Afghanistan live news: CIA director met Taliban leader in Kabul, reports say, amid doubts over evacuation extension | World news

The Taliban will settle for no extensions to the evacuation deadline and wish all international evacuations accomplished by 31 August, spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid has mentioned.

The assertion comes forward of the G7 emergency assembly this afternoon, the place one of many key subjects underneath dialogue shall be whether or not the US will lengthen its deadline.

It comes after the Taliban warned persevering with the airlift from Kabul past the tip of the month was a “pink line”.

Airbnb will assist home as much as 20,000 Afghan refugees, the corporate has introduced, as a part of its Airbnb.org charitable arm.

The corporate will coordinate with Airbnb hosts who wish to supply their properties to refugees free of charge, or at a reduced price, with the charitable organisation selecting up the remainder of the invoice, in addition to every other operational expenditures. The Airbnb co-founder and chief govt, Brian Chesky, will even fund the hassle.

The corporate has not confirmed the place, or for the way lengthy, it can home refugees, calling the scenario “quick evolving”.

Teams representing lots of of British humanitarian NGOs have referred to as on G7 leaders to offer secure passage to Afghans whose lives are in danger.

Additionally they warned in opposition to permitting international coverage agendas, together with the opportunity of sanctions, to dam the supply of help to Afghans affected by the disaster.

Elizabeth Winter, govt director at British & Irish Businesses Afghanistan Group (BAAG) mentioned the precedence was displaying solidarity to Afghan who’re in peril. She mentioned: “The UK’s supply to resettle simply 5,000 Afghans this 12 months is insufficient and lacks the urgency wanted to assist the various 1000’s of individuals in danger. It additionally sends an unhelpful message to different nations, together with different G7 states, and nations neighbouring Afghanistan.”

Stephanie Draper, the top of Bond, the UK community for organisations working in worldwide growth additionally warned in regards to the threat that sanctions carry, saying: “Such interventions aimed toward stopping funds flowing to proscribed armed teams have beforehand impeded and even prevented the supply of life-saving help and safety for susceptible folks. This work isn’t simple given the altering political, environmental and safety scenario. We urge these with energy to assist and allow, not impede our important work.”

The US army has pulled off its largest day of evacuation flights from Afghanistan for the reason that operation started, regardless of lethal violence persisting on routes to the airport.

The Related Press reported {that a} US official has confirmed that The CIA director, William Burns, secretly swooped into Kabul on Monday to satisfy with the Taliban’s high political chief, following a report within the Washington Submit earlier immediately.

The Related Press reviews:

About 21,600 folks had been flown safely out of Taliban-held Afghanistan within the 24-hour interval that ended early Tuesday, the White Home mentioned.

Thirty-seven US army flights — 32 C-17s and 5 C-130s — carried roughly 12,700 evacuees. One other 8,900 folks flew out aboard 57 flights by US allies.

Pentagon chief spokesman John Kirby mentioned Monday the sooner tempo of evacuation was partly resulting from coordination with Taliban commanders on getting evacuees into the airport.

With entry nonetheless troublesome, the US army went past the airport to hold out one other helicopter retrieval of People. US officers mentioned a army helicopter picked up 16 Americans Monday and introduced them onto the airfield for evacuation. This was a minimum of the second such rescue mission past the airport; Kirby mentioned that final Thursday, three Military helicopters picked up 169 People close to a lodge simply past the airport gate and flew them onto the airfield.

President Joe Biden’s nationwide safety adviser, Jake Sullivan, mentioned on the White Home that talks with the Taliban are persevering with because the administration appears to be like for added methods to soundly transfer extra People and others into the Kabul airport by an end-of-August deadline.

A UK International Workplace minister accountable for Afghanistan has urged the Taliban to permit “the secure and orderly departure” of those that want to go away the nation.

PA reviews:

Lord Ahmad, the minister immediately accountable for south Asia, together with Afghanistan, instructed a particular assembly of the UN Human Rights Council: “The Taliban must make a political resolution to respect human rights and basic freedoms. They usually should perceive that they are going to be held accountable in the event that they do fail to take action.”

He mentioned: “We urge the Taliban to permit the secure and orderly departure of international nationals, and those that want to go away Afghanistan.”

Ahmad, who can be the minister accountable for human rights, added: “We additionally name for a co-ordinated and concerted effort from the worldwide group to handle the humanitarian emergency, which has been exacerbated by famine, Covid and inside displacement.”

Russia, China, the United States and Pakistan are considering serving as middlemen in resolving the disaster in Afghanistan, in accordance with the Russian international minister, Sergei Lavrov.

Lavrov added that Russia opposed the concepts of permitting Afghan refugees to enter the ex-Soviet area of central Asia – situated between Russia and Afghanistan – or having United States troops deployed there, in accordance with a report from Reuters.

Rachel Corridor right here on the weblog – please do ship over tricks to rachel.corridor@theguardian.com.

The Turkish international minister, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, has mentioned the nation has evacuated 1,404 folks from Afghanistan, together with 1,061 Turkish nationals.

The opposite 343 are nationals from “numerous nations”, the AP quotes him as saying.

Çavuşoğlu mentioned there have been 4,500 Turkish nationals in Afghanistan however solely round 200 had been nonetheless ready to be evacuated.

“We’ve got contacted every certainly one of them. … An necessary variety of them mentioned they didn’t wish to return,” Cavusoglu mentioned, explaining that they included individuals who had companies or jobs in Afghanistan or had been married to Afghans. “We in fact, respect their resolution however now we have additionally made the mandatory recommendations and warnings,” he mentioned.

The EU has evacuated all its employees and their households from Afghanistan, aside from some officers working at Kabul airport, a spokesperson for the European Fee has mentioned.

“All of the employees who wanted to be evacuated have been evacuated,” he instructed journalists in Brussels. “We nonetheless have a core presence on the airport so as to handle what must managed, however the employees of the EU delegation and their households have all been evacuated.”

Forward of this afternoon’s emergency G7 assembly, the Guardian’s diplomatic editor, Patrick Wintour, has this evaluation on the issues every nation is prone to carry to the desk.

• Joe Biden, who’s underneath strain to maintain the airport evacuation open a number of days longer, might additionally face questions on the best way to stop Afghanistan changing into a base for worldwide terrorism.
• Boris Johnson will search an extension from Biden, however accepts the airlift ends when US forces go away.
• France is prone to again set circumstances on worldwide recognition of the Taliban.
• Italy backs a deadline extension, however, like France, feels the previous weeks should mark a turning level for EU defence.
• Germany has been providing money to attempt to persuade Afghanistan’s neighbouring nations to soak up refugees, and is speaking to the Taliban about opening land routes.
• The Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau, has not joined the criticism of Biden’s dealing with of the difficulty, and has pledged to take 21,000 refugees.
• Tokyo fears that the withdrawal displays a rising US isolationism.

The CIA director, William Burns, held a secret assembly with the Taliban chief Abdul Ghani Baradar in Kabul on Monday, in accordance with a report within the Washington Submit which cites nameless US officers.

That is the best degree diplomatic encounter for the reason that Taliban seized management of Kabul, and comes forward of G7 discussions over whether or not to recognise the militant group, in addition to strain on the US to increase its withdrawal deadline.

Airbnb has mentioned it can start providing short-term housing to twenty,000 Afghan refugees world wide free of charge.

The corporate’s CEO, Brian Chesky, mentioned the choice was taken in response to “one of many largest humanitarian crises of our time” and that the agency felt a “accountability to step up”.

Chesky added: “I hope this evokes different enterprise leaders to do the identical. There’s no time to waste.”

The assertion didn’t say how lengthy refugees can be housed for, however a spokesperson for the corporate mentioned that the Airbnb Host group “is ready to present each short-term and long-term stays”.

The UN world meals programme (WFP) has urged the worldwide group to donate $200m in meals help for Afghanistan, warning that “additional delay may very well be lethal”.

“WFP is warning {that a} humanitarian disaster awaits the folks of Afghanistan this winter until the worldwide group makes their lives a precedence,” Anthea Webb, WFP deputy regional director for Asia and Pacific, instructed a UN briefing.

She underlined the significance of well timed motion, saying “as soon as the snow units in it is just too late” as mountain passages shall be blocked. “Any additional delay may very well be lethal,” she mentioned.

The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, mentioned the scenario in Afghanistan in a telephone name with Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, on Tuesday, the Kremlin mentioned in a press release.

The leaders agreed to determine a everlasting channel for bilateral consultations on Afghan developments, it mentioned.

Right here is an evaluation on the impact the US withdrawal could have on the affect of regional powers, together with Russia:

The World Well being Group solely has sufficient provides in Afghanistan to final for one week, a senior regional official has mentioned.

The WHO can be involved that the chaos following the Taliban takeover might result in an increase in Covid-19 infections, Ahmed Al-Mandhari instructed a press briefing.

It follows a press release from the WHO on Monday saying that greater than 500 tonnes of medical provides had been unable to achieve Afghanistan as a result of restrictions at Kabul airport.

China’s ambassador to the UN has referred to as for the US military and its army companions to be held accountable for alleged rights violations in Afghanistan.

Talking at an emergency session of the Human Rights Council on Afghanistan, Chen Xus mentioned: “The US, UK, Australia and different nations should be held accountable for the violation of human rights dedicated by their army in Afghanistan and the evolution of this present session ought to cowl this subject.

“Underneath the banner of democracy and human rights the US and different nations perform army interventions in different sovereign states and impose their very own mannequin on nations with vastly totally different historical past and tradition,” he mentioned.