IS fire rockets at Kabul airport hours before deadline runs out
SO-CALLED Islamic State militants fired a volley of rockets at Kabul’s rapidly emptying international airport, with just hours left before a deadline for US forces to withdraw at the end of America’s longest war.
The Pentagon has been tight-lipped about final operations and has not specified when the withdrawal will be completed ahead of today’s deadline.
But spokesman John Kirby told reporters “there is still time” for Americans to join a massive airlift that has allowed more than 116,000 people to leave since the Taliban swept back into power two weeks ago.
All day yesterday, US military cargo jets came and went despite the rocket attack, which did not hurt anyone.
The Taliban released a video shot from the airport’s grounds, saying the Americans had removed or destroyed most of their equipment and that troop numbers were far lower.
Meanwhile, the UK hopes international alliances can be formed to exert a “moderating influence” on the Taliban regime and secure safe passage for people seeking to escape.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab set out the UK’S aims at a Us-convened meeting for the G7 group of industrialised democracies – the UK, US, Canada, Japan, Germany, France and Italy – along with representatives from the EU, Turkey, Qatar and the Nato alliance.
A Foreign Office spokesman said: “The Foreign Secretary emphasised the importance of working with likeminded partners on safe passage and exit arrangements for eligible Afghans remaining in the country.”
The Taliban has given assurances that foreign nationals and Afghan citizens with travel authorisation will be allowed to leave, but Mr Raab stressed that “we must judge them on their actions”.
The Foreign Secretary said the strategic priorities were to prevent Afghanistan again becoming a haven for terrorism, to ensure humanitarian access, protect the human rights gains of the last 20 years and preserve regional stability,
The Foreign Office said he also highlighted the need to work “with a range of international partners in order to exercise the maximum moderating influence on the Taliban”.
A Scottish Afghan charity said its staff trapped in Kabul have been forced to return to their homes after a “relentless 46 hours” facing gunfire at the city’s airport.
The Linda Norgrove Foundation was set up in memory of a Scots aid worker who was killed after being kidnapped by the Taliban.
Ms Norgrove’s parents, John and Lorna, established the charity as a way of continuing their daughter’s work after she died in an attempted rescue by US forces in 2010.
The foundation previously said it has two staff, sisters aged 25 and 29, who were “holed up in their flat in Kabul” after the Taliban seized control of the city.
In a statement on Twitter, it said evacuation attempts had so far failed.
“Thanks to all of you who supported our campaign to evacuate our staff, and to all who worked behind the scenes,” it said.
“Although not successful at this time, we are continuing to support our staff in Kabul and are still working towards their eventual evacuation.”
It added: “After a relentless 46 hours at the airport entrance, either in a bus or a panicky crowd, with incessant gunfire and the constant, real threat of a terrorist bomb, our staff and their family returned home safely.”
Earlier, the charity said the family members of staff that it had tried to evacuate included a nine-month-old baby.
The staff and their families were “just inches away” from evacuation, it said, but efforts were in vain.
It said it would not be giving up its support for women and children in
Afghanistan and that it hoped the Government would be able to arrange evacuation over the coming weeks.
In the last 24 hours, the US military evacuated about 1,200 people on 26 C-17 flights, while two coalition flights flew out 50 others, the White House said.
The two-week airlift has brought scenes of desperation and horror. In the early days, people desperate to flee Taliban rule flooded on to the tarmac and some fell to their deaths after clinging to a departing aircraft.
We are continuing to support our staff and still working towards their evacuation