The United States has evacuated about 3,000 more people from Afghanistan’s Kabul airport, according to a White House official, bringing the US evacuations tally to about 9,000 since August 14.
.....Shabia Mantoo, spokesperson of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), has welcomed the evacuation of Afghan nationals through such separate bilateral programmes, but stressed that they should not substitute for an “urgent and wider international humanitarian response”.
“The vast majority of Afghans are not able to leave the country through regular channels,” she told a Geneva news briefing. “As of today, those who may be in danger have no clear way out.”
She reiterated the call to neighbouring countries to keep their borders open to allow people to seek asylum in light of what she called the “evolving crisis”.
A United Nations threat assessment report says Taliban fighters are conducting “targeted door-to-door visits” of people who worked with the US and NATO forces, increasing the fear of revenge.
Here are the latest updates:
Afghan Taliban not stopping people leaving Kabul, official says
The Afghan Taliban are not stopping people leaving the country at Kabul airport, a Taliban official said on Friday.
“We are only pushing (away) those who have no legal papers to travel, but who are adding to the chaos at Kabul airport gate,” he told Reuters news agency.
Foreign powers sought to hasten evacuations from Afghanistan on Friday after reports of Taliban reprisals, including against people who had worked with U.S.-led forces or the previous Western-backed government.
US evacuation flights paused for past eight hours: CNN
US evacuation flights out of Kabul have been paused for the past eight hours with Washington struggling to find destinations to temporarily host Afghan evacuees, CNN reported.
Clarissa Ward, the network’s correspondent in the Afghan capital, described scenes of chaos and desperation at the airport, including incidents of mothers throwing their children over barbed wires to US soldiers to get them to safety.
“It is just a picture of desperation, of failure as well – failure to protect our allies, failure to plan for this eventuality,” the CNN correspondent said describing what she witnessed at the airport compound.
