UN urges countries to accept Afghan refugees
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Afghan passengers sit as they wait to leave the Kabul airport on August 16 [Wakil Kohsar/AFP]
Kabul: The Taliban has declared the war in Afghanistan over after its fighters swept into the capital, Kabul, and President Ashraf Ghani fled the country.
Victorious Taliban fighters patrolled the streets of Kabul on Monday as thousands of Afghans mobbed the city's airport trying to flee the group's feared hardline brand of rule.
Meanwhile, the Afghanistan Civil Aviation Authority (ACAA) on Monday announced that all commercial flights from Kabul have been cancelled following the chaotic scenes at the airport with thousands looking for a way out in the wake of Taliban takeover triggering widespread chaos.
The authority in a statement announced that the flights from Kabul airport have been temporarily cancelled and directed that passengers should not come to the airport until informed.
Earlier Taliban in a statement had told Kabul residents that their lives and properties are safe and they can carry on their activities.
Live Updates
17 Aug 2021 2:20 AM GMTKabul airport reopened for evacuation operations: US General
Washington: Following a breakdown in security on the tarmac that interrupted evacuation operations, a US general said that Kabul's airport has been reopened early Tuesday Afghanistan time after being closed for hours by US forces
The airport reopened at 1935 GMT Monday, said Major General Hank Taylor, a logistics specialist on the Pentagon's Joint Chiefs of Staff.
He said a C-17 transport aircraft had landed with US Marines aboard, and a second one loaded with an army unit was to land soon, to help establish security for the airport.
Taylor said the United States was "in charge of air traffic control" at Hamid Karzai International Airport (HKIA) for military and commercial flights.
He added that there were already about 2,500 US troops in Kabul to help organize the evacuation of thousands of Americans and Afghans who worked for them as translators and in other jobs.
- 16 Aug 2021 5:16 PM GMT
Saudi Arabia calls on Taliban to preserve lives, property
Saudi Arabia called on the Taliban and "all Afghan parties" on Monday to preserve lives and property, after the insurgents seized the capital Kabul.
A statement issued by the Saudi foreign ministry on Twitter added that the kingdom "stands with the choices that the Afghan people make without any interference," expressing hope that the situation in the central Asian state stabilises as soon as possible.
- 16 Aug 2021 5:00 PM GMT
Joe Biden to address the US on Afghan crisis
United States President Joe Biden, being widely criticised for the American troops departure from Afghanistan following a 20-year stay, will address the nation on the Afghan crisis at 19:45 GMT. The address comes a day after the insurgent Taliban took over Kabul, and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani fled the nation for neighbouring Tajikistan.
- 16 Aug 2021 4:58 PM GMT
US soldiers kill 2 armed men at Kabul airport: Pentagon
The soldiers of United States killed 2 armed men at Kabul airport, Pentagon said, according to news agency AFP.
- 16 Aug 2021 4:15 PM GMT
U.S. focused on securing Kabul airport after chaos
U.S. Deputy National Security Adviser Jon Finer on Monday said that the United States will focus on securing the Kabul airport as people tried to flee a day after Taliban insurgents seized the Afghan capital.
The United States has temporarily halted all evacuation flights from Kabul to clear people who had converged on the airfield, a U.S. defense official told Reuters, but did not say how long the pause would last.
- 16 Aug 2021 3:55 PM GMT
India says its doors are open to Sikh and Hindu minorities
India will help the Sikh and Hindu minorities of Afghanistan. "We are in constant touch with the representatives of Afghan Sikh and Hindu communities.
We will facilitate repatriation to India of those who wish to leave Afghanistan," foreign ministry spokesman Arindam Bagchi said in a statement.
- 16 Aug 2021 3:23 PM GMT
UN urges countries to accept Afghan refugees, refrain from deportation
The UN Secretary-General went on to say that the capital city (Kabul) has seen a huge influx of internally displaced persons from provinces across the country where they felt insecure and fled during the fighting.
I remind all parties of their obligations to protect civilians, he said. "I also urge all countries to be willing to accept refugees and refrain from any deportations," he added.
- 16 Aug 2021 3:02 PM GMT
ITBP personnel guarding Indian embassy to stay in Kabul: Officials
New Delhi: Amidst the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan, the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) personnel deployed for the security of the Indian embassy in Kabul, will continue to stay there to guard the remaining staff.
The Indian embassy in Kabul has been functioning with reduced staff strength.
- 16 Aug 2021 2:39 PM GMT
Businesses shut in Kabul as people stay indoors after Taliban enter the Afghan capital
The first day of what the Taliban calls the 'Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan' saw Kabul, a bustling metropolis of six million, turn into a slow, male-dominated city without police or traffic controls and with shuttered businesses everywhere.
A city that only 48 hours ago was jam-packed with cars and hundreds of people lining up outside banks, visa processing offices and travel agencies, has come to a near standstill, Al Jazeera reported.
- 16 Aug 2021 2:27 PM GMT
India making efforts to bring citizens from Afghanistan
Indian intelligence and security establishments are making all efforts to bring its citizens from Afghanistan with Air Force transport aircraft already being mobilised and a few of them kept on standby, as per an IANS report.
Fearing attacks on the Indian community working with private companies in Afghanistan, the intelligence agencies have sent out alerts to them to be ready to be transported back to the country.
