(MOSCOW) — One of Belarus’ top opposition figures, who helped lead massive protests against authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko last year, has been sentenced to 11 years in jail by a court in Minsk.
Maria Kolesnikova was one of three women who found themselves at the head of the huge peaceful protests that last summer threatened to end Lukashenko’s 26-year rule but that have since been quashed with relentless repression.
Most leading opposition figures, including Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, who has become the movement’s primary leader, were forced into exile shortly after the protests began last August, triggered by Lukashenko claiming victory in a presidential election widely condemned internationally as rigged.
But Kolesnikova refused to go into exile even as Lukashenko reasserted his grip. Last September, security forces abducted her off the streets in the capital Minsk and then drove her to the border with Ukraine, where they tried to forcibly deport her. But Kolesnikova resisted the attempt, tearing up her passport to make her deportation impossible and refusing to go, despite knowing she faced certain imprisonment in Belarus.
A Minsk court on Monday sentenced her to 11 years in prison, along with another prominent activist, Maxim Znak, after convicting them on charges of extremism and illegally trying to seize power.
He and Kolesnikova were members of the opposition’s Coordination Council that was founded during the protests to demand a peaceful handover of power from Lukashenko.
Their trial was held behind closed doors with no evidence produced publicly and both had pleaded not guilty, denouncing the charges as political.
The sentences follow months of intense crackdown in Belarus as Lukashenko’s regime has sought to smash any organized dissent after riding out the protests. Most independent media and human rights groups have been shut down and hundreds arrested with dozens already sentenced. Virtually all leading opposition figures are now jailed or in exile.
Western countries swiftly condemned Monday’s verdict, with the United States and European Union demanding their immediate release.
Secretary of State Anthony Blinken slammed the sentences as “shameful” and based on “bogus” charges.
“We reiterate our call for an end to the campaign of repression against the people of Belarus for exercising their human rights inside and outside Belarus and for the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners — including Ms. Kalesnikava and Mr. Znak,” Blinken said in a statement.
Kolesnikova and a heart shape she forms with her hands became symbols of the protest movement. She and Tikhanovskaya were also seen as emblematic of the pivotal role women played in the protests that saw hundreds of thousands of people take to the streets. During the demonstrations, women holding flowers and dressed in red and white — the colors of the protests — often formed peaceful human chains, early on forcing riot police to back down.
Video from court on Monday showed Kolesnikova smiling and making the trademark heart shape with her hands in handcuffs while standing in a glass cage.
Key opposition figure in Belarus disappears
Kolesnikova had been a professional flute player before getting involved in politics for the first time last year when she became the spokesperson for Viktor Babriko, an energy executive who tried to run against Lukashenko in the election.
After Babriko was jailed before the vote on fraud charges widely criticized as political, she linked up with Tikhanovskaya, who herself had stepped in to replace her own husband as a candidate who was also imprisoned.
“Maria & Maksim are the heroes for Belarusians,” Tikhanovskaya wrote on Twitter following the verdicts.
“The regime wants us to see them crushed & exhausted,” she wrote, noting the video showing Kolesnikova and Znak smiling instead. “But look – they are smiling & dancing. They know – we will release them much earlier than these 11 years. Their terms shouldn’t frighten us — Maksim and Maria wouldn’t want this.”
(KABUL, Afghanistan) — With the U.S. military and diplomatic withdrawal now complete after 20 years in Afghanistan, the Taliban has taken over the country, including the Kabul airport, the site of an often-desperate evacuation effort the past two weeks.
But even as the last American troops were flown out to meet President Joe Biden’s Aug. 31 deadline, other Americans who wanted to flee the country were left behind and the Biden administration is now focused on a “diplomatic mission” to help them leave.
When President Joe Biden sat down with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos for an exclusive one-on-one interview at the White House on Aug. 18, he said he was committed to keeping the U.S. military in Afghanistan as long as needed. “If there are American citizens left, we’re going to stay until we get them all out,” he said.
Here are the latest developments. All times Eastern:
Sep 06, 4:53 am
Taliban claims victory over Panjshir, last pocket of resistance
The Taliban claimed victory Monday over Afghan opposition forces in Panjshir province, the last pocket of resistance in Afghanistan and the only province that the Taliban had not seized last month.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid issued a statement saying Panjshir was under full control of Taliban fighters.
“We tried our best to solve the problem through negotiations, and they rejected talks and then we had to send our forces to fight,” Mujahid later told a press conference in Kabul on Monday.
The Taliban posted photos and videos on social media apparently showing fighters standing at the gate of the Panjshir provincial governor’s office and raising the group’s flag in the provincial capital.
A spokesperson for the resistance group, the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan (NRF), took to Twitter to deny that Panjshir had fallen.
“Taliban’s claim of occupying Panjshir is false,” the spokesperson tweeted. “The NRF forces are present in all strategic positions across the valley to continue the fight. We assure the ppl of Afghanistan that the struggle against the Taliban & their partners will continue until justice & freedom prevails.”
Sep 05, 6:31 pm
Some US citizens unable to fly out of Afghanistan due to Taliban interference
The Taliban is blocking efforts to get U.S. citizens out of Afghanistan on flights, according to a non-governmental organization arranging travel for some passengers.
Marina LeGree, the CEO of Ascend, told ABC News that the Taliban has prevented 600 people from leaving Mazar-e-Sharif by charter plane for six days.
The NGO is helping 100 of those passengers, none of whom are American, to try to fly out. LeGree said she is aware of 19 U.S. citizens who are trying to leave but Ascend is not overseeing their departure.
“Ascend, an organization dedicated to empowering young women through athletics, has members trying to leave Afghanistan,” LeGree told ABC News in a statement Sunday. “We call on the Taliban to honor their commitments and allow these charters to depart immediately.”
The affected passengers are either staying at the airport or at nearby hotels, according to LeGree.
The U.S. Department of State did not confirm whether there are Americans on those flights, but said it “will hold the Taliban to its pledge to let people freely depart Afghanistan.”
(TOKYO) — Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga will not seek re-election as president of the country’s Liberal Democratic Party, effectively ending his term as prime minister after just one year.
Suga told reporters Friday that he would instead work on policy measures, specifically highlighting efforts to stop the spread of COVID-19. Workin on both the pandemic and a re-election bid, he said, would require so much energy that he felt he must choose one or the other.
“The lives and livelihoods of the people is my first priority,” he explained.
Suga’s announcement came as a surprise despite poor approval ratings for his administration.
He took over in September 2020 after former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe resigned due to health issues. His handling of the coronavirus pandemic has been publicly criticized, including the decision to go ahead with the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo, against public sentiment.
(AUCKLAND, New Zealand) — New Zealand is reeling from a knife-wielding rampage at a busy Auckland supermarket that left six fighting for their lives and the assailant dead. Authorities have called it a terror attack.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern confirmed that the man behind Friday’s terrorist attack in Auckland, who was shot dead by police after he stabbed six people in a supermarket, was inspired by ideologies of the Islamic State militant group.
“A violent extremist undertook a terrorist attack on innocent New Zealanders,” Ardern said at a briefing Friday afternoon.
Three of the six victims were critically injured, one is in serious condition and two are in moderate condition, police said.
The attacker, who cannot be identified under local laws, was a Sri Lankan national who arrived in New Zealand in 2011. He had been a “person of interest” and under heavy surveillance by the New Zealand police and Special Tactics Group since 2016, Ardern said.
The attack took place at LynnMall in the district of New Lynn on Friday afternoon. Officers, who were closely following the man, watched as he entered the Countdown supermarket.
Police Commissioner Andrew Coster said they believe the man took a knife from one of the supermarket shelves. The officers on the scene “challenged the man and diverted his attention.” Police shot and killed him within one minute of beginning the attack.
“We were doing absolutely everything possible to monitor him and indeed the fact that we were able to intervene so quickly, in roughly 60 seconds, shows just how closely we were watching him,” said Coster during Friday’s briefing.
Coster said the attacker was a “lone actor” and authorities are confident there is no further threat posed to the public.
When asked why police resisted arresting or deporting the attacker in recent years, despite “his interest in extremist ideology,” Ardern said authorities did everything they could, within the legal means, “to keep people safe from this individual.”
“What happened today was despicable. It was hateful. It was wrong,” Ardern said.
“It was carried out by an individual—not a faith, not a culture, not an ethnicity, but an individual person—who was gripped by ideology that is not supported here by anyone or any community,” she added. “He alone carries the responsibility for these acts. Let that be where the judgment falls.”
New Zealand has been on high alert for terror attacks since early 2019, when a white supremacist gunman killed 51 people at two mosques in Christchurch. This May, four people were stabbed in a supermarket in Dunedin on the country’s South Island.
David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images for Hugo Boss UK
(LONDON) — Prince Harry gave an impassioned speech at an awards ceremony last night, pleading with governments and pharmaceutical companies to do more to vaccinate the world.
“Where you’re born should not affect your ability to survive, when the drugs and know-how exist to keep you alive and well,” the Duke of Sussex told attendees of the 24th annual GQ Men of the Year Awards.
Harry was presenting The Heroes of the Year Award to Professor Dame Sarah Gilbert, Dr. Catherine Green and the team behind the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine.
Speaking via video link, he called them “heroes of the highest order who gave us an instrument to fight this disease,” adding, “They are our nation’s pride and we are deeply indebted to their service.”
But as he hailed “their breakthrough research” he also called on others to do more.
“Until every community can access the vaccine, and until every community is connected to trustworthy information about the vaccine, then we are all at risk,” he said.
He went on, “As people sit in the room with you tonight, more than a third of the global population has received at least one dose of the vaccine. That’s more than 5 billion shots given around the world so far. It sounds like a major accomplishment, and in many ways is. But there is a huge disparity between who can and cannot access the vaccine. Less than 2% of people in the developing world have received a single dose at this point and many of their health care workers are still not even vaccinated. We cannot move forward together unless we address this imbalance as one.”
The duke also spoke about the misinformation campaigns that are adding to vaccine hesitancy: “This is a system we need to break if we are to overcome COVID-19 and the rise of new variants,” he said.
He then called on “global governments, pharmaceutical leaders, and heads of business” to do their part.
“That must include sharing vaccine science and supporting and empowering developing countries with more flexibility,” he said.
Harry and his wife Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, have previously spoken out on vaccine inequality.
Last May the pair were campaign chairs of “Vax Live: The Concert to Reunite the World,” an international COVID-19 vaccination effort organized by Global Citizen.
Speaking at that event Harry said, “None of us should be comfortable thinking that we could be fine when so many others are suffering. In reality, and especially with this pandemic, when any suffer, we all suffer,” Harry also said in his remarks. “We must look beyond ourselves with empathy and compassion for those we know, and those we don’t. We need to lift up all of humanity and make sure that no person or community is left behind.”
(LONDON) — At one minute before midnight local time on Aug. 31, the last U.S. servicemember was withdrawn from Afghanistan. It marked the end to almost two decades of war and a frantic and heavily criticized evacuation effort prompted by the Taliban rapidly recapturing the country.
The effort, marred by a deadly terror attack, brought 123,000 people, including 5,500 U.S. citizens out of the country since the middle of August in what American officials have described as one of the largest, most complex evacuations in history.
But other countries played a role in getting large numbers of people out of Afghanistan, including those in the region, Europe and Asia. Their flights evacuated tens of thousands, including some U.S. citizens, according to officials and reports, even as thousands more who were hoping to leave the country were left behind — risking a refugee crisis in the region and beyond amid deep humanitarian need.
Here is a look at some of those efforts:
The U.S. did not work alone in overseeing the mass evacuation. As of Aug. 30, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates said they had facilitated the evacuation of 40,000 and 36,500 respectively, with a massive security operation that other countries were able to tap into.
Among those evacuated were citizens and allies of NATO members, as well as other countries who had citizens in Afghanistan, with the Aug. 31 deadline looming and the Taliban indicating that any extension to U.S. troop presence in the country would be considered a “red line.” An estimated 17,000 were flown out as part of the British evacuation effort, codenamed Operation Pitting, from the beginning of the Taliban offensive to Aug. 31. Some 5,000 of those were British nationals, the U.K. Ministry of Defense told ABC News.
Between 100 and 200 U.K. nationals are estimated to have been left behind, and on Wednesday a spokesperson for the prime minister’s office confirmed to ABC News that an envoy had been dispatched to Qatar to speak with Taliban officials about the safe passage of those still in the country, even as the Taliban are now in control of the airport.
On Saturday, French President Emmanuel Macron announced the country had evacuated 2,834 people from Afghanistan. The military estimate that a “few dozen” French nationals were left behind.
Germany successfully evacuated 5,300 people including more than 530 German nationals and approximately 4,400 Afghans, according to the foreign ministry and Italy’s foreign minister said the country has taken on the largest number of Afghan evacuees in the European Union, with close to 5,000 Afghan citizens arriving in the country, according to Agence France-Presse.
In Eastern Europe, hundreds of Afghans have arrived in Kosovo, Albania, North Macedonia, many of whom are being housed temporarily at U.S. request and expected to travel on to America, according to local media reports. Russia evacuated some its own citizens, as well as those of its former Soviet allies from Afghanistan last week, according to Russia’s defense minister.
Japan evacuated one national and 15 Afghans, but around 500 people who sought evacuation were left behind after the suicide bombing at Kabul airport led to a reluctance to continue, according to Kyodo News.
In addition to the air evacuations, many Afghans have sought asylum across Afghanistan’s land borders, particularly as the airport became increasingly difficult to get to. Tens of thousands of people have crossed at two major border crossings – Spin Boldak in the south and Torkham in the north. The border, however, is closed to refugees, local officials have said.
Prior to the Taliban offensive, Iran officially had a population of 780,000 Afghan refugees, although it is estimated that a further 2 million may be living in the country without documentation, according to the UNHCR.
However the government, after initially indicating it may be receptive to the idea of accepting new Afghan refugees, has now adopted a policy of not letting Afghans in through one of the country’s main land borders, Iranian state-affiliated media reports.
Bordering Tajikistan and Uzbekistan are both dealing with an influx on Afghans, though so the numbers are estimated in the low thousands. They are reportedly expected to be flown onward to third countries.
The evacuation efforts are unlikely to be the last the world sees in terms of the mass movement of people from the country. Last week the U.N. estimated around 500,000 new refugees in the region seeking to leave the country as a “worst case scenario.” The EU is reportedly drafting a package of more than $700 million worth of aid to Afghanistan’s neighbors amid fears of a repeat of the migrant crisis following the Syrian civil war, according to the Financial Times.
And even with the U.S. led evacuation efforts wrapped up, there is growing pressure from the international community for the Taliban to continue to allow Afghans to leave the country, with many foreign nationals as well as tens of thousands of Afghans who helped during the U.S.’s longest war facing an unknown fate under the new regime.
(WASHINGTON) — For the thousands of Afghan evacuees bound for the U.S., their rescue flights to America were just one more step in a long journey, but for the airline crews who brought them here — the flights are the most memorable of their careers.
“You felt a part of them because you were the first face they saw when they left those gates,” United Airlines flight attendant Hope Williams said after a flight from Doha, Qatar, to Ramstein Air Base in Germany. “I think when someone tells you that you’re going to safety, that’s what makes the difference.”
Williams worked one of the first U.S. relief flights for United.
“I feel like I lived up to the name my parents gave me. My name is Hope, and even for seven hours — it was short, but I gave them hope,” Williams told ABC News in an interview at Washington Dulles International Airport. “It was a relief to see the children once they made it onto the plane, even at a young age. I think they understood that they were safe.”
United, American and Delta are among six U.S. commercial carriers that bring evacuees to the U.S. under Civil Air Reserve Fleet (CRAF), a Department of Defense program that allows the federal government to use commercial planes during a national defense crisis. The program has only been activated twice before.
Onboard Williams’ flight were dozens of young children, a mother who had a caesarian section three days earlier, her newborn child and an amputee who had been thrown over the airport wall in Kabul. Many had no idea of the plane’s destination.
“Immediately everyone said, where are we going? We’re going to Germany. Where are we going after that? The United States of America. There are a lot of smiles, especially from the children. They did speak English and were able to articulate that to the parents.”
For many evacuees, it was their first time flying.
“I had an elderly lady friend in the back. And unfortunately, the seat that she was sitting in was just to two seats. She was able to sit there by herself, but towards the end, like during the flight, she laid down on the floor, it was just so uncomfortable. But that’s not safe. We’re not allowed to do that. So just talking to her, rubbing her back, I think that made the difference. Felt like grandma to me,” Williams said.
When the first flights arrived at Dulles, federal officials weren’t fully prepared for the arrivals. Evacuees were kept on planes as long as 12 hours after landing. United brought food, diapers, toy and new crews on board to help.
Monique Williams is normally a manager at Dulles but is also a trained flight attendant. When the first flight waited at the gate for six hours with the original crew, she swapped in and stayed on board until customs agents finally gave clearance to deplane.
“I spoke to a woman who was on board with her husband and her twin kids, a boy and a girl. And she was talking to me about her, how her husband works for the U.S. government. And she was discussing how they had to basically within 10 minutes time, pick up whatever they could carry to get in a car, to get out of one location, to try to change cars, to get into another location, to change cars again for the third time, to finally get to the [Kabul] airport. And she mentioned how it was days that they didn’t have adequate food or water, they didn’t shower,” she said.
“I just have to commend our crews because they didn’t want to leave,” she added. “They wanted to stay on the flight with all the people because they had heard these stories. They had built relationships. They had built bonds in the short period of time that they didn’t want to leave them. It was like their family.”
United CEO Scott Kirby flew to Washington to hear the stories.
“They’ll never be another moment like this in my career. And we at United Airlines, all of us, we’re honored to play a small role in helping get the people back here to the United States,” Kirby said. “Dulles Airport for many of these people is going to be like the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. This will be the place that they always remember where they came to freedom.”
ABC News’ Amanda Maile and Nate Luna contributed to this report
(WASHNGTON) — When the young boy, just 13 or 14 years-old, was safely inside the gates of Kabul’s international airport, U.S. State Department officials there asked two questions: Where were his parents? And why was there blood all over his clothes?
“He said that somebody was killed right in front of him, and his whole family dispersed,” said a State Department official, recounting their harrowing 12 days on the ground in Afghanistan.
They were one of dozens of U.S. diplomats who, along with thousands of U.S. troops, helped evacuate more than 123,000 of their fellow Americans, Afghans, and other foreigners fleeing the Taliban.
But that effort also left behind as many as 200 U.S. citizens who were trying to escape and the “majority” of Afghans who worked with U.S. diplomatic and military personnel, according to a senior State Department official, and now fear their lives are at risk from Taliban reprisals.
“Everybody who lived it is haunted by the choices we had to make and by the people we were not able to help depart in this first phase of the operation,” said the senior official, speaking on condition of anonymity at the State Department’s request.
The all-hands-on-deck effort marshaled hundreds of State Department personnel in Washington and at embassies around the world, even rivaling the global repatriation operation at the start of the coronavirus pandemic in spring 2020, according to officials.
Afghanistan Coordination Task Force, an emergency operation headquartered at the State Department, has brought together hundreds of U.S. officials across agencies, including from the departments of Defense, Homeland Security, and Health and Human Services, which manages refugee resettlement, and helped coordinate approximately 55,000 calls and 33,000 emails to U.S. citizens in Afghanistan to try to bring them to safety, according to the department. As that operation shifts to help Americans and Afghans left behind, the senior State Department official conceded the evacuation efforts weren’t “pretty, it was very challenging. … It involved some really painful tradeoffs and choices for everybody involved.”
The youngest of those Americans still there may be “Ali,” whose real name ABC News is not using to protect him and his family. The three-year-old boy was born in the Sacramento area, and both his father “Ramin” and mother “Sahar” are U.S. lawful permanent residents, or Green card holders. Ramin moved the family, including Ali’s three older siblings, to Kabul a couple of years ago, drawn to a career as a social worker in his home country.
But with the collapse of the Afghan government – the speed of which surprised even U.S. officials – they scrambled to get out, the family told ABC News affiliate KGO. They said they received instructions from the U.S. embassy in Kabul on how to approach the airport, but were beaten back and blocked by Taliban fighters – too fearful to attempt again.
The senior State Department official said while there was enough cooperation with the Taliban to get tens of thousands of evacuees through, it regularly broke down when the militant group’s checkpoints were overwhelmed by the crowds or when messages from leadership didn’t travel fast enough to fighters on the ground.
“We had zero ability to control that inflow beyond the physical gates of the airport complex,” they told reporters Wednesday.
The State Department’s operation also struggled to provide detailed instructions on how to access the airport to Americans and Afghan partners that wouldn’t end up spreading through the massive crowds. Instead, any unique credential was quickly shared and became useless for U.S. and allied service members manning the fortified walls of Kabul airport.
“It was no longer a viable credential to differentiate among populations, and we simply did not have the people or the time to be able to try to sift through that crowd of people demanding access,” the senior official said.
That meant especially for Afghans who worked for the U.S. — sometimes known as SIVs, for the special immigrant visas they’ve applied for — were left in the crowds.
“We weren’t able to differentiate in the ways we all wanted to pull in those SIV populations,” the senior official added, declining to provide any figures for how many were evacuated, but saying “anecdotal evidence” suggested the “majority” were not.
Operations to rescue Americans, Afghan partners, and other foreigners also became increasingly dangerous as the operation stretched on. The threat from ISIS-K became horribly real when a suicide bomber detonated explosives outside Abbey Gate last Thursday, killing at least 182 people, including 13 U.S. service members.
But officials were also concerned about the crowds themselves, especially as desperation grew with the clock ticking down to President Biden’s Aug. 31 deadline.
“It’s not a criticism of the people who were desperate to leave, it’s just the characteristics of human behavior in those kinds of conditions — I think people don’t understand that those crowds that were outside the access points were on the verge of flipping to a mob at any given moment of any given day,” said the senior official.
Now, it will be up to U.S. consular officers to help the hundreds of other Americans and tens of thousands of Afghan partners escape whatever comes next in Afghanistan.
“It was really disheartening,” a second consular officer, who flew to Washington from the U.S. embassy in Canada to assist in evacuation efforts, said of the long shifts on the phone or emails trying to help U.S. citizens in Afghanistan.
In some cases, those individual calls provided personalized instructions for U.S. citizens and residents or at-risk Afghans to access Kabul airport, including a rally point to meet before approaching the gates amid the high threat of attack.
A third State Department official, based at the U.S. embassy in New Delhi, recounted talking to an Afghan woman who only spoke Dari, the Afghan dialect of Persian, but in her basic Urdu and his broken Hindi, he was able to provide instructions on how to access the airport.
“That kept us going all the time — that everybody felt the desperation of the Afghans and wanted to help them and knew it was a matter of time, that we had limited time to help as many people as possible and everybody went out of their way,” said the first State Department official.
But sticking to that timeline has drawn outrage against Biden, accused by Republican lawmakers and some veterans’ groups of abandoning Americans and especially Afghan allies.
“The unwillingness of the U.S. government to protect these trusted allies is an unconscionable failure that could have been avoided,” Adam Bates, policy counsel at the International Refugee Assistance Project, or IRAP, said Tuesday. “The United States not only has an ongoing moral, but also a legal obligation to protect them and all Afghan allies.”
Biden rejected that in an address Tuesday, saying staying longer would have put more U.S. troops at risk by violating former President Donald Trump’s deal with the Taliban: “That was the choice, the real choice – between leaving or escalating.”
For that first State Department official, however, there was no time to dwell on the life-or-death implications for the Afghan people they encountered just inside Kabul airport’s fortified gates – some of whom they were forced to turn away if they weren’t cleared by the U.S. government to travel.
“There were so many people, the need was so great all the time, that we just tried to do what we were supposed to do and get as many people out,” said the official.
Volunteering to help process people, the official arrived with other consular officers on Aug. 17, just two days after Kabul fell to the Taliban. Working 12-hour shifts, consular officers waited behind a line of U.S. special forces to check the documents of Americans, Afghans, and others who were granted entry to the airport — before they could move through another line of U.S. forces and board evacuation flights.
Warning shots were being fired “constantly” by Afghan and Taliban troops on the perimeter, per the official, with the use of flash bangs and at least one instance of tear gas as well. Most people waited three to five days just to get inside, they added — calling it “horrendous.”
“The people that tried to get through those gates, it was a horrifying experience for them, and as consular officers, we were thrilled to be able to do what we could to evaluate their eligibility as quickly as possible,” the official said.
Among the most heartbreaking scenes were the unaccompanied minors — children who lost parents and ended up inside the airport’s walls. Scores of them have been evacuated from Kabul to Doha, Qatar, where UNICEF has custody of them and is working to reunify them with parents and family, according to State Department officials.
Asked how so many children ended up alone, the official said, “Chaos. You can’t even imagine the chaos that was outside the gate.”
“On any given day, we had over 30 children that were separated … They were all traumatized,” the official added.
At least four children were orphaned after their father was killed by the Taliban and their mother was crushed in the crowds outside the airport, a source on the ground told ABC News last week. Others may have been pushed through “for safety” by their parents, according to the State Department official, “But I can tell you any parent that did that did that out of desperation and a love for their child.”
Officials from the U.S. and allied countries, especially Norway, worked together at the airport to care for them, with service members playing with them, rocking babies, and providing supplies like diapers, food, and bottles. Norway set up a reunification center that “quickly got overwhelmed, there were so many children that were separated,” the official said.
For Ali and his family, they are at least still together. But the road ahead — perhaps literally — is unclear.
The family told KGO that they have connected with other Americans on the ground in Afghanistan, leaving a safe house in Kabul to find their own way.
(KABUL, Afghanistan) — With the U.S. military and diplomatic withdrawal now complete after 20 years in Afghanistan, the Taliban has taken over the country, including the Kabul airport, the site of an often-desperate evacuation effort the past two weeks.
But even as the last American troops were flown out to meet President Joe Biden’s Aug. 31 deadline, other Americans who wanted to flee the country were left behind and the Biden administration is now focused on a “diplomatic mission” to help them leave.
When President Joe Biden sat down with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos for an exclusive one-on-one interview at the White House on Aug. 18, he said he was committed to keeping the U.S. military in Afghanistan as long as needed. “If there are American citizens left, we’re going to stay until we get them all out,” he said.
Here are the latest developments. All times Eastern:
Sep 01, 3:43 pm
Officials ‘haunted by choices’ at airport, ‘majority’ of SIVs left behind: State Department official
As the State Department shifts to help Americans and Afghans left behind evacuate, a senior official conceded the evacuation efforts weren’t “pretty, it was very challenging. … It involved some really painful tradeoffs and choices for everybody involved.”
“Everybody who lived it is haunted by the choices we had to make and by the people we were not able to help depart in this first phase of the operation,” a senior State Department official who was on the ground at the airport in Kabul told reporters late Wednesday morning.
But the official praised the “heroic” consular officers who processed those who entered the airport and at times walked the line looking through the massive crowds for U.S. passports and Green cards — and offered some explanations for what went wrong and arguing those crowds outside the gates bordered on “mob violence.”
The official said, based on anecdotal evidence, that “the majority” of Special Immigrant Visa holders were left behind — those Afghan interpreters, guides and others who helped U.S. forces and applied for a visa — along with their families.
“We feel an enormous commitment to keep faith with all of the people to whom we owe this debt, and we’re going to continue to do everything we can in the coming weeks and months to fulfill that commitment and to help those who wish to leave Afghanistan to do so.”
The official declined to provide more details on what that looks like just yet.
Sep 01, 2:25 pm
’Possible’ US will partner with Taliban against ISIS-K
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley, asked about the relationship between the U.S. and Taliban going forward, given their recent and uneasy cooperation during the evacuation mission, offered a pragmatic view, without sugar-coating the militant group.
“We don’t know what the future of the Taliban is. But I can tell you from personal experience that this is a ruthless group from the past, and whether or not they change remains to be seen,” Milley said. “And as far as our dealings with them at that airfield or in the past year or so, in war, you do what you must in order to reduce risk to mission and force, not what you necessarily want to do.”
Asked whether the U.S. might coordinate with the Taliban against ISIS-K, the terror group responsible for a suicide bomber attack last week which that killed 13 U.S. service members and 170 Afghans, Milley said, “It’s possible.”
Defense Secretary Austin then chimed in, “I would not want to make any predictions.”
Sep 01, 1:48 pm
Top US general to forces: ‘Your service mattered’
Chariman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley vowed that the Pentagon will continue it counterterrorism efforts despite not having troops on the ground in Afghanistan, echoing President Biden’s remarks from Tuesday in saying the U.S. mission has changed over time.
“For the past 20 years, there’s not been a major attack on our homeland. And it is now our mission to ensure that we continue our intelligence efforts, continue our counterterrorism efforts, continue our military efforts to protect the American people for the next 20 years,” he said.
Defense Sec. Austin: “It’s our duty to defend this nation, and we’re not going to take our eye off the ball. And that means relentless counterterrorism efforts against any threat to the American people from any place.” https://t.co/Wfv8QKQBYUpic.twitter.com/zZNfMPCfms
Milley said that as of Wednesday morning, approximately 20,000 Afghans have arrived at eight different military bases in the continental U.S. and more refugees are on the way. Since the evacuation mission began, he said 124,334 people were airlifted out of Afghanistan by the U.S. and partners.
“Those 124,000, they never knew the 13 who died, and they will never know the 22 who were wounded or the thousands of dead and thousands of wounded who came before them. But they will now live in freedom because of American blood shed on their behalf,” Milley said.
The top U.S. general closed his remarks with a message for service members.
“We’re all conflicted. Feelings of pain and anger, sorrow and sadness, combined with pride and resilience,” he said. “One thing I am certain of: For any soldier, sailor, Marine and their family, your service mattered, and it was not in vain.”
Sep 01, 1:26 pm
Top Pentagon officials speak on Afghanistan withdrawal
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin spoke on the U.S. military’s withdrawal from Afghanistan after 20 years from the Pentagon on Wednesday, offering his thanks to U.S. forces and their families.
“We have concluded our historic evacuation operation and ended the last mission of the U.S. war in Afghanistan. America’s longest war has come to a close,” he said.
Austin hailed the historic evacuation effort in an “immensely dangerous” environment over the past few weeks. He reminded that 2,461 troops were killed in Afghanistan, as well as the more than 20,000 injured — “some still carrying the scars that you can’t see on the outside.”
Defense Sec. Austin: “My thoughts have been with the brave Americans who stood up to serve after Al-Qaeda attacked us on September 11, 2001. And my heart is with their families and loved ones.”https://t.co/Wfv8QKQBYUpic.twitter.com/ReEDPzgA6W
“Our forces risk their own lives to save the lives of others. And 13 of our very best paid the ultimate price. Many of them were too young to personally remember the 9/11 attacks,” he said. “The United States military will always honor their heroism.”
Speaking directly to Afghan war veterans and their families, Austin said he understands it’s been a difficult time but said he hopes they can look back at the long conflict with “thoughtfulness and respect.”
“I’ve heard strong views from many sides in recent days, and that’s vital. That’s democracy. That’s America,” he said. “As we always do, this department will look back clearly and professionally, and learn every lesson that we can.”
“Right now, it’s time to thank all those who served in this war,” he added.
Sep 01, 12:30 pm
Putin says US achieved ‘nil’ in Afghanistan war
Russian President Vladimir Putin again poured scorn on the U.S. military’s 20-year presence in Afghanistan, saying on Wednesday the nation achieved “nil” in an attempt to “civilize the local people.”
“The only result is tragedies and losses for those who were doing that, the United States, and especially for the people who live in the territory of Afghanistan. This is a nil result, not to say a negative one,” Putin said to teenagers at an educational facility in Russia.
Putin, who has previously said Russia has no plans to deploy troops to the country the Soviet Union once occupied but then was forced to retreat from in 1988 and 1989, claimed the U.S. approach to Afghanistan was flawed in that it tried to instill Western norms on Afghan people.
It is “impossible to impose anything from outside,” he said.
Russia, as well as China, have not yet formally recognized the Taliban as Afghanistan’s legitimate governing power but have generally shown more of a willingness to work with the militant group than have other nations.
-ABC News’ Tanya Stukalova
Sep 01, 11:44 am
Sole province uncontrolled by Taliban fights for independence
The Panjshir Valley, around 60 miles of mountain terrain in north-central Afghanistan, is the only one of 34 provinces in the country not controlled by the Taliban, and the people of Panjshir have vowed to continue the fight.
Anti-Taliban forces were seen in Panjshir on Wednesday conducting military exercises and patrolling hilltops as attempts to bring the Taliban and people of Panjishir to talks have reportedly failed.
It’s unclear how many, but a number of Afghans have traveled to the region in hopes of sanctuary in what’s become a holdout for rebel fighters and known as a “historical heartland of resistance.”
Taliban General Mobin Khan said earlier this month that the Taliban are “trying to resolve the issue through talks, and Panjshir may surrender peacefully — otherwise, the responsibility for the war lies with the short-sighted.”
-ABC News’ Sohel Uddin and Guy Davies
Sep 01, 11:37 am
Taliban hold parade in Kandahar, urge civilians to stay
Taliban forces have rallied around the country to celebrate the withdrawal of U.S. ground forces, holding a parade of vehicles in the Kandahar province on Wednesday.
Haji Mohammad Yousaf, the Taliban’s governor in Kandahar, and Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid spoke to Afghans gathered at the event.
Meanwhile, in Kabul, scenes around an abandoned airport area, where crowds of Afghans civilians once gathered around U.S. troops, showed empty vehicles covered in barbed wire as Taliban fighters have taken control of the airport and its perimeter.
In an interview with “Good Morning Britain” on Wednesday, Taliban spokesperson Dr. Suhail Shaheen said those with the right documents will be allowed to leave Afghanistan, but “urged” them to stay.
-ABC News’ Guy Davies
Sep 01, 10:26 am
Taliban celebrates US departure
With all U.S. ground troops out of Afghanistan, scenes around Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul on Wednesday showed Taliban fighters in Afghan National Army uniforms after the militant group seized the airport, with some firing celebratory gunshots into the air — a far different picture from the days preceding.
Hours before Biden addressed the nation on Tuesday and firmly defended the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, the Taliban held a mock funeral in Kabul with show caskets draped with U.S., U.K. and French flags to symbolize what it has called the defeat of NATO allies after 20 years.
The Taliban also released a video overnight they say shows their troops flying over the Kandahar province in an Afghan military helicopter as the militant group works to maintain a hold on the country.
A defiant Biden on Tuesday said that he refused to extend a “forever war” and would not be “extending a forever exit.” The president on Wednesday is meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and does not have any Afghanistan-related briefings on his public schedule.
Aug 31, 6:53 pm
1st plane to bring aid since Taliban took control landed Monday
As the U.S. prepared to evacuate from Kabul airport Monday, the World Health Organization flew a plane into the country with desperately needed aid.
On Monday, 12.5 metric tons of urgent medical supplies were flown from WHO’s warehouse in Dubai to Mazar-i-Sharif airport — not to Kabul, because of the “ongoing disruptions” there, according to WHO.
This is the first medical aid plane to land in Afghanistan since the Taliban took control, according to WHO — and it comes amid a growing need and deteriorating conditions.
“WHO is exploring more options to get further shipments into the country until a reliable humanitarian airbridge to scale-up collective humanitarian effort is established,” the UN agency said in a statement.
Aug 31, 6:17 pm
Top enlisted service member tells troops their service mattered
The military’s top enlisted service member sent a message to U.S. troops reassuring them that their service in Afghanistan mattered.
“You can hold your head high that we prevented an attack on the United States homeland,” writes Ramon Colon-Lopez, the senior enlisted adviser to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
“To each of you, your service mattered,” he added. “This is personal to us, and we know it is personal to every one of you.”
He also praised those involved in the massive airlift from Afghanistan.
“Your actions honor the sacrifice of our brothers and sisters in arms who lost their lives or were wounded in Afghanistan,” he wrote. “Over the last two decades and the last 2 weeks. you embodied our American values of equality, liberty, and human dignity for all.”
Aug 31, 5:53 pm
US-funded journalists left behind, no updates on airport talks, overland routes
Some 500 Afghan journalists and their families who were employed by the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) were left behind in Afghanistan — reporters, producers and more who worked for Voice of America and other U.S.-funded outlets, according to the top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
“We did not forget about USAGM employees and their families, nor will we. These individuals … have not only worked for us, they have worked with us,” said State Department spokesperson Ned Price. “We remain keenly focused on getting them out safely just as soon as we can.”
Price wouldn’t confirm how many there are or what the plans to evacuate them may be, saying it was “not prudent for us to speak to tactics.”
He cited the same reason for declining to say more about how the U.S. may help some Americans travel on overland routes to escape Afghanistan, saying only that it “reinforces the point that we’re looking at all available options to bring Americans to safety.”
Price also had no status update on the negotiations to reopen Kabul’s airport, no update on how many American citizens remain in Afghanistan and no update on a protecting power — a country that oversees U.S. interests where there is no embassy, like Switzerland in Iran or the Czech Republic in Syria.
Major General Chris Donahue, commander of the U.S. Army 82nd Airborne Division, XVIII Airborne Corps, boards a C-17 cargo plane at the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan. Maj. Gen. Donahue is the final American service member to depart Afghanistan, Aug. 30, 2021. – U.S. Central Command
(KABUL, Afghanistan) — With the U.S. military and diplomatic withdrawal now complete after 20 years in Afghanistan, the Taliban has taken over the country, including the Kabul airport, the site of an often-desperate evacuation effort the past two weeks.
But even as the last American troops were flown out to meet President Joe Biden’s Aug. 31 deadline, other Americans who wanted to flee the country were left behind and the Biden administration is now focused on a “diplomatic mission” to help them leave.
When President Joe Biden sat down with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos for an exclusive one-on-one interview at the White House on Aug. 18, he said he was committed to keeping the U.S. military in Afghanistan as long as needed. “If there are American citizens left, we’re going to stay until we get them all out,” he said.
Here are the latest developments. All times Eastern:
Sep 01, 10:26 am
Taliban celebrates US departure
With all U.S. ground troops out of Afghanistan, scenes around Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul on Wednesday showed Taliban fighters in Afghan National Army uniforms after the militant group seized the airport, with some firing celebratory gunshots into the air — a far different picture from the days preceding.
Hours before Biden addressed the nation on Tuesday and firmly defended the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, the Taliban held a mock funeral in Kabul with show caskets draped with U.S., U.K. and French flags to symbolize what it has called the defeat of NATO allies after 20 years.
The Taliban also released a video overnight they say shows their troops flying over the Kandahar province in an Afghan military helicopter as the militant group works to maintain a hold on the country.
A defiant Biden on Tuesday said that he refused to extend a “forever war” and would not be “extending a forever exit.” The president on Wednesday is meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and does not have any Afghanistan-related briefings on his public schedule.
Aug 31, 6:53 pm
1st plane to bring aid since Taliban took control landed Monday
As the U.S. prepared to evacuate from Kabul airport Monday, the World Health Organization flew a plane into the country with desperately needed aid.
On Monday, 12.5 metric tons of urgent medical supplies were flown from WHO’s warehouse in Dubai to Mazar-i-Sharif airport — not to Kabul, because of the “ongoing disruptions” there, according to WHO.
This is the first medical aid plane to land in Afghanistan since the Taliban took control, according to WHO — and it comes amid a growing need and deteriorating conditions.
“WHO is exploring more options to get further shipments into the country until a reliable humanitarian airbridge to scale-up collective humanitarian effort is established,” the UN agency said in a statement.
Aug 31, 6:17 pm
Top enlisted service member tells troops their service mattered
The military’s top enlisted service member sent a message to U.S. troops reassuring them that their service in Afghanistan mattered.
“You can hold your head high that we prevented an attack on the United States homeland,” writes Ramon Colon-Lopez, the senior enlisted adviser to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
“To each of you, your service mattered,” he added. “This is personal to us, and we know it is personal to every one of you.”
He also praised those involved in the massive airlift from Afghanistan.
“Your actions honor the sacrifice of our brothers and sisters in arms who lost their lives or were wounded in Afghanistan,” he wrote. “Over the last two decades and the last 2 weeks. you embodied our American values of equality, liberty, and human dignity for all.”
Aug 31, 5:53 pm
US-funded journalists left behind, no updates on airport talks, overland routes
Some 500 Afghan journalists and their families who were employed by the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) were left behind in Afghanistan — reporters, producers and more who worked for Voice of America and other U.S.-funded outlets, according to the top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
“We did not forget about USAGM employees and their families, nor will we. These individuals … have not only worked for us, they have worked with us,” said State Department spokesperson Ned Price. “We remain keenly focused on getting them out safely just as soon as we can.”
Price wouldn’t confirm how many there are or what the plans to evacuate them may be, saying it was “not prudent for us to speak to tactics.”
He cited the same reason for declining to say more about how the U.S. may help some Americans travel on overland routes to escape Afghanistan, saying only that it “reinforces the point that we’re looking at all available options to bring Americans to safety.”
Price also had no status update on the negotiations to reopen Kabul’s airport, no update on how many American citizens remain in Afghanistan and no update on a protecting power — a country that oversees U.S. interests where there is no embassy, like Switzerland in Iran or the Czech Republic in Syria.
