Category Archives: Afghanistan

Final UK evacuation flight purely for Afghan nationals has left Kabul airport

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Chaotic airlift ends after taking around 14,000 people out of Taliban-controlled country

The final UK evacuation flight purely for Afghan nationals has left Kabul airport, ending an often chaotic process in which about 14,000 people were airlifted out of Afghanistan by British forces in less than two weeks, the Ministry of Defence has confirmed.

Any further flights to leave Kabul under the UK’s evacuation operation will also have UK diplomatic and military personnel onboard. It is thought any further flights would be able to transport those still needing evacuation, but would now also include personnel travelling back to the UK.

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‘I feel helpless, useless and hopeless’: diary of an Afghan evacuee

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Student, English teacher and journalist Mursal Rasa Jamili, 23, was evacuated to the UK from Kabul with her two sisters

Mursal Rasa Jamili, a 23-year-old final-year university student, English teacher and journalist in Kabul, was evacuated to the UK with her two sisters. Here she explains what happened during her last days in Afghanistan.

Sunday 22 August

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Afghanistan live news: US warns citizens at Kabul airport gates to ‘leave immediately’ due to security threats

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US warns citizens to leave airport gates and not to travel to airport; White House says the next few days of evacuation operation likely to be the most dangerous

In less sad news, the Albanian government on Saturday said 154 Afghans evacuated from their country fearing the Taliban arrived on two charter flights.

A government spokesman confirmed the arrivals, organised by a US nonprofit organisation, without giving more details.

The Afghans were taken from Tirana’s international airport to a student housing area to stay for a couple of weeks before moving to hotels in other cities.

Great to welcome 2 more planes from Kabul carrying 154 Afghans, incl women of all professions, journalists, activists, children. Pleased to work w/@ediramaal @RepSlotkin @SpiritAmerica @VitalVoices @YaldaHakimFund @SchmidtFutures to bring people out of harm’s way. Thank you, ! pic.twitter.com/NfscCg0KZg

The New York Times’ Sharif Hassan reports that a friend of his, journalist Alireza Ahmadi, is among the victims of the airport attack.

Alireza Ahmadi, a dear journalist friend and his younger brother, were among the dead victims of yesterday’s #KabulAirport attack. He worked for different local media outlets for over a decade as a writer, photographer and reporter, giving voice for his people. RIP brother pic.twitter.com/BB73aaHYxX

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Biden doesn’t want Kabul attackers ‘to live on planet Earth any more’, says Psaki – video

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The White House press secretary, Jen Psaki, underlined Joe Biden's comments on Thursday's attack on Kabul airport, saying: 'I think he made it clear he doesn't want them to live on planet Earth any more.'

Biden’s national security team has warned him that US troops remain under threat of another terrorist attack just 24 hours after the devastating suicide bomb at Kabul airport that killed 13 US service members and at least 90 Afghans.

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‘Bad options all around’: Biden’s vow to avenge Kabul attack could take years

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Joe Biden’s options are limited in short-term as US troops withdraw from Afghanistan in days

American spies and special forces will be able to hunt down those behind Thursday’s suicide bombing in Kabul, although the effort may take years, experts and former CIA officials believe.

Joe Biden vowed on Thursday to avenge the 13 US service members who died in a suicide bomb attack at the Kabul airport, declaring to the extremists responsible: “We will hunt you down and make you pay.”

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Andrew Quilty documents 12 days of chaos in Kabul – in pictures

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The Australian photojournalist has been working in the Afghan capital as troops from the US, UK and Australia withdraw. A period culminating in two suicide bombings, which tore through crowds trying to enter Hamid Karzai international airport

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‘We weren’t able to bring everyone’: Jacinda Ardern ends New Zealand flights from Afghanistan

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Prime minister Jacinda Ardern announced New Zealand was ending further flights into Kabul, due to the continuing threat of terrorist attacks. The announcement followed an attack at the airport on Thursday that killed least 60 Afghans and 13 US soldiers.

Ardern said she did not know how many visa holders from Afghanistan remained in the country, nor how many of those registered on SafeTravel managed to get out, but said New Zealand had not given up on trying to bring visa-holders home

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Kabul airport atrocity offers a glimpse of the chaos to come in Afghanistan

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Joe Biden left with no good options after deadliest day for US troops in Afghanistan in more than a decade

The tempting comparison between the withdrawals of US forces from Kabul in 2021 and Saigon in 1975 has offered diminishing returns over the past 12 days.

Whereas about 7,000 people were evacuated from Vietnam (5,500 Vietnamese civilians and about 1,500 Americans), more than 95,000 people have left Afghanistan in a historic airlift since 14 August, the day before the capital fell to the Taliban.

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Joe Biden says terrorists will pay for Afghan attack that killed US ‘heroes’ – video

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The president said the US would 'hunt down' those responsible for the attack on the international airport in Kabul in which more than 60 people were killed, including 12 US military personnel.

Biden said the evacuation of Americans and others from Afghanistan would continue after two suicide bombers and gunmen attacked crowds of Afghans near the airport on Thursday

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Pentagon chief says US to ‘take action’ against Kabul airport attackers – video

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Gen Kenneth F McKenzie confirmed the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) had taken responsibility for the suicide bomb attacks at Kabul's airport and the US would take action against those behind it.

Two suicide bombs exploded near the main entrances to the airport hours after western intelligence agencies warned of an imminent and 'very credible' terrorist threat; the Pentagon confirmed that they expect attacks to continue

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Biden reportedly receiving urgent briefings in White House situation room on explosions at Kabul airport – live

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US Capitol Police officers who were attacked and beaten during the insurrection at the US Congress on January 6 by extremist supporters of Donald Trump filed a lawsuit on Thursday against the former Republican president, allies such as Roger Stone and members of far-right extremist groups.

Here’s where the day stands so far:

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Suicide bomb striking Kabul airport kills dozens in Afghanistan – video report

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Two suicide bombs exploded near the main entrances to Kabul airport on Thursday, reportedly killing at least 60 people, including children. Footage filmed after the blast shows what appears to be smoke rising from the airport and an eyewitness said 'people were hurled everywhere' in the explosions

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Islamic State claims responsibility for Kabul airport blasts

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Analysis: Affiliate known as Islamic State Khorasan Province, or ISKP, poses ‘acute’ and ‘persistent’ threat, says US

The claim of responsibility from the Islamic State for the devastating suicide bombing at Kabul airport came as little surprise to analysts. The organisation’s affiliate in Afghanistan known as Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP), had been pointed to as the prime suspect immediately after the blast.

The IS official Amaq news agency said on its Telegram channel that a member called Abdul Rahman al-Logari carried out “the martyrdom operation near Kabul Airport”. The name suggests the killer of at least 12 US servicemen and more than 60 civilians was Afghan.

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Afghanistan evacuations enter ‘most hectic, dangerous phase’ – video

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The German defence minister warned of a very concrete risk of attacks at Kabul airport hours before at least one explosion near Abbey gate, an entrance to the Hamid Karzai international airport in Kabul.

Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer warned on Thursday morning that German officials had advised people 'to no longer come to the airport on their own' but only if they could reach it safely.

The German military has airlifted more than 5,200 people from Kabul so far, including 4,200 Afghans and 505 Germans

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South Korea designates arriving Afghans as ‘persons of special merit’

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Seoul skirts fraught issue of refugees as it ‘fulfils moral responsibility’ and welcomes 391 newcomers

South Korea has welcomed the arrival of Afghans who supported its operations before the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, designating them as “persons of special merit” instead of refugees in an apparent effort to defuse anti-migrant sentiment.

A military aircraft landed at Incheon airport west of Seoul in the afternoon, transporting 378 Afghans who had worked for South Korea’s embassy and other facilities in Afghanistan and their family members. A further 13 will arrive on a separate flight.

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Greece will not be ‘gateway’ to Europe for Afghans fleeing Taliban, say officials

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Athens calls for a united response, as refugees already in Lesbos hope their asylum claims will now be reconsidered

Greek officials have said that Greece will not become a “gateway” to Europe for Afghan asylum seekers and have called for a united response to predictions of an increase in refugee arrivals to the country.

Greece’s prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, has spoken to Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, about the developing situation in Afghanistan this week. Greek migration minister Notis Mitarachi last week said: “We cannot have millions of people leaving Afghanistan and coming to the European Union … and certainly not through Greece.” The country has just completed a 25-mile (40km) wall along its land border with Turkey and installed an automated surveillance system with cameras, radars and drones.

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‘No deadline’ on evacuating Americans from Kabul, says Blinken – live

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  • US military will help evacuate US citizens beyond 31 August
  • Blinken: as many as 1,500 Americans remain in Afghanistan
  • Eight government agencies receive letters requesting documents
  • Capitol officer who shot Ashli Babbitt to give TV interview
  • Committee also seeks communications from Trump children
  • Johnson & Johnson touts coronavirus booster shot
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That’s it from me today. My west coast colleague, Maanvi Singh, will take over the blog for the next few hours.

Here’s where the day stands so far:

The Guardian’s Dan Sabbagh and Aubrey Allegretti report:

Afghans who want to flee to Britain may be better off “trying to get to the border” than awaiting RAF evacuation, the defence secretary has said as British troops made last-ditch attempts to airlift at least 1,500 remaining interpreters and others who have supported the UK.

Related: Fleeing Afghans should try to get to border, says UK defence secretary

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Fleeing Afghans should try to get to border, says UK defence secretary

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Ben Wallace signals few places remain on UK rescue flights as fears of attack grow and deadline looms

Afghans who want to flee to Britain may be better off “trying to get to the border” than awaiting RAF evacuation, the defence secretary has said as British troops made last-ditch attempts to airlift at least 1,500 remaining interpreters and others who have supported the UK.

Ben Wallace, in a briefing to MPs, signalled there were few places left on British rescue flights, which have evacuated more than 10,000 people from Kabul since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan less than two weeks ago.

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‘We were not aware of this visit’: Pentagon on US congressmen in Kabul during evacuation – video

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The Pentagon has responded to the unexpected arrival of two US Congress members in Kabul airport, in what the congressmen claimed was a fact-finding mission but critics have dismissed as grandstanding. “They certainly took time away from what we had planned to do that day,” said John Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary.

Seth Moulton, a Democratic representative from Massachusetts, and Peter Meijer, a Republican representative from Michigan, astonished state department and military officials in the Afghan capital when they flew in on Tuesday. 

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