The Pentagon has said that it is formally seeking airlift help from commercial airlines to relocate evacuees from Afghanistan once they have gotten out of their country.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Sunday activated the initial stage of the Civil Reserve Air Fleet program, asking for 18 aircraft: three each from American Airlines, Atlas Air, Delta Air Lines and Omni Air; two from Hawaiian Airlines; and four from United Airlines.
Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby said the Department does not anticipate a major impact to commercial flights from this activation.
According to Kirby, those aircraft will not fly into Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul. They will be used to move passengers from way stations once they leave Kabul, allowing the US military to focus on the Afghanistan portion of the evacuation.
This comes as the US embassy issued a new security warning, telling citizens not to travel to Kabul airport unless instructed by a US government representative and as President Joe Biden warned he could not predict the outcome of one of the “most difficult airlifts in history”.
Here are the latest updates:
17 mins ago (13:54 GMT)
Afghanistan’s Massoud refuses to surrender to Taliban and warns of war – al-Arabiya
The son of Ahmad Shah Massoud, who was one of the main leaders of Afghanistan’s anti-Soviet resistance in the 1980s, said he will not surrender areas under his control to the Taliban, Dubai-based al-Arabiya TV channel cited him as saying.
Ahmad Massoud called on the formation of a comprehensive government to rule the country with the participation of the Taliban, warning that war will be “unavoidable” if the insurgents refuse dialogue, the TV channel said.
36 mins ago (13:36 GMT)
Italy flies over 200 from Kabul amid evacuation ops
Italy flew 211 Afghans out of Kabul, bringing the number of Afghan workers and their families who have been safely evacuated from Afghanistan by Italian missions to around 2,100, according to the Defense Ministry.
Of those, 1,100 have been brought to Italy.
Italy launched Operation Aquila Omnia in June, and has deployed 1,500 servicemen and women to operate an airbridge from Kabul to Kuwait, aboard four C130J aircraft, and to ferry evacuees to safety in Italy aboard four KC767s.
1 hour ago (13:09 GMT)
UK calls G7 meeting on Tuesday to discuss Afghan crisis
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he had called a G7 leaders’ meeting on Tuesday to discuss the crisis in Afghanistan and urged the international community to find ways to prevent it from escalating.
“It is vital that the international community works together to ensure safe evacuations, prevent a humanitarian crisis and support the Afghan people to secure the gains of the last 20 years,” Johnson said on Twitter.
The United Kingdom currently holds the rotating leadership of the G7, which also includes the United States, Italy, France, Germany, Japan and Canada.
I will convene G7 leaders on Tuesday for urgent talks on the situation in Afghanistan. It is vital that the international community works together to ensure safe evacuations, prevent a humanitarian crisis and support the Afghan people to secure the gains of the last 20 years.
— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) August 22, 2021
1 hour ago (12:53 GMT)
Infographic: How many people evacuated from Afghanistan so far?
Thousands of people have tried to flee Afghanistan, with many crushed to death, as Afghans fear reprisals and a return to a strict rule under the Taliban.
Crowds have grown at the airport in the heat and dust over the past week, hindering operations as the United States and other nations attempt to evacuate thousands of their diplomats and civilians as well as numerous Afghans who worked for them.
According to official statements and local reports, at least 28,000 people have been evacuated so far.
Read more here.
2 hours ago (11:57 GMT)
Biden administration to use commercial airlines to carry Afghan evacuees
US President Joe Biden’s administration said that commercial aircraft would be used to help ferry people who have been evacuated from Afghanistan.
A Pentagon spokesman said the 18 aircraft, including from United, American Airlines, and Delta, would not fly into Kabul but would be used to transport people who have already been flown out of Afghanistan.
This is the third time such a move has been made under the “Civil Reserve Air fleet”.
3 hours ago (10:59 GMT)
Afghanistan shows ‘limitations’ of US military, experts say
The United States’ longest war is coming to an unceremonious end.
US troops are leaving Kabul with the Taliban once again in charge of the capital of Afghanistan, which American soldiers captured nearly 20 years ago.
The rapid collapse of the Afghan government after 20 years of US support shows the limits of Washington’s military power, several experts have said, boosting arguments against US foreign interventions and “endless wars”.
Read more here.
3 hours ago (10:53 GMT)
Majority of Germans in favour of granting Afghans protection
Nearly two-thirds of Germans are in favour of granting protection in Germany to people from Afghanistan who are under threat from the Taliban, a survey by the opinion research institute YouGov has found.
The online survey commissioned by the aid organization Seebruecke found that 63 per cent supported the German government helping vulnerable people in Afghanistan, such as women and those facing political persecution.
Sixty-four per cent of respondents also opposed deportations of persecuted or endangered persons to Afghanistan. However, such deportations would not be legally permitted anyway.
According to the government, the most recent deportations were of male criminals or terrorists; however, deportations to Afghanistan have been suspended altogether.
And 84 per cent believe those remaining in Afghanistan will face persecution due to their political views, gender, sexual orientation or religious affiliation following the takeover by the Islamist Taliban.
According to YouGov, the 1,048 respondents to the poll, which was taken on Thursday and Friday, were representative of the German adult population.
4 hours ago (10:30 GMT)
At least 20 deaths in last week during Kabul airport evacuation effort: NATO official
At least 20 people have died in the past seven days in and around the Kabul airport during the evacuation effort after the Taliban’s takeover of the capital.
“The crisis outside the Kabul airport is unfortunate. Our focus is to evacuate all foreigners as soon as we can,” the official, who sought anonymity, told Reuters news agency.
Crowds have grown at the airport every day over the past week, hindering operations as the United States and other nations attempt to evacuate thousands of their diplomats and civilians as well as numerous Afghans.
“Our forces are maintaining strict distance from outer areas of the Kabul airport to prevent any clashes with the Taliban,” the NATO official added.
4 hours ago (10:06 GMT)
Taliban leader Abdul Qahar Balkhi speaks about group’s future
Abdul Qahar Balkhi from the Taliban’s Cultural Commission has spoken to Al Jazeera in the group’s first official interview since the armed group took over Kabul a week ago.
Balkhi revealed his face for the first time on Tuesday at the Taliban’s first press conference, during which he translated for spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid. He remains without an official title, as his role is one of many still to be decided in the new government.
The Taliban leader said the group wants to move forward and hopes stakeholders – both domestic and international – can cooperate on common interests.
Click here for the full interview.
4 hours ago (09:56 GMT)
Taliban retakes Afghanistan, but 6 challenges face the group
The Taliban took control of Afghanistan last week, 20 years after it was removed from power in a US-led military invasion.
Winning that war might just turn out to be the easy part, as maintaining peace and governing the conflict-wracked and impoverished country will be a tough nut to crack, analysts and Afghan officials say.
Al Jazeera takes a look at six challenges facing the armed group as it prepares to rule the country of 38 million for the second time since 2001.
Afghan security forces either surrendered (after mediation from local tribal elders) or withdrew, giving the Taliban fighters a walkover in some northern and western provinces [File: Rahmat Gul/AP]5 hours ago (09:35 GMT)
Europe fears Afghan refugee crisis after Taliban takeover
Haunted by a 2015 migration crisis fuelled by the Syrian war, European leaders desperately want to avoid another large-scale influx of refugees and migrants from Afghanistan.
Except for those who helped Western forces in the country’s two-decade war, the message to Afghans considering fleeing to Europe is: If you must leave, go to neighbouring countries, but don’t come here.
“It must be our goal to keep the majority of the people in the region,” Austrian Interior Minister Karl Nehammer said last week, echoing what many European leaders say.
Read more here.
5 hours ago (09:28 GMT)
Ex-UK PM Blair slams American ‘abandonment’ of Afghanistan
Former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, who in 2001 took Britain into war in Afghanistan alongside the United States, condemned the “abandonment” of the country as “dangerous” and “unnecessary”.
In his first public comments on the crisis since the Afghan government collapsed last weekend, Blair criticised the US motives for the withdrawal as “imbecilic” and “driven not by grand strategy but by politics”.
“The abandonment of Afghanistan and its people is tragic, dangerous, unnecessary, not in their interests and not in ours,” Blair wrote in a wide-ranging article published on his institute’s website.
Read more here.
5 hours ago (09:09 GMT)
Taliban official says provincial meetings aim to ensure safety, security
Taliban commanders are set to meet former governors and bureaucrats in more than 20 of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces over the next few days to ensure their safety and seek cooperation, an official with the group said.
“We are not forcing any former government official to join or prove their allegiance to us, they have a right to leave the country if they would like,” the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told Reuters news agency.
The official said the group was seeking “complete clarity on foreign forces’” exit plan. “Managing chaos outside Kabul airport is a complex task.”
5 hours ago (08:43 GMT)
The British government wants evacuation flights to continue past August 31 deadline
The British government is pushing for evacuation missions from Afghanistan to continue past an August 31 deadline.
“Perhaps the Americans will be permitted to stay longer and they will have our complete support if they do,”wrote Defence Minister Ben Wallace in a guest article for The Mail.
US President Joe Biden has maintained a goal of having all US citizens evacuated out of Afghanistan by August 31 and so far has refused to commit to an extension.
“I have said all along that no nation will be able to get everyone out,” added Wallace. “If the US timetable remains, we have no time to lose to get the majority of the people waiting out,” he wrote.
Taliban fighters stand guard at a checkpoint in the Wazir Akbar Khan neighborhood in Kabul [Rahmat Gul/AP]6 hours ago (08:25 GMT)
World Food Programme warns of a humanitarian catastrophe in Afghanistan
The United Nations’ World Food Programme (WFP) has warned that a “humanitarian catastrophe” is looming in Afghanistan.
The programme’s Afghanistan director, Mary-Ellen McGroarty, called for close coordination within the international community in light of the rapidly evolving situation.
“Otherwise, an already horrendous situation is just going to become an absolute catastrophe, a complete humanitarian disaster,” the UN representative told the British Sunday newspaper The Observer. “We have to get food in now and get it to the communities in the provinces, before roads are blocked by snow,” warned McGroarty.
The WFP estimates that of the approximately 38 million people in Afghanistan today, 14 million already do not have enough to eat.
6 hours ago (07:45 GMT)
Pakistan’s national carrier suspends flights to Afghanistan
Abdullah Hafeez Khan, the spokesman for Pakistan International Airlines said the airline has suspended flights from Kabul and is not evacuating anyone at the moment.
Hafeez Khan said that the airline has no on-ground arrangements and lacks appropriate facilities at Kabul international airport to operate evacuation flights.
He said the suspension is temporary and the airline will resume its operations once the required arrangements are made there.
7 hours ago (07:38 GMT)
Afghans need to accept Taliban rule, says Hashmat Ghani
Hashmat Ghani, brother of Afghanistan’s deposed President Ashraf Ghani, says he has accepted the Taliban’s takeover of the country but has called for the formation of an inclusive government.
Speaking to Al Jazeera from his west Kabul home on Saturday, Ghani said acknowledging the new order in Kabul was a necessity “for the people of Afghanistan” at a time when foreign forces are only days away from their final withdrawal.
Ghani, a businessman and grand chieftain of Afghanistan’s nomadic Kochi population, has been meeting Taliban leaders for the past several days. He said he agreed to recognise the transition of power as a signal to influential political and cultural figures, as well as businesspeople.
Read more here.
7 hours ago (07:25 GMT)
US, Spain agree use of military bases in Spain for Afghan refugees
US President Joe Biden and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez agreed two military bases in southern Spain can be used to receive Afghans who have worked for the US government, the Spanish government said in a statement.
“Pedro Sanchez and Joe Biden agreed the use of the bases of Moron and Rota to host Afghans who worked with the US while in transit to other countries,” the statement read.
Sanchez tweeted on Saturday: “I have just had a meaningful conversation with President Joe Biden in which we have addressed several topics of common interest, particularly the situation inn Afghanistan and the collaboration between our governments in the evacuation of citizens from that country.”
8 hours ago (06:32 GMT)
British military: 7 Afghans killed in chaos around Kabul airport
Seven Afghan civilians have been killed in the chaos around Kabul’s international airport, the British military said.
“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.
8 hours ago (06:32 GMT)
Afghans face ‘impossible’ race against time to flee Kabul
Tens of thousands of Afghans are racing to flee their country as the US warns of security threats at Kabul airport and the EU says it is “impossible” to evacuate everyone at risk from the Taliban.
Terrified Afghans are still trying to flee, deepening a tragedy at Kabul airport where the US and its allies have been unable to cope with the huge numbers of people trying to get on evacuation flights.
“They were showing us their passports and shouting: ‘Take us with you… please take us with you’,” an AFP journalist said.
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