WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Some US citizens have told the Department of State that they do not want to leave Afghanistan without their Afghan family members, The Washington Post reported, citing a phone conversation between administration officials and congressional staff members.
“The embassy has told us that an increasing number is telling us that they won’t leave unless they can take large families with them,” Karin King, a senior State Department official, said during the call.
BERLIN (Sputnik) - Germany's military operation to evacuate people from Afghanistan will end Thursday, Der Spiegel reported, citing sources.
Germany's last evacuation flight from Kabul will take place Thursday, according to the magazine. The reason for the evacuation completion was "deterioration of the security situation at the airport in the capital of Afghanistan," because of which people cannot come to the airport, and it is almost impossible to depart.
The German embassy in Afghanistan on Wednesday warned German citizens wishing to leave the country of the increased threat of terrorist attacks at the Kabul airport.
Earlier, German Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer did not name the date for the end of the military operation to evacuate people from Afghanistan, citing the difficult situation and security measures.
#Afghanistan: Due to threats outside the Kabul airport, US citizens should avoid traveling to the airport and avoid airport gates unless you receive instructions to do so. Those at the Abbey Gate, East Gate, or North Gate now should leave immediately. https://t.co/InzuVjXhLT pic.twitter.com/6ncsJBEVLu
— Travel - State Dept (@TravelGov) August 25, 2021
WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The US Department of Defense is evacuating Afghan refugees to eight sites across Europe that can shelter at least 25,000 people, Commander of the US European Command General Tod Wolters said on Wednesday.
"When you add them all together, it involves eight separate current sites where we can field 25,000 evacuees and it spans through four countries," Wolters said during a press briefing.
Wolters noted Ramstein Air Base in Germany can house 12,000 evacuees; Naval Station Rota in Spain can house 2,000 evacuees; and Naval Air Station Sigonella in Italy can house 4,000 evacuees.
There are more 7,000 than Afghan refugees in Ramstein Air Base, but up to 1,800 will be transported to the United States in the next two days, Wolters said.
WASHINGTON (Sputnik) – US President Joe Biden has been briefed earlier in the day on possible contingency plans related to the US withdrawal and evacuation operations in Afghanistan, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said on Wednesday.
“We are on track to complete our mission by August 31. Obviously, there are discussions, and the President received a briefing just this morning. As I noted, he asked yesterday for contingency plans and he received a briefing on them this morning,” Psaki said during a press briefing.
Psaki explained that Biden requested the contingency plans to include maximum optionality given a number of factors, including the ISIS-K (banned in Russia) threat the need to coordinate with the Taliban (banned in Russia), and about staying in Afghanistan beyond August 31.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The Danish air force has finished flights out of Kabul, having evacuated over 1,000 people since the Taliban (a terrorist group, banned in Russia) took over, the Danish Defense Ministry said on Wednesday.
"The last Danish Hercules plane has taken off from Kabul. Since August 15, the Danish air force has taken more than 1,000 people out of Afghanistan," the ministry said.
The list of evacuees includes diplomatic personnel from the Danish embassy in Kabul, their families, and former translators who assisted the country's troops in Afghanistan, as well as Danish nationals and citizens of some other countries.
Leaders of the G7 have agreed on the need to press the Taliban to allow evacuations of people after 31 August, said Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
"The international community has a few very clear expectations and demands of the Taliban if they want to be even engaged with constructively and positively, whether it's financially, whether it's in terms of food security. We know that access to the airport now and access for people to be able to leave the country in the coming weeks is going to be extraordinarily important", he told reporters in Hamilton, Ontario.
The Taliban threatened Western powers with "consequences" if they violate the provision of the peace deal agreed on with the Trump administration and continue evacuating citizens, troops, and Afghans who worked with them after the said deadline.
Turkey has begun evacuating military personnel from Afghanistan, the state-owned Anadolu news agency reported, citing the country’s Defence Ministry. After the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan on 15 August, Ankara said it could keep a presence at the airport in the capital Kabul. Now local media report that the country’s military will withdraw from the Central Asian nation by the end of August, as other NATO allies.
Earlier this month, Reuters wrote, citing two Turkish sources, that the Taliban had asked Ankara for technical help to run the Kabul airport. Mainly Muslim Turkey previously announced that it had been in talks with all parties in Afghanistan, including the militant group. Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Turkey positively views the statements made by the Taliban since it took power in Afghanistan.
German Defence Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer said Berlin can’t give an end date for the evacuations from Afghanistan as this will depend on the situation on the ground. The official stressed that Germany’s promise to airlift Afghans who helped NATO forces beyond the 31 August deadline remains valid.
Earlier today, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that Berlin will evacuate troops, German citizens, and Afghans who worked with them for as long as it is justifiable. She also warned that the war-stricken nation could again become a hotbed of terrorism after the withdrawal of NATO troops.
The United States' priority for the last two days before the final troop withdrawal on 31 August is to evacuate military resources from Afghanistan, the Pentagon’s spokesman John Kirby said. He clarified that this does not preclude individuals, who wish to leave the Central Asian nation in the last days, from doing so.
The United States will not be responsible for the Kabul airport after the withdrawal from Afghanistan as the Taliban (banned in Russia) will be managing it along with the United Nations, Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby said on Wednesday.
“When we are leaving the airport, the [Kabul] airport will not be the United States’ responsibility anymore. So how it gets managed going forward will be something the Taliban, who are now in Kabul, will have to manage them on their own with the UN,” Kirby said during a press briefing.
There is a "very high risk" of a terrorist attack against the evacuation operation from Afghanistan, which is conducted in Kabul airport by the UK, the US and their allies, a senior UK source told the Sky News broadcaster.
The main threat comes from ISIS-K, the Islamic State terrorist group's (banned in Russia) affiliate in Afghanistan, the source told the broadcaster, adding that possible suicide bombing causes the greatest concern.
Since August 14, the U.S. has evacuated and facilitated the evacuation of approximately 82,300 people on US military and coalition flights. Since the end of July, we have re-located approximately 87,900 people on US military and coalition flights.
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) August 25, 2021
WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - Two members of Congress paid an unauthorised brief visit to the Afghan capital, which distracted the United States' evacuation effort and sparked ire in Washington, The Washington Post reported on 25 August, citing people familiar with the matter.
The newspaper has learned that the visit by Democrat Seth Moulton and Republican Peter Meijer early on 24 August was not approved by Congress as part of the normal process for its fact-finding trips.
The officials, who left Kabul less than 24 hours later, distracted military and civilian staffers from rescue efforts, as they departed on a flight used for the evacuation of US citizens, the news outlet said, noting that the trip angered some officials at the Pentagon and the Department of State.
"They’re taking seats away from Americans and at-risk Afghans — while putting our diplomats and service members at greater risk — so they can have a moment in front of the cameras," a senior administration official told the newspaper.
The officials traveled to the Afghan capital via a commercial flight to the United Arab Emirates, from where they "figured out a way onto an empty military flight going into Kabul," Moulton spokesman Tim Biba said in a statement to The Washington Post, adding that the lawmakers pledged to leave the country only on a plane with at least three empty seats — they occupied seats designated for crew members.
"They also believe this method of travel, which will take them to an area where evacuees have been temporarily relocated, will provide them with additional information and increase their ability to provide oversight," the statement read.
On 24 August, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi sent a letter to House members, requesting them not to travel to Afghanistan and the region during the period of evacuations, as US officials in Kabul are under pressure to meet the 31 August deadline to airlift tens of thousands of people seeking to leave the country.
