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Will the Afghanistan air-lift operation succeed in its objectives?

MenInG

MenInG

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It was the moral duty of these Western powers to have taken care of the people who helped them in Afghanistan but I am seeing reports that that are being abandoned and left to rot under Taliban who will view them as traitors!
 
Thousands of Afghan refugees will be resettled in the UK after the Taliban seized control of Kabul, the UK government has promised.

Up to 20,000 Afghans will be offered a route to set up home in the UK in the coming years, the Home Office said.

In the first year, 5,000 refugees will be eligible to settle in the UK - on top of 5,000 Afghan interpreters and other staff who worked for the UK.

Women, girls and others in need will have priority in the new scheme.

Those most at risk of human rights abuses and dehumanising treatment by the Taliban will also be the focus of the new resettlement scheme.

Parliament has been recalled and Prime Minister Boris Johnson is to open a debate in the House of Commons about the situation in Afghanistan from 09:30 BST on Wednesday.

He is expected to use his statement to outline the steps the international community should take to avoid humanitarian disaster in the country.

Downing Street said Mr Johnson spoke to US President Joe Biden on Tuesday evening about the evacuation of Kabul.

The leaders "resolved to continue working closely together on this in the days and weeks ahead to allow as many people as possible to leave the country," a spokesperson said.

"The prime minister stressed the importance of not losing the gains made in Afghanistan over the last 20 years, of protecting ourselves against any emerging threat from terrorism, and of continuing to support the people of Afghanistan."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-58250211.amp
 
They'll do a few token gestures to make it look like they're helping. But this is what these countries do, they wash their hands when things get a bit tough and then just abandon.
 
Australia takes 26 people on first evacuation
Frances Mao

BBC News, Sydney

Prime Minister Scott Morrison says Australia has evacuated 26 people on its first military flight out of Afghanistan, on a plane that can carry 128 people.

Among them were Australian citizens, Afghans with approved visas and one foreign official.

More flights are due, but Human Rights Watch called Australia’s effort “disappointing” in the wake of other Western nations' efforts to evacuate desperate Afghans.

Despite widespread concern among the Australian public for the Afghan people, Mr Morrison told the nation on Wednesday his government would not be taking in extra refugees.

The UK and Canada have both pledged to take in an extra 20,000 Afghans, but Mr Morrison said: “Australia is not going into that territory”.

He said its intake would follow its existing UN obligations, with Afghan visas to be capped at 3,000.

He also reiterated Australia’s overall hardline attitude to refugees saying: “We will not be allowing people to enter Australia illegally even at this time”. Officials would be stepping up efforts to “check the bona fides of individual applicants”, he said.

International law dictates that seeking asylum is a human right, but Australia classifies those who arrive outside the UN's refugee programme as "illegals".

This mainly applies to boat asylum seekers, many of whom have come from Afghanistan in the past decade.

Mr Morrison said those Afghans who remain held in Australia’s detention system will continue to be denied the right to permanently settle.
 
Thousands of Afghan refugees will be resettled in the UK after the Taliban seized control of Kabul, the UK government has promised.

The new scheme will see up to 20,000 Afghans offered a route to set up home in the UK in the coming years.

In the first year, 5,000 refugees will be eligible - with women, girls and others in need having priority.

Home Secretary Priti Patel urged other countries to help, writing in the Daily Telegraph "we cannot do this alone".

However, opposition parties have criticised the settlement scheme for not going far enough.

The new plan is on top of the existing scheme for interpreters and other staff who worked for the UK.

Some 5,000 Afghans and family members are expected to benefit from that policy.

Parliament has been recalled and Prime Minister Boris Johnson is to open a debate in the House of Commons about the situation in Afghanistan from 09:30 BST on Wednesday.

Downing Street said Mr Johnson spoke to US President Joe Biden on Tuesday evening about the evacuation of Kabul.

The leaders "resolved to continue working closely together on this in the days and weeks ahead to allow as many people as possible to leave the country", a spokesperson said.

"The prime minister stressed the importance of not losing the gains made in Afghanistan over the last 20 years, of protecting ourselves against any emerging threat from terrorism, and of continuing to support the people of Afghanistan."

BBC
 
Home secretary defends government resettlement scheme

Speaking to Kay Burley, Home Secretary Priti Patel is defending the government's announcement it will house 20,000 vulnerable people from Afghanistan.

Critics have questioned why only 5,000 of those will be resettled in the first year, given the desperate situation in Kabul.

Ms Patel says the UK simply "cannot accommodate 20,000 people all in one go" and the government is doing all it can to "work quickly on this".
 
The government says the Afghan Citizens' Resettlement Scheme will aim to allow an initial 5,000 Afghans to settle in the UK, with the long-term goal a total of 20,000.

It will focus on women and children as well as religious and other minorities in greater danger from the Taliban.

In addition, the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (Arap) scheme, launched on 1 April, was designed to resettle interpreters and other people who worked for the UK in Afghanistan.

The Home Office says it has resettled 2,000 former Afghan staff and their families in the UK since 22 June. The target is 5,000 by the end of this year under this scheme.

But not all who have applied have been accepted, according to the Sulha Alliance, which campaigns for the rights of Afghan interpreters.
 
As France evacuates its citizens from Kabul, many Afghan translators who worked for the French embassy or army still do not know if they will be able to leave Afghanistan. The translators feel particularly threatened by the Taliban’s return, fearing they will be considered traitors for aiding foreign powers.

Evacuation flights out of Kabul resumed on August 17, 2021 after scenes of chaos played out at the airport throughout the day. People had swarmed the tarmac and clung to US military aircraft in desperate attempts to leave Afghanistan. A first French evacuation flight left Kabul on Tuesday evening. The next day, August 18, a second flight headed to the French military base in Abu Dhabi, carrying 216 people, 184 of whom were Afghans.

An association representing former Afghan interpreters for the French Army has compiled a list of 170 Afghans who had worked with French forces still stuck in Afghanistan. According to lawyer Magali Guadelupe Miranda, none of these 170 people was on the August 18 flight.

French President Emmanuel Macron published a photo of the evacuation of French nationals and Afghans from Kabul on Twitter.
The French Armed Forces Minister Florence Parly promised that Afghan auxiliaries who worked for the French Army and embassy in Afghanistan would also be evacuated, on August 16. “The French priority is to evacuate its nationals, to evacuate the [Afghan] personnel who have provided essential services to our country by helping us on a daily basis,” Parly said.

Many translators, drivers, cooks and other former employees of the French forces in Afghanistan are still waiting to find out if they can be evacuated or not. Around 800 Afghans employed by the French Army have been brought to France over the past few years, according to President Emmanuel Macron. At least 100 are still in Kabul. One of them told the FRANCE 24 Observers team about the uncertainty and anxiety he and his colleagues are experiencing as they wait.

‘We supported the French Army at a difficult time [...] Now, we’re asking them to help us’

Zacharia (not his real name) worked as an interpreter for the French Army for seven years, helping the military train the Afghan National Army until French forces withdrew in 2014. Our team was able to consult documents proving that he worked with the French armed forces.

Zacharia has tried to contact the embassy several times in order to obtain a visa and be evacuated to France, but without success.

The embassy has not responded to my messages or emails. I saw Emmanuel Macron’s post saying that 200 Afghans who worked with the French have been evacuated, but none of my colleagues in Kabul has received an email from the embassy.

Since the Taliban arrived three days ago, I have been hiding at home. I can’t go to the front door of the embassy because the Taliban are in the city. I was told to go directly to the airport, but how can I do that? The Taliban don’t let anyone in the airport unless they have documents authorising them to leave.

Around 600 members of the Afghan army have been deployed to secure the airport. The Taliban have also set up checkpoints in the city.

I don’t know what will happen to us in Afghanistan. I’m married, I have four children. I am worried for myself, but also for my family. Our work wasn’t hidden from people. They’ll tell the Taliban that I worked for the army – everyone knows it.

This morning, my friend that lives far from Kabul told me that the Taliban came into his neighbour’s house to search for someone. People who have worked with foreigners, police, army, intelligence officers… everyone is afraid. We have no guarantee that we will be protected.

I sent my documents to the embassy twice – in 2015 and 2016. My visa application was rejected, without cause. I even sent my documents last year to the Ministry of Armed Forces, but I didn’t get an answer. I have my contracts, my letters of recommendation, I am still in touch with my bosses, but nothing is working.

This is the last chance for us. If France does not protect us, tomorrow the Taliban will kill all the interpreters. I won’t leave my house. If the Taliban come, let me find me at home and kill me here. There is no chance for me, this is the last hope for my family. When the Taliban came, I applied for visas to Pakistan and India, but there is no way for Afghans to leave the country.

We supported the French Army at a difficult time. When they weren’t used to Afghanistan, we helped them with their mission. Now, we are asking them to help us, and we hope they take our requests seriously.

Other Afghan auxiliaries went to wait outside the embassy gates in hopes of being evacuated, as seen in this photo sent to us by a former translator.

The FRANCE 24 Observers team contacted Adel Abdul Raziq, president of the Association of Afghan Interpreters and Auxiliaries for the French Army. He worked as an interpreter for the French Army from 2001 until 2014, and has lived in France since 2016. He is working from Paris to ensure the evacuation of Zacharia and other former colleagues who want to leave Afghanistan.

Many of the former interpreters for the French Army are staying in their houses. They’re afraid of the Taliban because just a few weeks ago we lost one of our colleagues [Editor’s note: Abdul Basir, a former cook for the French forces]. He was killed by the Taliban, despite their promise of an amnesty for people who worked with the allied forces.

France announced on Monday that it will repatriate all its citizens and all the Afghan auxiliaries, but we haven’t had any news. So far none of my former colleagues has been contacted by the French embassy about evacuation plans.

I was an interpreter from 2001 to 2014, when the French left Afghanistan. I applied for a French visa at the time, but my initial demand was rejected. We held several demonstrations outside the French Embassy calling for a relocation plan. We eventually got visas. Interpreters have been trying to get out since 2013. There have been several waves of departures, but every two or three months there’s a halt.

In June 2021, Abdul Basir, 34, a former cook for the French forces, was found dead in central Wardak province. The French embassy in Kabul had rejected his requests for a visa three times, according to the Figaro newspaper.

Attorney Magali Guadelupe Miranda is coordinating a team of lawyers assisting interpreters and other locally hired staff who worked for the French military in Afghanistan (locally employed staff, or “LES”, known in French as “PCRL”, personnels civils de recrutement local).

Along with the Association of Afghan Interpreters and Auxiliaries and journalist Quentin Müller, she has compiled a list of 170 Afghans who worked with the French forces and want to leave Afghanistan. She told the FRANCE 24 Observers team they benefit from special protections under French law.

This list includes all the people who worked for the French state in Afghanistan. These people have the right to protection the moment they come into danger because of their mission. As far as we know, none of the auxiliaries on our list have been evacuated.

These evacuations are being organised at the last minute, when they should have been happening all along. It was obvious the Taliban were going to retake the country. It was a foregone conclusion!

It’s now or never. We’re ready and waiting to do whatever is necessary to help the embassy and the Foreign Ministry. But we need clear instructions to transmit to the Afghan auxiliaries, and a guarantee they won’t be abandoned.

French attorney Magali Guadalupe Miranda and journalist Quentin Müller have compiled a list of 170 Afghans who worked for the French Army in Afghanistan. They say they sent the list to the French Embassy in Kabul and the Foreign Ministry in Paris, hoping France will evacuate them and their families.

France had troops in Afghanistan from 2001 until 2014. President Emmanuel Macron said in a speech August 16, 2021 that more than 600 Afghan employees who had worked with the French forces had been settled in France in recent years.

AFP
 
Sure America is abandoning them. These people should have known that America is no ones friend.
 
US President Joe Biden has said US troops may stay in Afghanistan beyond his withdrawal deadline, as armed Taliban fighters kept desperate evacuees from reaching Kabul's airport.

Mr Biden wants US forces out by the end of this month, but up to 15,000 US citizens are stranded in the country.

The US president told ABC News the turmoil in Kabul was unavoidable.

Foreign governments are ramping up the airlift of Western citizens and Afghans who worked with them.

About 4,500 US troops are in temporary control of Karzai International Airport in the nation's capital, but Taliban fighters and checkpoints ring the perimeter.

The Taliban are blocking Afghans without travel documents - but even those with valid authorisation have struggled.

One Afghan interpreter was reportedly shot in the leg by the Taliban as he tried to reach the airport on Tuesday night for an Australian military evacuation flight.

Photos published by SBS showed the man being treated for the gunshot wound by a doctor.

Some US nationals told the BBC's US partner CBS News they were also unable to enter for scheduled evacuation flights.

In a press conference earlier on Wednesday, US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin was asked if the American military had the capability to rescue the stranded Americans.

"We don't have the capability to go out and collect large numbers of people," he replied.

Mr Biden, a Democrat, told ABC the US would stay to get all Americans out of Afghanistan, even if it meant remaining beyond the 31 August deadline for a complete withdrawal.

"If there's American citizens left, we're gonna stay to get them all out," he said.

The US president said between 10,000 and 15,000 Americans needed to be evacuated, along with 50,000 to 65,000 Afghans such as former translators for the American military.

Almost 6,000 people have been extracted so far. A Western official told Reuters news agency they were diplomats, security staff, aid workers and Afghans. The Pentagon told reporters they aim to expand the airlift to 9,000 people a day.

Late on Wednesday US time, the US Federal Aviation Administration said domestic air carriers and civilian pilots would now be allowed to fly into Kabul to conduct evacuation or relief flights, as long as they had prior permission from the US Defense Department.

US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman said American officials have told the Taliban that Washington expects them to allow all those who wish to leave to do so.

Asked by ABC if he would acknowledge any mistakes in the chaotic withdrawal, Mr Biden said: "No."

He added: "The idea that somehow there's a way to have gotten out without chaos ensuing, I don't know how that happens."

Mr Biden was also asked about images that went viral this week of Afghans falling from an American military plane as it gained altitude over Kabul.

The US president grew defensive, saying: "That was four days ago, five days ago!"

Mr Biden was pressed on his assessment only last month that a Taliban takeover of the country was "highly unlikely".

He said intelligence reports had suggested such a scenario was more likely by the end of this year.

"You didn't put a timeline out when you said 'highly unlikely'," said interviewer George Stephanopoulos. "You just said flat out it's 'highly unlikely that the Taliban would take over.'"

"Yeah," replied Mr Biden, who also assured Americans back in April that the US withdrawal would be safe and orderly.

In Wednesday's interview, the US president again blamed the Afghan government and its military for the Taliban's lightning conquest of the country.

Intelligence sources tell the BBC that Mr Biden had well understood the risks of his withdrawal, but he was strident in his decision to get out this year.

In the end, he was "functioning as his own principal analyst", said Paul Pillar, a former CIA officer now at Georgetown University.

"The Taliban was eventually going to prevail," Mr Pillar said. "But the speed or pace, or when something is going to happen, is essentially unpredictable."

"Was this an intelligence failure? My guess is probably not," he added.

On Wednesday, the International Monetary Fund suspended Afghanistan's access to $440m (£320m) in monetary reserves - a move pushed for by the US Treasury to prevent funds falling into Taliban hands.

Deposed Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, who fled Afghanistan as Taliban forces swept into Kabul on Sunday, meanwhile said he had merely been following the advice of government officials.

In a video streamed on Facebook, Mr Ghani - currently in exile in the United Arab Emirates - denied Russian claims that he had made his getaway in a helicopter full of cash.

At least one person was killed during anti-Taliban protests on Wednesday in Jalalabad, about 150km (90 miles) east of Kabul.

Taliban fighters reportedly attacked demonstrators who were attempting to lower the militant group's flag and replace it with the Afghan national tricolour.

BBC
 
The UK's Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has said that Britain is unable to evacuate unaccompanied children from Afghanistan.

Mr Wallace was speaking after footage emerged of a child being passed over a wall to Western soldiers at Kabul airport.

We can't just take a minor on their own," Wallace told Sky News when asked about the video. "You will find as you see in the footage... the child was taken - that will be because the family will be taken as well."

Wallace said British soldiers at the airport were facing a difficult situation given the desperation of some Afghans to leave.
 
Tom Tughendat MP, who served your tour of Afghanistan, was scathing in Parliament yesterday. Looking after the interpreters who helped the British Army is a matter of honour for this government.

Gov took an absolute kicking on BBCQT too. Is the pendulum finally swinging back to decent behaviour and internationalism?
 
Saj said:
Thousands of Afghan refugees will be resettled in the UK after the Taliban seized control of Kabul, the UK government has promised.

Up to 20,000 Afghans will be offered a route to set up home in the UK in the coming years, the Home Office said.

In the first year, 5,000 refugees will be eligible to settle in the UK - on top of 5,000 Afghan interpreters and other staff who worked for the UK.

Women, girls and others in need will have priority in the new scheme.

Those most at risk of human rights abuses and dehumanising treatment by the Taliban will also be the focus of the new resettlement scheme.

Parliament has been recalled and Prime Minister Boris Johnson is to open a debate in the House of Commons about the situation in Afghanistan from 09:30 BST on Wednesday.

He is expected to use his statement to outline the steps the international community should take to avoid humanitarian disaster in the country.

Downing Street said Mr Johnson spoke to US President Joe Biden on Tuesday evening about the evacuation of Kabul.

The leaders "resolved to continue working closely together on this in the days and weeks ahead to allow as many people as possible to leave the country," a spokesperson said.

"The prime minister stressed the importance of not losing the gains made in Afghanistan over the last 20 years, of protecting ourselves against any emerging threat from terrorism, and of continuing to support the people of Afghanistan."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-58250211.amp
Click to expand...


How would that work? I can't imagine that many interpreters or other helpers on the frontlines were women or girls. What is the likelihood of women coming alone without their families?

Personally I think we are doing more than enough accepting 20,000 refugees, even that is too many. Britain is a crowded country, we didn't chuck out Europeans so we could bring in Afghans who might well fail to show any gratitude in any case.
 
The Taliban have stepped up their search for people who worked for Nato forces or the previous Afghan government, a UN document has warned.

It said the militants have been going door-to-door to find targets and threaten their family members.

The hardline Islamist group has tried to reassure Afghans since seizing power in a lightning offensive, promising there would be "no revenge".

But there are growing fears of a gap between what they say and what they do.

The warning the group were targeting "collaborators" came in a confidential document by the RHIPTO Norwegian Center for Global Analyses, which provides intelligence to the UN.

"There are a high number of individuals that are currently being targeted by the Taliban and the threat is crystal clear," Christian Nellemann, who heads the group behind the report, told the BBC.

"It is in writing that, unless they give themselves in, the Taliban will arrest and prosecute, interrogate and punish family members on behalf of those individuals."

He warned that anyone on the Taliban's blacklist was in severe danger, and that there could be mass executions.

Foreign powers are continuing efforts to get their nationals out of Afghanistan. A Nato official said on Friday that more than 18,000 people have been evacuated in the last five days from Kabul airport.

Some 6,000 more, among them former interpreters for foreign armed forces, are on standby to be flown out late on Thursday or early Friday.

The aim is to double evacuation efforts over the weekend, the official said.

Outside the airport the situation remains chaotic. The Taliban have been blocking Afghans trying to flee, with one video showing a child being handed to a US soldier.

President Joe Biden, who has come under scathing criticism over what his opponents say is a "shambolic" US withdrawal, is expected to speak on Friday about the evacuation effort.

BBC
 
MenInG said:
The Taliban have stepped up their search for people who worked for Nato forces or the previous Afghan government, a UN document has warned.

It said the militants have been going door-to-door to find targets and threaten their family members.

The hardline Islamist group has tried to reassure Afghans since seizing power in a lightning offensive, promising there would be "no revenge".

But there are growing fears of a gap between what they say and what they do.

The warning the group were targeting "collaborators" came in a confidential document by the RHIPTO Norwegian Center for Global Analyses, which provides intelligence to the UN.

"There are a high number of individuals that are currently being targeted by the Taliban and the threat is crystal clear," Christian Nellemann, who heads the group behind the report, told the BBC.

"It is in writing that, unless they give themselves in, the Taliban will arrest and prosecute, interrogate and punish family members on behalf of those individuals."

He warned that anyone on the Taliban's blacklist was in severe danger, and that there could be mass executions.

Foreign powers are continuing efforts to get their nationals out of Afghanistan. A Nato official said on Friday that more than 18,000 people have been evacuated in the last five days from Kabul airport.

Some 6,000 more, among them former interpreters for foreign armed forces, are on standby to be flown out late on Thursday or early Friday.

The aim is to double evacuation efforts over the weekend, the official said.

Outside the airport the situation remains chaotic. The Taliban have been blocking Afghans trying to flee, with one video showing a child being handed to a US soldier.

President Joe Biden, who has come under scathing criticism over what his opponents say is a "shambolic" US withdrawal, is expected to speak on Friday about the evacuation effort.

BBC
Click to expand...

Massive lols.

On one hand these peope (USA/NATO) abandoned them, literally prioritized their dogs over them.

And now they are pushing the hypocrite propaganda of "we cArE about them!".

The corrupt rich elite like Ghanis and co. are long gone.

What a mess.
 
WhenSultansBowled said:
Massive lols.

On one hand these peope (USA/NATO) abandoned them, literally prioritized their dogs over them.

And now they are pushing the hypocrite propaganda of "we cArE about them!".
Click to expand...

The ISAF soldiers who worked with them care. They see the interpreters as comrades.

Some Western politicians don’t care because plenty of their voters don’t want more brown faces on their street.
 
The Royal Air Force has evacuated 963 people from Kabul in the last 24 hours, armed forces minister James Heappey has said, as thousands try to flee Taliban rule.

The defence minister told Sky News that the process of getting individuals out of Afghanistan and to safety is now "fully up to speed" and says he expects the UK government to deliver "similar numbers today, tomorrow and over the days ahead".

==

Ex-Royal Marine sees wife leave Kabul on almost empty plane

A former Royal Marine commando attempting to help people flee Afghanistan's capital Kabul has warned: "We are going to leave so many people behind."

Paul "Pen" Farthing, who has been running an animal shelter in the city, described to Sky News his pre-dawn journey to Kabul airport on Thursday so his wife Kaisa could be evacuated.

She subsequently boarded a C-17 Globemaster military transport aircraft as she made her way to her native Norway, after her previous attempt to catch an evacuation flight saw her being caught in a "stampede" outside the capital's airport.

But Mr Farthing was left fuming at a "scandal" that saw Kaisa fly out of Afghanistan on what appeared to be an almost empty plane.

It comes as thousands of people have congregated outside Kabul airport in a desperate bid to leave Afghanistan, with shocking video showing people attempting to cling to aircraft as they take off.

A number of people have died in the chaos.
 
Last edited:
An Afghan national youth team footballer has died in a fall from a US plane at Kabul airport, a local news agency has said.

Crowds of people seeking to leave Afghanistan have fled to the airport since the Taliban seized the capital on Sunday. In dramatic scenes, some tried to board a moving plane as it prepared to take off.

According to the Ariana football agency, national youth team footballer Zaki Anwari fell from a USAF Boeing C-17 on Monday.

His death has been confirmed by the General Directorate for Sport, the report said.

The report added that the 19-year-old is believed to have died after attempting to hold on to the outside of the American military aircraft.

The US Air Force said on Wednesday it was conducting a review of what happened as Afghan civilians ran alongside and around the aeroplane before it took off from Hamid Karzai International Airport (HKIA).

The C-17 Globemaster, with a callsign Reach 871, was carrying some 640 Afghans, reportedly more than five times its suggested payload, after hundreds of desperate people flooded onto the plane.

A photo showing the Afghan civilians, crouching and crammed up against each other on the floor of the military plane, went viral on social media after Kabul was seized by Taliban insurgents.

US defence officials said the plane took off from the international airport in Afghanistan's capital city with what is believed to be the highest number of people ever flown in the C-17, a military cargo aircraft that has been used by the US and its allies for nearly 30 years.

It touched down safely in Qatar.

In a statement, the Department of the Air Force Office of Special Investigations (OSI) said it was reviewing all available information regarding a C-17 aircraft, as well as the loss of civilian lives.

"In addition to online videos and press reports of people falling from the aircraft on departure, human remains were discovered in the wheel well of the C-17 after it landed at Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar," it said.

OSI said its review will be "thorough to ensure we obtain the facts regarding this tragic incident", adding "our hearts go out to the families of the deceased".

The aircraft had landed in Kabul to deliver a load of equipment to support the evacuation of Afghan and American civilians from Afghanistan, but before the aircrew could offload the cargo, it was surrounded by hundreds of Afghan civilians who had breached the airport perimeter.

The air force said its crew decided to depart the airfield as quickly as possible due to the rapidly deteriorating situation around the aircraft.

At least five people were killed during chaos on the ground, with US troops firing into the air to deter people trying to force their way onto flights evacuating diplomats and embassy staff.

https://www.skysports.com/football/...wari-dies-in-fall-from-plane-at-kabul-airport
 
The United States on Saturday urged its citizens in Afghanistan to avoid traveling to the Kabul airport for now, citing “potential security threats” near its gates.

The warning, posted on the website of the US Embassy in Afghanistan and tweeted by the State Department in Washington, provided no detail on the nature of the threat.

But conditions outside Hamid Karzai International Airport have been chaotic amid the crush of people hoping to flee the Afghan Taliban takeover of the country.

As thousands of Americans and Afghans wait in the airport for flights or gather outside its gates, there have been “sporadic” reports, confirmed by the Pentagon, of Taliban fighters beating and harassing people trying to flee.

“Because of potential security threats outside the gates at the Kabul airport, we are advising US citizens to avoid traveling to the airport and to avoid airport gates at this time unless you receive individual instructions from a US government representative to do so,” the US embassy alert said.

17,000 evacuated

Underlining the threat that the White House sees in the unfolding chaos — and likely also due to concern over a hurricane approaching the US northeast — President Joe Biden canceled a planned trip home to Delaware on Saturday.

Pentagon officials, speaking not long after the warning was issued, declined to offer details of the threat, merely saying they were continuing to process people reaching the airport gates.

“There has been no reported change to the current enemy situation in and around the airport at this time,” Major General Hank Taylor said.

He said 17,000 people had been evacuated since the operation began on August 14, with many flown first to Qatar or Kuwait. The total included 2,500 Americans.

In the past 24 hours, Taylor said, six military C-17 planes and 32 charter flights had departed the Kabul airport, carrying 3,800 people.

Taylor said three flights had already reached Dulles International Airport outside Washington, adding that Afghan citizens were being sent on to the Fort Bliss army base in western Texas for processing.

The United States hopes to evacuate a total of 30,000 Americans and Afghan civilians.

On Friday, the US military sent helicopters to rescue over 150 Americans unable to reach the airport gates, an official said.

That was the first evidence that US forces were willing and able to go beyond the US-secured compound to help people seeking evacuation.

American officials earlier confirmed that evacuation operations from Afghanistan had stalled for about seven hours on Friday, because a receiving base in Qatar was overflowing.

Biden has promised to help any American in Afghanistan seeking to evacuate, saying, “Any American who wants to come home, we will get you home.”

But he has admitted that the presence of thousands of US soldiers at the airport does not guarantee safe passage to that vast compound.
 
The US has warned its citizens to avoid Kabul airport amid concerns about the potential for attacks by Afghanistan's branch of the Islamic State (IS) group.

A security alert on Saturday told US citizens to stay away due to possible "security threats outside the gates".

Only those individually told to make the journey by a US government representative should do so, it said.

US defence officials said they were monitoring developments and looking at alternative routes.

No further details were given about the potential threat of an IS attack, and the group has not publicly threatened to carry out attacks in Kabul.

The US advice on Saturday came amid continued chaos outside the airport terminal and reports of people being crushed as thousands attempt to escape from Afghanistan following the Taliban takeover.

The militant group swept across the country and captured the capital, Kabul, a week ago.

Crowds have been gathering daily, hoping to be allowed on to a flight. Those who work with the US and its allies, as well as people who have campaigned on issues like human rights, fear they may face reprisals at the hands of the Taliban if they are unable to leave.

What exactly has been happening at the airport gates on Saturday remains unclear.

However, Sky News' chief correspondent Stuart Ramsay said that people at the front of the crowd of thousands were being "crushed to death", with British soldiers pulling those in danger from the throng.

He has described it as "the worst day by far", and said they believed people had died at the scene.

In a briefing on Saturday, the US Department of Defense said 17,000 people had been flown out of the airport, including some 2,500 US citizens.

An official said a "small number" of Americans and Afghans the US wanted to evacuate had faced harassment. In some cases, they had been beaten on their way to the airport.

A spokesperson for the US State Department later told the BBC they issued the guidance to avoid large crowds outside the airport gates.

It is also because they now have the capacity to communicate with US citizens "on a personalised basis", to give them "tailored instructions" on how to travel, the spokesperson said.

Other countries have also warned about the situation on the ground.

Germany's government issued a statement saying the airport remains "extremely dangerous and access to the airport is often not possible", while the Swiss foreign ministry announced the security situation had "deteriorated significantly in the last few hours" and postponed a chartered evacuation flight from Kabul.

US forces are currently controlling the international airport. They are helping to evacuate their own citizens and those of other countries, including Afghans who worked with Western forces and fear for their safety under the Taliban.

But the US has set a withdrawal date of 31 August for their troops, and it is unclear what will happen after this date.

BBC
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Safe now ⁦<a href="https://twitter.com/Kabulairport?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Kabulairport</a>⁩ <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ourAfghanfriends?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ourAfghanfriends</a> <a href="https://t.co/e4GitIlDGN">pic.twitter.com/e4GitIlDGN</a></p>— David Martinon (@david_martinon) <a href="https://twitter.com/david_martinon/status/1429194647599988743?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 21, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
 
A panicked crush of people trying to enter Kabul’s international airport killed seven Afghan civilians in the crowds, the British military said on Sunday, showing the danger still posed to those trying to flee the Taliban’s takeover of the country.

On Sunday, the British military acknowledged the deaths of seven civilians in the crowds in Kabul. There have been stampedes and crushing injuries in the crowds, especially as Taliban fighters fire into the air to drive away those desperate to get on any flight out of the country.

“Conditions on the ground remain extremely challenging but we are doing everything we can to manage the situation as safely and securely as possible,” the defence ministry said in a statement.

Thousands rushed the airport last Monday in the chaos that saw the US try to clear off the runway with low-flying attack helicopters. Several Afghans plunged to their deaths while hanging off the side of a US military cargo plane. It’s been difficult to know the full scale of the deaths and injuries from the chaos.

The Biden administration is considering calling on US commercial airlines to provide planes and crews to assist in transporting Afghan refugees once they are evacuated from their country by military aircraft.

Under the voluntary Civil Reserve Air Fleet programme, civilian airlines add to military aircraft capability during a crisis related to national defence. That programme was born in the wake of the Berlin airlift.

The US Transportation Command said on Saturday it had issued a warning order to US carriers on Friday night on the possible activation of the programme. If called upon, commercial airlines would transport evacuees from way stations outside Afghanistan to another country or from Virginia’s Dulles International Airport to US military bases.

Mullah Baradar arrives in Kabul
Meanwhile, the Taliban’s top political leader arrived in Kabul for talks on forming a new government.

The presence of Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, who returned to Kandahar earlier this week from Qatar, was confirmed by a Taliban official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to talk to the news media.

Baradar negotiated the 2020 peace deal with the US, and he is now expected to play a key role in negotiations between the Taliban and officials from the Afghan government that the group deposed.

Afghan officials familiar with talks held in the capital say the Taliban have said they will not make announcements on their government until the August 31 deadline for the US troop withdrawal passes.

Abdullah Abdullah, a senior official in the ousted government, tweeted that he and ex-President Hamid Karzai met on Saturday with the Taliban’s acting governor for Kabul, who “assured us that he would do everything possible for the security of the people” of the city.

Looming IS threat
Sunday's deaths come as a new, perceived threat from the Islamic State (IS) group affiliate in Afghanistan is forcing the US military to develop new ways to get evacuees to the airport in Kabul, a senior US official said on Saturday, adding a new complication to the already chaotic efforts to get people out of the country.

The official said that small groups of Americans and possibly other civilians will be given specific instructions on what to do, including movement to transit points where they can be gathered up by the military. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss military operations.

Other measures in face of the potential IS threat include US military planes doing rapid, diving combat landings at the airport surrounded by Taliban fighters. Other aircraft have shot off flares on takeoff, an effort to confuse possible heat-seeking missiles targeting the planes.

Officials declined to provide more specifics about the IS threat but described it as significant. They said there have been no confirmed attacks as yet by the militants, who have battled the Taliban in the past.

The changes come as the US Embassy issued a new security warning on Saturday telling citizens not to travel to the Kabul airport without individual instruction from a US government representative.

Time is running out ahead of President Joe Biden’s August 31 deadline to withdraw most remaining US troops.

In his remarks on the situation on Friday, he did not commit to extending it, though he did issue a new pledge to evacuate not only all Americans in Afghanistan but also the tens of thousands of Afghans who have aided the war effort since September 11, 2001. That promise would dramatically expand the number of people the US evacuates.

Biden faces growing criticism as videos depict pandemonium and occasional violence outside the airport, and as vulnerable Afghans who fear the Taliban’s retaliation send desperate pleas not to be left behind.

The Islamic State group — which has long declared a desire to attack America and US interests abroad — has been active in Afghanistan for a number of years, carrying out waves of horrific attacks, mostly on the Shia minority.

The group has been repeatedly targeted by US airstrikes in recent years, as well as Taliban attacks. But officials say fragments of the group are still active in Afghanistan, and the US is concerned about it reconstituting in a larger way as the country comes under divisive Taliban rule.

Continued crowding at Kabul airport
Despite the US Embassy warning, crowds remain outside the Kabul airport’s concrete barriers, clutching documents and sometimes stunned-looking children, blocked from flight by coils of razor wire.

Evacuations continued, though some outgoing flights were far from full because of the airport chaos.

The German military said in a tweet that one plane left Kabul on Saturday with 205 evacuees, while a second aircraft carried only 20. The Italian Defense Ministry announced the evacuation on Saturday of 211 Afghans, which it said brought to 2,100 the number of Afghan workers at Italian missions and their families who have been safely evacuated.

On Friday, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said around 1,000 people a day were being evacuated amid a “stabilisation” at the airport. But on Saturday, a former Royal Marine-turned charity director in Afghanistan said the situation was getting worse, not better.

“We can’t leave the country because we can’t get into the airport without putting our lives at risk,” Paul Farthing told BBC radio.

Army Major General Hank Taylor, Joint Staff deputy director for regional operations, told Pentagon reporters on Saturday that the US has evacuated 17,000 people through the Kabul airport since Aug 15. About 2,500 have been Americans, he said.

US officials have estimated there are as many as 15,000 Americans in Afghanistan, but acknowledge they don’t have solid numbers.

In the past day, about 3,800 civilians were evacuated from Afghanistan through a combination of US military and charter flights, Taylor said. Three flights of Afghan evacuees have arrived at Dulles International Airport outside Washington, DC.

The evacuations have been hampered by screening and logistical strains at way stations such as al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar. US officials said they have limited numbers of screeners, and they are struggling to work through glitches in the vetting systems.

Taylor said that the Kabul airport remains open and that Americans continue to be processed if they get to the gates, but he and Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said the threat picture changes by the hour.

“We know that we’re fighting against both time and space,” Kirby said. “That’s the race we’re in right now.”

So far, 13 countries have agreed to host at-risk Afghans at least temporarily, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said. Another 12 have agreed to serve as transit points for evacuees, including Americans and others.

“We are tired. We are happy. We are now in a safe country,” one Afghan man said upon arrival in Italy with 79 fellow citizens, speaking in a video distributed by that country’s defence ministry.

But the growing question for many other Afghans is, where will they finally call home? Already, European leaders who fear a repeat of the 2015 migration crisis are signalling that fleeing Afghans who didn’t help Western forces during the war should stay in neighbouring countries instead.

Remaining in Afghanistan means adapting to life under the Taliban, who say they seek an “inclusive, Islamic” government, will offer full amnesty to those who worked for the US and the Western-backed government and have become more moderate since they last held power from 1996 to 2001. They also have said — without elaborating — that they will honour women’s rights within the norms of Islamic law.

But many Afghans fear a return to the Taliban’s harsh rule in the late 1990s, when the group barred women from attending school or working outside the home, banned television and music, chopped off the hands of suspected thieves and held public executions.

“Today, some of my friends went to work at the court and the Taliban didn’t let them into their offices. They showed their guns and said, ‘You’re not eligible to work in this government if you worked in the past one,’” one women’s activist in Kabul told The Associated Press on Saturday. She spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation.

With a Turkish visa but no way to safely reach the airport, the activist described the gap between the Taliban’s words and actions as “very alarming.”
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">⚠️ Seen these photos apparently showing Afghans leaving the country on a US military plane? ❌<br><br>Both pictures have circulated online since November 2013, when US forces evacuated people in the Philippines after Typhoon Haiyan <a href="https://t.co/oRDrNf18tS">https://t.co/oRDrNf18tS</a> <a href="https://t.co/e3urc8zSDL">pic.twitter.com/e3urc8zSDL</a></p>— AFP Fact Check &#55357;&#56590; (@AFPFactCheck) <a href="https://twitter.com/AFPFactCheck/status/1429294635122184199?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 22, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

--

So much propaganda.
 
General Lord Richards, who was Chief of the Defence Staff and commanded international forces in Afghanistan when the mission was expanded in 2006, has called for troops to stay beyond the 31 August deadline to help evacuations.

Asked if such a move would save lives, he told BBC Radio 4’s Broadcasting House programme: "Yes. There’s no doubt about it."

Tens of thousands of people are still waiting to be evacuated from Afghanistan ahead of the looming 31 August deadline for the withdrawal of US troops.

Gen Richard says that what is needed now is a "UN multilateral humanitarian intervention operation" that is implemented "quickly".

"On this one, I think there might be an international consensus and the Taliban ironically might well welcome it, because the alternative is some very bad headlines come 1 September when we see starving Afghans and worse potentially, simply because they don’t have the capacity to deal with it."

He added there was a "whole world out there" beyond Kabul airport that international forces needed to be able to get to, which would only be achieved with the Taliban's consent and a properly coordinated international strategy.
 
This Taliban spokesperson is very logical and pragmatic:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Taliban knows Iranians better than themselves:<br><br>Taliban spokesman: If US announces right now in any country in the world that its planes will take people to America, wouldn't people rush to get on board?<br>Iranian TV presenter: Iranians wouldn't do so.<br>Taliban: I'm sure they will. <a href="https://t.co/VvyRSzkp0w">pic.twitter.com/VvyRSzkp0w</a></p>— Reza Khaasteh (@Khaaasteh) <a href="https://twitter.com/Khaaasteh/status/1429436633515020291?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 22, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

What if USA did it in Pakistan? I am 99.99% sure most Pakistanis will jump on airplanes and flee. I know I would if I were living in Pak! :D
 
Last edited:
High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of EU Josep Borrell Fontelles :

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Exchanged views on situation in Afghanistan in good phone conversation with with Pakistani Foreign Minister <a href="https://twitter.com/SMQureshiPTI?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SMQureshiPTI</a>. <br><br>We will continue to work jointly on current challenges on the ground and on the way forward.</p>— Josep Borrell Fontelles (@JosepBorrellF) <a href="https://twitter.com/JosepBorrellF/status/1429454270433304589?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 22, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Glad that the EU is breaking the ice, slowly and steadily!
 
WhenSultansBowled said:
This Taliban spokesperson is very logical and pragmatic:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Taliban knows Iranians better than themselves:<br><br>Taliban spokesman: If US announces right now in any country in the world that its planes will take people to America, wouldn't people rush to get on board?<br>Iranian TV presenter: Iranians wouldn't do so.<br>Taliban: I'm sure they will. <a href="https://t.co/VvyRSzkp0w">pic.twitter.com/VvyRSzkp0w</a></p>— Reza Khaasteh (@Khaaasteh) <a href="https://twitter.com/Khaaasteh/status/1429436633515020291?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 22, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

What if USA did it in Pakistan? I am 99.99% sure most Pakistanis will jump on airplanes and flee. I know I would if I were living in Pak! :D
Click to expand...

A key point being missed is that thousands of afghan refugees are leaving pakistan FOR Afghanistan. As many want to go to America, many more want to go to Afghanistan too.
 
Cpt. Rishwat said:
How would that work? I can't imagine that many interpreters or other helpers on the frontlines were women or girls. What is the likelihood of women coming alone without their families?

Personally I think we are doing more than enough accepting 20,000 refugees, even that is too many. Britain is a crowded country, we didn't chuck out Europeans so we could bring in Afghans who might well fail to show any gratitude in any case.
Click to expand...

Nah, bring them all I say, whole bleeding lot of them, throw in some Iraqi migrants in for good measure and boot out the tories! #MigrantsInToriesOut
 
An Afghan man who worked as an interpreter for the British army has said that he is "in hell" waiting to be evacuated from Afghanistan.

The man said colleagues who also worked as interpreters had already faced warnings from the Taliban.

He said the reason they were suffering is because they had worked for the British army.

He added he had been queuing at the airport with his wife and four-month-old daughter for more than 24 hours.

The interpreter is one of thousands of people said to be waiting to board flights at Kabul's international airport, just over a week after the Taliban seized the capital.

The UK is working with US forces to evacuate people before the 31 August deadline when US forces say they will withdraw.

"You are waiting 14, 15 hours without water, without food," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme, "you can see lots of people over here, thousands of people".

"There is no way for us to go in and ask someone. I'm actually trying to find somebody from [the] British embassy just to ask them what's happening with us."

"I'm always sending emails, tens of emails, and I asked them please help us. And they just sent me one email back, that we should wait. I don't know what to do."

The man, who cannot be named for security reasons, said the heat was becoming unbearable for them, with temperatures reaching 40C.

"[My daughter] is just four months old. She's just four months old," he said. "She is screaming, crying, she is very uncomfortable. And what to say?"

"Some of my friends have already faced many issues, like they have already got warnings from Taliban. Some people came [to the] door for us, and they asked about us.

"There's hundreds of other interpreters, their lives are in danger. And their futures are very uncertain. And I think we are in a hell."

Armed Forces minister James Heappey told BBC Breakfast that 6,631 people had been evacuated from Afghanistan in the past week, and that nine flights were planned for a 24-hour period.

Afghan interpreters and others who worked for the UK government can come to the UK as part of the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP).

But the man who spoke to the BBC is one of those still waiting. Mr Heappey said more than 2,000 Afghans were still due to be evacuated under the scheme.

Pleading directly to the British authorities, the interpreter said: "I was with you everywhere, I was with you in a very dangerous zone.

"I don't want food from them, I don't want a shelter from them, I just want them to take me out of this hell, please."

BBC
 
Ukraine on Tuesday issued a denial after earlier stating that a plane for evacuating Ukrainian citizens from Afghanistan was hijacked by unidentified people who flew it into Iran.

According to Kiev-based news agency Interfax-Ukraine, Ukraine's foreign ministry denied the reports saying: "There are no hijacked Ukrainian planes in Kabul or anywhere else. The information about the hijacked plane, which is being circulated by some media outlets, does not correspond to reality."

It further quoted Oleg Nikolenko, spokesperson of the foreign ministry, as saying that all planes that had left for evacuation from Afghanistan had returned safely, adding that 256 people had been evacuated so far in three flights.

Earlier, Russian News Agency TASS* quoted Ukraine's deputy foreign minister, Yevgeny Yenin, as saying that a Ukrainian plane that reached Afghanistan on Tuesday to evacuate Ukrainian citizens was hijacked by unidentified people who flew it into Iran.
 
Boris Johnson dodges question about failing to secure more time for evacuations

Speaking following the meeting of G7 leaders, the prime minister has said the UK will continue to evacuate people from Afghanistan "right up until the last moment that we can".

But asked by Sky's deputy political editor Sam Coates whether he had secured more time for evacuation efforts, Mr Johnson largely dodged the question - suggesting he had not managed to push back the US president on his withdrawal date.

Mr Johnson had been expected to urge Mr Biden to move back his planned withdrawal date beyond 31 August to allow more time for evacuations.

He said an "extraordinary airlift" meant 9,000 people had been taken out of Kabul by UK forces so far, but he warned the situation at the airport is "not getting any better".

He also pointed to comments from the US president and the Taliban suggesting an extension to the withdrawal date would not be on the cards.

"So you failed," Coates said - something the prime minister did not deny.

SKY
 
G7 leaders 'agreed roadmap for future engagement with the Taliban', says PM

Boris Johnson has acknowledged leaders are now in a "very difficult situation" as they try to engage and cooperate with the Taliban.

However, he said the G7 has "huge leverage" and will come together to secure the best possible outcome.

"We want to help with the humanitarian crisis, the difficulties that people in Afghanistan and people fleeing Afghanistan are going to experience," he said.

Ever a fan of a "roadmap", Mr Johnson said the G7 had agreed on a "roadmap for future engagement with the Taliban".

He said leaders were committed to making sure girls can still be educated in Afghanistan, people will be allowed safe passage out of the country and it will not become a haven for terrorism.
 
US President Joe Biden says the US is "on pace" to meet a 31 August deadline for evacuations, despite previous calls from allies for an extension.

"The sooner we finish the better," he said. Some American troops have already been withdrawn, US media report - although evacuations are not affected.

At least 70,700 people have been airlifted from Kabul, which fell to the Taliban nine days ago.

The militants have opposed any extension to the evacuation deadline.

President Biden said: "The Taliban have been taking steps to help get our people out," adding that the international community would judge the Taliban by their actions.

"None of us are going to take the Taliban's word for it," he added.

Mr Biden said the airlift had to come to end soon because of an increasing threat from the Islamic State group in Afghanistan.

US fears risk of Islamic State attack in Kabul
The longer the US stayed in the country, he said, there was an "acute and growing risk of an attack" by the group.

In other developments:

The World Bank halted funding for projects in Afghanistan. It cited concerns over how the Taliban's takeover would impact the country's development prospects, especially for women
The World Health Organization warned there were only enough medical supplies in Afghanistan to last a week. It said attempts to deliver medical supplies had been blocked due to restrictions at Kabul airport
Accommodation website AirBnB promised to provide temporary lodging for 20,000 refugees at no charge to help them resettle across the world
Russia is to use four planes to evacuate more than 500 people, both its own citizens and citizens of other ex-Soviet states, from Afghanistan

BBC
 
The UK's evacuation flights from Afghanistan may have to stop this week after Boris Johnson failed to secure an extension to a US deadline for all western forces to leave.

The Guardian newspaper reported late on Tuesday that the last Royal Air Force aircraft carrying Afghans to safety from Kabul airport could even be in the next "24 to 36 hours".

But defence sources described the timeline as speculative and said it was not "set in stone".

Still, a team of more than 1,000 British troops and diplomats running Britain's evacuation mission on the ground will need a period of time to pack up their equipment and depart ahead of the final US exit date of 31 August - next Tuesday.
 
As many as 1,500 American citizens may still need to be evacuated from Afghanistan and the Taliban have pledged to allow some departures after US troops leave the country on August 31, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday.

Blinken told reporters that at least 4,500 American citizens of the 6,000 Americans who wanted to leave Afghanistan have departed.

He said officials have been in "direct contact" with another 500 Americans who want to leave and have provided them with "specific instructions on how to get to the airport safely."

Officials were "aggressively reaching out" to the remaining 1,000 Americans to "determine whether they still want to leave," he said.

"Some may no longer be in the country," Blinken said. "Some may have claimed to be Americans but turn out not to be. Some may choose to stay."

"Of the approximately 1,000, we believe the number of Americans actively seeking assistance to leave Afghanistan is significantly lower," he said.

The US secretary of state also said the Taliban has agreed to allow Americans and "at-risk" Afghan nationals to leave after the August 31 date set by President Joe Biden for a full withdrawal of US troops.

READ Internal UN document says Taliban threatened, beat staff

"The Taliban have made public and private commitments to provide and permit safe passage for Americans, for third country nationals and for Afghans at risk going forward past August 31," he said.

"They have a responsibility to hold to that commitment and provide safe passage for anyone who wishes to leave the country, not just for the duration of our evacuation relocation mission but for every day thereafter."

Asked what is being done to keep Kabul airport functioning after US troops leave, Blinken said that regional countries were looking into "whether they can play a role in keeping the airport open."

"The Taliban have made clear that they have a strong interest in having a functioning airport," he said.

Asked about future relations with the Taliban, Blinken said the United States "will judge our engagement with any Taliban-led government in Afghanistan based on one simple proposition -- our interests."

"The nature of any relationship depends on the actions and conduct of the Taliban," he said, citing a need for the fundamentalist Islamic group to "uphold the basic rights of the Afghan people" and not allow the country to be used "as a launching pad for terrorist attacks."

"If it makes good on its commitments to allow people who want to leave Afghanistan to leave, that's a government we can work with," he said.

"If it doesn't, we will make sure that we use every appropriate tool at our disposal to isolate that government and, as I said before, Afghanistan will be a pariah."



https://tribune.com.pk/story/231720...at-risk-afghans-to-leave-after-aug-31-blinken
 
The “overwhelming majority” of people eligible for evacuation from Kabul airport have now left Afghanistan, Boris Johnson said, as he promised the UK government will do "everything we can" to get those remaining out of the country.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday morning, the prime minister said "around 15,000" people have already been evacuated by British troops but conceded that time is running out.

It comes amid warnings that a "very lethal" terror attack could occur at the airport in a matter of hours.

"In the time we have left, which may be - as I'm sure everybody can appreciate - quite short, we'll do everything we can to get everybody else," he said.

Speaking of the airlift operation, the PM added: "We are coming now to the end of this phase in any event."
 
Boris Johnson says UK will continue evacuations in Kabul after attack

Describing the attack in Kabul as "barbaric", the prime minister says the UK will continue its operation but is coming "to the end of it".

He says the "overwhelming majority" of people have already been evacuated and it has been a "totally phenomenal effort".

The evacuation operation should be "as fast and efficient as possible" following the attack, he says, and will "continue until the last moment".

Mr Johnson also says he believes the Taliban will continue allowing people to leave Afghanistan after the planned withdrawal date of 31 August.

He says the UK will continue with its evacuation programme "according to the timetable we've got".

The PM condemns the "opportunistic terrorist attacks" and thinks they are "despicable".

Asked who he thinks was behind the attack, the prime minister refuses to comment but suggests the Taliban was not to blame as "almost certainly" members of their group were killed in the attack.
 
President Joe Biden says the US airlift from Kabul will continue despite a jihadist attack that killed over 90 people including 13 US service members.

"We must complete this mission and we will," he said. He also vowed to hunt down the perpetrators.

More than 100,000 people have been evacuated from Afghanistan, which fell to the Taliban on 15 August.

But many more Afghans have been rushing to the airport ahead of the 31 August deadline for US forces to leave.
 
New Zealand says it was not able to get everybody it wanted out of Afghanistan

New Zealand says it was not able to get everybody it wanted out of Afghanistan before yesterday's blasts in Kabul halted its rescue mission.

On Friday, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said she didn't yet know how many New Zealand citizens, residents or visa holders were left behind.

She said the New Zealand military had gone to great lengths to try and find people in recent days and had been able to fly several hundred people to safety.

"We went to extraordinary efforts to bring home as many as we could who were either New Zealanders or who had supported New Zealand. But the devastating thing is that we weren't able to bring everyone," Ms Ardern said.

"And now, we need to look to see what we can do for those who remain."
 
No one else will be called forward to Kabul airport for evacuation, MoD says

The final hours of evacuation will focus on British nationals and others already who are at the airport awaiting departure, the Ministry of Defence has said.

Visa processing facilities inside the Baron Hotel in Kabul have been closed, in line with an agreed timetable.

A statement said: "The UK's ability to process further cases is now extremely reduced and additional numbers will be limited. No further people will be called forward to the airport for evacuation."

Ben Wallace, defence secretary said: "It is with deep regret that not everyone has been able to be evacuated during this process."

Over 13,000 have been evacuated by UK forces so far.
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">We’ve evacuated more than 12,000 people from Afghanistan and our teams are working hard to make sure they continue to be supported as they rebuild their lives here in the UK. <a href="https://t.co/Y1LqCtd2Hc">pic.twitter.com/Y1LqCtd2Hc</a></p>— UK Prime Minister (@10DowningStreet) <a href="https://twitter.com/10DowningStreet/status/1431166405492322305?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 27, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
 
Italy has finished evacuations - foreign ministry

The last Italian plane has left Kabul with Afghan civilians, Italian diplomats and military officials on board.

Earlier, foreign minister Luigi Di Maio confirmed the last Italian military flight would be leaving today.

Some 4,900 Afghans have been evacuated to Italy so far.
 
Afghanistan: Pen Farthing and animals waiting for transport from Kabul airport, UK government says

A former Royal Marine trying to evacuate animals from Afghanistan has been helped through Kabul airport by UK armed forces and is now waiting for transport, the Ministry of Defence has said.

The government tweeted: "Pen Farthing and his pets were assisted through the system at Kabul airport by the UK Armed Forces. They are currently being supported while he awaits transportation.

"On the direction of the Defence Secretary, clearance for their charter flight has been sponsored by the UK Government."

Sources from the Ministry of Defence told Sky News Mr Farthing has had no preferential treatment and there has been no queue jump or u-turn.

They said: "The Defence Secretary always said we would facilitate a flight. If Pen had done this last Friday, then none of this would have happened."

Mr Farthing has been trying to evacuate some 200 dogs and cats from the country, dubbed Operation Ark.

Responding to Mr Farthing's evacuation, Charlie Herbert, former NATO advisor to the Afghan Ministry, tweeted: "You put his dogs and cats above the ten Afghan families that I've been trying to get into the EHC for the last 72 hours.

"I will never forgive you."

Earlier today, Mr Farthing tweeted he and his team got 300m into the airport grounds on Thursday evening, only to be prevented from travelling due to a change in paperwork rules by the US just hours earlier.

Mr Farthing said the group had been caught up in the chaos of the terror attack that killed British nationals, US troops and Afghan civilians queuing up outside the airport in hope of fleeing the Taliban.

"Went through hell to get there & we were turned away into the chaos of those devastating explosions," the charity worker said on Twitter.

However, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said evacuation efforts have been "diverted" by attempts to rescue Mr Farthing's animals and his supporters have "taken up too much time" of senior commanders who are dealing with the humanitarian crisis.

Mr Wallace used a series of tweets on Thursday to hit out at criticism from Mr Farthing's supporters and condemned "bullying, falsehoods and threatening behaviour" towards Ministry of Defence staff.

The defence secretary, when asked about his tweets, told LBC: "My people were focused for the last two weeks on a humanitarian crisis."

He said he has had to listen to "calls of abuse" to his advisers and officials, based on accusations that someone had blocked a flight.

"No-one blocked a flight," he said.

"Fundamentally, as we have seen on the media, there are desperate, desperate people, and I was not prepared to push those people out of the way for that.

"When people's time is right, they were called forward, and that's the right thing to do. But I hope he comes back, he was advised to come back, his wife came back last Friday, so I hope he does as well."

Mr Wallace said on Friday that Britain's evacuation effort in Kabul has entered its final hours and has largely ended processing new evacuees, with the Baron Hotel processing centre now closed.

https://news.sky.com/story/afghanis...bul-airport-former-royal-marine-says-12391960
 
US troops have begun their withdrawal from Kabul airport, Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby told reporters on Saturday.

At the briefing, US Army Major General William Taylor said two ISIS-K planners were killed and another wounded in Friday's drone strike in Nangarhar province, eastern Afghanistan.

Western forces running the Afghan airlift braced on Saturday for more attacks after the United States launched a drone strike two days after the group claimed a deadly bombing outside Kabul airport.

Among the 92 killed in Thursday's suicide blast, claimed by Afghanistan's Islamic State affiliate, were 13 US service members, the most lethal incident for US troops in Afghanistan in a decade.

"Initial indications are that we killed the target. We know of no civilian casualties," the US military said in a statement earlier in the day, referring to the overnight drone strike.

The White House said the next few days are likely to be the most dangerous of the US evacuation operation that the Pentagon said has taken about 111,000 people out of Afghanistan in the past two weeks

Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby said the United States believes there are still "specific, credible" threats against the airport after the bombing at one of its gates.

Express Tribune
 
The Taliban has asked Turkey to run Kabul airport providing it retains control of security there, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said.

"What does the Taliban say with regard to the airport issue? They say 'give us the security but you operate it'," he said in comments published by the official Andalou news agency.

"How come we hand you over the security? Let's say you took over the security, but how would we explain to the world if another bloodbath took place there? It's not an easy job."

He added that he would make a decision about whether or not Turkey could run the airport "once calm prevails".

However it has seemed less and less likely that Turkey will agree to do so since Wednesday, when it began to withdraw its approximately 500 non-combat troops from Afghanistan.
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">A US Military plane has landed at Islamabad Airport carrying US soldiers who will be accommodated in different hotels of Islamabad, per local media reports. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Afghanistan?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Afghanistan</a> <a href="https://t.co/mu7rp1P3eU">pic.twitter.com/mu7rp1P3eU</a></p>— Anas Mallick (@AnasMallick) <a href="https://twitter.com/AnasMallick/status/1432013909461016580?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 29, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Serve 'em some proper tea! :))
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Denmark has evacuated 988 Danes, Afghans, families, children, human rights defenders out of Kabul to Denmark joining hands w Islamabad International Airport &#55356;&#56821;&#55356;&#56816;The air bridge is now closed but we continue the evacuation effort. Denmark remains determined to stand up for our values <a href="https://t.co/Jq74fr47Ba">pic.twitter.com/Jq74fr47Ba</a></p>— Lis Rosenholm &#55357;&#56887; (@DKinPK) <a href="https://twitter.com/DKinPK/status/1431497057387286531?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 28, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
 
The UK is in talks with the Taliban to ensure Britons can safely leave Afghanistan, the government has said.

Its special representative for Afghan transition, Sir Simon Gass, has met senior members of the hardline Islamist group in Doha, Qatar.

They also discussed safe passage for Afghans who have worked with the UK over the last 20 years.
 
KABUL:
Video clips showing US servicemen frantically damaging military vehicles and aircraft at Kabul airport before their evacuation went viral on social media earlier this week. According to Taliban estimates, the Hamid Karzai International Airport has suffered $350 million worth of damage.

The Gulf state of Qatar is working with the Taliban to reopen the airport with latest reports claiming that domestic flight operations have resumed at the facility.

Al-Fatah Brigade, an elite Special Forces unit of the Taliban, was handed the security of the airport Friday evening at a modest ceremony where the spokesperson for Logar province, Akif Mohajir, spoke to media persons informally.

“The US forces intentionally wrecked the airport equipment, their military vehicles and aircraft and other sensitive gadgets,” he said, adding that the Americans used explosives to blow up the items they couldn’t damage beyond use. “Most of the destruction took place at the Salt Hut area where CIA had kept most sensitive intelligence equipment.”

Al-Fatah Brigade has been formally handed the security of Hamid Karzai International Airport less than a week after the last US troops were evacuated from Afghanistan following 20 years of war. A contingent of Al-Fatah Brigade – comprising 70 newly-commissioned commandoes – was deployed to the airport.

During the insurgency, Al-Fatah Brigade was responsible for most daring operations, including suicide bombings and Fidayee attacks. “These special forces personnel had been trained for four months for specialised duties,” Qari Fawad Fateh, the commander of the Al-Fatah Brigade unit, told The Express Tribune at the Kabul airport.

In all, more than 12,000 Taliban guards have been deployed at the airport which has three layers of security, with Al-Fatah Brigade unit forming the last layer. The security of all airports and air strips nationwide has been handed over to Al-Fatah Brigade and Badri Brigades.

Kabul airport damages

The Taliban took full control of the airport on August 31, 2021, after the last US planes carrying military personnel and evacuees took off from the facility. Video clips showed Taliban fighters walking through hangars, inspecting damaged aircraft and equipment including helicopters, warplanes and armoured vehicles that American troops rendered unusable before they left.

According to rough estimates, the US military likely abandoned tens of millions of dollars’ worth of aircraft, armoured vehicles and sophisticated defensive systems in the rush to exit Kabul safely. Marine General Kenneth McKenzie, head of US Central Command, said some of the equipment had been “demilitarised”, essentially rendered inoperable.

US troops probably used thermate grenades, which burn at temperatures of 4,000 degrees Celsius, to destroy key components of the equipment, according to a defence department official who was not authorised to speak publicly.

The items at the Kabul airport, according to General McKenzie, include 70 MRAPs, or Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles, 27 Humvees, 73 aircraft, and an unspecified number of counter-rocket, artillery and mortar systems, which the Taliban are now parading as trophies of their long fight to retake their country.

While hectic efforts are ongoing to put the airport back into operations, the facility is littered with heap of unusable military garbage aside from the destroyed equipment. The Qassaba entrance to the airport and the nearby storm drain was filled with sandals, torn off clothes and other things which was the reminiscent of the chaos sparked by the hasty US exit and its evacuation of Afghans who support the Americans during 20 years of war.

Interestingly, the Taliban took over Kabul without firing a single bullet and announced general amnesty, yet crowds of Afghan nationals overwhelmed the airport in an attempt to find a seat on US military planes to get out of Afghanistan.

Taliban officials say the chaos was created because the common Afghans saw the American announcement as an opportunity to get out of Afghanistan and settle in the West.

With additional input from News Desk
 
-Two hundred foreigners in Afghanistan, Americans among them, are set to depart on charter flights from Kabul on Thursday after the new Taliban government agreed to their evacuation, a U.S. official said.

The departures will be among the first international flights to take off from Kabul airport since the Islamist militia seized the capital in mid-August, triggering the chaotic U.S.-led evacuation of 124,000 foreigners and at-risk Afghans.

The flights come two days after the Taliban announced an interim government made up of mainly ethnic Pashtun men, including wanted terror suspects and Islamist hardliners, dashing international hopes for a more moderate administration.

The Taliban were pressed to allow the departures by U.S. Special Representative Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. official said, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity.

The official could not say whether the American civilians and other foreign nationals were among people stranded for days in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif because their private charters had not been allowed to depart.

The announcement of a new government on Tuesday was widely seen as a signal the Taliban were not looking to broaden their base and present a more tolerant face to the world, as they had earlier suggested they would do.

All of the ministers are men, and nearly all are Pashtuns, the ethnic group that predominates in the Taliban’s southern Afgan heartland but accounts for less than half the country’s population.

Foreign countries greeted the interim government with caution and dismay on Wednesday. In Kabul, dozens of women took to the streets in protest and several journalists covering the demonstration said Taliban fighters detained and beat them.

The new Taliban Interior Ministry later said that to avoid disturbances and security problems, anyone holding a demonstration should apply for permission 24 hours in advance.

Protests by both women and men were being curtailed because there was a security threat from Islamic State fighters, said a Taliban minister who declined to be identified. Any attack on journalists would be investigated, he said.

QUESTIONSOVERRECOGNITION

Many critics called on the leadership to respect basic human rights and revive the economy, which faces collapse amid steep inflation, food shortages and the prospect of foreign aid being slashed as countries seek to isolate the Taliban.

The Taliban government wanted to engage with regional and Western governments and to work with international aid organisations, the Taliban minister said.

But White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said no one in the Biden administration “would suggest that the Taliban are respected and valued members of the global community”.

The European Union voiced its disapproval https://www.reuters.com/world/eu-ready-continue-afghanistan-aid-watching-new-government-2021-09-08 at the appointments. It was ready to continue emergency humanitarian assistance, but longer-term development aid would depend on the Taliban upholding basic freedoms.

Saudi Arabia expressed hope https://www.reuters.com/world/middl...nment-can-bring-stability-minister-2021-09-08 the new government would help Afghanistan achieve “security and stability, rejecting violence and extremism”.

Analysts said the make-up of the cabinet https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-...t-could-hamper-recognition-by-west-2021-09-08 could hamper recognition by Western governments, which will be vital for broader economic engagement.

The new acting Cabinet includes former detainees of the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay. The interior minister, Sirajuddin Haqqani, is wanted by the United States on terrorism charges and carries a reward of $10 million, while his uncle, with a bounty of $5 million, is the minister for refugees and repatriation.

NOTCRICKET

U.S. Central Intelligence Agency director William Burns discussed Afghanistan in talks in Pakistan with army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa and military intelligence head Lieutenant General Faiz Hameed, Pakistan’s military said.

Afghanistan’s ousted U.S.-backed government for years accused Pakistan of supporting the Taliban. While officially denying that, Pakistan has long seen the Taliban as its best option for minimising the influence of old rival India in Afghanistan.

The last time the Taliban ruled Afghanistan, from 1996 to 2001, women and girls were banned from work and education. The group carried out public executions and its religious police enforced a radical interpretation of Islamic law.

Taliban leaders have pledged to respect people’s rights, including those of women, in accordance with sharia Islamic law, but have yet to provide details of the rules they intend to enforce. Afghans who have won greater freedoms over the past two decades fear losing them.

In an interview with Australia’s SBS News, a senior Taliban official said women would not be allowed to play cricket – a popular sport in Afghanistan – or possibly any other sport because it was “not necessary” and their bodies might be exposed.

Australia’s cricket board said it would scrap a planned test match against the Afghanistan men’s team if the Taliban did not allow women to play.

https://www.euronews.com/2021/09/10/us-afghanistan-conflict
 
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) will resume flights from Islamabad to Kabul next week, a spokesman told AFP Saturday, becoming the first foreign commercial service since the Taliban seized power last month.

Kabul airport was severely damaged during a chaotic evacuation of over 120,000 people that ended with the withdrawal of US forces on August 30. The Taliban have been scrambling to get it operating again with Qatari technical assistance.
 
Armed police have arrested an Afghan special forces commando at a hotel in Manchester, according to reports.

The commando is said to have been in quarantine with his family after arriving on an evacuation flight from Kabul.

He was arrested in a pre-dawn raid on or around 31 August and is being held under immigration powers, according to multiple media reports. An investigation is said to be underway and the individual is believed to still be in detention.

A source with knowledge of the case told Sky News the commando had arrived with his family during a British evacuation flight in August. The reason for his arrest is not yet clear.

Police can hold a suspect for up to 96 hours without charge if suspected of a serious crime, but this rises to two weeks without charge if a suspect is arrested under terrorism legislation.

The individual was reportedly placed in a hotel for their period of coronavirus quarantine, as Afghanistan is on the government’s red list for travel, which requires all arrivals to self-isolate for 10 days in a government-approved quarantine hotel.

Greater Manchester Police referred a query to the Home Office, who declined to comment. A government spokesman said: “We do not comment on individual cases.”

The Ministry of Defence also declined to comment.

The UK has evacuated over 15,000 people, more than 8,300 of whom were British nationals, from Afghanistan since the country fell to the Taliban last month.

Under the government’s Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy (Arap), Afghans who worked with British forces will be allowed to relocate in the UK. However, there are fears that many have been left behind and could face reprisals from the Taliban.

Britain’s last military flight left Kabul on 28 August, ending nearly 20 years of military presence in the country.

On Friday, defence secretary Ben Wallace said that the UK would be prepared to deploy lethal drone strikes in Afghanistan if the Taliban allow terrorists to operate in the country again.

Mr Wallace said: “I’ll do whatever I have to do to protect citizens’ lives and our interests and our allies, when we’re called upon to do so, wherever that may be.”

It comes amid concerns that the country could become a safe haven for terrorists following the Taliban’s takeover. Ken McCallum, the head of MI5, warned there was “no doubt” that the jihadist’s military success would have “heartened and emboldened” extremists.

“Being vigilant to precisely those kinds of risks [is what] my organisation is focused on, along with a range of other threats,” Ken McCallum told BBC Radio 4’s Today show.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/ukne...-at-manchester-hotel/ar-AAOkbor?ocid=msedgntp
 
Afghanistan seeks permission to operate commercial flights to Pakistan

The civil aviation ministry of Afghanistan has requested Pakistan to allow two of its airlines — Ariana Afghan Airlines and Kam Air — to begin commercial flight operations to the neighbouring country.

In a letter, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, sent by the Ministry of Aviation and Transport of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan to Pakistan’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) dated Sep 13, it requested Pakistani authorities to permit air operations of two national carriers of Afghanistan on the basis of the memorandum of understanding signed between the two countries.

The Afghan ministry said its two carriers aimed to commence their scheduled flights and requested the CAA to facilitate the process.

The letter also recalled that the Kabul Airport was damaged by American troops before their withdrawal, however, “By technical assistance of our Qatar Brother, the Airport became operational once again and a notice to airmen (Notam) in this regard issued on 6 September 2021,” said the letter.

Warning from Qatar
Qatar had a day ago warned it would not take responsibility for Kabul airport without "clear" agreements with all involved, including the Taliban, about its operations, according to AFP.

"We need to make sure that everything is addressed very clearly otherwise ... we are not able to take any responsibility of the airport (if) all these things are not addressed," Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani had said at a press briefing.

"Right now the status is still (under) negotiation," he told the presser.

Meanwhile, a Qatari official was on Sep 9 quoted by Reuters as saying the Kabul Airport was about 90 per cent ready for operations but its reopening was planned gradually.

"Flights into Kabul will fly through Pakistan's airspace for the time being because the majority of Afghanistan is still not covered by flight radar," he had said.

Chaos at the airport
The Kabul airport was left inoperable after US-led forces finished a chaotic evacuation of over 120,000 people, and the Taliban have since scrambled to get it operational with technical assistance from Qatar and other nations, according to AFP.

Turbulent scenes were witnessed at the Kabul airport on Aug 16 after thousands rushed the facility following the Taliban's capture the Afghan capital. Several Afghans had plunged to their deaths while hanging off the side of a US military cargo plane that was leaving the airport.

On Aug 26, two suicide bombers and gunmen had attacked crowds of Afghans flocking to Kabul’s airport, transforming a scene of desperation into one of horror in the waning days of airlift for those fleeing the Taliban takeover. The attacks had killed at least169 Afghans and 13 US troops.

The Pakistan Inter*national Airlines (PIA) had on Aug 16 suspended its flights to Afghanistan due to the uncertain security situation in the war-ravaged country and the chaotic scenes prevailing at Kabul airport.

After the situation normalised, the PIA had on Sep 13 run its first commercial flight to Kabul. Prior to it, the national airline was undertaking special flights to evacuate people stranded in the neighbouring country.

A Boeing 777, with flight number PK 6429, departed from Islamabad as a commercial flight chartered by the World Bank, carrying officials from the bank and journalists, airline spokesman Abdullah H. Khan had said.

Qatar Airways had also run a chartered flight from Kabul to Doha on Sept 9, carrying about 113 people.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1646542/afghanistan-seeks-permission-to-operate-commercial-flights-to-pakistan
 
https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/exclusive-baby-lost-chaos-afghanistan-airlift-found-returned-family-after-long-2022-01-08/

An infant boy handed in desperation to a soldier across an airport wall in the chaos of the American evacuation of Afghanistan has been found and was reunited with his relatives in Kabul on Saturday.

The baby, Sohail Ahmadi, was just two months old when he went missing on Aug. 19 as thousands of people rushed to leave Afghanistan as it fell to the Taliban.

Following an exclusive Reuters story published in November with his pictures, the baby was located in Kabul where a 29-year-old taxi driver named Hamid Safi had found him in the airport and took him home to raise as his own.

After more than seven weeks of negotiations and pleas, and ultimately a brief detention by Taliban police, Safi finally handed the child back to his jubilant grandfather and other relatives still in Kabul.

They said they would now seek to have him reunited with his parents and siblings who were evacuated months ago to the United States.

During the tumultuous Afghan evacuation over the summer, Mirza Ali Ahmadi - the boy's father who had worked as a security guard at the U.S. embassy - and his wife Suraya feared their son would get crushed in the crowd as they neared the airport gates en route to a flight to the United States.

Ahmadi told Reuters in early November in his desperation that day, he handed Sohail over the airport wall to a uniformed soldier who he believed to be an American, fully expecting he would soon make it the remaining 5 meters (15 feet) to the entrance to reclaim him.

Just at that moment, Taliban forces pushed the crowd back and it would be another half an hour before Ahmadi, his wife and their four other children were able to get inside.

But by then the baby was nowhere to be found.

Ahmadi said he searched desperately for his son inside the airport and was told by officials that he had likely been taken out of the country separately and could be reunited with them later.

The rest of the family was evacuated - eventually ending up at a military base in Texas. For months they had no idea where their son was.

The case highlights the plight of many parents separated from their children during the hasty evacuation effort and withdrawal of U.S. forces from the country after a 20-year war. With no U.S. embassy in Afghanistan and international organizations overstretched, Afghan refugees have had trouble getting answers on the timing, or possibility, of complex reunifications like this one.

The U.S. Department of Defense, the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security did not respond to requests for comment on Saturday.

On the same day Ahmadi and his family were separated from their baby, Safi had slipped through the Kabul airport gates after giving a ride to his brother's family who were also set to evacuate.

Safi said he found Sohail alone and crying on the ground. After he said he unsuccessfully tried to locate the baby's parents inside, he decided to take the infant home to his wife and children. Safi has three daughters of his own and said his mother's greatest wish before she died was for him to have a son.

In that moment he decided: "I am keeping this baby. If his family is found, I will give him to them. If not, I will raise him myself," he told Reuters in an interview in late November.

Safi told Reuters that he took him to the doctor for a check-up after he was found and quickly incorporated the child into his family. They called the baby Mohammad Abed and posted pictures of all the children together on his Facebook page.

After the Reuters story about the missing child came out, some of Safi's neighbors - who had noticed his return from the airport months earlier with a baby - recognized the photos and posted comments about his whereabouts on a translated version of the article.

Ahmadi asked his relatives still in Afghanistan, including his father-in-law Mohammad Qasem Razawi, 67, who lives in the northeastern province of Badakhshan, to seek out Safi and ask him to return Sohail to the family.

Razawi said he traveled two days and two nights to the capital bearing gifts - including a slaughtered sheep, several pounds of walnuts and clothing - for Safi and his family.

But Safi refused to release Sohail, insisting he also wanted to be evacuated from Afghanistan with his family. Safi's brother, who was evacuated to California, said Safi and his family have no pending applications for U.S. entry.

The baby's family sought help from the Red Cross, which has a stated mission to help reconnect people separated by international crises, but said they received little information from the organization. A spokesperson for the Red Cross said it does not comment on individual cases.

Finally, after feeling they had run out of options, Razawi contacted the local Taliban police to report a kidnapping. Safi told Reuters he denied the allegations to the police and said he was caring for the baby, not kidnapping him.

The complaint was investigated and dismissed and the local police commander told Reuters he helped arrange a settlement, which included an agreement signed with thumbprints by both sides. Razawi said the baby's family in the end agreed to compensate Safi around 100,000 Afghani ($950) for expenses incurred looking after him for five months.

"The grandfather of the baby complained to us and we found Hamid and based on the evidence we had, we recognized the baby," said Hamid Malang, the chief area controller of the local police station. "With both sides in agreement, the baby will be handed over to his grandfather," he said on Saturday.

In the presence of the police, and amid lots of tears, the baby was finally returned to his relatives.

Razawi said Safi and his family were devastated to lose Sohail. "Hamid and his wife were crying, I cried too, but assured them that you both are young, Allah will give you male child. Not one, but several. I thanked both of them for saving the child from the airport," Razawi said.

The baby's parents told Reuters they were overjoyed as they were able to see with their own eyes the reunion over video chat.

"There are celebrations, dance, singing," said Razawi. "It is just like a wedding indeed."

Now Ahmadi and his wife and other children, who in early December were able to move off the military base and resettle in an apartment in Michigan, hope Sohail will soon be brought to the United States.

"We need to get the baby back to his mother and father. This is my only responsibility," his grandfather said. "My wish is that he should return to them."
Click to expand...
 
The "serious systemic failures" of the Afghanistan evacuation by the Foreign Office lowered the UK's global standing, a cross-party group of MPs has said.

A damning report from the Foreign Affairs Committee said Afghan allies and British soldiers were "utterly let down by deep failures of leadership" in the government during the August 2021 evacuation of Afghan translators and others who worked alongside British troops for more than 20 years.

Tom Tugendhat, the Conservative chair of the committee, said those failures have had "huge implications" for the UK as it inspired Vladimir Putin and others "to think that we weren't serious" - which "allowed him to believe that he could attack Ukraine without us reacting".

The committee has called for the head of the Foreign Office, Sir Philip Barton, to resign over the leadership failures that lead to Afghans who were Taliban targets to be left behind during Operation Pitting.

They also said they believe Boris Johnson played a "greater role" in some decisions - including the evacuation of the NOWZAD charity's animals and staff - than has been admitted, due to the lack of "plausible alternative explanation".

Foreign Office (FCDO) officials were "intentionally evasive and often deliberately misleading" in their answers to the committee.

They found important policy decisions were made "through informal, unaccountable means".

The MPs praised the many junior officials who "demonstrated courage and integrity" throughout the inquiry, including two whistleblowers who they said risked their careers to tell the truth.

Those who lead the FCDO "should be ashamed" civil servants of "great integrity felt compelled to risk their careers to bring the situation to light", they said.

PM 'played role in NOWZAD decision'

The committee said it had no criticism of animal charity NOWZAD campaigning to get their animals and staff evacuated but "the same cannot be said for the government".

They said the staff were called forward at the last minute despite not meeting the prioritisation criteria "after a mysterious intervention from elsewhere in government".

"Multiple senior officials believed that the prime minister played a role in this decision," the report said.

"We have yet to be offered a plausible alternative explanation for how it came about."

The government has continually denied the PM played a part in getting the animals and staff evacuated.

Mr Tugendhat said there was a "lack of seriousness in achieving coordination, a lack of clear decision-making, a lack of leadership and a lack of accountability".

The army veteran who spent four years in Afghanistan spoke powerfully about the human, and personal, cost of the decisions.

He told Sky News: "There have been 18,000 people who've been forced from their homes and sought asylum here in the United Kingdom and many thousands of others around the world.

"You know, there are friends who I served alongside, in battle, people who showed enormous courage in protecting and defending British troops in battle, who were rounded up in their homes and killed in the days following that attack. That's only the human cost.

"The diplomatic cost is that people around the world for a while thought that we weren't serious, thought that British values and British allies didn't matter. And that what we fought for and what we stood for, wasn't real."

Lack of leadership inspired Putin

He said the fact the committee could not get straight answers from the FCDO was "really concerning" because those representing the British people should be "straight" with them.

That had ramifications beyond the fall of Kabul, he said and added: "It carried on because it inspired people like Vladimir Putin to think that we weren't serious, and so it allowed him to believe that he could attack Ukraine without us reacting."

Mr Tugendhat said the UK has reacted strongly to the Russian invasion and he thinks the government has "done the right thing" but the implications of the war are having direct impacts on the British people in terms of food and fuel prices.

"That's a direct result of decisions that were taken last August. We need to know what those decisions were and why they were taken," he said.

UK troops 'ran towards explosion' at Kabul airport

A government spokesman said: "Our staff worked tirelessly to evacuate over 15,000 people from Afghanistan within a fortnight. This was the biggest UK mission of its kind in generations and followed months of intensive planning and collaboration between UK government departments. We are still working hard to assist the people of Afghanistan, having already helped over 4,600 individuals to leave the country since the end of the military evacuation.

"We carried out a thorough review to learn lessons from our withdrawal from Afghanistan and have drawn on many of the findings in our response to the conflict in Ukraine including introducing new systems for managing correspondence and increasing senior oversight of our operational and diplomatic response."

SKY
 
A damning new report says the US-led withdrawal from Afghanistan was carried out with no planning, was mired in "chaos and confusion", and ended in "tragic yet avoidable outcomes".

On the first anniversary of the Taliban takeover of Kabul which led to the sudden mass evacuation of thousands of displaced Afghans, Republicans on the US House foreign affairs committee have released a dossier which outlines how they say the operation was handled.

The strongly-worded 121-page report does not hold any punches.

"The choices made in the corridors of power in DC," it says, "led to tragic yet avoidable outcomes: 13 dead service members, American lives still at great risk, increased threats to our homeland security, tarnished standing abroad for years to come, and emboldened enemies across the globe."

It claims President Joe Biden's administration waited until just "hours before the Taliban seized Kabul" to make key evacuation decisions.

"Very little was done to prepare for a Taliban takeover of the country" or for the evacuation, it said.

And it also claimed, despite acknowledging for months that not evacuating them represented a significant security risk, the administration failed to make "any effort to prioritise the evacuation of US-trained Afghan commandos and other elite units who possess sensitive knowledge about US military operations".

Many of those personnel, it went on, "have been forced to seek refuge in Iran where they could be exploited for their information".

The report claims even President Biden's own officials have described the end of the US presence in Afghanistan as a "strategic failure" and "an ugly final phase."

More than 15,000 Afghan and British nationals were evacuated from the city by personnel from the Royal Navy, British Army and Royal Air Force in what Defence Secretary Ben Wallace described as "the largest British evacuation since the Second World War".

In its findings, the committee claims President Biden favoured an unconditional withdrawal from Afghanistan, following consultations with senior US military advisors and allies.

However, it says: "There is ample evidence, including direct testimony from American military leaders and top NATO allies, that they supported a continued conditions-based deployment in Afghanistan."

This meant keeping an advisory and counterterrorism mission in place made up of 2,500 US military personnel along with 6,000 mostly NATO forces.

The report further claims:

• At the height of the evacuation, only 36 American consular officers were on the ground in Kabul, despite needing to process more than 100,000 evacuees

• Some 1,450 Afghan children were evacuated without their parents

• The problems during the evacuation were exacerbated by mixed messages from the State Department to Americans and Afghan allies on the ground, and a lack of proper equipment and personnel at the airport.

President Biden has called the operation an "extraordinary success" that flew more than 124,000 Americans and Afghans to safety and wound up an "endless" war in which some 3,500 US and allied troops, and hundreds of thousands of Afghans died.

At the time, he told the American people: "Last night in Kabul, the United States ended 20 years of war in Afghanistan - the longest war in American history.

The mission was an 'extraordinary success'

"We completed one of the biggest airlifts in history... more than double what most experts thought were possible.

"No nation - no nation has ever done anything like it in all of history. Only the United States had the capacity and the will and the ability to do it, and we did it today.

"The extraordinary success of this mission was due to the incredible skill, bravery, and selfless courage of the United States military and our diplomats and intelligence professionals."

The US House of Representatives' (lower house) foreign affairs committee is made up of 27 Democrats and 24 Republicans, but the report was put together by the 'minority' party only, that is, the Republicans.

SKY
 
The Islamic State group mastermind thought to have planned the devastating 2021 bombing at Kabul airport has been killed by Afghanistan's ruling Taliban, US officials say.

The bombing that August killed 170 civilians and 13 US soldiers as people were trying to flee the country as the Taliban took control.

The IS figure was killed weeks ago but it took time to confirm his death, US officials told BBC news partner CBS

His name has not been released.

US officials said they had determined through intelligence gathering and monitoring of the region that the leader had died, though they did not provide further details on how they had learned that he was responsible for the bombing.

"Experts in the government are at high confidence that this individual… was indeed the key individual responsible," a senior US official told CBS.

According to a report in the New York Times, the US learned of the leader's death in early April. It is unclear whether he was targeted by the Taliban or if he was killed during ongoing fighting between IS and the Taliban, the newspaper reported.

On Monday, the US began notifying families of the soldiers killed about the death of the IS leader.

Darin Hoover, father of Marine Staff Sergeant Taylor Hoover who died in the blast, confirmed to CBS that he had been notified of the news by the Marine Corps. "They could not tell me any details of the operation, but they did state that their sources are highly trusted, and they've got it from several different sources that this individual was indeed killed," Mr Hoover said in an interview on Tuesday.

BBC
 
Afghans promised safe haven in Britain but trapped in Pakistan have been arrested by police amid fears refugees could be returned to the Taliban,The Independent can reveal.

Hundreds of Afghan families, many of whom worked for the British army, have been stranded in Islamabad for months after the UK stopped chartering flights last year and demanded refugees find their own housing in Britain before travelling. The families were invited to come to Islamabad and were put up in UK government-paid hotels after they were found eligible for Britain’s resettlement schemes.

 
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The BBC has defended its decision not to describe Hamas militants as "terrorists" in coverage of the recent attacks in Israel
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FPresidential
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FearlessRoar
Pakistan’s top talent is leaving the country in record numbers
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big_gamer007
big_gamer007
MenInG
'Pakistan was right all along', ex-US commander admits failure in Afghanistan
Replies
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Views
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