Afghanistan: Extension to the evacuation deadline ‘unlikely’, defence secretary Ben Wallace admits
Joe Biden is under pressure to extend the presence of American armed forces in Afghanistan as allied nations rush to help people escape the Taliban.
Following the rapid collapse of the Afghan military and government, which his administration failed to foresee, Mr Biden will face demands from the UK, France and others to hold Kabul airport past 31 August and allow further evacuation flights.
A G7 virtual summit is due to take place today, after which the president will give an address on the crisis.
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The Taliban controls Afghanistan once again, twenty years after they were ousted from power.
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Rory Sullivan24 August 2021 10:16
Taliban appoints finance minister, report suggests
The Taliban has named a finance minister among a wave of new senior appointments, according to the Pajhwok news agency.
Gul Agha will head the finance ministry, while Sadr Ibrahim will serve as the acting interior minister, it said.
The report also suggested that Najibullah will be intelligence chief, Mullah Shirin will be the governor of Kabul and Hamdullah Nomani will be the capital’s mayor.
Rory Sullivan24 August 2021 10:05
Pakistan expresses hope for ‘peaceful and stable’ Afghanistan
An inclusive political settlement in Afghanistan is required to secure peace, Pakistan has said.
In a conversation with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, Pakistan’s foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said the stability of Afghanistan was of the utmost importance for the region.
He will be travelling around Central Asia this week to discuss Afghan developments with leaders in Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Iran.
The foreign ministry also confirmed that Pakistan is helping with the evacuation of foreigners in Afghanistan.
Rory Sullivan24 August 2021 09:50
Inside the UK’s evacuation operation
Safi Abdullah Hidaytullah, a 67-year-old retired academic seated on one of the UK’s evacuation flights, says he is unlikely to ever see Afghanistan again.
“I am sad about that, but I am glad that young people are getting away. They’ll have no life here with what is going to happen with the Taliban – they look to the past, not the future. That is their way.”
The Independent’s defence correspondent Kim Sengupta talks to him and other Afghans, as well as British soldiers working on evacuations from Kabul airport.
Rory Sullivan24 August 2021 09:33
French evacuations to stop when US withdraws
The French government has confirmed that its evacuation efforts in Kabul will stop when the US withdraws.
This comes after British politicians likewise acknowledged that UK troops will not remain without American support.
Rory Sullivan24 August 2021 09:20
Scenes at Kabul airport
Here’s journalist Charlie Faulkner with an update from Kabul airport on Tuesday:
Rory Sullivan24 August 2021 09:08
Deploying more troops to Afghanistan ‘not the solution’, says defence secretary
Flying thousands more British troops to Kabul airport is not the answer, defence secretary Ben Wallace has said.
The Tory frontbencher told the BBC: “It’s not about effectively whether I could fly in thousands of troops and secure the airport. Yes, I could do that, I could probably secure the airport for a few months, or maybe a year or two.
“But for what purpose? For them to be shot at, attacked, people not to get to the airport and to trigger just a permanent fight? I don’t think that is a solution.”
Rory Sullivan24 August 2021 08:55
Taliban would have to agree to evacuation extension, says Tugendhat
The Taliban and not just the US would need to back an extension of the evacuation deadline, the chair of the foreign affairs committee has said.
Tory MP Tom Tugendhat, who served as an army officer in Afghanistan, stressed that the British operation in Afghanistan would end when the US withdraws.
“We can ask the Americans if they’re willing to stand with us. If they’re not then we can’t secure the perimeter and we can’t manage air traffic control, so if the Americans decide to go now I’m afraid that is it. But we can ask,” he said.
Rory Sullivan24 August 2021 08:36
PM needs to ‘step up’ after years of ‘trashing alliances’, says Nandy
Boris Johnson needs to “step up” in Afghanistan and the region after years of “trashing our alliances”, the shadow foreign secretary has said.
Speaking about the situation in Afghanistan, Lisa Nandy told BBC Breakfast that the government must do more to help.
The Labour frontbencher said that the UK should support countries in the region like Pakistan, which are “seeing huge numbers of people crossing the border at the moment”.
“To keep those borders open we need the world’s wealthiest countries to step up and say, ‘We will support you, this will not be your problem alone when this refugee crisis is over’,” she added.
She said the G7 talks later matter because “this group of countries alone can make that commitment”.
Rory Sullivan24 August 2021 08:12
Boris Johnson to chair G7 on Afghanistan crisis
Boris Johnson will chair a G7 meeting later today on the Afghanistan crisis.
“I will ask our friends and allies to stand by the Afghan people and step up support for refugees and humanitarian aid,” he said.
Rory Sullivan24 August 2021 07:57