More than 10,000 people are waiting at Kabul's airport to be evacuated, the US defense department said at a press conference on Wednesday, as Afghanistan evacuations continue with many people desperately trying to flee the country. Europe and the rest of the world are scrambling to complete evacuations ahead of the US withdrawal deadline of next Tuesday, Aug. 31. Since the effort began on Aug. 14, roughly 88,000 people have already departed, including 19,000 people in the last 24 hours, the Pentagon said. More than 10,000 people are waiting at the Kabul Airport to be evacuated, US Army Maj. Gen. William "Hank" Taylor, deputy director for regional operations and force management for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in a press conference on the situation in Afghanistan. "This is a snapshot in time," the major general said, adding that the situation would likely change, as more people arrive at the airport. He said that the US Pentagon was relying on support from allies to transfer evacuees. Six flights are set to transfer 1,800 Afghans from Germany to the United States and the US base in Germany is expecting 13 more flights from Kabul. G7 and European leaders have pledged to help the country and its people following the Taliban's takeover, but without a Western military presence, the challenge is immense. Representatives from non-governmental organizations have warned that the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan is growing amid the Western withdrawal from the country. "More than 90% of Afghans currently live on less than two dollars a day. When I arrived in Afghanistan four years ago, this number was roughly 50% of the population," said Vicki Aken, the International Rescue Committee's country director in Afghanistan. Aken spoke with representatives from the Danish Refugee Council and the Norwegian Refugee Council at a virtual briefing about the crisis. "The devastating impacts of the 2018 drought, COVID-19 and the 2021 drought, along with an escalation in the conflict, caused that number to skyrocket. And now, without a functional government in place with the threat of sanctions and the withdrawal of development funds, the current prognosis is quite dire," Aken added. Meanwhile, Turkey's Defense Ministry announced that it would begin withdrawing its forces from Afghanistan after evacuating 1,129 civilians with their military aircraft. European and other nations are scrambling to evacuate people from the country before the US military's Aug. 31 deadline. Meanwhile the AP reports that Turkey is strengthening its border with Iran amid fears of a migrant crisis as Afghans flee the country. In another development, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Wednesday that the international community should continue "to dialogue with the Taliban" after they took over Afghanistan at a stunning speed this past month. "Our aim must be to preserve as much as possible the changes we have made over the past 20 years in Afghanistan," Merkel told the Bundestag, even as Western countries rushed to evacuate thousands from the country. "The international community must also dialogue on this with the Taliban," she said, stating that the new reality in Afghanistan was "bitter" but that the global community had to face it. She insisted that "We must not forget Afghanistan." The Russian Defense Ministry, meanwhile, said four planes sent to evacuate more than 500 people from Afghanistan have taken off from Kabul and are en route to Russia. The Defense Ministry said on Wednesday the planes would carry the nationals of Russia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Ukraine from Kabul. The flights marked the first such airlift for Russia since evacuations from Kabul began. And, the British Defense Minister Ben Wallace said he will allow the air evacuation from Kabul of cats and dogs taken into a shelter by a former naval officer who chartered a plane to evacuate Afghan personnel and animals. While thousands of Afghans have desperately tried to flee the country since the Taliban came to power, fearing a return to their repressive methods, the subject has been the subject of debate for several days in the UK. Paul Farthing, a former soldier who opened an animal shelter in Kabul, wants to get some 140 dogs and 60 cats along with the shelter's Afghan employees and their relatives. Wallace said Farthing's staff had been cleared to come forward. "At that stage, if he arrives with his animals we will seek a slot for his plane," he tweeted. But, he added, those deemed most at risk had priority and "no one has the right in this humanitarian crisis to jump the queue". — Euronews
