Who was evacuated from Afghanistan in the end?
Soon after the US announced the end of its Afghanistan mission, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken told reporters that 123,000 people were safely flown out since the Taliban took over on 14 August.Out of them, 6,000 were American citizens. Secretary Blinken says between 100 and 200 American citizens who still want to leave remain in the country and that the US will hold the Taliban to their promise to let people freely depart the country.
It is unclear just how many of those evacuated are Afghans.
- Around 15,000 people were flown to Britain, according to the UK defence ministry
- Canada facilitated the evacuation of roughly 3,700 Canadian and Afghan citizens
- Germany flew around 5,300 people out, including more than 4,000 Afghan nationals
- Italy evacuated just over 5,000 people including 4,890 Afghans
- Nearly 3,000 people including more than 2,600 Afghans were taken to France
- Australia welcomed 4,100 people including more than 3,200 citizens and Afghans with visas to the country
- The Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Australia and Sweden are among countries that evacuated more than 1,000 people each from Kabul airport.
Taliban heralds “historic moment” of US exit
With the country now back in their hands, Taliban supporters celebrated across Kabul after the last US plane flew out.Scenes from Kabul showed supporters firing guns into the air and cars honking into the early hours of Tuesday.
The last American troops left Kabul Airport at midnight.
At that point, Afghanistan gained “full independence,” one Taliban representative, Zabihullah Mujahid said.
Another senior Taliban official, Anas Haqqani, was quoted by AFP as saying he was “proud” to witness such “historic moments”.
Afghans flee to Pakistan over land
With foreign evacuation flights now ended, Afghans still desperate to find a way out of the country may be heading to the nation’s borders.Already over the past two weeks, thousands have fled to neighbouring Pakistan.
Our reporter Shumaila Jaffery has been at the Chaman border:
“From dawn till dusk they pour in - hundreds of men with luggage on their shoulders, burqa-clad women walking briskly behind their men, children clinging to their mothers, exhausted in the scorching heat, and even patients pushed on wheelbarrows.”
She spoke with many refugees, including one student who said:
“Everybody wants to live in their homes, but we were forced to leave Afghanistan. We are not feeling good about migrating to Pakistan or other countries, all people are worried, but they don't have any hope”.
Read her full despatch here.
'Living in a state of constant fear in Herat'
Vikas Pandey - BBC NewsHerat, Afghanistan's third-largest city, was a bustling centre of economic activity until it fell to the Taliban.
Residents tell the BBC that the local economy has now slowed down and "people are living in a state of fear".
Habeeb*, who worked in communications, says people are scared to even leave their houses.
"The Taliban are present everywhere. I am running out of my savings. I have no job and so many like me need desperate help."
The Taliban are asking people to return to work but locals say that "the entire administrative system is destroyed".
Habeeb says he has been hearing about the Taliban giving severe punishments to people even for petty crimes.
"The situation is much worse in smaller districts and villagers where there is no oversight from the media," Habeeb addsa.
*Name has been changed to protect identity