Over 9,000 people have so far been rescued from Afghanistan.
Ramstein is now becoming a hub for rescues.
News ticker.
As before, a number of people are trying to save themselves from Afghanistan
(see first report).
A German was shot on the way to the airport in Kabul
(update from August 20, 12 noon).
The Ramstein base in Germany is now becoming a hub for rescues from Afghanistan
(see update from August 20, 4:57 p.m.).
This news ticker on the situation in Afghanistan * is continuously updated.
Update from August 20, 4:52 p.m
.: The evacuation of people from Kabul continues. Embassy employees and local staff who have flown out of the Afghan capital will come to the Federal Republic via Ramstein Air Base in Rhineland-Palatinate. Foreign Minister Heiko Maas negotiated this with the USA and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
The SPD politician said on Friday that the focus was on "evacuating as many people from Kabul as is possible under the given, very difficult circumstances." In order to succeed, Germany is getting support from the USA. "We have agreed that Ramstein Air Base in particular can be used temporarily for the transit of people seeking protection from Afghanistan to the USA." This should relieve the airlift to Tashkent. The Bundeswehr first brought the people from Kabul to the Uzbek capital and then to Germany.
In addition, Maas announced an increase in capacities: “We agree with all local partners that no space on our aircraft should be left empty.
In the future, therefore, in addition to the Bundeswehr airmen, Germans or people named by us will also be evacuated on US flights to Ramstein.
In the same way, we fly nationals from various nations out of Kabul on our own evacuation flights. "
+
Federal Foreign Minister Heiko Maas (l) with his American counterpart Antony Blinken speaks at the ministerial meeting in Rome.
© Andrew Harnik / AP Pool / dpa
Afghanistan: despite general amnesty - several government politicians missing
Update from August 20, 2:55 p.m.:
According to a local media report, several representatives of the previous Afghan government are missing.
Relatives of several government officials told ToloNews that their family members have disappeared or are believed to have been held by the Islamists since the Taliban came to power.
The previous governor and the previous police chief of the Laghman province in the east of the country had surrendered to the Taliban, but were still in captivity by the Islamists, the relatives said.
The police chief of Gasni in the south-east of the country cannot be found either.
The Taliban have issued a general amnesty, which they claim to include everyone - including government officials and members of the security forces. Since Thursday, however, videos have been circulating on social media that are supposed to show the execution of the police chief of Badghis province. In one of the videos, Hajji Mohammed Achaksai mentions his own name; in a second he can be seen on his knees on the floor in the same clothes, his eyes and hands bandaged. A few seconds later he is shot with many bullets. A Taliban comment on the incidents was initially not available.
Update from August 20, 2:50 p.m.:
The political pressure on several ministers in Angela Merkel's cabinet continues to rise: According to a report by
Spiegel
, internal minutes show that the ministries have been debating a rescue of local workers since April *. Merkel herself is said to have spoken out in favor of charter flights to save people.
Meanwhile, the Bundeswehr is intensifying its efforts in Kabul: two light helicopters of the type H145M should be able to be used for the evacuation operation at the airport as early as Saturday.
Inspector General Eberhard Zorn emphasized that the helicopters were intended for operations in individual cases, not as a kind of "taxi service" to Kabul airport.
If necessary, they would be accompanied by US attack helicopters.
As a rule, those willing to flee who want to be flown out would still have to come to the airport themselves.
Many are still stuck - including people from Munich *.
Evacuation from Kabul: Rescued from Afghanistan arrived in Germany
Update from August 20, 1:12 p.m.:
An air force evacuation
flight
with rescued people from Afghanistan landed in Hanover. According to the Lower Saxony Ministry of the Interior, 158 local Afghan workers and family members were on board. These included around 30 to 40 children and young people, 20 of whom were unaccompanied. The unaccompanied children and young people should be looked after by the state youth welfare office. The remaining people from Afghanistan would be taken to the Friedland transit camp.
In addition, 32 EU citizens arrived in Hanover with the Airbus A310-MRTT military aircraft.
Another plane with up to 250 people is expected in Hanover on Friday evening, said a ministry spokeswoman.
The Airbus A310-MRTT took off from the Uzbek capital Tashkent.
This was the first time that the Bundeswehr itself flew “protection personnel” from Afghanistan to Germany.
Aside from the evacuation flights, which are now apparently stable, there are also new allegations against German organizations: families are said to be torn apart *.
Afghanistan: Amnesty reports Taliban "massacre" - "probably only a fraction of the deaths"
Update from August 20, 12:33 p.m.:
The human rights organization Amnesty International blames the Taliban for a massacre of the Hazara minority in Afghanistan at the beginning of June. After taking power in Ghazni province, the militant Islamists cruelly killed nine men, according to a report published on Friday. "These targeted killings are proof that ethnic and religious minorities are particularly at risk under the new Taliban rule in Afghanistan," said Amnesty Secretary General Agnès Callamard.
A research team spoke to eyewitnesses on site for the Amnesty report.
The murders took place between July 4th and 6th in the village of Mundarakht in the Malistan district.
Six men were shot and three were tortured to death.
Amnesty wrote that these killings are probably only a fraction of the deaths that the Taliban have so far been responsible for.
Afghanistan: German shot on the way to the airport
Update from August 20, 12:00 p.m.:
A German sustained a gunshot wound on the way to Kabul airport in Afghanistan.
The deputy government spokeswoman Ulrike Demmer said on Friday in Berlin.
"He receives medical care, but there is no danger to his life," said Demmer.
"And he will soon be flown out." It is a civilian.
+
U.S. Marines protect people on their way to the evacuation at the airport in Kabul - photo from August 18, 2021.
© Isaiah Campbell / AFP
According to dpa, the location around the airport is still extremely dangerous.
The desperation of the people who want to get on evacuation flights is growing by the hour.
An eyewitness reported that.
According to him, there are still hundreds of people at the entrance to the civilian part who are trying to get onto the premises and then out of the country with the help of western planes.
Taliban fighters fired in the air and whipped them to drive the people away.
Afghanistan: Two helicopters relocated to Kabul for evacuation
Update from August 20, 10:58 a.m.:
According to
a
Spiegel
report, the
Bundeswehr wants to
move two helicopters to the capital Kabul
for the evacuation of Germans and local personnel from Afghanistan
. The two helicopters of the Special Forces Command (KSK) should be used to rescue those seeking protection from the air, writes the magazine. The helicopters are actually aimed at freeing hostages, are very agile and can land even in densely built-up cities.
In the next few days, KSK soldiers could use helicopters to bring small groups from Kabul or other areas controlled by the Taliban to the difficult-to-access airport, reports
Der Spiegel
, citing Bundeswehr circles.
So far, the Bundeswehr has only been deployed within Kabul Airport, which is secured by US troops.
Other countries such as the USA and France are already using helicopters in Kabul to bring people in need of protection to the airport.
Afghanistan: Taliban kill family members of journalists from Germany
Update from August 20, 9:40 a.m.:
Many in Afghanistan are afraid of the Taliban. This can be seen, among other things, in the numerous people who try to be evacuated at Kabul airport
(see first report)
. Journalists, women's rights activists, local staff, human rights activists and many more: They fear for their lives.
The case of a journalist shows how real the danger is.
Deutsche Welle reports that Taliban fighters shot and killed a family member of the journalist and seriously injured another while pursuing one of their employees.
The Taliban had been looking for him in several houses, but the journalist is now working in Germany.
Other relatives were just able to escape and are on the run.
DW director Peter Limbourg said: "The killing of a close relative of one of our editors by the Taliban is incredibly tragic and shows the acute danger that all our employees and their families are in in Afghanistan." of that!"
+
Heavily armed Taliban fighters patrolled Kabul on Thursday after they came to power.
© Rahmat Gul / dpa
Afghanistan: Bundeswehr takes stock - thousands of people are still waiting at the airport to be rescued
First report from August 20:
Kabul - More than 9,000 people have now escaped hell in Afghanistan; Western countries have brought them all out of the country since the radical Islamic Taliban came to power.
But thousands are still desperately waiting to be saved.
That night, the Bundeswehr had brought more than 100 people to safety with another flight, and the USA has so far recorded over 7,000 people rescued.
Most recently, a Bundeswehr transport plane of the type A400M with 181 people on board landed in the Uzbek capital Tashkent during the night.
An A400M had previously arrived from the Afghan capital with 184 people on board.
"So far, over 1640 people have been evacuated from Afghanistan in eleven rounds," the Bundeswehr announced via Twitter.
The US reported Thursday that it had flown around 7,000 people from Kabul in the past five days.
Hundreds of compatriots have already flown out of other western countries, including France, Turkey and Great Britain.
Afghanistan: Thousands are waiting for rescue at Kabul airport - apparently several fatalities
But thousands of Afghans are still waiting at the airport for a rescue from Kabul *. As the AFP news agency explains, citing unconfirmed reports, there are also said to have been several fatalities at the airport. Dramatic scenes had taken place at the airport shortly after the Taliban came to power, with people clinging to US planes taking off and then crashing. According to a sports association, a football player from the Afghan national youth team was also killed.
The group of seven major industrialized countries, the G7, and the UN, called on the Taliban on Thursday to give Afghans who want to leave the country safe access to the airport.
The UN warned against the systematic persecution of Afghan local NATO forces, and the Taliban kept “priority lists” for arrests.
However, the USA assured on Thursday that access to the airport had improved.
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said "the process is working".
The US State Department also referred to "productive talks" with the Taliban.
Afghanistan: Federal Foreign Minister Heiko Maas still under fire
Federal Foreign Minister Heiko Maas (SPD) was meanwhile under pressure because of the misjudgment he himself admitted to the situation in Afghanistan, which led to the extremely risky evacuation of the Bundeswehr in Kabul. Vice-Chancellor and SPD Chancellor candidate Olaf Scholz took him under protection, Maas was "the wrong address". Also, it is now mainly about the evacuation mission, he told the
Rheinische Post
.
Union Chancellor candidate Armin Laschet also opposed short-term personnel consequences.
"We have to
clear up the
mistakes, but not in the midst of a dangerous mission by the Bundeswehr to save human lives," he emphasized in the
Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung
.
Laschet also called for a direct dialogue with the Taliban to help people who wanted to get out of Afghanistan.
*
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List of rubric lists: © Andrew Harnik / AP Pool / dpa