Thread by @WilliamYang120

Breaking: At least five people have been killed in #Kabul airport as hundreds of people tried to forcibly enter planes leaving #Afghanistan, witnesses tell @Reuters. aljazeera.com/news/2021/8/16…

One witness says he has seen the bodies of five people being taken to a vehicle. Another witness says it is not clear whether the victims have been killed by gunshots or in a stampede.

UK defence secretary Ben Wallace said British and US forces, as well as forces from other nations, are continuing to fly people out of #Kabul airport.

“We put in over 600 forces yesterday, today and over the weekend to make sure that we can keep a secure part of the airport functioning and, at the same time, to effectively process, manage and escort people onto our flights to get them out of Afghanistan," he told @BBCWorld.

“We all see what we’re seeing, time is of the essence,” he said. “If we managed to keep it in the way we’re planning to, we should have capacity for over 1,000 people a day to exit to the United Kingdom.

“Currently, this is not about capacity on planes, it’s about processing speeds, so that’s why I’m trying to fix that.”

In a statement on its website, #China's embassy in #Afghanistan said they have no plan to evacuate its staff. “The Chinese embassy has requested various factions in Afghanistan to ensure the safety of Chinese nations, Chinese institutions and Chinese interests,” it said.

“The embassy will take further steps to remind Chinese nationals to closely follow the security situation, increase safety precautions and to refrain from going outside.”

Pakistan’s state-run airline says it has halted all flights to #Kabul because of the “uncertain security situation” there. Spokesman Abdullah Hafeez said that Pakistan International Airlines decided to protect passengers, the crew and the planes ...

... after consulting the Afghan civil aviation authorities, AP reports.

Russia will evacuate some of its #Afghanistan embassy’s roughly 100 staff, Zamir Kabulov, President Vladimir Putin’s special representative on Afghanistan, tells the Ekho Moskvy radio station.

The official also says that Russia’s ambassador in Afghanistan will meet with a Taliban representative on Tuesday and discuss security for its diplomatic mission there, the Interfax news agency reports.

The #EU is working with member states to find quick solutions for the relocation of local Afghan staff and their families to a safe place, a spokesperson says.

“The matter is extremely urgent, we take it very seriously and continue to work hard, together with EU member states, on implementing rapid solutions for them and ensure their safety,” the spokesperson for the bloc’s executive Commission tells Reuters news agency.

@AJEnglish correspondent reported from the border between #Afghanistan and Pakistan, saying that #Taliban has taken over the border creating a disruption in the flow of cargo traffic to Pakistan.

“This is a major logistical supply line to Afghanistan. This morning we have been seeing Afghan trucks laden with cucumber, grapes and melons being crossing into Pakistan,” he says.

“However, on the Pakistan side, the traffic that is supposed to be moving into Afghanistan, carrying meat, poultry and other commodities is stuck here because of the backlog and a border closure yesterday.”

#Taliban fighters in the Afghan capital, Kabul, start collecting weapons from civilians because people no longer need them for personal protection, a Taliban official says.

“We understand people kept weapons for personal safety. They can now feel safe. We are not here to harm innocent civilians,” the official tells Reuters news agency.

City resident Saad Mohseni, director of the MOBY group media company, says on Twitter that Taliban soldiers have come to his company compound to enquire about the weapons kept by his security team.

Albania and Kosovo have accepted a US request to temporarily take in Afghan refugees seeking visas to enter the US, the country two countries say.

In Tirana, Prime Minister Edi Rama Rama says US President Joe Biden’s administration has asked fellow NATO member Albania to assess whether it could serve as a transit country for a number of Afghan refugees whose final destination is the US.

“We will not say ‘No’, not just because our great allies ask us to, but because we are Albania,” Rama says on Facebook.