SIDELIGHTS

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi urged the regional countries to assist the formation of an inclusive government involving all ethnic and political groups in Afghanistan, Tasnim news agency reported on Friday.

The US government has launched a mass COVID-19 vaccination site for arriving Afghans near Dulles International Airport, where thousands fleeing the Taliban are now arriving daily, a senior administration official said Friday.

Pakistan said on Friday the situation on its border with Afghanistan was "normal and under control" and it is fully geared up to deal with any fallout of the evolving situation in Kabul.

Several Afghan youths stood outside the UNHCR office in New Delhi on Friday with black tape over their mouths and placards in their hands to demand documented refugee status and "support letters" from the UN agency for those seeking to move to other countries for better opportunities.

The Talibans new self-proclaimed chief of security in Kabul, Khalil Haqqani of the Haqqani Network with close ties to Pakistans ISI, was designated as a terrorist by the US 10 years ago and is subject to a $5 million reward for information leading to his capture.

Russia's foreign minister says the first priority after the evacuations from Afghanistan is to ensure security, especially with nations bordering the war-torn country.

The UN refugee agency is gearing up for as many as half a million people or more to flee from Afghanistan in a "worstcase scenario" in the coming months.

World leaders must rapidly increase investments in humanitarian assistance, immediately reinstate the COVID-19 response and recovery plans, and create and fund global coalitions to help the people of Afghanistan, and all

approaches and programs must explicitly tackle genderspecific barriers, PMNCH Board Chair Helen Clark said.

New Zealand says it was not able to get everybody it wanted out of Afghanistan in time before the deadly attacks near Kabul's airport brought its rescue mission to an end.

Sweden says that its evacuation from Kabul Airport "has been completed" but that not everyone got out.

The Spanish government says it has ended its evacuation operation from Afghanistan with the arrival in Dubai early on Friday of the two military aircraft that have carried Spaniards and vulnerable Afghans out of the Taliban-controlled country.