Western countries on Thursday urged their citizens to immediately leave the vicinity of the Kabul airport due to a terrorist threat. All this at a time when thousands of people are trying to reach the few flights available to leave Afghanistan.
“The peoples who are at the Abbey Gate, East Gate or North Gate [of the airport] should leave instantly,” the US State Department said, citing “security threats” that it did not specify.
Nearly 90,000 Afghans and foreigners have come out in the air evacuation led by the United States since the radical Islamist Taliban movement took control of the country on August 15.
The deadline for evacuations end is 31 August but several European countries have suspended flights from Kabul before that date, partly because of the terrorist threat, he assured himself Joe Biden, chairman of the US.
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“Our military is fine.” The Ministry of Defense reports that all the Spanish soldiers deployed at the Kabul airport are safe and have not been affected by the explosion.
In a press conference, Rutte considered “terrible news” that potential evacuees cannot go to the airport and acknowledged that the number of Dutch citizens and their families who will be trapped in Afghanistan is “significant”, but exactly remains to be determined. how many people it is.
An explosion has taken place at the east gate of the Kabul airport. The first news speak of subsequent shootings and victims, still to be quantified. The event took place in what is known as Abbey Gate, the place where most of the people who have tried these days to be evacuated from the Afghan capital have crossed.
In the last hours, several countries have halted evacuation processes, which were scheduled to be completed this Friday, citing “credible threats” of attacks by the Islamic State in Khorasan, the Afghan branch of also known as Daesh. So far no organization has claimed responsibility. Reports Lluis Miquel Hurtado.
Evacuations from Afghanistan will continue “until the end of the US mission” scheduled for Aug. 31, the US Defense Department said Thursday.
“We will continue to evacuate as many people as possible until the end of the mission,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said on Twitter, as the pace of flights began to slow and many US allies already announced the end of its own operations.
The president of the Catalan Parliament, Laura Borras, has sent a letter to the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, in which she asks her to “demand” the heads of state of the EU and the United States to launch a operation to remove 50 Afghan MPs and their families from the country.
In the letter, released by the Catalan Parliament this Thursday, Borràs has assured that he is aware of the “great complexity” that an operation of this caliber implies, but has defended that it must be undertaken “out of dignity, humanity and solidarity”.
An Italian rescue plane was fired on as it took off from Kabul airport, according to a source quoted by Reuters from the Italian Defense Ministry. The plane has not been damaged in the incident.
According to a transalpine journalist who was traveling on the flight, the plane was carrying at least 100 Afghan civilians when the shots were fired minutes after takeoff.
However, Italy denied the shots fired at a C-130 aircraft of the Italian Military Aeronautics taking off from Kabul to evacuate Afghans, as reported in some of the country’s media.
Secret service sources informed the Ansa agency that they were fired into the air from a submachine gun at the airport to disperse the thousands of people who crowded at the gates of the airfield in the Afghan capital and were not directed at the plane
About a hundred planes from the United States and other countries of the international coalition that struggle in the war in Afghanistan took about 13,400 people out of Kabul on Wednesday, the White House said today.
This was told to reporters by a White House official, who provides daily evacuation figures from Kabul, although without knowing how many of them are Americans and how many Afghans.
UK Defense Minister Ben Wallace criticized on Thursday that the British evacuation operation in Afghanistan has been “diverted” by an attempt to rescue animals from an NGO.
Wallace was “upset” that military efforts have been “diverted from saving people” because of “inaccurate stories” about what is happening to the workers and animals of ex-Marine Paul ‘Pen’ Farthing’s NGO. , as reported by the Sky News channel.
After the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan, Farthing has been campaigning for the staff and 200 dogs and cats at his Kabul animal shelter to be evacuated, a plan the defense minister said he was not “proud of.”
A reporter and a cameraman for the main Afghan news channel Tolo were attacked by the Taliban in the middle of the street while carrying out a report in Kabul, an act that threatens the apparent freedom of expression that the fighters promised to uphold after the country’s takeover.
“The Taliban beat me in Kabul while I was reporting. They have also taken our cameras, technical equipment and my mobile phone,” Afghan journalist Ziar Yaad reported this Thursday on his official Twitter account.
The Defense Minister , Margarita Robles , has criticized Thursday that the PP has questioned the repatriation mission is unfolding in Afghanistan , questioning whether it should have the backing of Congress.
“I want to express my absolute surprise at the declarations of the Popular Party questioning the action that is being carried out by the Armed Forces in Afghanistan,” the minister responds, in a video sent to Europa Press, in the words of the PP Secretary of Justice and Interior, Enrique Lopez.
The ‘popular’ leader has indicated that since it is a “military action outside of Spain” it may require “prior authorization from Congress, in accordance with article 17 of the National Defense Law”, although he has clarified that it is not the time to enter “into controversy “on this matter
Azerbaijan announced on Thursday the evacuation of all its military personnel from Afghanistan who were dedicated to ensuring the security of the Kabul airport. “The Azerbaijani peace contingent, made up of 120 people and dedicated to the defense of the Kabul airport, has left Afghanistan,” according to a statement from the country’s Defense Ministry.
According to this note, the military, along with their weapons, were transferred to Turkey and from there they will soon return to Azerbaijan.
The communiqué also emphasizes that the military “carried out successfully” their tasks, which they carried out together with the Turkish troops.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Thursday that the United Kingdom has already evacuated from Afghanistan the “overwhelming majority” of its citizens and those who qualify to be removed from that country.
Speaking to the media in north London, after meeting with military personnel coordinating evacuation operations in the area, the Tory leader said that “some 15,000 people” have already been evacuated by British military personnel in Kabul.
“During the time that we have left, which could be quite little, we will do everything possible to get the rest out,” said the politician.
The Barcelona City Council will intensify coordination with the organizations that welcome immigrants or refugees to the city so that they can increase the number of private homes that offer reception in the city.
To do so, the council will create a technical management office from January 2022 that, in collaboration with the entities, will work to coordinate and attract foster families, a project that will have an initial budget of 200,000 euros, as explained by the Councilor for Citizen Rights, Marc Serra.
The interior ministers of the European Union (EU) will meet in an extraordinary council on August 31 to address the situation of Afghans who fled their country fleeing from the Taliban.
The European Union wants to prevent a repeat wave of migration like the one in 2015, when the war in Syria brought thousands of people to Europe who wanted to seek asylum in the EU, as well as a new route of human trafficking.
This Wednesday alone, the United States evacuated 13,400 people from the Kabul airport, despite the chaos that prevails in its surroundings. This has been assured by the White House on Thursday, which has also reported that, since the Taliban came to power in the country on August 15, the United States and its Western partners have managed to remove 95,700 people from Afghanistan.
The Qatari authorities have stated on Thursday that they have assisted in the evacuation of a total of 40,000 people from Afghanistan since the start of operations at the Kabul airport after the capture of the Afghan capital by the Taliban on August 15.
The Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs has assured in a statement that among the evacuees there are foreigners and Afghans , including families, women and children, as well as members of Afghan ethnic minorities, but without giving further details.
“Most of them stayed a few days in Qatar before continuing their journey to their final destinations,” the note said.
The threat at the moment in Afghanistan , apart from the Taliban who have taken power, is these days the affiliate of the Islamic State Khorasan . The president of the United States , Joe Biden , already raised the alarm last weekend, warning of the possibility of an attack against the Kabul airport and now several countries confirm it.
The Islamic State Khorasan province (official name of the affiliate of the terrorist group), could take advantage of the chaos and the crowds gathered at the gates of the airfield in the hope of being able to leave Afghanistan to carry out a suicide attack with which to claim the lives of many Afghans but also members of the foreign security forces.
The group was founded in 2015, in the midst of the expansion of the caliphate then led by Abu Bakr al Baghdadi , and was able to take advantage of the many armed groups in the region to attract recruits and forge operational alliances, as well as carry out attacks. Their ranks are made up of mainly disenchanted Taliban, both Afghans and Pakistanis.
Following the Taliban victory, the Islamic State has disparaged the achievement of the Taliban group and the possibility that members of the organization may try to further volatilize the volatile and difficult situation at the Kabul airport with some terrorist action should not be ruled out.
A journalist from the Afghan network Tolo News has been beaten by the Taliban in the capital, Kabul , while working on a report, the network reported on Thursday.
The incident took place on Wednesday, when the journalist in question, Ziar Yaad , and his camera were recording images in the Shahri Naw area to illustrate rising unemployment. “The Taliban came and, without asking us who we were, they made a noise and took my mobile phone and camera,” Yaad explained. He showed them his credentials as a journalist, but it did not serve to appease them: “They slapped us and beat us with their weapons,” he says.
Given these events, a high command of the Taliban cultural commission, Ahmadula Wasiq , has promised a “serious” investigation to clarify what happened, which contrasts with the messages launched in recent days by the militiamen and which promise greater openness towards the work of the media.
The faces of the Taliban are beginning to be revealed everywhere, with men revealing their identities as members of the Islamist ranks for the first time in 20 years, many of them vaguely known until now by international intelligence agencies.
More and more Twitter accounts reveal the identity of the members of the insurgent group.
The secretary of Justice and Interior of the PP, Enrique Lopez , has questioned this Thursday the evacuation operation carried out by the military and police together with diplomats in Afghanistan , to remove Afghan collaborators from the country, for not having the prior authorization of Congress of the Deputies , although he assures that his party does not want to argue with this.
In an interview in ‘Onda Madrid’ López has indicated that since it is a “military action outside of Spain” it may require “prior authorization from Congress, in accordance with article 17 of the National Defense Law”, although he has clarified that this is not the time to enter “into controversy” on this matter and has limited itself to requesting the appearance of the Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, to explain the situation and position of Spain.
The president of the Parliament, Laura Borras, has sent a letter this Thursday to the European parliamentary representatives and to the president of the European Commission , Ursula Von der Leyen, to ask her to demand that the heads of state of the EU and the United States, “With the utmost urgency, launch a rescue operation” of the 50 women deputies who made up the National Assembly of Afghanistan.
In the letter he has warned of the “desperate situation” of these deputies because they could suffer reprisals from the Taliban, so he considers that the obligation of political leaders who believe in democracy is to do everything possible to help these women.
The spokesman for the Ministry of Commerce of China , Gao Feng , said on Thursday that the Asian giant wishes to “work together” with the international community to “support the peaceful reconstruction” of Afghanistan after the Taliban seized power.
Gao has also spoken of the intention to work so that the Central Asian country “improves its ability to develop independently.” Asked at a press conference about the impact of the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan and the subsequent arrival of the Taliban to power, Gao has simply limited himself to reviewing the trade and investment figures between that country and China until June.
An Air Europa aircraft has departed from the Al Minhad base at around 11 a.m. (Spanish time) bound for the Torrejon de Ardoz Air Base, with a new group of Afghans evacuated by the Spanish Armed Forces from the Kabul Airport.
In addition, early in the morning, at least one of the Air Force’s A400M managed to land at the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul to pick up Afghan collaborators and their families, when days are running out to carry out the rescue mission, a time the United States expressed its intention to abandon control of the airfield on August 31. At the moment, the Government has not provided the number of rescued people who will arrive in Spain this Thursday.
Russia announced on Thursday that it will deliver light weapons and helicopters to its allies in Central Asia that border Afghanistan due to fear of possible jihadist actions after the Taliban victory.
“We are working on a certain number of orders from countries in the region to supply Russian helicopters, light weapons and modern border protection systems,” Alexandre Mijeiev, general director of Rosoboronexport, in charge of arms exports, told the Ria Novosti agency. from the country.
Majid has not slept for two nights. ” Time is running out. August 31 is the limit. The [other] problem is the airport, [Getting to the plane] is like crossing seven mountains. It drives me crazy,” he tells EL MUNDO in one of his desperate messages from Kabul . He has just learned that Joe Biden has won the pulse of the countries that asked him to delay the date of departure from Afghanistan to complete all the planned evacuations, and worse, he has put on the table an hourglass that can be emptied at any time.
he Netherlands have also announced that they will halt their evacuations from Kabul this Thursday after receiving an alert from the United States. This has been assured by his ministers of affairs.
The Danish authorities have terminated the evacuation of personnel from Afghanistan and consider that flying to and from Kabul airport is no longer justifiable due to the worsening security situation. “Defense has sent a recommendation. It is no longer safe to fly to Kabul or from there,” the head of this department, Trine Bramsen, told channel TV2 on Thursday.
The Prime Minister of Belgium , Alexander De Croo, said Thursday that the country has completed its evacuation operation after the US security forces have reported the risk of “imminent” suicide bomb attacks around Kabul.
In total, Belgium has evacuated about 1,400 people. “Throughout Wednesday the situation has deteriorated a lot. We had information from the Americans and other sources that there was an imminent suicide bomb attack in the airport area,” he said.
Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi assured this Thursday that the G20, which brings together the most powerful countries in the world, has to ensure that Afghan women preserve their fundamental freedoms and basic rights with a Taliban government.
“The G20 has to do everything it can to make sure that Afghan women preserve their rights and freedoms, especially when it comes to education. The progress made in the last 20 years has to be preserved.”
The British Government has advised its citizens in Afghanistan not to approach Kabul airport in the face of the “high threat” of a terrorist attack while the evacuation operation continues, in a warning issued by its Department of Foreign Affairs.
Like the United States and Australia , the UK Foreign Office has urged its citizens already outside the airfield in the Afghan capital to leave the area immediately.
In its alert, London urges those citizens with British nationality to “go to a safe location and await further notice.”
The World Food Program (WFP) has warned this Thursday that a “crisis of incredible proportions” looms over Afghanistan due to the “combination” of the current conflict with drought and Covid-19. The Afghans are thus approaching a “humanitarian catastrophe” which is already reflected in the fact that one in three, some 14 million people, “go hungry”, while two million malnourished children “require urgent treatment,” the food agency said. of the United Nations in a statement.
It has also affected that since the beginning of 2021, the conflict and insecurity in the Asian country have forced the displacement of 550,000 Afghans, while 70,000 have converged in the capital, Kabul, as the Taliban took over different provinces.
France will not evacuate more people from Afghanistan from Friday afternoon, according to French Prime Minister Jean Castex. “We will continue until tomorrow afternoon,” he assured this Thursday.
According to the newspaper The Wall Street Journal, for $ 6,500 (about 5,500 euros) an Afghan in need of leaving one of the poorest countries in the world can be transported safely inside Hamid Karzai International Airport and placed in one of the planes that leave the country towards what for many is salvation.
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