G7 meets on Afghanistan as thousands await evacuation

At least 3 babies are born during the evacuation of Kabul 0:30

(CNN) -

An estimated 6,500 people were waiting for evacuation flights inside Kabul airport on Tuesday morning, a source close to the situation told CNN, as G7 leaders prepared to meet at an emergency summit with in order to discuss the August 31 deadline for the withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan.

The vast majority of those still trying to leave Kabul were Afghans, the source said, adding that applicants for the Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) program, a pathway for Afghans who worked for US forces and agencies to get out of the country, now they can enter the airport.

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SIV applicants were told not to go to the airport on Monday, as the United States tried to clear backlogs of evacuees and ensure that US passport and green card holders got on a plane outside of Kabul before the deadline of the August 31 to complete evacuations.

But robust estimates of the number of people both at the airport and those leaving were difficult to determine.

The Pentagon said early Tuesday that 17 military planes from the United States and partner nations evacuated approximately 16,000 people from Harmid Karzai International Airport in the previous 24 hours, and the United States Air Force transported just under 11,000 of them.

That gave an opportunity to expand the evacuation, the source said.

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"The opening has widened," they said.

The closest family members of SIVs and anyone who can "clearly and credibly articulate a clear and credible connection" with the US government could now leave, the source said.

Despite the relaxation of restrictions, the airport gates remained closed, the source said.

Afghans ask filmmaker for help to leave the country 0:48

"But the people who are already there or the people who are being taken individually, it's relaxing a bit," they said.

About 300 US citizens were transported overnight and the movements were coordinated with the Taliban, the source said.

The closing of the airport gates, however, significantly reduces the number of SIV applicants that can reach the base.

Afghan security forces continued to use unofficial means to get their colleagues and friends to the base, the source said.

"I'm not sure who the Afghans are bringing in, but it seems to be a constant trickle," they said.

The source also said there had been no progress in the evacuation of locally employed embassy staff, although planning was underway.

As the backlog of evacuees in Kabul dwindled, tension was building up other parts of the route that would eventually lead to evacuees to resettlement outside of Afghanistan.

One of the main landmarks for evacuees, the huge US airbase of Ramstein in Germany, had reached its capacity of 7,800 evacuees on Monday.

On Tuesday morning, the leaders of the Group of 7 will meet for a virtual summit, the first international forum of its kind since the crisis in Afghanistan broke out.

With the late August deadline for US forces to quickly withdraw from Afghanistan, US allies are expected to pressure President Joe Biden to extend his country's military deployment, officials familiar with the matter told CNN. .

Biden has not publicly committed to such a move, which worries some allies who fear there will not be enough time to get his Afghan citizens and allies who helped in the war out of the country.

At the same time, US military leaders told Biden that he must decide by Tuesday whether to prolong the evacuation in Afghanistan, according to a defense official directly familiar with the discussions.

The decision should be made before Tuesday to give the military enough time to withdraw the 5,800 US troops on the ground in Kabul, as well as their equipment and weapons, the official said.

If the president sticks to the August 31 deadline, the military anticipates "a few more days" to try to evacuate as many people as possible before the reduction in US forces begins, possibly later this week. .

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Several of Biden's advisers have advised against an extension, citing the security situation on the ground, CNN learned.

British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said Monday that his Kabul evacuation operation has now been reduced to "hours, not weeks."

Britain was working to align itself with Washington's Aug. 31 deadline for a complete withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, a Defense Ministry source said.

The UK has evacuated a total of 6,600 people since August 14 and more than 8,000 since April, Wallace told reporters.

But he said people should be honest with "the reality, that we won't get them all out."

Meanwhile, the Taliban were holding on to the August 31 exit deadline for foreign forces.

A Taliban spokesman said that if US forces were still in the country after that, "our leadership will make the appropriate and necessary decisions."

CNN's Kevin Liptak and Barbara Starr contributed to this report.

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