President Joe Biden was briefed on Thursday’s explosion outside Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport, the White House has confirmed.
Details continue to emerge about the explosion, which the Pentagon announced Thursday morning amid warnings about the threat of an ISIS-K terrorist attack at the airport.
– Joey Garrison
Explosion reported outside Kabul airport
An explosion was reported on the outskirts of Hamid Karzai International Airport on Thursday after reports of gunfire.
Pentagon press secretary John Kirby confirmed there was an explosion at the airport. The number of victims was not immediately confirmed.
The Pentagon did not say who was behind the blast, but it comes after the State Department on Wednesday evening alerted Americans at the gates of the chaotic Kabul airport to “leave immediately.”
The Biden administration has increasingly warned of the threat of an ISIS-K terrorist attack on Kabul airport as the August 31 deadline for the US withdrawal approaches.
– Matthew Brown and Joey Garrison
Allied countries end evacuations before US withdrawal
Allied countries evacuating refugees and their own citizens from Kabul International Airport warn they will not be able to continue operations as US military forces begin their final withdrawal from the country.
Canada, which has evacuated about 3,700 people, has put an end to military flights from Kabul, according to the Associated Press. Italy, the Netherlands and Poland will all perform their last evacuation flights on Thursday, the Wall Street Journal reported. French authorities said they could no longer operate outside the country after Friday, the newspaper reported. British Defense Minister Ben Wallace said on Thursday that the British military had 11 flights scheduled to leave Kabul today, but declined to say if they would be the last in the country, according to the Guardian.
A spokesperson for the European Union’s Foreign Affairs Committee said the bloc “will be on the ground for as long as necessary to complete the evacuation operations”.
Close allies of the United States, including leaders of influential G7 countries such as Canada, France, Germany and the United Kingdom, have urged President Joe Biden to postpone the date for the withdrawal of American troops. While each country carrying out evacuations at Kabul airport has some military presence, the 6,000 US troops on the ground currently constitute the bulk of Allied defense and operations.
The pullout comes as the U.S. Embassy in Kabul issued a warning late Wednesday evening that Americans should avoid going to the airport unless directly contacted by a U.S. official, citing an increased terrorist threat . Australia and the UK have also issued warnings of a “high threat” terrorist attack on the airport, according to the Washington Post.
– Matthew Brown
Afghan evacuees face the challenges of living in a new country
WASHINGTON – Thousands of Afghans who have helped the US military or who are vulnerable in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan arrive in the US, where they stay at military bases, convention centers and even some colleges communities while they wait for their next move.
But as they prepare to rebuild their lives in a foreign country, Afghans face a two-pronged problem: trying to get out of their country of origin safely, and then starting their lives over completely in a new home where they probably have little personal connection.
The process to get Afghan nationals out of the country has been fraught with pitfalls and problems for many, with incomplete Taliban application documents preventing vulnerable Afghans from reaching Kabul airport. Once in the United States, nonprofit groups and nongovernmental organizations work hard to ensure that Afghans are placed in a community so that they can rebuild their lives.
‘Exasperating’:Florida vet still working to bring Afghan translator back to US
The Biden administration has an Aug. 31 deadline to evacuate U.S. citizens and others eligible for U.S. protection, which President Joe Biden has said the United States is on track to meet. Since August 14, the United States has evacuated or helped facilitate the evacuation of nearly 90,000 people from Afghanistan.
– Rebecca Morin
Read more here:Thousands of Afghans seek refuge in the United States But the immigration process is not straightforward.
Kabul evacuations continue as withdrawal deadline looms
About 13,400 people were evacuated from Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport on Wednesday, according to the White House, compared to 19,000 people transported out of the country the day before.
The US military removed 5,100 people on 17 flights while coalition allies used 74 flights to transport 8,300 people out of the country.
The total number of people evacuated from Afghanistan since the Afghan capital fell to the Taliban is now 95,700. The largest airlift in history took place during the fall of Saigon, when 131,000 people flew into the hands of the Taliban. been evacuated.
Neither the White House nor the Pentagon currently breaks down the number of Americans, third-party nationals, or Afghans among the number of evacuees.
The drop in the number of overnight evacuees comes as the United States faces a looming deadline to fully withdraw U.S. troops from the country by August 31. President Joe Biden has determined that US troops will withdraw from the country on that date in the spring, a commitment the Taliban has now set as a red line.
Following:Thousands of Afghans seek refuge in the United States But the immigration process is not straightforward.
On Wednesday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said there were still around 1,500 possible US citizens in Afghanistan. The State Department is in contact with 500 of these Americans and is “aggressively” trying to reach out to others, Blinken added.
While Biden and Blinken both said the United States was “on track to complete our mission” in Afghanistan ahead of the August 31 withdrawal deadline, Blinken stressed on Tuesday that there was “no deadline “to get Americans out of the country.
“Let me be perfectly clear on this,” Blinken said during a press briefing. “There is no deadline for our work to help the remaining US citizens who decide to leave to do so, as well as the many Afghans who have stood up. us over these many years and want to leave and have been unable to do so. This effort will continue every day after August 31. “
The State Department and the Pentagon say the Taliban are currently providing safe passage for Americans en route to Kabul airport. Yet on the ground reports of violence and chaos at the airport persist as Taliban fighters continue to harass and arrest Afghans trying to flee the country.
– Matthew Brown
Short leave after warning of attack on Kabul airport
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) – Western countries on Thursday warned of a possible attack on Kabul airport, where thousands flocked as they tried to flee Taliban-controlled Afghanistan to the dawn of a massive airlift. Britain has said an attack could occur within hours.
Several countries have urged people to avoid the airport, where Belgium has said there is a threat of suicide bombing. But within days of the end of the evacuation effort and the withdrawal of American troops, few seemed to answer the call.
Over the past week, the airport has witnessed some of the most striking images of the chaotic end of America’s longest war and the Taliban takeover, as flight after flight landed for withdraw those who fear a brutal return to the militants’ regime. .
Already, some countries have halted their evacuations and started withdrawing their troops and diplomats, possibly marking the beginning of the end of one of the largest airlifts in history. The Taliban have so far honored their promise not to attack Western forces during the evacuation, but insist that foreign troops must be out before the self-imposed US deadline of August 31.
But overnight, new warnings emerged from Western capitals about a threat from the Afghan affiliate of the Islamic State group, which likely saw its ranks swell by the release of prisoners by the Taliban during the war. their blitz across the country.
—Associated press
