Afghanistan - 27th August 2021

Summary for Friday, 27th August

Here's a recap of Thursday's developments

As we move into Friday in Afghanistan, here's a recap of the main developments over the past 24 hours:

• At least 60 people were killed and 140 injured in twin blasts at Kabul airport - an Afghan health official tells the BBC
  
• Thirteen US military personnel are among those who died, the Pentagon confirms, in what is the deadliest day for American troops in Afghanistan since 2011
  
• Reacting to the attack, US President Joe Biden tells the perpetrators: "We will hunt you down and make you pay"
  
• He also vows to finish the US pullout, but admits that "getting everyone out is not guaranteed"
  
• The president says so far there is no evidence of collusion between the Taliban and the Islamic State, who claimed it was behind the attack
  
• Western leaders condemn the Kabul attack, as several nations are wrapping up their evacuation operations
  

Afghanistan's Uyghurs fear the Taliban, and now China too

Like millions of other Afghans, the country's Uyghurs are waking up to a different reality, one in which the Taliban is in charge. But they also fear something else: greater influence for China.
There are about 12 million Uyghurs in China. Since 2017, they and other Muslim minorities have been subjected to a state campaign of mass detention, surveillance, forced labour, and, according to some accounts, sterilisation, torture and rape.
China denies all human rights abuses against the Uyghurs and says its camps are vocational centres designed to combat extremism.
But many of Afghanistan's Uyghurs fear that if China enters the vacuum left by the US, they could be targeted.
Read more from some of the Uyghur community in Afghanistan here.

'All hell broke loose'

An ex-Royal Marine who was near to the explosions outside Kabul airport has told how "all hell broke loose" as gunmen fired near his vehicle.
"All hell broke loose at the airport circle which is where I was, which is probably about a mile from the explosions across at the Abbey Gate and we had Taliban there firing into the air," Paul Farthing told the BBC.
"One let off a full magazine on automatic from his AK-47 right next to the window of our bus where we had women and children in.
And as we were trying to then flee from the airport we were getting tear-gassed so we were obviously trying to drive the vehicle when we can't see anything. It was just the most horrific thing."
Mr Farthing, who founded the Nowzad animal shelter, has been campaigning to have his staff and their families, as well as 140 dogs and 60 cats, evacuated from Kabul since the collapse of the Afghan government.
Read more about Mr Farthing's experience here

2:15

Australia condemns attack, concludes Afghan operation

Australia’s prime minister has just held a press conference where his government condemned the Kabul airport blasts as “evil, calculated and inhumane attacks on the innocent and the brave”.
Scott Morrison in particular expressed sadness for the reported 13 American soldiers who were killed at Abbey Gate – “a gate at which Australian personnel stood just hours before”.
“These brave young Americans stood at that gate to protect life, to save lives but lost their own in providing a pathway to freedom for others,” he said.
He thanked the US and UK forces in control at the airport before confirming that Australia had completed its evacuation efforts and would cease its on-the-ground operations.
Canberra has evacuated more than 4,100 people over the past nine days including citizens and Afghans with Australian visas.
Mr Morrison's government has resisted some calls to offer a 20,000 spot asylum programme like the UK and Canada. On Friday the prime minister re-iterated that future Afghan arrivals would only come into Australia through the UN refugee programme.

Kabul wakes up to more fear and uncertanity

It's now 6am in Afghanistan.
People are waking up to a grim morning, hours after deadly bomb blasts at the Kabul airport yesterday.
There was already a growing sense of fear and uncertainty when the US announced it was pulling out of Afghanistan, heightened after the Taliban marched into the capital, Kabul, and took control of the country.
Over the past few days, we saw tens of thousands of people swarming to Kabul airport desperate to leave the country ahead of the 31 August deadline for US forces to leave.
But on Thursday afternoon, two explosions hit the airport - killing more than 60 people. The blasts took place in. crowded area where people were waiting to have their documents processed.
Social media has been filled with posts of grief, while eye-witnesses have spoken of the bloody scenes at the airport.
At least 140 people were also wounded in the attack, which a regional faction of the so-called Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for.
US President Joe Biden says the country will complete its mission to evacuate people - and has also vowed revenge on the attackers.
"We will not forgive. We will not forget. We will hunt you down and make you pay," he said.
The threat from Isis-K, the regional branch of Islamic State, still remains high, said the head of US Central Command.

Canada PM Trudeau condemns Afghanistan attack

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has condemned the attacks at the Hamid Karzai airport in Kabul on Thursday.
"These heinous attacks took the lives of many innocent people desperately seeking to leave the country and those supporting evacuation efforts, including US service members and medical personnel," he said.
“Our thoughts are with the people of Afghanistan, and everyone affected by these senseless acts of violence. We offer our condolences to the families and loved ones of the victims, and wish a full recovery to those who were injured."
His comments come as Canada ended its evacuation mission out of Afghanistan. It is not clear how many Canadians still remain in the country.
Mr Trudeau, who is seeking re-election next month, has promised to resettle 20,000 Afghans in Canada in the coming "months and years".
Read more here.

3:18 (GMT)

US braces for further attacks as evacuations continue

US commanders are on alert for more attacks by the so-called Islamic State, including possible rockets or vehicle-borne bombs targeting Kabul airport, the head of US Central Command General Frank McKenzie said.
"We're doing everything we can to be prepared," said General McKenzie, as US forces race to complete their withdrawal from Afghanistan.
The US is racing to complete evacuations by a 31 August deadline agreed with the Taliban. US President Joe Biden has not extended this deadline.
On Thursday evening he said that evacuation efforts would continue despite the attacks.
He also vowed revenge on Thursday's attackers, adding that he had ordered the Pentagon to plan how to strike ISIS-K, the regional faction of the group that has claimed responsibility for the bomb blasts that killed at least 60 people on Thursday.
The Islamic State reportedly said one of its suicide bombers had targeted "translators and collaborators with the American army", according to a Reuters report.

Evacuations 'accelarated' after attacks

The Reuters news agency has reported that the evacuation of civilians from Kabul has been accelerated after the attacks with flights taking off regularly. It was quoting a Western security official based at the airport.
The United States and its allies have mounted one of the biggest air evacuations in history, bringing out more than 100,000 people since 15 August, according to the White House.
Speaking on Thursday evening, US President Joe Biden said more than 7,000 people were flown out in the last 12 hours - though it is not clear how many of those happened before the blasts that struck Kabul airport.
Washington is racing to complete its evacuation efforts before a 31 August deadline.
The United Kingdom said on Thursday that it has evacuated more than 13,000 people from Afghanistan since the mission started.
More than 100 other countries around the world have been taking part in the effort.
Around 5,200 troops continue to provide security at the airport.
However, the United States has acknowledged that it may not be able to get all those registered to leave out by the 31 August deadline it agreed with the Talban.

 

Toll from Kabul blasts rises to 90

An official from the ministry of public health, who does not want to be identified, has told the BBC that the number of people killed in yesterday's airport attack has risen to 90 people with more than 150 injured.

4:08

In case you're just joining us...

We're bringing you the latest developments in the wake of yesterday's airport bombing in Afghanistan. It's now almost 8am in the country - undoubtedly a sombre morning for millions, as we see more pictures of devastation and loss as a result of the attacks.
Here's what has happened over the past few hours:

• At least 90 people are thought to have died and more than 150 injured as a result of yesterday's attacks on the Hamid Karzai airport in Kabul
  
• A Taliban official says at least 28 of the Afghans killed were Taliban members
  
• Evacuation of civilians have now been accelerated after the attacks, a Western security official told Reuters, adding that flights are taking off regularly
  
• US President Joe Biden has sworn revenge on the attackers, saying he would "hunt them down"
  
• This, as the US warned that more attacks could come, with US commanders saying they were on alert for possible rockets or vehicle-borne bombs targeting the airport
  

UK rescues Afghans whose contacts were left at embassy

The British Foreign Office (FCO) has told the Reuters news agency that it has rescued three Afghan families whose contact details had been in documents left behind at its embassy in Kabul.
On Tuesday, the UK's Times newspaper reported that the FCO left documents identifying Afghans and containing contact details, scattered on the ground of the embassy compound.
Times reporters say they found the documents as Taliban fighters were patrolling the site. They say they handed them over to the UK Foreign Office.
Embassies usually destroy data that could compromise local staff but The Times reported that protocols had broken down because of the speed of the Taliban's advance.
"The drawdown of our Embassy was done at pace as the situation in Kabul deteriorated. Every effort was made to destroy sensitive material", a Foreign Office spokesperson told Reuters.

All embassies aim for 30 Aug evacuation

All foreign forces in Afghanistan are aiming to evacuate their citizens and embassy employees by 30 Aug, a Nato diplomat told news agency Reuters.
The latest statement comes as the US and its allies earlier said they were hurrying to evacuate as many people as possible before the Aug 31 deadline.

• There are still about 1,500 US citizens in Afghanistan
  
• The UK has said around 400 people were still in the country
  
• Germany said it estimated 200 citizens remained in Kabul
  
• It's not clear if any French citizens still remain but France has said they expect to complete their evacuation flights by Friday evening
  

Fifa says evacuating footballers and athletes is 'complex'

World football's governing body, FIFA has said it is negotiating the evacuation of players and other athletes from Afghanistan, but that it is proving to be "extremely challenging".
Last week, a player from the Afghan national team, Zaki Anwari, died after falling from a US military plane. He was trying to escape Kabul following the Taliban takeover.
The Australian government evacuated 50 female athletes on Tuesday after sportswomen expressed fears for their safety under the Taliban regime.


6:28

Evacuation efforts continuing at airport

Evacuation efforts are continuing at Kabul's Hamid Karzai international airport this morning - hours after an attack that killed at least 90 people and injured more than 150 people.
According to footage by news agency Reuters, evacuees were seen boarding a plane, as another was spotted taking off from the airport.
A Nato diplomat had earlier said all foreign forces in Afghanistan were aiming to evacuate their citizens and embassy employees by 30 Aug.

UK says evacuations will continue despite blasts

The UK will continue its operation to evacuate people from Afghanistan despite the "despicable" attack at the capital's airport on Thursday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said.
The prime minister held an emergency Cobra meeting following the blasts, after which he promised the UK would continue to work "flat out" until "the last moment".
Thursday's twin blasts took place outside the Abbey Gate - where US and British forces have been stationed to help with evacuations - and at a nearby hotel.
There were no UK military or government casualties in the explosions, according to the Ministry of Defence (MoD).
People who were already inside the airport perimeter have continued to be processed, says the BBC's political correspondent Damian Grammaticas.

South Korea sends back an unidentified Afghan evacuee

South Korea's foreign ministry says one Afghan evacuee had to be returned to Kabul due to "unclear identity".
According to a Yonhap news report, the person - who has not been identified - was not on the evacuation list.
The person had travelled from Afghanistan to the Pakistani capital Islamabad with a large group of evacuees. Officials there had discovered the person while checking identities before departure for Seoul.
"The person was sent back to Kabul on a military transport aircraft and handed over to the US military handling identity checks," the ministry said.
It also asked for understanding for the error, citing the "chaotic situation" in Afghanistan, according to Yonhap.
A total of 390 Afghan evacuees have been brought into South Korea - they include medical professionals, vocational trainers and interpreters who worked for Korea's embassy.

Russian media weigh in on airport attack

Russian media have continued to criticise the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, and the latest attacks at Kabul airport have only given them more fuel. Our Moscow correspondent Steve Rosenberg sums up the headlines.

7:44

If you're just joining us...

Good morning to our readers in the UK and Europe. We're bringing you ongoing coverage of the situation in Afghanistan, where a deadly twin attack took place yesterday at its Kabul airport.
Here's what you need to know to get up to speed:

• At least 90 people are now thought to have died and more than 150 injured as a result of the twin attacks at Hamid Karzai airport in Kabul on Thursday afternoon
  
• As of Friday morning, evacuation efforts are continuing, with evacuees seen boarding planes
  
• According to a Nato diplomat, all foreign forces in Afghanistan are aiming to evacuate their citizens and embassy employees
  
• US Joe Biden has vowed to seek revenge on the attackers, saying he will "hunt them down"
  
• The Islamic State Khorasan (IS-K), a regional affliate of the group, has claimed responsibility for the attack
  

British forces enter final stage of evacuation operation

British forces have entered the final stages of evacuating people from Kabul airport, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has said.
The ministry added that its efforts will focus on British nationals and others who have already been cleared to leave and are at the airport. No more people would be called to the airport for evacuation.
"It is with deep regret that not everyone has been able to be evacuated during this process," defence minister Ben Wallace said in a statement.
Mr Wallace later told Sky News television that Thursday's attack had not affected Britain's timeframe for ending the evacuation operation.
"The threat is obviously going to grow the closer we get to leaving," he said. "The narrative is always going to be, as we leave, certain groups such as ISIS will want to stake a claim that they have driven out the US or the UK."

Thousands arrive at Ramstein

Thousands of refugees have arrived at Germany's Ramstein Air Base, the large US Air Force base in Europe.
Some families have been separated, and more than a dozen children have come alone.
These refugees will be temporarily housed at the air base, where they are allowed to stay for up to ten days as they await a flight to another land.
More than 5,000 refugees have already been flown to the US.

Faces of the missing

In the aftermath of yesterday's deadly attacks at and near Kabul's airport, some have been desperately searching for loved ones who have gone missing. Afghan journalist Bilal Sarwary was sent these pictures of two children. He also spoke to family members who told him the mother of one of the children had died in the blast at the airport.


8:33

Just hours left in evacuation - UK defence secretary

UK Defence Minister Ben Wallace says there are just "hours" left in the UK's mission to help people flee the Taliban.
"The sad fact is not every single one will get out," Wallace tells Sky News.
No further people will be called forward to go to the airport, he says, adding that the UK has closed the Baron Hotel, where those wanting to fly to Britain had gathered.
The threat of further attacks around Kabul airport will increase as Western troops get closer to leaving, he says.
"The narrative is always going to be, as we leave, certain groups such as ISIS will want to stake a claim that they have driven out the US or the UK."
Asked how history would remember the West's involvement in the country, Wallace says that you "don't fix problems like Afghanistan".
"The West seems to think it flies in, does a few things and everything will be alright," he says.
"You don't fix problems like Afghanistan - a thousand years of tribal fighting, war. You manage them and if you wish to engage in national building or supporting a nation, you're probably best doing it as an international body ... and you need to be prepared to be there for the long run."

Kabul hospitals overwhelmed by wounded

Doctors and nurses in Kabul worked through the night to treat some of the 150 people injured in Thursday's double bomb attack near the airport.
Hospitals, already struggling with fewer staff since the Taliban took power a week ago, have been overwhelmed.
The Kabul Surgical Centre, run by the international medical charity Emergency, said it received 60 wounded in less than two hours, including at least 16 people pronounced dead on arrival.
The charity's president, Rossella Miccio, not in Afghanistan, said staff who had already finished their shifts went straight back to the hospital to help.
"The three operating theatres of the hospital have been working all night long," she told the BBC's Today programme. "The last patient was operated on at 4 o'clock."
She said some of the patients remain in intensive care "so the situation is still quite critical".
The hospital's medical co-ordinator said in a post on the group's Twitter account that patients were "terrified, their eyes totally lost in emptiness, their gaze blank. Rarely have we seen such a situation."

Every effort made to destroy Kabul staff details, says Foreign Office

"Every effort" was made to destroy sensitive material when British embassy staff evacuated their Kabul building as the Taliban approached, the Foreign Office has said.
It comes after a report in the Times said documents with contact details of Afghans working for the UK had been found "scattered on the ground".
The Foreign Office said three families mentioned in the Times story had been helped to safety.
It added staff had worked "at pace as the situation in Kabul deteriorated".
The UK relocated its embassy in Kabul to a secure location near the airport on 13 August as Taliban fighters approached Afghanistan's capital.
The Foreign Office had already been advising British nationals to leave the country and was continuing to relocate former Afghan staff and their families to the UK under a policy announced in May.
According to the Times, the documents identifying Afghan workers and job applicants were discovered on Tuesday this week on the ground at the embassy compound, which by then was occupied by the Taliban.
Read more here.

In pictures: The bloody aftermath of airport attacks

Kabul is reeling from two explosions at the city's airport on Thursday, which killed some 90 people, including 13 US military personnel.
At least 150 people were also wounded in the attacks, which the Islamic State group says it carried out.
Taliban fighters have been guarding the scene, which is strewn with discarded clothing and bags.

Young Afghan mayor who fled Taliban hidden in car

Joshua Nevett - Journalist, BBC World Online


The fall of Kabul to the Taliban was a foreboding moment for Zarifa Ghafari, one of Afghanistan's first female mayors.
As Taliban fighters descended on the Afghan capital, she realised her life was suddenly in grave danger. Days later she fled with her family to Germany and has told the story of her dramatic escape to the BBC.
Ms Ghafari, 29, had become a prominent public official and voice for women's rights.
This, she believed, made her a threat to the Taliban, who are known for restricting the role of women in line with their strict interpretation of Islam. "My voice has the power that no guns have," she said.
At first, Ms Ghafari was defiant, even as she feared death during the Taliban's lightning-quick seizure of power. But that optimism has now turned to despair.
On 18 August, she arranged for a car to take her and her family to Kabul airport.
During the journey, she hid in a footwell in the car, ducking for cover every time they passed through a Taliban checkpoint.
"When we reached the airport gate, there were Taliban fighters everywhere," she said. "I was struggling to hide myself."
Read more here.

WHO says need for medical supplies 'enormous and growing'

The World Health Organization (WHO) has described the need for medical supplies as "enormous and growing".
Rick Brennan, WHO's regional emergency director, was speaking as medical supplies began to run out in Afghanistan.
But the WHO says it is planning to establish an air bridge into the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif with the help of the Pakistani government within two or three days.
Trauma kits and emergency supplies for hospitals, as well as medicines for treating chronic malnutrition among children are among priority items, Brennan told a Geneva briefing.
"Right now because of security concerns and several other operational considerations, Kabul airport is not going to be an option for the next week at least," he said.
It comes after two explosions hit Kabul airport on Thursday, killing some 90 people. At least 150 people were also wounded in the attack, which the Islamic State group says it was behind.
Meanwhile, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has tweeted that it is committed to continuing its work.

Family heartbroken after father 'fails to evacuate them'

A young female journalist says she, her mother, seven brothers and three sisters have been abandoned by her father, who was evacuated from Afghanistan with his second wife.
Zalash, not her real name, says she has been told by the Taliban that if she returns to her job as a journalist she will be killed.
She told BBC 5 Live she and her family were in temporary accommodation and feared for their lives.
“I want to try to save my family’s life. It is heart-breaking for me. They want to go to university and school. We are so poor. We have one pen and the whole family is using it for schoolwork,” she said.
Zalash, 18, said the family had been told by her father to go to the airport, and they waited for him for nearly 24 hours.
“We had a hard time. We didn’t sleep. We stayed in the hot sun. The place was very dirty,” she said.
“Then the troops told us my father didn’t want us to go on the plane. He took his other wife and family. He said if we didn’t leave he would slap me.
“We are left with tears and broken hearts. Our only hope is God.“

What we know about the end of the UK evacuation

As we reported earlier, British forces have entered the final stages of evacuating people from Kabul airport. Here's what we know.

• The Ministry of Defence says efforts will focus on British nationals and others who have already been cleared to leave and are at the airport. No more people will be called to the airport for evacuation.
  
• Eight to nine more flights will come into Kabul to evacuate around 1,000 people who remain inside the airfield, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace says.
  
• Around 800 to 1,100 eligible Afghans will be left behind, as well as approximately 100 to 150 British nationals, some of whom want to stay, Wallace tells LBC.
  
• He would not confirm when the last British troops would leave the country, but says this will be before the US withdraws by 31 August.
  
• Wallace says the UK's Afghan relocation scheme will remain open "indefinitely" and if eligible people are able to get to other countries, the UK can process them there
  

We've got more detail on the UK's final stages of evacuation from Kabul here.

Analysis: US forces will be the last to leave

Jonathan Beale - BBC defence correspondent
With the deadline fast looming, the British evacuation operation was always going to end soon.
Other European nations have already ended their rescue flights. But the attacks at the airport have made it more dangerous.
The Ministry of Defence says the decision to close the UK's processing centre reflects the situation on the ground with "an ongoing and serious threat of terrorist attack at the airport". It means no new cases will be processed.
Some of the 1,000 British troops on the ground have already left.
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace says some military equipment will have to be left behind.
As throughout this operation it is the United States that is dictating the sequence of this withdrawal. And it will be US forces, who have provided the bulk of the security, who will be the last to leave.

What is the difference between IS-K and the Taliban?

Thursday’s twin attacks were claimed by the Islamic State Khorasan Province, or IS-K.
While there is a peripheral connection between Islamic State (IS) militants and the Taliban, there are also major differences and IS will present a major security challenge for the incoming Afghan government, says the BBC's Security Correspondent Frank Gardner.
IS accuses the Taliban of abandoning Jihad, and disillusioned members of the Afghan Taliban have defected to the extremist group.
IS militants have also been blamed for some of the worst atrocities in recent years, targeting girls' schools, hospitals and even a maternity ward where they reportedly shot dead pregnant women and nurses.
Unlike the Taliban, whose interest is confined to Afghanistan, IS-K are part of the global IS network that seeks to carry out attacks on Western, international and humanitarian targets wherever they can reach them.
You can read more on Frank Gardner's analysis here.

Countries wind down evacuation operations

As the UK enters the final stages of its Kabul evacuation, let's take a look at other countries bringing their operations to a close:
The United States will stay until 31 August if required, the Pentagon has said.
In total, around 12,500 people were evacuated on Thursday, raising the overall evacuees since the Taliban takeover on 14 August to about 105,000, the White House said on Friday.
Spain has now ended its evacuation, the government said.
Two military planes carrying the last 81 Spaniards out of Kabul arrived in Dubai early on Friday. The planes were also carrying four Portuguese soldiers and 83 Afghans who had worked with Nato countries, the government said.
Germany ended evacuation flights on Thursday.
The German military evacuated 5,347 people, including more than 4,100 Afghans.
The French Defence Ministry said that, as of Thursday evening, more than 100 French nationals and more than 2,500 Afghans had reached French soil after being evacuated from Kabul.
France will no longer be able to evacuate people after Friday evening, Prime Minister Jean Castex has told local radio.
Australia has completed its evacuation efforts and will cease its on-the-ground operations, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said.
Canberra has evacuated more than 4,100 people over the past nine days including citizens and Afghans with Australian visas.
Morrison's government has resisted some calls to offer a 20,000-spot asylum programme like the UK and Canada.

Turkey in talks with Taliban over running airport

Tom Bateman - BBC Middle East correspondent
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan says his government is in direct talks with the Taliban about helping run Kabul airport, after the departure of international forces at the end of this month.
President Erdogan says Turkish officials held talks with the Taliban for three and half hours - suggesting the group is open to Turkey running the airport - but crucially with the Taliban in charge of its security.
The question of how Kabul airport is run and secured is crucial for the country’s future; the US has already said it must function for Afghanistan to have "some semblence" of a relationship with the world.
Turkey is a member of NATO and has been part of the alliance’s forces in the country. It has secured the airport for the last six years.
But the Taliban wants Turkish troops, along with all international forces, out. President Erdogan says despite the talks there’s no decision yet about maintaining a presence at the airport, warning of getting "sucked in" to a dangerous situation in light of Thursday’s attacks.

Kabul bomb attacks a hideous assault, says UN

The UN has called for those responsible for the "hideous assault on desperate civilians" in Kabul to be "caught and brought to justice".
The deadly attacks targeting people queuing at the airport in the Afghan capital were "clearly calculated to kill and maim as many people as possible: civilians - children, women, fathers, mothers," Rupert Colville, a spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said.
"It was an attack specifically designed to cause carnage, and it has caused carnage," he added.
US President Joe Biden has promised to hunt down the jihadists behind an attack in Kabul which killed at least 90 people - including 13 American troops.

14:18

If you're just joining us

If you're just joining us, here are some of the main developments out of Afghanistan so far today:

• Evacuation efforts are continuing at Kabul airport following yesterday's twin bomb attacks that killed at least 90 people and injured more than 150
  
• Hospitals in Kabul, already struggling with fewer staff since the Taliban took power a week ago, have been overwhelmed with patients
  
• Families are desperately searching for loved ones who have gone missing, including children
  
• Meanwhile, as evacuees arrived at Germany's Ramstein Air Base, it became apparent that some families had been separated, with more than a dozen children turning up alone
  
• British forces have entered the final stages of evacuating people. Around 800 to 1,100 eligible Afghans will be left behind, a government official says. Approximately 100 to 150 British nationals will also remain in Afghanistan, some of whom want to stay
  
• A US expert in counter-terrorism has warned that American troops need to take control of the perimeter of Kabul's airport to prevent another attack during the evacuation process
  
• The US has said it will hunt down the jihadists behind Thursday's attacks, which were claimed by the Islamic State Khorasan Province, or IS-K
  

Russia: West must learn lessons from Afghanistan

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has criticised the West in the wake of the Kabul bombings.
"A lesson must be learned: Attempts to impose an alien system of values are quite explosive," he told a news conference in Rome after talks with his Italian counterpart, as quoted by the Interfax news agency.
"I hope that politicians who contemplate further action in foreign lands will have this conclusion entrenched in their minds at [the] third time of asking."
He condemned the bombings and called for an "inclusive interim government" involving "all the main political forces" in Afghanistan.
"For us it is fundamentally important to to ensure the security of our southern frontiers, [and] of our allies in Central Asia," he added.
While US and European governments have been racing to get their citizens and Afghan colleagues out of Kabul, Russia has been one of very few countries not visibly alarmed by the Taliban takeover.
Moscow has been building contacts with the Taliban for some time. The former Western-backed Afghan government even accused Russia's presidential envoy of being an open supporter of the Taliban, something Russia denied.
Read more: Russia plans for new era with Taliban rule

What happens to Afghan refugees coming to the UK?

The UK has evacuated nearly 8,000 Afghans who worked for the government - here's what happens next.

• Arrivals on official flights enter a 10-day Covid quarantine in a hotel
  
• Government officials and local authorities are trying to find them permanent homes
  
• A shortage of suitable accommodation means many will be placed in hotels
  
• Some will get refugee status and can live in the UK permanently
  
• Others will get a five-year visa to live and work in the UK - and can then apply for permanent residence
  
• Afghans arriving independently will enter the normal system for asylum claims - which has a backlog of 70,000 people
  
• These people cannot settle, or work, while their claims are considered
  

Pentagon: No second bomber

Major Gen William Taylor is at the podium for today's Pentagon briefing.
He tells reporters the US military believes yesterday's explosion was a single suicide bomber - there was no second blast near the hotel.
"We do not believe there was a second explosion," he says. "We felt it was important to correct the record with you all here."

Wounded flown to Germany for treatment

Maj Gen Taylor says some of those injured in yesterday's bombings near Kabul airport are now receiving treatment in Germany.
"Two flights landed at [Germany's Ramstein Air Base] carrying our wounded personnel and they are receiving care."

Pentagon: 111,000 people successfully evacuated

More than 5,000 Americans have been safely evacuated from Afghanistan, Maj Gen William Taylor says, as the 31 August deadline approaches for the US withdrawal.
A total of 111,000 people have been airlifted out of Afghanistan as part of the evacuation mission.
There are still about 5,400 at Kabul's airport awaiting flights out, Taylor says.
"There are more than 5,000 American service members in harm's way, serving as many people they can," Taylor says. "We've seen first hand how dangerous that mission is. But ISIS will not deter us."

 

British nationals killed in Kabul attack

Two British nationals were among those killed in yesterday's attack in Kabul, along with the child of another British national, the UK government has announced.
No further details were provided.

UN Security Council calls for justice over Kabul attack

The United Nations Security Council has urged the international community to bring those responsible for the bombing at Kabul airport to justice.
"The members of the Security Council underlined the need to hold perpetrators, organizers, financiers and sponsors of these reprehensible acts of terrorism accountable and bring them to justice," the statement by the 15-member council said.
"They urged all states, in accordance with their obligations under international law and relevant Security Council resolutions, to cooperate actively with all relevant authorities in this regard," it added.
The Council said it "condemned in the strongest terms the deplorable attacks".
It also "reiterated the importance of combating terrorism in Afghanistan to ensure the territory of Afghanistan should not be used to threaten or attack any country, and that no Afghan group or individual should support terrorists operating on the territory of any country."
The statement was released before the Pentagon briefing which spoke of one rather than two bomb attacks.
At least 90 people, among them 13 US military personnel, were killed following the attack at the airport on Thursday.
At least 150 people were also wounded. The Islamic State group says it was behind attack.

Afghan music school falls silent under Taliban rule

Tiffany Wertheimer, BBC News
Imagine being afraid for your safety because you have been learning to play the piano or sitar.
This is what students and staff at the Afghanistan National Institute of Music (ANIM) are now facing, after the Taliban said they would ban music following their takeover of the country. The doors of the celebrated school are closed, and its hallways have fallen silent.
"The students are all fearful and concerned. They clearly understand that if they return to the school, they might face consequences or be punished for what they've been doing," the school's founder and director, Dr Ahmad Sarmast, told the BBC.
He said some students had returned their instruments to the school when the Taliban descended on the city. This was deemed safer than keeping them at home, where fighters from the Islamist group might find them.
Read the full story here.

French officials discuss evacuations with the Taliban

French officials have met Taliban representatives to discuss evacuation efforts from Kabul, the country's foreign ministry has confirmed.
Earlier, Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen tweeted that a meeting had taken place in the Qatari capital Doha on Thursday.
"Operational contacts have indeed taken place in recent days with representatives of the Taliban movement, in Kabul as well as in Doha, in order to facilitate our current evacuation operations," the foreign ministry said in a statement sent to Reuters news agency.
France is still trying to evacuate several hundred Afghans. European Affairs Minister Clement Beaune has indicated evacuations might continue beyond a deadline of Friday evening.

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Airport attack death toll jumps to 170 - official

An Afghan public health official has told the BBC that the death toll from Thursday's bombing has risen from 90 to more than 170. The official did not wish to be named.
The increased death toll is unconfirmed, but a similar figure is being reported by several other news outlets. The BBC is now seeking confirmation.
Those killed in the bombing at Kabul's airport were mostly Afghan civilians. Thirteen US service members, two British nationals and the child of a third British national are also confirmed to have died.
IS-K, a local branch of the Islamic State group, has said it carried out the attack.

What we know about the Kabul attack

As we just reported, a health official has told the BBC that the death toll from yesterday's Kabul airport attack has increased to 170.
As we seek further confirmation of that figure, here's a reminder about how the attack unfolded:

• A powerful bomb blast struck the perimeter of Kabul's Hamid Karzai International Airport at about 18:00 local time (13:30 GMT) on Thursday
  
• The single explosion occurred at the Abbey Gate as civilians queued in the hope of boarding flights out of Taliban-controlled Afghanistan
  
• Thirteen US personnel, two British nationals and the child of a British national were among those killed in the attack
  
• A suicide bomber carried out the attack after walking into the middle of families waiting outside the gate, according to UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace
  
• Some victims were blown into a sewage canal where Afghans were waiting to be processed, while dozens were rushed to hospital for treatment
  
• Wounded US personnel were flown to an American air base in Germany for treatment
  

Biden warned of further terror attacks

US President Joe Biden has been warned that another terror attack in the Afghan capital Kabul is likely in the coming days, a White House official says.
At a meeting with his national security team, Biden was told that all possible measures were being taken to protect US personnel and others at the city's airport.
"The next few days of this mission will be the most dangerous period to date," the official said, adding that US forces were looking at possible IS-K targets.
IS-K, or Islamic State Khorasan Province, is the group that claimed to be behind Thursday's deadly airport attack.
The president was informed that despite any threat, US troops would continue with the evacuation mission until the 31 August deadline.
The mission, the White House official said, would prioritise the remaining American citizens who wanted to leave, with US forces "engaged in a variety of means to get them to the airport safely"

Mission in most dangerous phase - White House

Speaking from the White House briefing room, Press Secretary Jen Psaki says the US military has entered the "most dangerous" phase of its mission in Afghanistan because it involves bringing troops and equipment home.
She adds that the number of evacuees will likely decline going forward, before repeating that the US will withdraw its military by the 31 August deadline.
Pressed by journalists on security failures leading up to the bombing on Thursday, Psaki concedes: "Clearly something went wrong here."

Afghans in Calais prepare to risk lives again to reach UK

Lucy Williamson - BBC News, Calais, France
Even among the Afghan migrants already living at the camp in Calais, France, Mohammad Wali stands out. Tall and broad, with a huge gap-toothed smile and a blue scarf looped around his head, he seems full of energy, full of hope.
He arrived here a week ago, he told me, after being evacuated from Kabul airport on a French military flight.
Mohammad said he worked as a bodyguard for a political party, whose members were targeted by the Taliban, and that his boss advised him to leave.
He said he then called his mother from the airport. She initially urged him to stay behind with his wife and three children, but eventually gave him her blessing to leave.
"I came to France and after two days my heart is broken," Wali said. "I have one small daughter, she's just 11 months old. I miss my children, I miss my mother."
Afghans here in Calais believe that more than 60 people have crossed to the UK in the past week, hidden inside refrigerated lorries. Mohammad plans to do the same.
Read the full story here.

Acclaimed Afghan filmmaker describes evacuation

Shahrbanoo Sadat is pictured here, left, at the Turin film festival in 2016

Award-winning Afghan filmmaker Shahrbanoo Sadat has described the moment she knew she had to leave Kabul.
"We saw Taliban cars with white flags... and... we're running," she told Reuters news agency. "And that was, for me, like a moment of a movie that couldn't be real because I was in the middle of Kabul."
She said it took 72 hours from leaving her apartment to reaching French troops at Kabul airport; she had with her nine members of her family.
As they queued to enter the airport, she said, Taliban fighters were walking around with guns and cables – targeting men, including her father, amid rumours of an attack.
"[A Taliban member] wanted to take him out and I threw myself on my father and [the Taliban member] hit me with the cable that he had... they were so aggressive with men but they didn't really touch the women. He let us go."
Sadat, whose first feature film Wolf and Sheep won a key prize at the Cannes film festival in 2016, said she knew she was one of the lucky ones, but has "all kind of mixed feelings" about what's happened.
"I don't understand all this. Everything was so sudden and so quick," she said. "I want to continue making films but perhaps my point of view is changed... The political thing displaced me so I cannot ignore it anymore because I am hurt by that."
Here you can see an interview with her from 2016 here.


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We're pausing our live coverage

Hundreds of German troops arrive back in their home country from Afghanistan

We're pausing our live coverage - thanks for staying with us. Here's a quick recap of the day's developments before we go:

• The death toll from Thursday's attack at Kabul airport has increased to more than 170, a health official says. The BBC is working to verify this figure
  
• Along with dozens of Afghans killed in the incident were 13 US personnel, two British nationals and the child of a British national
  
• The US has said it will "hunt down" those responsible for the attack - a powerful bomb blast that a local branch of the Islamic State group said it carried out
  
• President Joe Biden has been warned by his national security team that another terror attack in the Afghan capital is likely in the coming days
  
• US officials say the hours leading up to the withdrawal deadline of 31 August will be "the most dangerous period to date". Its mission to evacuate people from Kabul will continue "right up until the last moment", the Pentagon said
  
• British troops, meanwhile, have been wrapping-up evacuations at Kabul airport and the BBC has been told their mission will end in a matter of hours
  
• Many other countries - including Germany, Spain, France, Canada and Australia - have ended their evacuation operations