At least seven people are reported dead after the panic rush of crowds at Kabul airport as the Taliban seize power.
The Taliban has declared the war in Afghanistan over after its fighters swept into the capital, Kabul, and President Ashraf Ghani fled the country.
Victorious Taliban fighters patrolled the streets of Kabul on Monday as thousands of Afghans mobbed the city’s airport trying to flee the group’s feared hardline brand of rule.
Scores of Afghans ran alongside a US military plane as it taxied on the runway and several clung to the side as the jet took off.
Senior US military officials said that the chaos left seven dead, including several who fell from the flight.
The US military said it is sending another battalion of about 1,000 troops to help safeguard the Kabul airport.
Meanwhile, at a special session of the UN Security Council in New York, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged the Taliban to show “the utmost restraint to protect lives” and demanded that anyone who wanted to leave the country must be able to do so.
Here are all the latest updates:
Turkey evacuates civilians, citizens
Turkey has evacuated civilians and its citizens from Kabul on a Turkish Airlines flight to Istanbul.
State broadcaster TRT Haber said 324 people had been brought on the evacuation flight.
UK’s Johnson plans virtual G7 leaders meeting
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson intends to host a virtual meeting of G7 leaders to discuss the situation in Afghanistan in the coming days, he has told French President Emmanuel Macron during a telephone call.
Johnson’s office said the two leaders also agreed that the UK and France should work together at the United Nations Security Council, including on a possible joint-resolution.
Russia’s Lavrov discusses crisis with USA, China
Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has discussed the situation in Afghanistan by phone and have agreed to continue consultations with China, Pakistan, and the United Nations, the Russian foreign ministry has said.
Lavrov also spoke by phone with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi and discussed political coordination due to the situation in Afghanistan and its implications for the region, the ministry said.
Pakistan calls for a political settlement
Pakistan has said it is committed to “an inclusive political settlement” in neighboring Afghanistan.
Such a settlement was “the way forward representing all Afghan ethnic groups,” said a statement issued by the prime minister’s office.
The statement called upon all parties in Afghanistan to respect the rule of law, protect the fundamental human rights of all Afghans, and ensure that Afghan soil is not used by any terrorist organization, the statement said.
‘Leadership was missing’ in Afghan government: Pentagon
The rapid collapse of the Afghan government and military to the Taliban was due to the lack of leadership, despite years of aid and training by the United States, the Pentagon has said.
“You can resource, you can train, you can support, you can advise, you can assist. You cannot buy will, you cannot purchase leadership, and leadership was missing,” said Pentagon spokesman John Kirby.
