Afghans barred from going to Kabul airport and those trying to flee told to go home
24 August 2021, 14:27 | Updated: 24 August 2021, 14:50
The Taliban have urged Afghan people to withdraw from Kabul airport and stop trying to flee the country, and have stopped allowing people to travel there.
In a press conference ahead of G7 talks, a spokesman for the militant group confirmed they are no longer allowing Afghan nationals to go to Kabul airport because of the chaotic situation there.
"We are not in favour of allowing Afghans to leave," the spokesman said today. Foreign nationals should leave before the deadline at the end of the month, he added.
They also called on the US not to 'encourage' highly trained doctors, engineers and the 'educated elite' to leave the country.
A spokesman said it would be a 'clear violation' if foreign forces didn't leave by the agreed deadline.
The US is to end its presence in Afghanistan after August 31.
READ MORE: Airbnb to provide free housing around the world for 20,000 Afghan refugees
READ MORE: Person on no-fly list flown to UK during Kabul evacuation, Govt confirms
Spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid also said that no foreign embassies should be 'scared' of them or close their doors, saying the Taliban does not want foreign embassies to close, claiming diplomats in Afghanistan have been assured of their safety.
He added that he does not think that the 31 August deadline for evacuations from Kabul will be extended. He added that no evacuations will be permitted after the deadline.
"August 31 is the time given and after that it's something that is against the agreement," he said.
"All people should be removed prior to that date.
"After that we do not allow them, it will not be allowed in our country, we will take a different stance."
The UK has evacuated more than 8,400 people from Afghanistan as part of the rescue mission began less than two weeks ago.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said on Tuesday that Operation Pitting, the military evacuation that began on August 13, has so far taken 8,458 people out of Kabul.
This included people departing the Afghan capital in nine military flights over a 24-hour period.
Embassy staff, British nationals, those eligible under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (Arap) programme and a number of nationals from partner nations were included in the evacuation figure.
So far, 5,171 of the total have made claims under Arap.
More than 1,000 UK armed forces personnel have been deployed in Kabul.
The MoD said the evacuation process will run as long as the security situation allows, in coordination with the US.
No firm date has yet been set for the end of evacuation flights, it added.
The Mod said the Armed Forces have continued to fly in and distribute aid to support UK and Afghan nationals going through the evacuation process, including providing water, baby wipes and pre-made baby milk, sanitary packs, blankets and colouring books.
On Monday, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said the Kabul evacuation effort is "down to hours now, not weeks" as he conceded Britain's involvement will end when the US leaves Afghanistan.
US President Biden signalled on Sunday that he did not want US armed forces to stay beyond August.
G7 leaders are due to meet virtually on Tuesday to discuss the situation in Afghanistan.
Armed forces minister James Heappey said on Monday that approximately 1,800 UK nationals and more than 2,200 Afghans who helped British forces were the "focus" of the Government's evacuation efforts from Afghanistan.
He added that the numbers of people that the UK wanted to evacuate from "Afghan civil society" had "grown significantly" in recent weeks, in an effort to resettle those who may face recrimination from the Taliban.
But ministers also warned the UK will not be able to get out everyone it hopes to.
