Seventeen people have been injured in a stampede at a gate to the airport in the Afghan capital of Kabul, a NATO security official has said.

He told Reuters he had not heard any reports of violence by Taliban fighters outside the airport.

It comes as the militant group blew up a statue of a Shia militia leader, casting doubt on their claims to have become more moderate in the two decades since they were ousted from power.

Afghanistan live updates: All the latest as MPs debate UK’s response

In Bamyan of Afghanistan, the Taliban exploded a statue of Abdul Ali Mazari, a leader of Hazara ethnic group who was killed by the Taliban in 1996, said local people. For Hazaras, Mazari is a champion in the long Afghan war. pic.twitter.com/W9QB4FCs5J

Photos on social media showed the insurgents had destroyed a statue of Abdul Ali Mazari, a militia leader who fought against the group during Afghanistan‘s civil war in the 1990s and was later killed by the group in 1996.

Mazari was a champion of the Hazara minority, a predominantly Shia group who were persecuted under Taliban rule.

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