24 hours.

A Taliban official separately said Taliban commanders and soldiers were firing into the air on Wednesday to disperse crowds at the Kabul airport.

"We have no intention to injure anyone," the official told Reuters.

Chaos has continued outside the airport, the official said, blaming Western forces for a "chaotic evacuation plan" from Afghanistan.

Kirby said US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley will brief the media on developments in Afghanistan at 3 p.m. EDT (1900 GMT).