The latest on Afghanistan
By Brad Lendon, Joshua Berlinger and Kara Fox, CNNUpdated
6:57 a.m. ET, August 16, 2021
7 min ago
People are clinging to US planes taking off from Kabul airport
From CNN’s Anna Coren, Tim Lister, Barbara Starr and Vasco Cotovio
Video has emerged of several men or youths clinging to the fuselage of a US military C-17 aircraft as it taxied at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul on Monday.
There are scores more people watching or following the plane, some of them underneath its engines. Another video shows a US military Apache helicopter swooping low over the tarmac in what appears to be an effort to disperse the crowds.
Witnesses CNN has spoken to at the airport confirmed the chaotic scenes.
It’s unclear what happened to any of the people who can be seen clinging to the aircraft.
CNN has reached out to the US military for comment.
17 min ago
“Some people won’t get back,” emotional UK Defense Secretary says on Afghanistan
From CNN’s James Briggs in London
UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace struggled to hold back tears while admitting “some people won’t get back” from Afghanistan as British troops work to evacuate people from Kabul.
Members of the British Army are working in Afghanistan to process people for evacuation, he said in an interview with UK radio station LBC on Monday, adding, “our obligation has to be, as many of the people through the pipeline as possible.”
Wallace broke down as he said there was “regret” that “some people won’t get back.”“It’s sad and the West has done what it’s done. We have to do our very best to get people out and stand by our obligations and 20 years of sacrifice,” Wallace said when asked why he was emotional.
The current plans for the evacuation concluding on Aug. 31 include all those who are “entitled personnel, British passport holders, British officials, and indeed all those Afghans” that the UK has “an obligation to,” the Defense Secretary said.
The UK had been working for the last two weeks to process these three groups, however, he reaffirmed “we’re not doing other diplomatic functions.”
About 300 British passport holders and other members of the British government were flown out of Afghanistan on Sunday, Wallace told the BBC on Monday. The government aims to fly out a further 1,500 people over the next 24-36 hours, he said.
In a bid to get more people out he said they were removing “bureaucratic barriers” so that if people “have passed our tests and our screening, those Afghans can come in.”
Meanwhile, members of the 16 Air Assault Brigade Parachute Regiment, along with logisticians, were brought in to secure part of Kabul airport and process people.
Once the UK’s ability to process has been improved, Wallace said the current speed and method for evacuation means that the UK “should have capacity for over 1,000 people a day to exit to the United Kingdom.”
56 min ago
Some flights taking off from Kabul airport amid chaos56 min ago
From CNN’s Vasco Cotovio in Lisbon, Gul Tuysuz in Istanbul and Tim Lister in Spain
Despite the chaotic scenes at Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport and its closure to civilian aviation, evacuation flights are still taking off, social media video and flight tracking data shows.
A Turkish Airlines Boeing 777-300 left Kabul airport at 1:14 PM local time (4:44 a.m. ET) after spending more than five hours on the ground, according to flight tracking platform FlightRadar24.
The flight was organized by the Turkish government and there were 324 passengers on board along with 12 crew members, according to the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
US military aircraft, including several C-17 transport planes, have also been taking off from the airport, as shown by multiple social media videos analyzed by CNN.
1 hr 13 min ago
Russia says it will not rush to recognize the Taliban
From CNN’s Katharina Krebs in London
Russia will not rush to recognize the Taliban in Afghanistan, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s special envoy for Afghanistan said on Monday, explaining that the decision will depend on the Taliban’s behavior.
Speaking in an interview with radio station “Echo of Moscow,” Zamir Kabulov said:Firstly, no one is going to rush with this [recognition]. Recognition or non-recognition will depend on the behavior of the new authorities. We will carefully watch how responsibly they will govern the country in the near future. As a result, the Russian leadership will draw the necessary conclusions and make a decision.”
Kabulov added that Dmitry Zhirnov, the Russian ambassador to Afghanistan, is in contact with a representative of the Taliban leadership and will meet on Tuesday with a coordinator from the Taliban to ensure external security, including that of the Russian embassy.
The Russian Ambassador to Afghanistan said there are currently no threats to the Russian Embassy in Kabul, so the diplomats will continue their work, as usual, Russian state media RIA Novosti reported on Sunday.
59 min ago
Here are the countries that have evacuated their citizens and closed their embassies in Kabul so far
With the escalating crisis in Afghanistan, many countries have started evacuating their citizens and closing their embassies. Here’s what we know so far:
Finland: The embassy in Kabul will be closed until further notice, and the country is evacuating its diplomatic staff from Afghanistan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement published on its website on Monday.
United Kingdom: The first flight from Kabul — since it fell to the Taliban — has arrived in the UK, the country’s Ministry of Defense tweeted on Monday. British nationals and embassy staff were on board.
Australia: About 250 Australian military personnel will be deployed to Afghanistan “later this week” to evacuate 130 nationals working in Afghanistan along with their families and visa holders. Two C-17A Globemaster airplanes and one KC-30A airplane be involved in the operation, according to a Monday statement from the Australian Defense Department.
Australia closed its Kabul embassy in May. In July, it said all Australian troops had left Afghanistan.
France: French nationals and diplomats, “who are willing and able to get themselves to the Kabul airport,” will be airlifted to a base in the United Arab Emirates by Monday evening, France’s defense minister Florence Parly said Monday.
South Korea: The embassy is temporarily closed and most of its staff were evacuated from Afghanistan to other nearby countries, the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Sunday.
South Korea’s ambassador and a few embassy staff members are still in Afghanistan, as is one South Korean civilian, the ministry said. Seoul is coordinating with its allies, including the US, to evacuate one remaining civilian.
New Zealand: The country will begin evacuating its citizens as well as Afghan nationals, who worked alongside the New Zealand Defense Force, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Monday, adding that her government is aware of 53 New Zealanders in Afghanistan and 37 other individuals who worked alongside the NZDF.
Saudi Arabia: All members of its diplomatic mission in Afghanistan have been evacuated, and they have arrived home safely, according to Saudi state-run SPA news on Sunday.
Sweden: All embassy staff will be evacuated by no later than Monday, Minister for Foreign Affairs Ann Linde said Sunday.
Meanwhile, China has evacuated the majority of its citizens in advance but continues to keep its embassy operational, foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said. The Chinese embassy has informed “different factions” in Afghanistan “to ensure the safety of Chinese citizens, Chinese institutions, and Chinese interests,” and has not received any reports on the casualties of Chinese citizens in the country, it said in a separate statement on Sunday.
1 hr 47 min ago
Witnesses report shots fired at Kabul airport as thousands try to leave the country
From CNN’s Anna Coren in Hong Kong
Witnesses CNN has spoken with at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul say they have heard many gunshots fired throughout the day.
It’s unclear if the shots were fired at people or just into the air to disperse crowds, or by whom, the witnesses said.
In addition to the perimeter set up by US forces inside the airport, there is a Taliban presence on the approaches to the airport, according to the witnesses.
There are thousands of Afghans with their families waiting in and around the airport, hoping to board flights out of the country, they added.
One of the witnesses CNN spoke with was hoping to get on a flight out of Afghanistan, fearing persecution at the hands of the Taliban when the Americans leave. At one point, the witness managed to get inside the airport, where they saw US soldiers telling Afghans to “stay back”. “The US need to take us with them. Once they’re gone, we will be left behind forever,” the witness said.
The witness came back outside the airport to try and pick up their family, but were prevented from going in again by the Taliban.
SOURCE: https://edition.cnn.com/world/live-news/afghanistan-taliban-us-news-08-16-21/index.html
