Africa-Press – Namibia. THE United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) called for the protection of Afghans – whether they choose to stay in Amsterdam or seek to leave after the end of the evacuation mission.
“The airlifts out of Kabul will end in a matter of days, and the tragedy that has unfolded will no longer be as visible. But it will still be a daily reality for millions of Afghans,” UNHCR chief Filippo Grandi said in a statement.
“We must not turn away. A far greater humanitarian crisis is just beginning,” he said. Grandi called for humanitarian assistance to people in Afghanistan, and urged countries to open their borders to Afghans seeking protection.
In an interview published yesterday, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, Jossep Borrell, told Italian paper Il Corriere della Sera the bloc needed to build a common defence policy. Borrell said the United States (US) managed to deploy more troops to Afghanistan as soon as security deteriorated, but the EU could not.
“We need to draw lessons from this experience . . . as Europeans we have not been able to send 6 000 soldiers around the Kabul airport to secure the area. The US has been, we haven”t,” he said.
Swiss journalist Franz Marty, who is in Kabul, said the mode of yesterday’s rocket attack, using a rocket launcher hidden in a car, was typical of the methods used by the extremist IS group.
He said the airport had been the apparent target. Marty told DW that the airport in Kabul was now largely closed off and that only US passport holders and military personnel were being allowed in.
US and allied forces are rushing to complete their own withdrawal by today as agreed with the Taliban, the militant Islamist group that is set to rule Afghanistan.
Uzbekistan has said it would open its borders to people on a German list of those in danger from Taliban rule in Afghanistan, German foreign minister Heiko Maas has told journalists.
The list of people needing to be still evacuated includes German citizens, local Afghan support staff, and other members of other groups, such as human rights activists and journalists.
Tens of thousands have been identified. Maas, who is in Uzbekistan to discuss the impact of the crisis in Afghanistan, has also said Russia and China need to be involved in talks on the future of the country.
A Taliban spokesman has criticised the US for carrying out Sunday’s attack in Kabul without informing the Taliban first. Zabihullah Mujahid has told China’s state television, CGTN, that it was unlawful for the US to stage attacks in other countries at will. He said seven people had been killed in the attack, including civilians.
The Russian embassy in Kabul has said Russian citizens and residents, along with nationals of countries that are members of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation – a post-Soviet security bloc – can still apply to leave Afghanistan on additional evacuation flights.
Russia flew out about 360 people from Afghanistan last week. Washington has said operations continue “uninterrupted”” at Hamid Karzai International Airport.
In a statement issued yesterday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said president Joe Biden had “reconfirmed his order that commanders redouble efforts” to protect US forces on the ground.
Rockets were launched at Kabul airport yesterday, several media agencies have reported. It wasn’t immediately clear who launched the projectiles. AFP yesterday said the airport’s missile defence system was activated in response to the rocket fire, according to reporters on the ground.
An anonymous US official told Reuters that as many as five rockets were shot off towards Kabul airport yesterday, but they were intercepted by the US. The official said there was no indication of US casualties due to the rockets so far.
The Pentagon has acknowledged reports of civilian casualties from a US drone strike in Kabul on Sunday, according to a statement from US Central Command spokesperson Bill Urban.
“We are aware of reports of civilian casualties following our strike on a vehicle in Kabul today,” Urban said in the statement, while adding the Pentagon is still assessing the results of the strike.
“We know there were substantial and powerful subsequent explosions resulting from the destruction of the vehicle, indicating a large amount of explosive material inside that may have caused additional casualties,” he said.
“We would be deeply saddened by any potential loss of innocent life,” Urban said. CNN reported that nine members of a family, including six children, were killed in Sunday’s airstrike.
An anonymous Afghan official also told AP news agency that three children were killed in the strike near Kabul airport. Afghan broadcaster Tolo News reported that at least 10 civilians were killed in the strike.
SUICIDE BOMBERS TARGETED The Pentagon said the strike targeted an “imminent” suicide bomb threat from several members of the Islamic State-Khorasan IS-K group.
The bombers were reportedly planning to target Kabul airport, where the US military is conducting its ongoing evacuation mission. IS-K claimed responsibility for the deadly Kabul airport bombing that killed US troops earlier last week.
“On Sunday, the US military carried out an attack on multiple IS-K suicide bombers,” officials said. The drone strike blew up their vehicle before they could attack the ongoing evacuation at Kabul’s international airport.
The Taliban has said it would let all foreigners and locals with travel authorisation leave before the scheduled US withdrawal today. Maas has started a five-country Afghanistan mission. He has held initial talks in Turkey over operations at Kabul airport.
