11.04am EDT
11:04
Biden to deliver remarks on Afghanistan this afternoon
10.51am EDT
10:51
US tells Taliban not to interfere with evacuation efforts – report
9.29am EDT
09:29
Footage appears to show Afghans falling from plane after takeoff
9.28am EDT
09:28
US working to make Kabul airport ‘safe and secure’, senior official says
9.28am EDT
09:28
Five killed at Kabul airport – reports
11.19am EDT
11:19
French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel are also expected to deliver remarks today on the situation in Afghanistan, as evacuation efforts continue in Kabul.
(@franceinfo)
Emmanuel Macron s’exprimera demain a 20 heures pour evoquer la situation en Afghanistan, ou les talibans s’appretent a prendre le pouvoirhttps://t.co/AMMmnh3HqX pic.twitter.com/bhf82FRNDg
11.04am EDT
11:04
Biden to deliver remarks on Afghanistan this afternoon
Joe Biden will deliver remarks this afternoon on the situation in Afghanistan, the White House has just announced in an update to the president’s schedule for the day.
According to the updated schedule, Biden will return to the White House from Camp David at 1 pm ET and then deliver remarks at 3:45 pm.
(@POTUS)
I will be addressing the nation on Afghanistan at 3:45 PM ET today.
The announcement comes after Biden received criticism from members of both parties for not planning any kind of formal address on the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan.
Biden will be speaking one day after Taliban forces entered Kabul and as frantic evacuation efforts continue at the city’s airport, with desperate Afghans trying to board planes leaving the country.
Updated
at 11.07am EDT
10.51am EDT
10:51
US tells Taliban not to interfere with evacuation efforts – report
The head of Central Command, Gen. Frank McKenzie, has reportedly met with Taliban leaders and told them not to interfere with ongoing evacuation efforts at Kabul International Airport.
The AP reports:
A U.S. defense official says the head of Central Command has met face-to-face with senior Taliban leaders to urge their fighters not to interfere with the U.S. military’s evacuation operations at the Kabul airport in Afghanistan.
The official said that in the meeting on Sunday in Doha, Qatar, Gen. Frank McKenzie won Taliban agreement to establish a ‘deconfliction mechanism’ — an arrangement by which evacuation operations at the airport can continue without interference by the new rulers of the country.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive talks not yet announced publicly. The official said McKenzie urged the Taliban not to interfere with the evacuation and said the U.S. military would respond forcefully to defend the airport if necessary.
Deputy national security adviser Jonathan Finer delivered a similar message this morning, telling CNN, “The United States has communicated to the Taliban in no uncertain terms that they are not to interfere with the safe passage of Afghans to the airport, who are looking to depart the country.”
10.34am EDT
10:34
Jessica Glenza
Customers agents have seized more than 3,000 counterfeit Covid-19 vaccination cards, meant to mimic well known index cards distributed by vaccination centers and bearing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) insignia.
“These vaccinations are free and available everywhere,” said Michael Neipert, area port director in Memphis, in a statement. “If you do not wish to receive a vaccine, that is your decision. But don’t order a counterfeit, waste my officer’s time, break the law, and misrepresent yourself.”
Neipart said he is “committed” to seizing such cards. “But just know that when you order a fake vaxx card, you are using my officers’ time as they also seize fentanyl and methamphetamines.”
To date, officers in the Port of Memphis have seized 121 shipments of more than 3,000 fake vaccination cards, all originating in China and of poor quality.
People who buy, sell or use fake vaccination cards could be charged with a federal crime for unauthorized use of an official US government agency seal, because the counterfeits bear the CDC’s insignia.
Updated
at 10.48am EDT
10.18am EDT
10:18
Robert Gibbs, who once served as Barack Obama‘s press secretary, argued that it was “imperative” for Joe Biden to speak to the American people about the situation in Afghanistan.
(@Robt_Gibbs)
Hopefully this happens very soon. Imperative for the President to speak to the nation and the world. He must lay out again the reasoning behind his decisions, how he sees the future of this region & what must be done to prevent another safe haven for al-Qaeda to plan attacks. https://t.co/N6C2ojVsAW
“He must lay out again the reasoning behind his decisions, how he sees the future of this region & what must be done to prevent another safe haven for al-Qaeda to plan attacks,” Gibbs said on Twitter.
As of now, there are no updates to Biden’s official schedule. The president is expected to remain in Camp David today and is not scheduled to make any public appearances.
10.03am EDT
10:03
Allison Jaslow, an Iraq war veteran who previously served as a communications aide in the Obama administration, said Joe Biden should address the American people today about the situation in Afghanistan.
(@jaslow)
I hope we hear from @POTUS today.
The country can’t wait another day not directly hearing from its Commander in Chief on #Afghanistan.
The tragic fact that this doesn’t touch enough Americans shouldn’t be an excuse to hold off. There are lives on the line.
“The country can’t wait another day not directly hearing from its Commander in Chief on #Afghanistan,” Jaslow said on Twitter.
“The tragic fact that this doesn’t touch enough Americans shouldn’t be an excuse to hold off. There are lives on the line.”
As of now, Biden has no public events scheduled for the day. The only event on his official schedule is receiving the President’s Daily Brief at Camp David this morning.
Updated
at 10.10am EDT
9.48am EDT
09:48
A US official told the Wall Street Journal that US troops shot and killed two armed men at Kabul International Airport as terrified Afghans attempt to board flights leaving the country.
The Journal reports:
The armed men, who numbered at least two, approached U.S. troops deployed to the airport to provide security and assist Americans and other individuals in a safe departure from Afghanistan, the official said. Few details were available about how things transpired between the U.S. troops and the armed men, who weren’t identified.
Witnesses reported seeing three prone, bloodied bodies lying on the ground just outside the terminal building. The reason for the discrepancy wasn’t known.
One witness had told Reuters that they saw five bodies being transported to a vehicle at the airport, but it was unclear how those people had died.
9.29am EDT
09:29
Footage appears to show Afghans falling from plane after takeoff
The Guardian’s Ben Doherty and Luke Harding report:
Desperate Afghans clung to the side of a moving US military plane leaving Kabul airport on Monday, with at least three people apparently falling to their deaths from the undercarriage immediately after takeoff.
Video footage shows hundreds of people running alongside the plane as it trundles along the runway of Kabul international airport. A number hang on to the side of the C-17A aircraft, just below the wing. Others run alongside waving and shouting.
(@TOLOnews)
Video: People run on tarmac of Kabul international airport as a US military aircraft attempts to take off. pic.twitter.com/9qA36HS0WQ
As it soars above the Afghan capital, several people appear to plunge from the plane, one by one. Horrified onlookers point to the sky. A second video shows the bodies of three people – two men and a woman – lying on the ground in the airport complex.
The chaotic and tragic scenes at the airport after the fall of Kabul to the Taliban are likely to become a defining symbol of the west’s failure in Afghanistan.
They follow the evacuation by helicopter on Sunday of the US embassy, and other diplomatic missions, in images reminiscent of the 1975 fall of Saigon.
9.28am EDT
09:28
Five killed at Kabul airport – reports
At least five people were killed at Kabul airport this morning as desperate Afghans tried to forcibly enter US planes leaving the country, according to reports.
Reuters reports:
One witness said he had seen the bodies of five people being taken to a vehicle. Another witness said it was not clear whether the victims were killed by gunshots or in a stampede.
U.S. troops, who are in charge of the airport, earlier fired in the air to scatter the crowd, a U.S. official said.
9.28am EDT
09:28
US working to make Kabul airport ‘safe and secure’, senior official says
Greetings from Washington, live blog readers.
People around the world have now seen the alarming images coming out of Kabul international airport, as terrified Afghans seek to flee the country after Taliban forces entered the capital city.
Speaking to CNN this morning, Joe Biden‘s deputy national security adviser, Jonathan Finer, acknowledged that the pictures are “very serious”, and he said the US military is working to make the airport “safe and secure”.
(@NewDay)
White House Deputy National Security Adviser Jonathan Finer says President Joe Biden has been “deeply engaged” on all Afghanistan policy matters.
“I expect that he will speak [about Afghanistan] soon,” he adds. pic.twitter.com/l1COmjYOV5
Asked about the safety of people trying to reach the airport, Finer said, “The United States has communicated to the Taliban in no uncertain terms that they are not to interfere with the safe passage of Afghans to the airport, who are looking to depart the country.”
Finer was also pressed on why Biden has not delivered any kind of on-camera statement since Taliban forces entered Kabul yesterday. According to his official schedule, Biden will make no public appearances today.
Finer insisted Biden has been “deeply engaged in all of the policy conversations” regarding Afghanistan and will “speak to it again soon”. He offered no timeline for when that might happen.
The blog will have more coming up, so stay tuned.