Afghanistan-News: According to migration experts, many Afghans want to flee

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After the withdrawal: An orphaned fighter pilot from the Afghan army stands in a hangar at Kabul airport surrounded by protective vests left behind by the US army

Photo: WAKIL KOHSAR / AFP

This article is continuously updated.

London talks to the Taliban about the departure of British and local workers

8.26 a.m.:

The British government is negotiating with the militant Islamic Taliban about the safe exit of British and Afghan local staff from Afghanistan. Prime Minister Boris Johnson's special envoy, Simon Gass, traveled to the Qatari capital Doha for talks with leading representatives of the Taliban, said a government spokesman in London on Wednesday night. It is about "underlining the importance of safe exit for British nationals and the Afghans who have worked with us over the past 20 years."

The Foreign Ministry is also temporarily strengthening its embassies in the neighboring Afghan countries of Pakistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.

Specialists should support the diplomats in bringing people to safety across land borders.

Foreign Minister Dominic Raab said on Tuesday that there were still a "low three-digit" number of British people in Afghanistan.

Before the Taliban victory: Carefree telephone recording between Biden and Ghani surfaced

6.30 a.m.:

US President Joe Biden praised his ally's army in his last phone call with his Afghan colleague Ashraf Ghani before the Taliban came to power. "You clearly have the best military," Biden said in the 14-minute conversation on July 23rd. "They have 300,000 well-equipped soldiers against 70,000-80,000 and they are obviously able to fight well," said a transcript of the phone call made available to Reuters by an insider.

Ghani fled his presidential palace on August 15 before the advancing Taliban without his army showing any firm resistance.

In the telephone conversation, neither man is aware of the danger that the Islamists would in fact take over the country within days.

In the phone call, Biden repeatedly addressed the international perception of the situation in Afghanistan.

“Needless to say, the world and parts of Afghanistan have the impression that the fight against the Taliban is not going well,” he said.

"Whether that's true or not, a different picture has to be conveyed."

Maas makes return to the embassy in Kabul subject to conditions

5.44 a.m.:

Federal Foreign Minister Heiko Maas has indicated readiness to reoccupy the German embassy in Kabul - but at the same time he has placed conditions on the Taliban. "If it were politically possible and the security situation allows, then Germany should have an embassy again in Kabul," said Maas in Doha. There is a great need for a diplomatic presence - and Germany is holding talks with the Taliban on very practical issues, such as evacuation. However, the international community will also make demands on the Taliban, which is now ruling Afghanistan. “Isolation is not an answer. But recognition is not a priority for us, ”said Qatar's foreign minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, after a meeting with Maas.

UN Secretary General warns of humanitarian catastrophe in Afghanistan

5.27 a.m.:

UN General Secretary António Guterres warned of the complete collapse of basic services in the country after the last US soldiers had left Afghanistan and the evacuation was over.

"A humanitarian catastrophe is looming," said Guterres on Tuesday evening (local time) in New York.

People lose access to basic goods and services every day.

“Almost half of Afghanistan's population - 18 million people - depend on humanitarian aid to survive.

Every third Afghan does not know where their next meal will come from.

More than half of all children under the age of five are expected to be acutely malnourished next year. "

Guterres said that all member states are called upon to "stand up for the people of Afghanistan in their darkest hour of need".

You should make funds available in a timely, flexible and comprehensive manner.

During the next week, details of the most pressing humanitarian needs and funding needs for the next four months would be announced.

Biden defends withdrawal from Afghanistan

5.08 a.m.:

After the end of the international military operation in Afghanistan, US President Joe Biden vehemently defended his controversial withdrawal decision.

"It was time to end this war," Biden said at the White House on Tuesday.

The alternative would have been to send tens of thousands more soldiers into the country and escalate the conflict, he argued.

With the withdrawal of the last US soldiers from Kabul airport on Tuesday night, the international mission in Afghanistan came to an end after almost 20 years.

Pentagon denies reports of dogs abandoned at Kabul airport

3.21 a.m.:

The Pentagon has denied reports that the US Army left several dogs at Kabul airport when it withdrew from Afghanistan.

"The US military has not left any dogs in cages at Hamid Karzai International Airport, including military dogs," Pentagon spokesman John Kirby wrote on Twitter on Tuesday.

Photos posted on social media show dogs in an Afghan animal shelter, not animals for which the US military is responsible.

The animal rights organization Peta, citing "inside sources", reported that the US Army had left 60 bomb detection dogs and 60 other "working dogs" in Kabul.

In addition, dozens of pets were abandoned in the course of the evacuation of US families from Kabul.

The USA enables humanitarian aid despite sanctions against the Taliban

3.07 a.m.: The USA continues its humanitarian aid on the ground even after the withdrawal in Afghanistan.

A special permit authorizes the US government and its contractors to provide aid to the people of Afghanistan, including the delivery of food and medicine, despite sanctions against the Taliban, who are classified as terrorists, a US Treasury official told Reuters.

The existing sanctions freeze all US assets of the militant Islamist group and prohibit Americans from trading them, including donating funds, goods or services.

These sanctions were not affected by the special regulation, says the official.

Survey: Majority in the USA sees goals in Afghanistan missed

0.32 a.m.:

According to a survey, a large majority of Americans do not consider the US military operation in Afghanistan to be successful. 69 percent said that the US had largely missed its goals in Afghanistan, as the Pew Institute announced on Tuesday (local time). There was little difference between supporters of the Democrats of US President Joe Biden (69 percent) and those of the Republicans (70 percent). Clear differences emerged in the assessment of the complete withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan: 70 percent of the Democrats supported it, but only 34 percent of the Republicans.

Biden's predecessor, Republican Donald Trump, wanted to withdraw US troops from Afghanistan on May 1.

Biden extended the deadline to August 31.

In mid-August, the Taliban, whose regime the US-led operation had overthrown in late 2001, took power again.

This article is continuously updated.

mrc / AFP / dpa / Reuters