Chalian: Biden doesn't often miss moments to express empathy
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What you need to know
The Taliban have celebrated Afghanistan’s Independence Day today by declaring victory over the US, which they described as a “powerful and arrogant force.”
Biden suggested Wednesday that US troops could stay past the Aug. 31 withdrawal deadline to evacuate all Americans, but didn’t say the same for Afghan partners.
CNN has compiled a list of organizations working to help Afghan refugees. Find out more here.
Our live coverage of the situation in Afghanistan has moved here.
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Turkish President on Afghan migrants: Turkey is not Europe’s “refugee warehouse”
From CNN's Isil Sariyuce in Istanbul
Erdogan speaks during a televised address following a cabinet meeting, in Ankara, Turkey, Thursday, August 19.
(Turkish Presidency/Pool/AP)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called on other European countries to take responsibility for the Afghans fleeing the Taliban, warning Turkey has no obligation to be “Europe’s refugee warehouse.”
He said about half of the “irregular” migrants Turkey has registered in the past three years are from Afghanistan.
Turkey hosts around 5 million foreign nationals — including 3.6 million Syrians and 300,000 Afghans, Erdogan said.
The President said “if necessary” Turkey would be open to meeting with the “government to be formed by the Taliban.”
Around 500 Turkish citizens were evacuated from Afghanistan recently, and about 300 more who are still stuck there will be brought home soon, he added.
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As White House scrambles on Afghanistan, Biden faces some of most dire days of his presidency
From CNN's Kevin Liptak, Jeff Zeleny, Kaitlan Collins and Jeremy Diamond
Two photographs of President Joe Biden this week neatly illustrated the White House’s fight to contain the fallout of the biggest crisis of his presidency.
In the first, he sat alone at Camp David, staring upwards at a bank of video monitors surrounded by 18 empty leather chairs. Even some White House officials wondered whether the imagery, including him in a polo shirt, was helpful.
Three days later, when Biden was back at the White House, the picture was much different. He sat in suit and tie at the head of the Situation Room conference table, mask hanging off one ear as he scowled toward the assembled members of his national security team. The same team assembled a day later to “manage efforts in Afghanistan,” the White House said.
Biden has found himself caught this week in some of the most dire days of his seven-month-old presidency, accused of badly botching the end of America’s longest war even by some of his most reliable allies at home and abroad.
The White House has scrambled to explain the chaos in Afghanistan through briefings, speeches and interviews – even as Biden himself remains defiant in his decision and insists the American people are behind him.
So far, the President’s reflexive response to the crisis to deflect blame and reject criticism has done little to quiet the questions swirling about whether he properly prepared for the Taliban’s takeover. It has tarnished what had been a carefully-honed image of competence, and Biden’s own explanations for what happened – that the chaos was inevitable and the Afghan army was to blame – belie the empathy that is his chief political characteristic.
The Mexican government began processing Afghan refugees’ applications for asylum on Wednesday, said Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard on Twitter.
According to Ebrard, the country’s ambassador in Iran has begun helping process the applications of Afghan citizens, especially women and girls.
The minister did not provide more details on how many Afghan refugees the Mexican government is planning to take.
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Internal State Department memo in July called for swift action ahead of Afghanistan collapse
From CNN's Kylie Atwood
US soldiers stand guard as Afghans wait to board a US military aircraft to leave Afghanistan, at the military airport in Kabul on August 19, after Taliban's military takeover of Afghanistan.
(Shakib Rahmani/AFP/Getty Images)
A group of US diplomats wrote a classified cable to Secretary of State Antony Blinken in mid-July, warning that swift action needed to be taken because they believed the situation in Afghanistan could rapidly deteriorate and they feared a catastrophe.
They laid out how the department should act quickly to process and evacuate Afghans who had assisted the United States and get them out of the country quickly.
The diplomats decided to send the dissent memo because they felt previous warnings and recommendations they had made were being ignored and labeled alarmist, two State Department officials told CNN.
The classified cable, signed by more than a dozen US diplomats, urged specific steps to be taken, including starting a biometric enrolment program for the Afghans applying for Special Immigrant Visas (SIV) or refugee status ahead of the evacuation, so they wouldn’t waste time before what they believed would be the imminent collapse of the Afghan government as the US withdrew.
The State Department responded to the cable within days of receiving it and followed through on some of the issues it raised, said a source familiar with the matter. But not all of the recommendations in the memo were quickly implemented, the diplomats said.
Afghanistan's first female fixed-wing air force pilot doubts Taliban will improve their treatment of women
From CNN's Josiah Ryan
(CNN)
Niloofar Rahmani, the first female fixed-wing air force aviator in Afghanistan, says she has a hard time believing the Taliban will change their mistreatment of women, especially since she remembers growing up under their rule as a child.
“For a little girl, that memory never ever goes away,” she continued. “I still close my eyes, especially recently when they are creating their own government in Afghanistan, it just takes everything from me. It brings pain to my heart.”
She went on to say she has a “hard time believing” they will change their treatment of women, despite the Taliban’s promise to form an “inclusive Islamic government.”
“It does not make sense to me that people, the government, that they proved themselves in the past, how they can change that way? How is that even possible?” she asked.
Watch the interview:
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Visa issues won't matter if the US' Afghan partners are "dead in 2 days," congressman says
From CNN's Josiah Ryan
Democratic Rep. Jason Crow, who served in Afghanistan, said the US must urgently evacuate its Afghan allies and partners before it’s too late.
“The first step is getting them out of Afghanistan,” said Crow, noting the many complicated visa issues that seem to be slowing the extrication process.
Some context: Crow, who served two combat tours in Afghanistan, was also critical of the Biden administration’s withdrawal from the country so far, saying he is receiving constant requests for help from those caught up in the chaos on the ground.
“This is not the sign of a situation that’s going well,” he said. “Our honor as a country, our integrity as a country is at stake, our reputation is at stake, but our moral authority is at stake here.”
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Afghan youth national football team player died falling from US aircraft, official says
From CNN's From CNN's Jaide Garcia
Afghanistan's General Directorate of Physical Education and Sports posted these photos of Zaki Anwari on Facebook on August 19, 2021.
From Afghanistan's General Directorate of Physical Education and Sports/Facebook
A teenager on Afghanistan’s youth national football team was one of the victims who fell from the US military C-17 aircraft on Monday, Afghanistan’s General Directorate of Body and Sports confirmed in a statement on social media Thursday morning.
The post continued that young Anwari was “endeavoring to leave the country like hundreds other youth from his country. He has fallen down from the US military plane and lost his life.”
One day after the Taliban took control of Afghanistan’s capital city Kabul on Sunday, hundreds of people fled to the tarmac at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul on Monday, desperate to find a way to evacuate the country.
As the C-17 aircraft taxied to the runway several people clung to the landing gear as the aircraft gained speed. Video emerged shortly after showing a C-17 ascending over Kabul and at least two bodies falling from the aircraft.
Afghanistan’s General Directorate of Body and Sports statement said Anwari was among “several other compatriots who fell to the ground while flying” in search of a “better future in America.”
“They died and were martyred,” the post said, “may his soul rest in peace and his memory be remembered.”
The post included prayers for Anwari to be “granted high position in heaven and pray to God to grant patience for his family, friends and his sports comrades alike.”
A total of 12 people have been killed in and around Hamid Karzai International Airport since the Taliban took control of the capital on Sunday, Reuters reported Thursday, citing NATO sources and Taliban officials.
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US doesn't have resources to go beyond airport compound, State Department says
From CNN's Jennifer Hansler
State Department spokesperson Ned Price said the US government does not “have the resources to go beyond the airport compound” and evacuate American citizens at this point.
Asked if the US had approached other nations about assisting with such an effort, Price told reporters, “you will be hard-pressed to find a country that has the capacity on the ground, if any such country exists, in a position to do that.”
Price added: “So, the United States military is undertaking a gargantuan airlift operation right now. That itself is a major undertaking. You’ve heard from the Secretary person the chairman of the resources that are involved in that. At this point, we don’t have the resources to go beyond the airport compound.”
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US State Department: 6,000 people at Kabul airport processed and will soon board planes
From CNN's Jennifer Hansler
US State Department spokesperson Ned Price holds a briefing in Washington, DC, on August 19, 2021.
Pool
There are 6,000 people at the airport in Kabul who have been “fully processed by our consular team and will soon board planes,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price said Thursday during a briefing.
Price told reporters that they “are aware of congestion around the airport” and are “working closely with the Department of Defense to facilitate safe and orderly access for consular processing on the airport compound.”
He said flights continued throughout the airport, noting that US citizens and legal permanent residents “will be given the first opportunity to board, with other priority groups filling in seats from there.”
Price said they were continuing to deploy more consular officers, including to Qatar and Kuwait as well as in Kabul.
The spokesperson said later in the briefing that the they expect 20 flights to depart Afghanistan tonight, citing the Defense Department, and noted that the operation “will continue at as fast a clip as we can possibly manage.”
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Germany's 9th military evacuation flight leaves Kabul, carrying more than 150 people
From CNN’s Nadine Schmidt in Berlin
Germany’s ninth military evacuation flight departed Kabul Thursday evening with more than 150 people on board, Germany’s Ministry of Defense confirmed in a Tweet.
“More than 150 people are flown from the Afghan capital to Tashkent — and therefore safe,” the ministry added.
In earlier tweets, the Defense Ministry said its soldiers are “on duty 24/7” in Afghanistan, while officials in Germany work “around the clock” to monitor the situation, adding that more than 1,000 people have now been evacuated from Afghanistan by the German military.
Germany has been operating a shuttle service between Tashkent in Uzbekistan and Kabul several times a day as part of its evacuation efforts.
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US Embassy notified all Americans and others about evacuation flights out of Afghanistan
From CNN's Jennifer Hansler, Kylie Atwood and Satyam Kaswala
The US Embassy in Kabul notified “all Americans who had expressed an interest in being relocated to consider traveling to the airport” overnight, as well locally employed staff and “a segment of the SIV [Special Immigrant Visa] population” about evacuation flights, State Department spokesperson Ned Price said Thursday.
Price said he had seen reports of people not able to access the airport, telling reporters that “every report of someone unable for whatever reason to reach the airport is something we take very seriously.”
“We are doing everything we can mechanically, logistically, but then of course there’s also the diplomatic element to this as well. We are making very clear, we are making very clear together with our international partners, more than 100 countries have come together, the G7 mentioned this today as well, that safe passage should be guaranteed for all of those who wish to transit to the airport,” Price continued.
Price added: “When it comes to American citizens, we have a relatively large cadre of consular officers on the ground in Kabul right now. They are in regular and constant contact with American citizens. I can tell you that they have received as of a couple hours ago a small handful of reports from American citizens who weren’t able to reach the airport for whatever reason.”
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G7 leaders will do "everything possible" to facilitate evacuations from Afghanistan
From CNN’s Pierre Bairin
UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab waits to greet participants at the G7 foreign and development ministers' meeting in London on May 5, 2021.
Ben Stansall/Pool/AFP/Getty Images
G7 leaders are continuing efforts to do “everything possible to evacuate vulnerable persons” from Afghanistan, UK Foreign Secretary and Chair of the G7 Foreign and Development Ministers’ Meeting Dominic Raab said Thursday, calling on the international community to provide “safe and legal resettlement routes” for those being evacuated.
“The G7 Ministers called for the Taliban to guarantee safe passage to foreign nationals and Afghans wanting to leave,” Raab said in a statement.
The British Foreign Secretary’s statement comes after a meeting of G7 Foreign and Development Ministers from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States of America, as well as the High Representative of the European Union, to discuss the unfolding situation in Afghanistan.
According to Raab, G7 ministers called for an international response and “intensive engagement” with both Afghan and international partners.
Ministers also affirmed their commitment to the urgent cessation of violence, respect for human rights, inclusive negotiations, and respect for international humanitarian law by all in Afghanistan
“The G7 Ministers underlined the importance of the Taliban holding to their commitments to ensure the protection of civilians and are deeply concerned by reports of violent reprisals in parts of Afghanistan,” Raab said.
“They concurred that the Taliban must ensure that Afghanistan does not become host to a terrorist threat to international security,” he added.
In a tweet, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian reiterated that two key priorities were outlined during the emergency meeting: accelerating coordination on evacuation operations from Kabul and strengthening cooperation in anticipation of the consequences of the “Afghan crisis.”
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US tells locally employed staff to head to airport, but many couldn't make it through the chaos
From CNN's Kylie Atwood
This satellite image from Planet Labs shows people on the tarmac at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, on August 16, 2021.
Planet Labs, Inc./AP
The State Department on Wednesday sent a notice to the thousands of locally employed staff at the Kabul embassy telling them that they can come to the airport for evacuation flights, according to the message reviewed by CNN.
Someof the Afghans who made it into the airport were bloody and mentally distraught, having lost most of their belongings along the way, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter.
But some decided they didn’t even want to pursue the perilous journey even though they desperately want to get out of the country, multiple sources told CNN. Others who did take the dangerous risk had to turn back after facing an untenable situation.
He went to the airport with his family, including small children, at 4 a.m. local time only to get caught in a horde of thousands of people on the outskirts of the airport which left him fearing for his life. He watched as his 2-year-old son grew dehydrated and men tried to inappropriately touch his wife. The gates remained closed for too long.
“We had to go home,” the Afghan said, describing people with guns and knives in the mass of people. “I will not go back. The Americans left me in a very bad situation. They know it. They put our family’s lives in risk.”
The US military is in communication with the local Taliban commander on the ground in Kabul, and they are discussing “making sure that those at-risk Afghans, Special Immigrant Visa applicants and additional Afghan citizens that we want to move through are able to move through,” Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said Thursday during an on-camera briefing.
Kirby noted the reports of some hostile Taliban actions towards Afghans on the way to the airport, but by and large US officials are saying that the Taliban are largely keeping their commitment to ensure safe passage and pointing to the evidence: the Afghans and Americans who have been able to get to the airport.
President Biden said yesterday that the US is looking at evacuating between 50,000 and 65,000 Afghans in total, a figure that includes the Afghan visa and refugee applicants plus their families.
Biden did not commit to keeping the US troop presence at the Kabul airport until that number of Afghans are evacuated but he did say that the US troop presence would stay in place until all Americans who want to get out of the country are out.
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Italy holds talks with France and Russia on Afghanistan
From CNN's Nicola Ruotolo and Amy Cassidy
Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi holds a press conference in Rome on July 22, 2021.
Fabio Cimaglia/Sintesi/Sipa/Shutterstock
Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi has held talks with both his French and Russian counterparts to discuss the unfolding situation in Afghanistan, the prime minister’s office said Thursday in a statement.
According to the statement, Draghi and French President Emmanuel Macron discussed the “implications of the Afghan crisis,” including the “management of the migration flows” following the evacuation of Afghan nationals from Kabul.
The two leaders also spoke about the “protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms” in Afghanistan.
Separately, Draghi spoke with Russian president Vladimir Putin to discuss the “situation on the ground in Afghanistan and its regional implications.”
“During the call the two leaders also assessed the guidelines that could inspire the action of the International Community in the different contexts, aiming to restore Afghanistan’s stability, fight terrorism and illegal trafficking and protect women’s rights,” the statement added.
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US senators will receive virtual Afghanistan briefing from Biden officials Friday
From CNN's Ted Barrett and Zach Cohen
All senators will get an unclassified virtual briefing on Afghanistan Friday at 3:15 p.m. ET, per two Senate officials.
Briefers will be Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley.
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Uganda has not finalized decision on whether they will host Afghan refugees, minister says
From CNN's Bethlehem Feleke and Scott McLean
“No substantive decision has been taken yet” with regards to Uganda temporarily hosting Afghan refugees following a request from the United States, Minister of Foreign Affairs Jeje Odongo told a parliamentary foreign affairs committee on Thursday.
“It’s a suggestion, it’s a proposal, discussions are going on,” he added.
Odongo’s comments stand contrary to earlier remarks from Uganda’s Minister of State for Relief, Disaster Preparedness and Refugees, who said Tuesday that Uganda would temporarily host some 2,000 Afghan refugees.
According to officials on both sides, discussions between the US and the Ugandan government are ongoing.
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US military has flown 12,000 people out of Afghanistan since the end of July
From CNN's Ellie Kaufman
Since the Defense Department began supporting the State Department with movement of people out of Afghanistan at the end of July, approximately 12,000 people have been moved out of country, Gen. Hank Taylor, Deputy Director of the Joint Staff for Regional Operations said during an on-camera briefing at the Pentagon on Thursday.
That 12,000 number includes “American citizens, US embassy personnel, individuals designated by the State Department as SIV applicants and other evacuees in coordination with the State Department,” Taylor said.
Included in that 12,000 number are 7,000 people that have been moved out of Afghanistan just since Aug. 14, Taylor said.
“Since the start of evacuation operations on Aug. 14, we have airlifted approximately 7,000 total evacuees,” Taylor said.
The Defense Department is “ready to increase throughput and have scheduled aircraft departures accordingly,” Taylor said.
“We intend to maximize each plane’s capacity. We are prioritizing people above all else, and we are focused on doing this as safely as possible with absolute urgency,” he added.
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Arizona will welcome its "fair share" of Afghans fleeing the Taliban, governor says
From CNN’s Jennifer Henderson
Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey speaks in Phoenix on April 15, 2021.
Ross D. Franklin/AP
Arizona will welcome its “fair share” of Afghans who served with the American military and are fleeing the Taliban, GOP Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey and Speaker of the House Rusty Bowers said in a news release Thursday.
The Arizona Office of Refugee Resettlement will help the refugees secure housing, employment, healthcare, English classes (if needed) and enrollment in school, the release adds.
“They helped our military members in their country, and now we stand ready to help them in ours,” Ducey and Bowers said in the news release.
The pair were critical of President Biden’s response in Afghanistan, but said that would not stop them from offering help.
Afghans “supported our military efforts and served as translators, interpreters, drivers and more — and were instrumental in our nation’s operations and the safety of U.S. soldiers… and now their lives are in danger,” the statement said.
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Only a "trickle" of Afghans are making it into Kabul airport due to Taliban checkpoints
From CNN's Clarissa Ward in Kabul
Only a “trickle” of Afghans are successfully managing to make it through the two-pronged checks at Kabul airport, CNN’s Clarissa Ward reports.
For thousands of Afghans attempting to flee the country their fate is being arbitrarily determined by the Taliban forces checking documentation at the first perimeter, Ward says. President Biden said yesterday the US estimates between 50,00 to 65,000 Afghan partners and their families are still trying to get out of the country.
Afghans who make it through the first check are then subjected to further scrutiny by the Afghan special forces, who are facing accusations of similar brutality. This translates into a life-or-death risk for Afghans attempting to access Kabul airport, Ward adds.
Despite this hostility, Afghans across the country are persisting with acts of courage, replacing Taliban flags with Afghan ones, in defiance of the new regime. And the Taliban themselves, conscious of the watching eyes of the world is putting on a show of greater lenience, encouraging Shiite Muslims in Kabul to celebrate the feast of Ashura on Thursday.
Ward, CNN’s Chief International Correspondent, is on the ground in Kabul with the latest.
Watch her report here:
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Official: Biden told military commanders he doesn't want any empty seats on flights leaving Kabul
From CNN's Kaitlan Collins
President Joe Biden speaks at the White House on August 18, 2021.
Susan Walsh/AP
President Biden has instructed top military commanders who are facilitating the evacuation from Kabul that he doesn’t want to see any empty seats on planes, according to a senior official familiar with the directive.
Biden, who met with senior staff in the Situation Room Wednesday, made clear he wants every flight leaving the airport filled to capacity. An official cautioned that, given the chaotic nature of the evacuation, the presidential directive doesn’t always mean it will happen for every flight.
Maj. Gen. Hank Taylor, vice director for logistics of the Joint Staff, told reporters Thursday that in the last 24 hours, 13 C-17 US military airplanes arrived in Kabul with “additional troops and equipment” and 12 C-17 military planes left.
The White House said on Wednesday that the US military evacuated approximately 1,800 individuals on 10 C-17s, although the Pentagon has said its goal is to evacuate 5,000 to 9,000 people a day.
Since August 14, the US government have evacuated nearly 6,000 people.
