Afghanistan news on Friday: More than 18,000 people rescued from Kabul since Sunday

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Rescued people from Kabul in Georgia

Photo: MARCIN OBARA / EPA

This article will be updated continuously.

Facebook

wants to protect Afghan user accounts

4:05 a.m.:

For security reasons, Facebook has temporarily removed the ability to view or search friend

lists

for user accounts in Afghanistan.

As the company's head of security policy, Nathaniel Gleicher, reports on Twitter, Facebook has also developed a “one-click tool” for users in Afghanistan that allows them to quickly block their accounts.

The company also wants to protect Afghan Instagram accounts, said Gleicher.

Germany is providing 100 million euros in emergency aid for refugees

02.35 a.m.:

The federal government will provide emergency aid of 100 million euros for refugees from Afghanistan.

As the Federal Foreign Office announced on Twitter, the money will be used to support international aid organizations that support people in neighboring countries.

It was only at 1:36 a.m. that an A400M of the German Armed Forces with 181 refugees on board landed in the Uzbek capital Tashkent.

Macron is on the

phone with Putin and Draghi about Afghanistan

1.30 a.m.:

In view of the crisis in Afghanistan, French President Emmanuel Macron called for close international cooperation in a telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin. In the one and a half hour phone call with Putin, Macron spoke in particular about "urgent expectations" of the radical Islamic Taliban, as the Élysée Palace announced on Thursday. This included the "fight against drug and arms trafficking, the break with international terrorist movements, and respect for the rights of women."

The two presidents had agreed to coordinate closely over the next few days and weeks - bilaterally as well as within the framework of the UN Security Council and the G20, the French presidency announced.

Macron had previously agreed to work closely with the Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi within the framework of the EU in order to guarantee evacuation flights for Europeans and Afghans from Kabul and to be prepared for the "consequences of the Afghan crisis".

This week Macron had also spoken to Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) and the British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

A G7 meeting is scheduled for next week.

Sigmar

Gabriel

calls for an international conference on Afghanistan

1.30 a.m.:

Former Federal Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel (SPD) has spoken out in favor of an international Afghanistan conference.

"The sooner it takes place, the better," Gabriel told the editorial network in Germany.

Russia and China should also take part - even if both countries are still dominated by ridicule and malice because of the embarrassment of the West.

Gabriel emphasized that in addition to the EU, not only the world powers USA, China and Russia, but also Pakistan and Iran belonged to the conference table.

With regard to the Taliban, Gabriel said that one would hopefully be able to talk to those among them who had always wanted to not tolerate foreign troops in the country: "There is a long nationalist, identity-based tradition."

Over 1400 people evacuated by the Bundeswehr

00:30:

The Bundeswehr has brought more than 1,400 people from Afghanistan to safety since Monday.

Another machine with more than 180 people on board started in Kabul on Thursday evening, as the Bundeswehr announced on Twitter.

The transport planes initially fly to the Uzbek capital Tashkent, from where civil aircraft continue to Germany.

Among those rescued were at least 244 German citizens in addition to Afghan local staff and other people in need by early Thursday evening - far more than originally expected.

And there could still be several hundred in the country.

"A middle three-digit number" of Germans has now been registered on the Foreign Office's crisis list, as the dpa news agency learned from the ministry.

Originally it was just under 100.

However, because of the dramatic situation in Afghanistan after the Taliban came to power, many have registered.

The numbers keep changing.

The 40 embassy employees who were flown to Qatar on Monday night are not taken into account.

The brave bookseller of Kabul

12:10 a.m.:

The last time the Taliban conquered Afghanistan, they burned his books.

Nonetheless, Shah Muhammed Rais keeps his bookstore open.

Why?

A phone call in Kabul.

Read more here.

jok / AFP / dpa / Reuters