WRAP: U.S. in final phase of evacuations from Kabul, Taliban says ready to take over airport

Record ID: 1634105

  • Title: WRAP: U.S. in final phase of evacuations from Kabul, Taliban says ready to take over airport
  • Date: 29th August 2021
  • Summary: KABUL, AFGHANISTAN (AUGUST 29, 2021) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (Dari) AFGHAN WOMAN OUTSIDE OF AIRPORT, SANOBAR PARSA, SAYING: "We tried every option because our lives are in danger. They (the Americans or foreigners) must show us a way to be saved. We should leave Afghanistan or they should provide a safe place for us." (SOUNDBITE) (Pashto) AFGHAN MAN OUTSIDE OF AIRPORT, RAFIULLAH SAMSOR, SAYING: "In fact, they (Americans) do not take us (with them) and only make fun of us. This is a waste of time for women, children and elders." (SOUNDBITE) (Dari) KABUL RESIDENT, KHALID, SAYING: "The situation is not good for work matters and since the arrival of the Taliban (to Kabul), there is no work." (SOUNDBITE) (Dari) KABUL RESIDENT, JAVED, SAYING: "The future of Afghanistan is clear, everything has been messed up and everyone sees that passengers, including little ones and elders, come from everywhere (to the airport), and they are all without a future."
  • Embargoed: 12th September 2021 14:35
  • Keywords: Afghanistan Taliban U.S. UK United States conflict war withdrawal wrap
  • Location: VARIOUS LOCATIONS
  • City: VARIOUS LOCATIONS
  • Country: Afghanistan
  • Topics: Asia / Pacific,Conflicts/War/Peace
  • Reuters ID: LVA005ESC16PZ
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: THIS IS A WRAP OF HIGHLIGHTS OF EDITS THAT HAVE ALREADY MOVED. THERE IS NO NEW MATERIAL IN THIS EDIT
    U.S. forces were in the final phase of pulling out of Kabul on Sunday (August 29), ending two decades of costly involvement in Afghanistan, as the country's new Taliban rulers prepared to take control of the airport.
    Just over 1,000 civilians remained at the airport on Sunday to be flown out before the troops finally leave, a Western security official told Reuters.
    U.S. President Joe Biden has said he will stick by his deadline to withdraw all U.S. troops from Afghanistan by Tuesday. A U.S. official told Reuters on Saturday that fewer than 4,000 troops remained at the airport.
    U.S. and allied forces have mounted a massive two-week effort to ferry foreign nationals and tens of thousands of vulnerable Afghans out of the country.
    The airlift - one of the biggest such evacuation operations ever - marked the end of a 20-year Western mission in Afghanistan that began when U.S.-led forces ousted a Taliban government that had provided safe haven for the perpetrators of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.
    The final chapter came quickly after the United States and the Taliban made a deal to end the foreign involvement. The Western-backed government and Afghan army melted away as Taliban fighters swept across the country and took control of Kabul on Aug. 15.
    The United States and allies have taken about 114,400 people out of Afghanistan in the past two weeks, but tens of thousands who want to go will be left behind.
    A Taliban official told Reuters the Islamist group had engineers and technicians ready to take charge of the airport.
    Britain's last military flight left Kabul on Saturday (August 28) night after a chaotic two weeks at the airport that was plunged into a bloodbath on Thursday when an Islamic State suicide bomb attack outside the airport gates killed at least 90 Afghans and 13 American troops.
    Biden headed on Sunday to Dover Air Force Base to honor members of the U.S. military killed in the attack as their remains were returned to the United States.
    A top U.S. official said the Biden administration expects the Taliban to continue allowing safe passage for Americans and others to leave Afghanistan after the U.S. military withdrawal is completed.
    The collapse of the Afghan government leaves an administrative vacuum that has led to fears of an economic crisis and widespread hunger.
    Prices for commodities like flour, oil and rice are rapidly rising and the currency is plunging, with money changers across the border in Pakistan already refusing to accept the afghani.
    On Saturday, officials ordered banks to re-open and imposed a limit on withdrawals of $200 or 20,000 afghani. Long queues forming outside bank branches of people trying to get money out.
    Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid has said the difficulties will subside quickly once the new administration is up and running.
    But with its economy shattered by decades of war, Afghanistan is now facing the end of billions of dollars in foreign aid poured in by Western donors.
    (Production: Paul Warren, Tara Oakes)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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