Military flights take off from Kabul airport as Afghanistan withdrawal nears end

Record ID: 1634257

  • Title: Military flights take off from Kabul airport as Afghanistan withdrawal nears end
  • Date: 30th August 2021
  • Summary: KABUL, AFGHANISTAN (AUGUST 30) (REUTERS) MILITARY AIRPLANE TAKING OFF / IN FLIGHT VIEW OF KABUL AIRPORT / MILITARY AIRPLANES OF TARMAC VARIOUS OF MILITARY AIRPLANES TAKING OFF / IN FLIGHT
  • Embargoed: 13th September 2021 07:31
  • Keywords: Afghanistan Taliban deadline evacuation evacuess military airplanes
  • Location: KABUL, AFGHANISTAN
  • City: KABUL, AFGHANISTAN
  • Country: Afghanistan
  • Topics: Asia / Pacific
  • Reuters ID: LVA001ESH18W7
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Military planes took off from Kabul Airport on Monday (August 30) as the foreign withdrawal enters the final stage, ending two decades of military involvement in Afghanistan.
    U.S. anti-missile defences intercepted as many as five rockets that were fired at Kabul's airport early on Monday morning, a U.S. official said, as the United States rushed to complete its withdrawal from Afghanistan to end its longest war.
    Having evacuated about 114,400 people - including foreign nationals and "at risk" Afghans - in an operation that began a day before Kabul fell to the Taliban on Aug. 15, U.S. and allied forces are set to complete their own withdrawal by Tuesday to meet a deadline agreed with the Islamist militants.
    The number of U.S. troops at the airport had fallen to below 4,000 over the weekend, with efforts to depart becoming more urgent after an Islamic State suicide bomb attack outside the gates on Thursday killed scores of Afghan civilians and 13 U.S. military personnel.
    Afghan media reports said Monday's rocket attack was mounted from the back of a vehicle. According to Pajhwok news agency several rockets struck different parts of the Afghan capital.
    Initial reports did not indicate any U.S. casualties from the latest rocket attack, the U.S. official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told Reuters.
    A White House statement said U.S. President Joe Biden reconfirmed his order that commanders do "whatever is necessary to protect our forces on the ground", after being briefed on the attack, and he was informed that operations continued uninterrupted at the airport.
    On Sunday, a U.S. drone strike killed a suicide car bomber who Pentagon officials said was preparing to attack the airport on behalf of ISIS-K, a local affiliate of Islamic State that is an enemy of both the West and the Taliban.
    U.S. Central Command said it was investigating reports of civilian casualties from Sunday's drone strike.
    For all the efforts made by Western powers to evacuate as many people as possible, tens of thousands of desperate Afghans faced being left behind.
    Two U.S. officials told Reuters evacuations would continue on Monday, prioritising people deemed at extreme risk. Other countries have also put in last minute requests to bring out people under that category, the officials said.
    (Production: Paul Warren, Dina Selim)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2021. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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