Afghanistan Live: UK Warns of Kabul Airport Terrorist Threat as Evacuations Enter Desperate Endgame | World news

The U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan warned people against traveling to the airport, citing “security threats outside the gates.”

The warning adds that US citizens who are currently at the abbey gates, east or north “should leave immediately.”

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the State Department believed there were about 6,000 Americans in Afghanistan on August 14, before the Taliban took control of Kabul.

Since then, approximately 4,500 Americans had been evacuated and 500 other American citizens were in contact with the State Department to leave the country.

That leaves about 1,000 Americans who may still be in Afghanistan and are not in contact with the US government. Blinken said the State Department “aggressively” contacted these people several times a day and in a number of different ways.

The secretary of state noted that these figures were “dynamic calculations” that were being refined hour by hour as more and more evacuation flights left Kabul.

allies of the United States who were part of the coalition in Afghanistan have completed their evacuations, report Julian Borger and Peter Beaumont of the Guardian:

Turkey announced on Wednesday that it would start withdrawing the few hundred troops it has stationed at the airport. According to the Reuters news agency, the Taliban asked Turkey for technical assistance to manage the airport after the foreign forces left, but said the country could not have a military presence.

Poland has ended its involvement in the air evacuations from Afghanistan amid growing signs that the brief and chaotic airlift that has saved tens of thousands of people may soon end.

With the United States and the Taliban insisting that the the deadline for the withdrawal of foreign forces remains August 31 – in less than a week – Marcin Przydacz, a Polish deputy minister, said a group he evacuated to Uzbekistan on Wednesday would be the last.

The Polish announcement follows growing indications that evacuation efforts could run out of steam quickly. British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said wednesday it was clear that the troops would be withdrawn by the end of the month, but it was not clear how many people would remain in place in Afghanistan once it has happened.

French European Affairs Minister Clément Beaune said it was “very likely” that his operations to evacuate his citizens and partners from Afghanistan would end on Thursday.

There was also speculation in the German media that Berlin’s involvement in the airlift could end as early as Thursday, as the German military said the airlifts are now entering “the most demanding and demanding hours. dangerous ”.

Hungary’s evacuation efforts were also coming to an end after airlifting just over 500 people from Kabul, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said. “The exact moment will be announced by the army commander, which could happen as early as today,” Szijjártó said at a press conference, adding that most of the evacuees were Afghan nationals who had supported an organization Hungarian charity or Hungarian troops there.

The British Foreign Office has updated their travel tips for Afghanistan, warning against any travel to the country. “The security situation in Afghanistan remains unstable,” he warns.

The Foreign Ministry also warned against travel to Kabul airport:

There is a permanent and high threat of terrorist attack. Do not go to Kabul Hamid Karzai International Airport. If you are in the airport area, move away to a safe place and wait for further advice.

Hello, my name is Helen Sullivan and I will bring you the latest developments of Afghanistan, where it just passed 3 a.m. on Thursday, August 26.

Here is the main news of the last few hours:

• Up to 1,500 Americans remain in Afghanistan, according to Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state. The US State Department estimates that there were around 6,000 Americans in Afghanistan on August 14, before the Taliban took control of Kabul.
• The UK Foreign Office has updated its travel advice for Afghanistan, warning of a “continuing and elevated threat of terrorist attack: and advising against any travel in the country.
• More than 10,000 people at Kabul airport waiting to be evacuated according to Pentagon estimates.
• Taliban agreed to let Afghans leave Afghanistan after US withdrawal deadline of August 31, confirmed the German army.
• The Turkish army has started to evacuate Afghanistan, reports Anadolu agency, a Turkish public news agency.
• A group of 200 workers who have kept World Bank projects in Afghanistan for the past 10 years until they lost their jobs last week have sent a desperate appeal to the UK government to rescue them urgently.
• The Taliban threatened and physically assaulted United Nations personnel, according to an internal document seen by Reuters.
• British nationals of Afghan origin are forgotten in the evacuation of Kabul, lawyers and activists asserted
• Two thousand Afghan interpreters and others who worked for the British government still need to be airlifted out of Kabul by the RAF, defense sources said as the emergency evacuation reached its final stage.
• US military airlift to continue until final hours of August 31 deadline, set by President Joe Biden, Pentagon officials said earlier today.
• Chinese and Russian leaders Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin pledge to counter “terrorism threats” emerging from Afghanistan in a phone call.