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If you’re just joining us, here is what we know so far about Germany seeking to allow civilian airlifts from Kabul after the US deadline of 31 August.
Germany is looking at options for keeping Kabul airport running to allow for evacuations beyond the US’s self-imposed deadline of 31 August for withdrawal of its presence in Afghanistan.
The German foreign minister, Heiko Maas, said earlier:
We are talking with the United States, Turkey and other partners with the aim of facilitating a civil operation of Kabul airport to enable the evacuation of people [beyond31 August].
We will also have to continue to talk with the Taliban about this issue, and that’s what we are doing.
The Guardian’s Patrick Wintour reports that Germany is currently discussing with Turkey whether it could lead a civilian only airlift out of Kabul after US forces leave.
It isn’t yet clear if this would be acceptable to Taliban, who said on Monday that any extension of the deadline for withdrawal of foreign troops was a “red line”.
The issue is expected to be raised at the emergency G7 meeting taking place on Tuesday, where leaders including Boris Johnson will implore Joe Biden to delay the withdrawl of US troops so further evacuations can take place.
Summary
Here are the key developments from the last few hours:
- More than 4,226 Afghans, including embassy staff and their families, have been evacuated as part of “Operation Pitting”, the UK’s military evacuation. The UK has so far evacuated 7,109 people out of Kabul. UK defence secretary Ben Wallace said earlier this evening that Britain’s effort to evacuate people by air from Kabul is “down to hours now, not weeks”.
- Afghanistan could start to run out of food as early as September without urgent aid funding, UN agencies have warned.
- More than 500 tonnes of medical supplies including surgical equipment and severe malnutrition kits due to be delivered to Afghanistan this week are stuck because of Kabul airport restrictions, the World Health Organization said on Monday.
- A US Pentagon spokesperson said that over the past 24 hours, 16,000 people were flown out on 89 planes - a combination of military transport and commercial charters. The US military alone was responsible for flying out just under 11,000 people.
- Germany is looking at options for keeping Kabul airport running to allow for evacuations beyond the US’s self-imposed deadline of 31 August for withdrawal of its presence in Afghanistan.
Hi, Helen Sullivan picking up the blog now.
As always, please do send me any news you think we may have missed on Twitter @helenrsullivan.
The US military reported its biggest day of evacuation flights out of the country, with over 10,000 people flown out on Monday, reports AP.
Deadly violence in the area around the airport has persisted however and the Taliban have signalled they might soon seek to shut down the evacuation.
but deadly violence that has blocked many desperate evacuees from entering Kabul’s airport persisted, and the Taliban signalled they might soon seek to shut down the evacuation.
Twenty-eight U.S. military flights ferried about 10,400 people to safety out of Taliban-held Afghanistan over the 24 hours that ended early Monday morning, a White House official said.
The chief Pentagon spokesman, John Kirby, said:
Thus far, and going forward, it does require constant coordination and deconfliction with the Taliban...this deconfliction has worked well in terms of allowing access and flow as well as reducing the overall size of the crowds just outside the airport.”
US President Joe Biden will face pressure to extend the 31 August deadline to evacuate thousands seeking to flee the Taliban in Afghanistan when he meets Group of Seven (G7) leaders at a virtual meeting on Tuesday, Reuters reports.
Western nations are struggling to bring home their own citizens and desperate Afghans seeking to flee the country fearing reprisals after Taliban militants seized control just over a week ago.
There have been chaotic scenes at Kabul airport, with some 20 people killed in stampedes and shootings, amid a panic to catch flights out of the country before the United States and its allies pull out their troops.
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said the United States was in daily talks with the Taliban and making “enormous progress” in evacuating Americans and others.
The virtual meeting will be attended by all the G7 leaders, a group of the richest nations that includes the UK, the United States, Italy, France, Germany, Japan and Canada
Updated
Over 4,000 Afghans evacuated by UK
More than 4,226 Afghans, including embassy staff and their families, have been evacuated as part of “Operation Pitting”, the UK’s military evacuation. The UK has so far evacuated 7,109 people out of Kabul.
Earlier on Monday, defence secretary Ben Wallace said the Kabul evacuation effort was “down to hours now, not weeks” as he conceded Britain’s involvement will end when the US leaves Afghanistan.
Earlier today, protesters called on the government to not “leave anyone behind” ahead of the 31 August evacuation deadline set by the US.
Former interpreters have pleaded for “humanity” from the government to help evacuate their families from Afghanistan over fears that they will face danger from the Taliban.
Updated
The latest reaction to news from Afghanistan on Twitter:
Afghan politician Amrullah Saleh, who has claimed the office of Acting President of Afghanistan tweeted his thoughts on the “dire humanitarian situation” facing the country:
Talibs aren't allowing food & fuel to get into Andarab valley. The humanitarian situation is dire. Thousands of women & children have fled to mountains. Since the last two days Talibs abduct children & elderly and use them as shields to move around or do house search.
— Amrullah Saleh (@AmrullahSaleh2) August 23, 2021
The chair of the foreign affairs committee, Tom Tugendhat, has tweeted his concern for a friend attempting to escape the “huge danger” of the Taliban:
Tonight a friend is travelling at night with his family in the hope of saving himself, his wife and his children from the Taliban. They’re trying to find safety. The danger they’re facing is huge. I am thinking of them tonight. I hope they will be safe soon.
— Tom Tugendhat (@TomTugendhat) August 23, 2021
The freelance Afghan journalist Bilal Sarwary posted a video of Taliban and American forces in close proximity. He later tweeted a film of him flying out of Kabul.
Hamid Karzai international airport the night I left Afghanistan. 2/3 meters of distance between Taliban and American forces as well as their Afghan allies from Counter - Terrorism Pursuit teams( CTPTS) pic.twitter.com/TIuKQ1S8cv
— BILAL SARWARY (@bsarwary) August 23, 2021
Updated
The UK’s foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, said Britain will use “all of the levers at our disposal” in order to avert a humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan.
Raab wrote in the Telegraph:
We will use all of the levers at our disposal, including sanctions, aid and access to international finance system, and we are rallying our international partners around these shared priorities.”
Raab has faced calls for his resignation this week after he “refused to be contacted” in the days leading up to the fall of Afghanistan.
While Raab was on holiday in Crete, he neglected to speak to the Afghan foreign minister, Hanif Atmar, regarding assistance for the evacuation of translators who had worked with the British military.
Updated
Future control of Kabul airport has been a topic of discussion with the Taliban, US State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters on Monday.
At a news briefing, Price said:
I can acknowledge that this has been a topic of discussion with the Taliban. It has been a topic of discussion with our allies; it has a topic of discussion with many of our partners.”
Updated
Home Office declares person on no-fly list "not a person of interest"
Further to our post from earlier about people posing a “direct threat” to the UK being found among potential Kabul evacuees, the Home Office has said it has been decided that upon further investigation, the person who had reached the UK was “not a person of interest” to the security services or police.
The individual, who had not been identified, had been allowed to enter the UK.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “An individual was flagged to the Home Office as part of the rigorous checks process, involving the police, security services and others. However, upon further investigation, they are not a person of interest to the security agencies or law enforcement.”
Updated
The French government believes it will be required to carry out evacuations beyond the 31 August deadline imposed by Washington.
The news agency AFP said the French foreign minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian, told reporters at the UAE’s Al-Dhafra air base: “We are concerned about the deadline set by the United States on 31 August. Additional time is needed to complete ongoing operations.”
France is seeking to evacuate more than 1,000 Afghans who are fleeing the country following the Taliban’s lightning takeover a week ago, one of a number of nations scrambling to pull out vulnerable individuals.
Le Drian said access to Kabul airport was the main issue facing evacuation operations but that French authorities still needed “to increase our coordination locally, with the United States and with our partners present on site”.
US President Joe Biden has set a 31 August deadline for the airlift organised by thousands of temporarily deployed US troops – but has left the door open for an extension if needed.
Since 14 August, roughly 25,100 people have been evacuated from Afghanistan aboard aircraft flown by the US and its allies, according to a White House estimate.
Britain said on Monday it would urge the United States at a virtual G7 summit to extend an end-of-the-month deadline to complete evacuations of western citizens and Afghan colleagues from Kabul.
Germany also said it was in talks with both Nato allies and the Taliban about keeping Kabul airport open beyond August 31.
Updated
Six people posing ‘direct threat’ to UK among potential Kabul evacuees
Six people deemed a “direct threat” to the UK have been picked up in security checks of would-be evacuees from Kabul, reports Dan Sabbagh.
The individuals were on Britain’s “no fly” list – although MPs were told in a briefing on Monday that one had made it to Birmingham airport, where many evacuees are landing. It is unclear what happened to the person next.
Kevin Foster, a junior immigration minister, said:
We’ve had more hits on our ‘no fly’ list, that is people who are a direct threat to this country if they were able to come here, in the last week in the context of Afghanistan … than we would normally expect in a year of normal flights and travel [from the country].
Updated
The US is currently “working on” offering Covid vaccines to Afghan refugees, the White House has confirmed.
The US gave full approval to Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine earlier today, potentially boosting public confidence in the shots and instantly opening the way for more universities, companies and local governments to make vaccinations mandatory.
The Pentagon also announced it will be pressing ahead with plans to require members of the military to get vaccinated.
A Downing Street spokesperson has confirmed that Boris Johnson and the US president, Joe Biden, have agreed to work together to ensure all those eligible to leave Afghanistan are able to, including after the initial evacuation phase ends.
Speaking after the two leaders had spoke by phone, a Downing Street spokesman said:
They discussed the ongoing efforts by the UK and US to coordinate the rapid and safe evacuation of our nationals and those who previously worked with our governments from Kabul international airport.
The leaders agreed to continue working together to ensure those who are eligible to leave are able to, including after the initial phase of the evacuation has ended.
Updated
The UK has now evacuated 7,000 people from Afghanistan
The UK has now evacuated 7,000 people, including UK citizens, interpreters and other Afghans who had helped the British government, from the country, Reuters reports.
Earlier, the defence secretary, Ben Wallace, said:
Over the last 24 hours we’ve taken 1,300 people out, that’s a mixture of British nationals and people on the Arap (Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy) schemes such as interpreters.
We’ve taken out since 14 August 6,600 of those people and other people within the criteria. Since as far back as April we’ve taken out 8,000 people.
Those are all the people within the scheme both passport holders, interpreters, people that help the British government, whether that was through aid or whether that was through military, and that’s the right thing to do.
Updated
Spain could temporarily host up to 4,000 Afghans, who had worked for the United States, at two military bases used by the US military in southern Spain, the defence minister, Margarita Robles, said.
Robles said that under the agreement reached between Madrid and Washington, the Afghans could stay in Spain for up to two weeks.
Robles told journalists:
The important thing is that Spain and the United States have reached this agreement, that this agreement is in place, that it is the result of good relations, and we will see over the coming days whether it is necessary for them to come to Spain or not.”
It was not clear when they could arrive in Spain because the defence minister also said there was a chance they “could go first to bases in Germany or Italy”.
A Madrid base is being used to host Afghan refugees who worked with the European Union and their families, who will then move to other EU countries.
More than 800 Afghan refugees have so far landed in Spain since last week.
Updated
The US is in daily talks with the Taliban through “political and security channels” and is making “enormous progress” in evacuating US citizens and others from Afghanistan, said the White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan.
Asked if President Joe Biden would extend his Aug. 31 deadline for the withdrawal of US forces, Sullivan said the president was “taking this day by day, and will make his determinations as we go … We believe there is enormous progress in Afghan evacuations.”
Sullivan added that the US is “consulting with the Taliban” on every aspect of what is happening in Kabul and confirmed that the US State Department is confident it can get every American out of Afghanistan by the 31 August deadline.
Updated
Summary
Here are today’s key events.
If you are on the ground in Afghanistan or the region and/or spot anything vital that we’re missing in our coverage, please do ping me on Twitter: @amistlin
- Afghanistan could start to run out of food as early as September without urgent aid funding, UN agencies have warned.
- More than 500 tonnes of medical supplies including surgical equipment and severe malnutrition kits due to be delivered to Afghanistan this week are stuck because of Kabul airport restrictions, the World Health Organization said on Monday.
- UK defence secretary Ben Wallace has said Britain’s effort to evacuate people by air from Kabul is “down to hours now, not weeks”. He told broadcasters the UK has evacuated 6,600 people since Taliban took power.
- A US Pentagon spokesperson said that over the past 24 hours, 16,000 people were flown out on 89 planes - a combination of military transport and commercial charters. The US military alone was responsible for flying out just under 11,000 people.
- Germany is looking at options for keeping Kabul airport running to allow for evacuations beyond the US’s self-imposed deadline of 31 August for withdrawal of its presence in Afghanistan.
Updated
Biden discussed evacuation plans with Boris Johnson
US President Joe Biden spoke with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson about the situation in Afghanistan, discussing their efforts to evacuate citizens of both countries, along with local staff and other vulnerable Afghans.
The pair also discussed plans for Tuesday’s virtual G7 meeting, the White House confirmed.
Britain has begun a last-ditch scramble to get people out of Kabul amid warnings from the senior diplomat on the ground that staying past the current 31 August deadline may not be realistic and risks provoking the Taliban.
Speaking before Tuesday’s G7 meeting, Sir Laurie Bristow, Britain’s ambassador to Afghanistan, said trying to hold Kabul’s airport any longer would be fraught with risk.
You can read our Defence and Security Editor Dan Sabbagh’s full report here:
Updated
Alex Mistlin here taking over our Afghanistan live blog. If you’ve got any info or spotted a mistake you can DM me on Twitter: @amistlin
Germany trying to keep Kabul airport running for civilian evacuations
As we’ve reported, Germany is looking at options for keeping Kabul airport running to allow for evacuations beyond the US’s self-imposed deadline of 31 August for withdrawal of its presence in Afghanistan.
The German foreign minister, Heiko Maas, said earlier:
We are talking with the United States, Turkey and other partners with the aim of facilitating a civil operation of Kabul airport to enable the evacuation of people [beyond31 August].
We will also have to continue to talk with the Taliban about this issue, and that’s what we are doing.
The Guardian’s Patrick Wintour reports that Germany is currently discussing with Turkey whether it could lead a civilian only airlift out of Kabul after US forces leave.
It isn’t yet clear if this would be acceptable to Taliban, who said on Monday that any extension of the deadline for withdrawal of foreign troops was a “red line”.
The issue is expected to be raised at the emergency G7 meeting taking place on Tuesday, where leaders including Boris Johnson will implore Joe Biden to delay the withdrawl of US troops so further evacuations can take place.
The defence secretary, Ben Wallace, has already said it would be very unlikely British forces would be able to remain after US forces leave.
Here is Patrick’s explainer on what each nation wants to get from the G7 meeting:
Updated
The situation around Kabul’s airport could become “extremely dangerous” for Nato forces without the US present, a retired British Army officer who served in Afghanistan has said.
Asked on BBC Radio 4’s PM programme if it would be possible for British and other western forces to continue in Afghanistan if the US sticks to its withdrawal deadline, Brigadier Ed Butler said there was an option but it “would require the consent of the Taliban”.
It will be extremely challenging. At the moment we have some form of agreement, and that only seems to be between the Americans and the Taliban, about providing security around Kabul International Airport. That is providing some semblance of security.
If the Americans were to leave on August 31, and if the Taliban hold true to what they are saying now about not providing that security, then it goes from being a relatively permissive environment to one which would be non-permissive and extremely dangerous.
There would be threats to aircraft from ground-to-air missiles, or machine guns, and also there is a danger of the airport being overrun by the Taliban.
There is an option, but I’m not sure Nato without the US could backfill the 82nd Airborne Division, i.e. produce 8,000 to 10,000 troops who could provide that perimeter security. That is technically possible, but it would require the consent of the Taliban.
Butler added that air cover “would also have to be replaced by Nato aircraft”.
Updated
This is from the Guardian’s diplomatic editor Patrick Wintour
Germany discussing with Turkey whether it could lead a civilian only airlift out of Kabul after US forces leave. Not clear if acceptable to Taliban, but a way of keeping airlift going and suits Turkish strategic interests. https://t.co/B8cbmPsdL5
— Patrick Wintour (@patrickwintour) August 23, 2021
Afghanistan could start to run out of food as early as September without urgent aid funding, UN agencies have warned.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday that the closure of Kabul airport to commercial flights has held up key deliveries, including first aid supplies, including surgical equipment and severe malnutrition kits.
The World Food Programme (WFP), which brings in supplies by road, said it was getting food through via four different supply routes for the moment, but could start running out of food by next month.
Andrew Patterson, the WFP’s deputy country director in Afghanistan, said they were transporting food through humanitarian crossings, including from Uzbekistan, though which 50% of supplies arrived, as well as via Pakistan and Turkmenistan.
Winter is coming. We are going into the lean season and many Afghan roads will be covered in snow. We need to get the food into our warehouses where it needs to be distributed.
We’ve got 20,000 metric tonnes of food in the country now, we’ve got 7,000 metric tonnes on the way.
We need another 54,000 metric tonnes of food to get the Afghan people through to the end of December. We could start running out of food by September.
Patterson said the WFP needed $200m (£146m) to buy food for up to 20 million people who they predict will need it. Nearly 18.5 million people – half the population – already rely on aid, and the current drought is expected to exacerbate that.
Here is the full story:
There is still scope to engage with the Taliban to agree an organised evacuation plan beyond 31 August, a former British ambassador to Afghanistan has said.
Sir Nicholas Kay, who previously served as Nato senior civilian representative to Afghanistan, told BBC Radio 4’s PM programme it was clear the evacuation of entitled people will take longer than the time up to 31 August.
He said:
You can easily see that a very tight deadline, early closing, is only going to increase the panic and the chaos there, and ultimately deaths. So something has to be done.
I think there is still, even at this late stage, scope to engage with the Taliban on this particular interest and reframe the problem, reframe the problem as to how to agree with the Taliban a plan for an organised operation, evacuation, relocation of these people, a plan which will take into account that probably it will take weeks rather than months.
He added:
Two things in it for them. First of all it would absolutely build some confidence with the international community on whom they will become increasingly reliant as they face certainly the economic crisis that Afghanistan is facing now... but secondly it is quite important to build the confidence of the Afghans themselves as well.
And if you have an agreed plan then that - and it’s agreed with the Taliban and there is sort of monitoring in place - then the need for the troops also disappears.
Here is the moment Taliban spokesperson Suhail Shaheen said that US troops staying beyond the agreed deadline of 31 August would be “extending occupation” and this would “provoke a reaction”.
The comments were made after a firefight between unidentified gunmen and US, German and Afghan guards at the airport left one Afghan guard dead and three wounded.
Thousands of soldiers have poured back in to manage the frantic airlifting of foreigners and Afghans who worked with western nations out of the Taliban-controlled country.
The developing and increasingly chaotic situation around Kabul airport comes as the Taliban moved quickly to confront the first signs of armed opposition to their seizure in power, after fighters in Baghlan province, about 75 miles north of the capital, claimed to have retaken three districts in the Andarab valley on Sunday.
Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said the group’s forces had surrounded nearby Panjshir, the only one of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces yet to fall to the militants, amid mounting scepticism over whether it will hold out.
Several Taliban opponents have gathered there, including Amrullah Saleh, the vice-president in the toppled government who claims to be the acting president under the constitution.
Ahmad Massoud, son of the slain commander of the Northern Alliance militias that partnered with the US to drive the Taliban from power in 2001, is also in Panjshir.
In interviews with Arab media outlets over the weekend, Massoud said his fighters would resist any attempt to take the province by force but that they were open to dialogue with the Taliban.
Mujahid said there had been no fighting in Panjshir yet and that his group was seeking a “peaceful solution” to the standoff.
Here is the full report from Peter Beaumont and Kate Connolly:
The defence department spokesman, John Kirby, has said the US military has in one case helicoptered US citizens into Kabul airport and has the capability to carry out further extraction operations of US nationals, by air and road.
The announcement followed criticism of defence secretary Lloyd Austin’s statement last week that the US military would not go beyond the airport perimeter, at a time when British special forces had gone out into the city to fetch UK nationals.
Kirby said the US was doing similar things but would not go into details for security reasons.
“We do have the ability to help when we can and where we can to help Americans move towards the gates, and we’re not going to talk about the details of each and every one of those, but we do have those capabilities,” Kirby said.
“You mentioned that the Brits who want to go out - we are doing it as well. We are going out as needed, and helping Americans get into the field.”
A new flight carrying evacuated at-risk Afghans will arrive in the United States later on Monday from Ramstein air base in Germany, according to a senior US state department official.
Reuters reports that the official said the pace of flights from transit hubs temporarily housing those evacuated from Kabul will accelerate.
The official dismissed reports that only Americans were able to get through to Kabul airport and that others were blocked.
A UK-based Afghan woman whose relatives worked with US and Nato forces and international humanitarian organisations has described a frantic effort from afar to try to protect her family amid fears they will be targeted by the Taliban.
“I haven’t slept for a week or so … There are tremendous threats against their lives,” said the woman, whose mother remains in Afghanistan along with seven of her siblings. “I cannot tell you how much I have cried in the last four or five days. Every single day.”
It is an undertaking echoed across the Afghan diaspora and beyond as people scramble to save loved ones amid reports of the Taliban going door-to-door as they search for people who work with the former Afghan government or western countries.
“It’s not just my family. It’s millions of Afghans who are suffering,” said the woman, who worked for the Guardian in the past, and whose name is not being published in order to protect her family.
Leaders of the G7 countries need to coordinate evacuation efforts from Kabul airport and whether they should continue beyond the 31 August deadline set by the United States, the German foreign minister, Heiko Maas, has said.
At their summit on Tuesday, G7 leaders will also discuss how to improve access for evacuees to Kabul airport, Maas told reporters in Berlin, adding Germany had been looking at options for keeping the airport running beyond 31 August for days.
We are talking with the United States, Turkey and other partners with the aim of facilitating a civil operation of Kabul airport to enable the evacuation of people [beyond 31 August].
We will also have to continue to talk with the Taliban about this issue, and that’s what we are doing.
Updated
On the question of the 31 August deadline for the evacuation, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said the defence secretary was working to that deadline and had not asked the president for it to be extended, but he did not rule it out.
The goal is to get as many people out as fast as possible. And while we’re glad to see the numbers that we got out yesterday, we’re not going to rest on any laurels. The focus is on trying to do this as best we can by the end of the month.
And as the secretary said, if he needs to have additional conversations with the commander in chief about that timeline, he’ll do that. But we’re just not at that point right now.
Updated
Dozens of Afghan women and activists working for the Italian charity Pangea were beaten by the Taliban last weekend, Pangea said.
“Some women of Pangea have been beaten by the Taliban,” Pangea said in a statement. “Seeing pictures of their bruises was heart-breaking.”
Pangea, which has helped tens of thousands of Afghan women become self-supporting in the last 20 years, said it is working non-stop to help its Kabul workers and their families to reach the airport.
“They have been difficult days,” the charity added.
The women on the Pangea staff and their families have been trapped in the crowd for hours, without water, and with their very young children in their arms.
Pangea said the children had “witnessed scenes of unprecedented violence and they are very afraid”.
The women had drawn a “P” on their wrist in order to be recognised by the Italian soldiers who are flying out Italian diplomats and the families of their Afghan assistants at risk of Taliban reprisal.
A plane carrying over 200 Afghan refugees who helped Italy’s mission in the country has landed in Rome on Monday, authorities said, as 400 more are expected to arrive during the day.
To date, Rome has evacuated about 2.500 Afghans. Italy’s government said it will “protect the Afghan citizens who helped us in our mission”.
The foreign minister, Luigi Di Maio, stressed the importance of a G7 meeting and added that this would also involve Russia, China and India, who, according to the foreign ministry, “represent a crucial point in the overall strategy”.
Updated
The Pentagon spokesman, John Kirby has been talking about the effort to improve access to Kabul airport through discussions with the Taliban, who man the checkpoints on the surrounding roads.
So far, he said, it is going well, and the flow of people into the airport has improved.
It does require constant coordination and deconfliction with the Taliban. And what we have seen is that this coordination as well as deconfliction has worked well in terms of allowing access and flow to continue, as well as reducing the overall size of the crowds just outside the airport.
US evacuates 16,000 people in past 24 hours, says Pentagon spokesman
At the Pentagon, army major general William “Hank” Taylor is giving an update on the situation in Kabul airport.
He said that over the past 24 hours, 16,000 people were flown out on 89 planes - a combination of military transport and commercial charters. The US military alone was responsible for flying out just under 11,000 people.
Updated
Updated
Earlier, I shared a report that a firefight had broken out near Kabul airport, leaving an Afghan security guard dead and three others injured.
The US military has now confirmed that no American or coalition personnel were hurt. I have updated the earlier post (see 14.47 BST).
Updated
The French foreign minister has said France needs more time to complete evacuations from Afghanistan and called on the US to extend its current deadline for withdrawing troops on 31 August.
“We are concerned about the August 31 deadline set by the United States. More time is needed to complete the current operations,” Jean-Yves Le Drian said, according to a French pool reporter accompanying the minister to the United Arab Emirates.
At an emergency G7 meeting on Tuesday, Boris Johnson is expected to request for Joe Biden to extend the deadline in order to allow more evacuation flights to take place.
Britain’s defence secretary, Ben Wallace, has already admitted UK forces won’t be able to maintain a presence at Kabul airport once the US withdraws.
But the Taliban have said they would not extend the deadline for western forces to leave Afghanistan and any extension would be a “clear violation” of the Doha agreement.
From the BBC’s Yalda Hakim who spoke to Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen earlier.
Taliban spokesperson @suhailshaheen1 tells me they won't extend the deadline for Western forces to leave Afghanistan. He said the 31st August was a red line. Shaheen said an extension would go against the Doha agreement struck between the United States and the Taliban
— Yalda Hakim (@BBCYaldaHakim) August 23, 2021
French planes have so far evacuated more than 1,000 Afghans through Abu Dhabi, where Paris has a military base, the ministry said earlier.
Le Drian, who was accompanied by the armed forces minister, Florence Parly, said the main concern remained access to Kabul airport, where crowds have scrambled to flee the country since the Taliban took the capital just over a week ago.
We still need to increase our coordination locally with the United States and our partners there.
Updated
“The fall of Kabul will be another missed opportunity to reflect on [the west’s] default setting of retaliate in haste and retreat at leisure,” writes Guardian columnist Nesrine Malik.
You will instead hear a lot in the media about what this says about us, about the fall or “defeat” of the west – always the main character in the tragedy that has befallen only others.
There will be more in the fine tradition of oratory in the British parliament that flourishes with the moral purpose of intervention, and you will hear a lot about betrayal of Afghan women.
But you will hear little from those establishments about the reality of a war that, in the end, from Sudan to Iraq to Afghanistan, was about high-profile revenge enacted on low-profile soft targets.
It was not about ending terror, or freeing women, but demonstrating Infinite Reach.
Read Nesrine’s full column on why the west will learn nothing from the fall of Kabul here:
Updated
Updated
A firefight between unidentified gunmen and US, German and Afghan guards at Kabul airport has left one Afghan guard dead and three wounded, underscoring the fragile security situation around the site, Peter Beaumont and Kate Connolly report.
The fight, which took place at just after 7am Kabul time at the north gate of the airfield, started when former Afghan security forces who are acting as guards exchanged fire with the gunmen. Then German and US forces became involved.
Here is the story:
US Central Command spokesperson, navy captain William Urban, said:
No US or coalition forces were hurt during a brief exchange of gunfire last night outside the north gate of Hamid Karzai International Airport. The incident appeared to begin when an unknown hostile actor fired upon Afghan security forces involved in monitoring access to the gate. The Afghans returned fire, and in keeping with their right of self-defense, so too did US and coalition troops.
One member of the Afghan forces was killed by the hostile actor; several Afghans were wounded during the exchange. The wounded are being treated at an airfield hospital and are reported to be in stable condition.
Our condolences go out to the teammates and loved ones of the fallen Afghan soldier.
Updated
The US vice-president Kamala Harris said on Monday that the US must maintain its focus on evacuating Americans and vulnerable Afghans and shouldn’t get distracted by questions over what went wrong in the chaotic US exit from Afghanistan, the Associated Press reports.
Speaking at a news conference in Singapore, Harris repeatedly declined to engage when asked what she felt should have been done differently in the withdrawal.
There’s no question there will be and should be a robust analysis of what has happened, but right now there’s no question that our focus has to be on evacuating American citizens, Afghans who worked with us and vulnerable Afghans, including women and children.
Harris took questions alongside Singapore’s prime minister Lee Hsien Loong after the two met for about two hours to discuss a range of issues.
The news conference was dominated by Afghanistan, after the messy US withdrawal sparked concerns about America’s commitments to its allies globally.
Harris’ visit to Singapore and Vietnam this week is seen as the first real test of the Biden administration’s ability to reassure key allies of its resolve.
Lee offered his country’s support for the US decision to withdraw, however, and said Singapore was “grateful” for the US efforts to combat terrorism in Afghanistan. He also offered the US the use of the Singapore Air Force’s transport aircraft to help with the evacuation, and said the country is now watching what the US does next.
What matters is how the US repositions itself in the Asia Pacific, engages the broader region and continues to fight against terrorism, because that will determine the perceptions of the countries of the US global priorities and of its strategic intentions.
More than 500 tonnes of medical supplies including surgical equipment and severe malnutrition kits due to be delivered to Afghanistan this week are stuck outside the country because of Kabul airport restrictions, the World Health Organization said.
Aid agencies say it is critical that medical and food supplies reach some 300,000 people displaced in Afghanistan over the past two months amid advances by Taliban insurgents that culminated in their capture of Kabul on 15 August.
Nearly 18.5 million people – half the population – rely on aid, and the humanitarian needs are expected to grow due to drought. But the closure of Kabul airport to commercial flights had held up deliveries, WHO regional emergency director Dr Richard Brennan told Reuters.
While the eyes of the world now are on the people being evacuated and the planes leaving, we need to get supplies in to help those who are left behind.
Brennan said the WHO was calling for empty planes to divert to its warehouse in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, to collect the supplies on their way to pick up evacuees from Afghanistan.
The United States has enlisted six commercial airlines to help move Afghan evacuees, however Washington and Nato coalition partners have so far indicated that they cannot bring supplies on incoming evacuation planes due to “operational constraints and security concerns”, Brennan said.
“The US is using these commercial airlines only for evacuation,” he said, adding that the WHO was exploring various options and reaching out to other governments.
“We have been advised to explore options at other airports such as Kandahar, Jalalabad and Bagram air bases. We do not yet have aircraft to fly even to those bases.”
The executive director of the UN children’s agency Unicef, Henrietta Fore, said on Monday around 10 million children across Afghanistan needed humanitarian assistance and that conditions were expected to deteriorate further.
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The Pentagon is due to hold a news briefing on Afghanistan at 10.30 EST with press secretary John Kirby and army major general William D Taylor. We will be bringing you updates from that briefing.
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A synagogue in Bushey, Hertfordshire, has been flooded with supplies for around 30 newly arrived Afghan families to the area after a Facebook request was met with “a tremendous act of love” from the local community.
Rabbi Elchonon Feldman, of the Bushey United Synagogue, sent a message to worshippers on a private Facebook page on Thursday night and then saw over 3,000 bags of donations pack out the venue’s car park by Sunday lunchtime.
The rabbi had been contacted by Laurence Brass, the councillor for Bushey North, who said that some Afghan families had been placed in the local area and needed items including warm clothing, toiletries, toys and basic school supplies.
Rabbi Feldman told the PA news agency:
It went crazy. People copied the [Facebook] message. They forwarded it around and by the time Sunday arrived we had around 3,000 bags [of items] that had been brought to help out.
He added:
It has been a tremendous act of love and completely run by volunteers who all just wanted to help.
Germany has airlifted almost 3,000 people originating from 43 countries from Kabul airport, the country’s chief of defence Eberhard Zorn told reporters in Berlin.
Among the evacuees are 143 Germans, around 1,800 Afghans and around 350 European Union nationals, he said.
Ealier on Monday, a foreign ministry spokesperson said the country was looking into ways to evacuate people from Afghanistan beyond the window of opportunity to fly them out of Kabul airport.
“As long as the situation on the ground allows, we want to keep the air bridges active and evacuate people from Kabul airport,” the spokesperson told a regular government news conference in Berlin.
“However, we are already thinking beyond this period and are already trying to find solutions for the time after[wards],” he said, adding that Germany was talking with the Taliban about enabling as many people as possible to leave the country.
He said Berlin estimates there is a low, three-digit figure of German citizens still in Afghanistan.
Earlier, Boris Johnson’s spokesperson said Downing Street had also held discussions with the Taliban over extending the deadline for evacuations and “no firm date” had been set by the UK government for ending its evacuation effort.
No 10 conceded, however, that British forces would have to leave Kabul airport “at the same time as the Americans”.
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The Taliban are urging Afghans to stay in Afghanistan but will not stand in the way of those who want to leave, if they have “proper” documentation, a spokesperson has claimed.
Suhail Shaheen told the BBC people could still leave on commercial flights after the deadline for foreign troops to leave by 31 August.
We are not putting hurdles in their way if they have a passport issued - they can go on commercial flights at any time. We want them to stay in the country but if they intend to go, they can... if they have the proper documents.
As has been reported, Shaheen stressed “there will be consequences” if US and UK forces stayed beyond 31 August. He didn’t elaborate on what this would mean, only that it would “provoke a reaction” which the Taliban leadership would decide.
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UK has evacuated 6,600 people since Taliban took power
The defence secretary has given an update on how many people have been evacuated from Afghanistan, with 1,300 British nationals and allies rescued in the last 24 hours.
Ben Wallace told broadcasters:
Over the last 24 hours we’ve taken 1,300 people out, that’s a mixture of British nationals and people on the Arap (Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy) schemes such as interpreters.
We’ve taken out since 14 August 6,600 of those people and other people within the criteria. Since as far back as April we’ve taken out 8,000 people.
Those are all the people within the scheme both passport holders, interpreters, people that help the British government, whether that was through aid or whether that was through military, and that’s the right thing to do.
Wallace reiterated that while forces are doing everything they can to get people out of Afghanistan, the reality is “we won’t get them all out”.
There are, of course, many, many more, and the hardest thing is, to be honest, about the reality, which is we won’t get them all out, but we are doing it every hour of every day to get them through.
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As we’ve reported here, the defence secretary Ben Wallace has said Britain’s effort to evacuate people by air from Kabul is “down to hours now, not weeks” and admitted there was no prospect of Britain continuing the operation to fly its nationals and Afghans out from Kabul airport after the US decides to withdraw its troops.
It came as Downing Street indicated Boris Johnson would use a virtual summit of G7 leaders on Tuesday to lobby Joe Biden to keep American troops at the airport beyond 31 August, the date set by Washington for withdrawal.
No 10 also said talks were ongoing with the Taliban, as “they do have a say in this”, adding the UK would continue rescuing people “as long as the security situation allows”.
But the prospect of an extension seemed ever more remote after the Taliban, who control Kabul and access to its airport, signalled on Monday that they would view this as a provocation.
Johnson’s spokesperson revealed there were still thousands of people the UK was aiming to evacuate from Afghanistan and acknowledged those travelling to the capital from distant regions might struggle to make it to Kabul in time.
The aim of the prime minister’s meeting with Biden and other leaders was to “gain clarity over what’s achievable by 31 August” and would probably focus on what aid other G7 countries could provide to Afghans instead as well as neighbouring countries taking high numbers of refugees, he said, adding there were no plans for sanctions against the Taliban.
Read Matthew Weaver and Andrew Sparrow’s full report here:
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Earlier, the former international development secretary Rory Stewart criticised the US and UK governments for pulling troops out of Afghanistan, and urged the G7 to think about the country’s future.
Speaking to BBC Breakfast, Stewart accused Joe Biden of not caring about the consequences of troop withdrawal.
At some fundamental level he doesn’t really care what the consequences are in Afghanistan, what he cares about is being able to say to the American people that he’s got his boys home.
He added:
The way that it’s been organised has been horrifying, but the fundamental problem was the fact that we chose to break 20 years of investment and betray our obligations to the Afghan people in the first place.
“The G7 must think about the next two to five years in Afghanistan”⁰
— BBC Breakfast (@BBCBreakfast) August 23, 2021
Former Secretary of State for International Development Rory Stewart tells #BBCBreakfast delaying the withdrawal of US forces would be ‘great in the short term’. https://t.co/aN0en9z65m pic.twitter.com/AurTs1cvYp
He said the G7 “must think about the next two to five years in Afghanistan” as the US-UK withdrawal leaves a vacuum, which he suggested would be filled by countries such as Pakistan, Iran, China and Russia.
The former diplomat urged Boris Johnson to support refugees outside Afghanistan as well as those that would arrive in Britain, and keep development assistance going to charities and organisations within the country itself.
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The Taliban have appointed an acting head of the Afghanistan central bank in a bid to ease growing economic tumult, more than a week after seizing the capital Kabul, a statement said on Monday.
Haji Mohammad Idris was named as acting governor of the central bank to help bring order to a war-crippled economy, which has been adrift for more than a week with banks closed and many government offices empty.
He was expected to help organise institutions and address the economic issues facing the population, a statement from Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said.
My colleague Peter Beaumont has written about the economic ruin facing Afghans as many were running out of cash.
You can read his full report here:
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Evacuation effort 'down to hours, not weeks' - defence secretary
Earlier, the defence secretary Ben Wallace warned the mission was “down to hours now, not weeks” and the UK must “exploit every minute” to get people out of Kabul as the window for evacuation narrows.
He told the BBC that when the US withdraws it’s 6,000-strong presence on the ground at Kabul airport, “that will take away the framework that has allowed us to withdraw” and UK forces will have to also go.
I don’t think there is any likelihood of staying on after the United States. Even if their timetable extends, even by a day or two, then that will give us a day or two more to evacuate people, because we really down to hours now, not weeks, and we have to make sure we exploit every minute to get people out.
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No 10 also said it was recognised that it would be “extremely challenging” for Afghans who are not in Kabul to get to the airport to evacuate.
Thousands of Afghans and foreign nationals are scrambling to board flights to get out of the country.
The prime minister’s spokesman said:
We’re fully conscious of that. This is the first phase of our operation, evacuating largely British nationals and those under the ARAP (Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy) scheme, out in the time that we have.
We will then move to the next phase, whereby we’ll be able to resettle [people] over the coming days, weeks and months, and indeed years, as we did with the Syrian scheme.
Now I appreciate that does, again ... it presents challenges for those wishing to leave Afghanistan who might not be based in Kabul, who might have to get to neighbouring countries, for example.
We will continue to provide support through the Foreign Office, there’s contacts both for those within Afghanistan and those outside of Afghanistan who want information about family members they may have remaining. So, we will continue to do everything possible.
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Hello and welcome to our live blog on the latest developments from Afghanistan, where the Taliban has said it will not agree to an extension of the 31 August deadline for the current evacuation mission.
The 31st was “a red line”, Suhail Shaheen, a member of the delegation in Doha, told Sky News. He said the US president Joe Biden had said troops would be out by that date, and extending it meant “extending occupation”. He warned of “consequences” if that were to change.
He said:
It’s a red line. President Biden announced that on 31 August they would withdraw all their military forces. So if they extend it that means they are extending occupation while there is no need for that.
If the US or UK were to seek additional time to continue evacuations - the answer is no. Or there would be consequences.
It will create mistrust between us. If they are intent on continuing the occupation it will provoke a reaction.
It comes as the British prime minister Boris Johnson is set to use the upcoming G7 meeting on Tuesday to plead with Biden to delay the withdrawal of US forces beyond that date to allow more people to flee the country.
No 10 said “discussions on the ground” had been held with the Taliban over extending the deadline evacuations, but while no firm date had been set officials were still working towards a deadline of the end of the month.
The prime minister’s official spokesman said:
Given the Americans are providing the vast bulk of security and facilitating the functioning of the airport in Kabul, and given we have previously spoken to other Nato countries about staying and that didn’t prove to be a viable option, we are going to need to leave the airport at the same time as the Americans.
He added that although the government was working towards a 31 August deadline:
No firm date has been set in terms of when our evacuation procedure ends.
The spokesman said the evacuation would continue as long as it was safe to do so.
I’ve seen the reports. I don’t think we’ve had any direct communication to that end. We will continue to run our evacuation process as long as the security situation allows.
As always, please feel free to get in touch with me as I work with thoughts on what we should be covering here.
Email: lucy.campbell@theguardian.com
Twitter: @lucy_campbell_
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