The latest on Afghanistan as the Taliban take charge

By Brad Lendon, Jessie Yeung, Kara Fox, Aditi Sangal, Meg Wagner, Melissa Macaya and Melissa Mahtani, CNN

Updated 0027 GMT (0827 HKT) August 21, 2021
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8:27 a.m. ET, August 20, 2021

The US has evacuated about 9,000 people since Kabul fell, White House official says

As the crisis continues in Afghanistan, the United States has evacuated 9,000 people since Kabul fell, White House communications director Kate Bedingfield told CNN.

"The President is laser-focused" on getting Americans and Afghans out of the country, she said Friday. "This is an incredibly violent and chaotic scene on the ground. It's dangerous for our troops who are there working to get people out. So we are trying to move quickly. As the Pentagon would say, speed is safety. And we're working to get people out as quickly as possible."

In the meantime, the US is talking to the Taliban to "facilitate safe passage to the airport" but it remains unclear how many Americans still remain in Afghanistan, Bedingfield said.

President Biden "does feel a moral obligation" toward Afghan allies looking to flee the country in fear of persecution, she added.

"The President has committed, we will get every American who wants to get out, out of Afghanistan and we are working to move as many of our allies who helped us, who stood by us, who helped our servicemen and women get out as soon as possible," she told CNN.

Watch:

8:45 a.m. ET, August 20, 2021

US embassy warns of continuing uncertainty of safety getting to Kabul airport

From CNN's Jennifer Hansler

The US Embassy in Afghanistan on Friday said that gates to the Kabul airport “may open or close without notice” in a security alert advising US citizens, legal permanent residents, and their family members to “consider travelling to Hamid Karzai International Airport when you judge it is safe to do so.”

“We are processing people at multiple gates. Due to large crowds and security concerns, gates may open or close without notice. Please use your best judgment and attempt to enter the airport at any gate that is open,” the security alert said.

The alert also reiterated that “the US government cannot ensure safe passage to the airport.”

Defense and State Department officials have said they do not have the capacity to retrieve US citizens from Kabul and bring them to the airport for evacuation flights, and that the US mission remains securing the airport.

Friday’s security alert also advises, “Be aware of the potential for violence and security threats associated with large crowds.”

Brianna Keilar: Telling Americans 'good luck' isn't really helping

8:14 a.m. ET, August 20, 2021

An Oklahoma woman helped evacuate 10 girls from Afghanistan's all-girls robotics team

In 2019, Allyson Reneau, a director on the board of NASA's "Explore Mars" program, flew Afghanistan's all-girls robotics team to Washington, DC, to encourage them to pursue their dreams in the engineering and space field. With the crisis unfolding in Afghanistan, she decided to help that team evacuate.

Reneau has been able to help evacuate 10 team members, while 25 more remain.

"I knew if they needed help and they needed to be evacuated, it would require some pretty powerful people, which is a little above my pay grade and my network. But, you know, I just couldn't sit on my hands and do nothing," she told CNN.

The Oklahoma resident did not get too far after being in contact with a senator, so she "kept knocking on doors, and trying and trying" before she had a breakthrough.

While deciding to fly to Qatar to see if that would help, she contacted her former roommate from years ago, who Reneau thought worked for the military.

"She said, 'well, I work in the US Embassy in Qatar. And my chief of staff, I think, would love to help these girls," Reneau said. "She went back to work at midnight and stayed up all night, preparing all of their information, their packets, and presented it. And the leadership there and also in Kabul ... took action."

Watch:

8:14 a.m. ET, August 20, 2021

Children caught in crosshairs as chaos continues at Kabul airport

The road to Kabul's Hamid Karzai International Airport is fraught with uncertainty for Afghans looking to flee, as they must first make their way through often violent and arbitrary Taliban checks.

Outside of the airport gates, many are waiting for hours to enter.

Those who make it through are then subjected to further scrutiny by Afghan special forces, who are facing accusations of similar brutality.

CNN’s Clarissa Ward spoke with some of the people who had made it that far on Friday.

One couple, who said they had worked for Afghanistan’s Ministry of Defense and had applied for a US visa to leave, told Ward that they were fleeing because there was no future for them in Afghanistan under Taliban rule. Their work with foreign nationals put them at risk, they said.

“We are not able to work with them [the Taliban,]” the woman said, adding, “the behavior they have to women and men is not good for us -- it is not good for our future.”

As the couple continued to speak, an army vehicle drove past them, carrying a newborn baby. It was being treated for dehydration and heat stroke, a soldier told Ward.

Young children are increasingly getting caught up in the mayhem, with a harrowing video of a baby being handed over the razor wire-lined airport wall to US troops going viral.

On Thursday, the UK defense minister said that Britain cannot evacuate unaccompanied children.

On Friday, the CNN team also witnessed one US soldier carrying an unaccompanied minor through a visa processing area as the roar of an evacuation plane’s engine intensified.

7:13 a.m. ET, August 20, 2021

The Taliban's hunt for the former regime's partners and allies is intensifying, report says

From CNN’s Tim Lister in Spain

Taliban fighters patrol in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Thursday, August 19.
Taliban fighters patrol in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Thursday, August 19. Rahmat Gul/AP

The "Taliban are intensifying the hunt-down of all individuals and collaborators with the former regime," according to a threat assessment report prepared for the UN by a Norwegian organization.

The Norwegian Center for Global Analyses report, published on August 18 said:

"If unsuccessful, [they] target and arrest the families and punish them according to their own interpretation of Sharia law. Particularly at risk are individuals in central positions in military, police and investigative units."

CNN has obtained a copy of the brief report which details mounting concerns for the former regime's partners. It said:

"There are multiple reports that the Taliban have been and are extending lists of individuals, phone numbers and family members of individuals believed to have been collaborating with allied forces," it adds. "They are conducting targeted door-to-door visits of individual or family members on lists to arrest targets."

The report also includes a document that appears to be written by the Taliban's Military Commission to a senior security official in the former government who, it said, had "excellent relations with the Americans and the British."

The alleged Taliban document, dated August 16, said the senior security official in the former government must report to the Taliban's Military Commission. Failure to do so would mean that "your family members will be arrested instead, and you are responsible for this," the document said.

CNN has been unable to independently establish the extent of the Taliban's search for members of the former government's security services, nor how many may have been arrested. 

8:14 a.m. ET, August 20, 2021

No peace of mind or trust — three Afghan women describe life under the Taliban's control

From CNN's Nilly Kohzad

Taliban fighters patrol in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Thursday, August 19.
Taliban fighters patrol in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Thursday, August 19. Rahmat Gul/AP

Since the Taliban swept to power in Afghanistan, it's been difficult to get a picture of what life is like for Afghan women outside the capital, Kabul.

Three women — all in their mid-20s and well educated — gave CNN a glimpse of how their lives have been affected by the swift regime change.

CNN is not using their names, for their own security.

"No one trusts anything that comes from the Taliban's mouth."

One woman, originally from the northern city of Kunduz, has been sheltering in Kabul with her family ever since a rocket hit their home.

"Women are not leaving their homes; everyone is staying put at home," she said of people she is still in touch with from Kunduz.

"I highly doubt the Taliban have changed. They don't have the same values as Afghan people. Democracy is out of the picture for them. We are in the belief that the Taliban are putting up a front because the international community and United Nations is watching them closely," she said in a voice note to CNN.

"The people here have lost their peace of mind."

Another interviewee, who is still in Kunduz, told CNN she is stressed about meeting basic survival needs, like food and water. She described the city as quiet, but tense.

"It's calm right now, but people are worried," she said. "The Taliban are saying girls can go back to school, but once they do go, the [Taliban] complain that they must be escorted with a male relative. Girls cannot just go out by themselves anymore, they need a male chaperone," she said.

For her, one incident encapsulates the seismic change in Afghanistan.

"The other day, one of our female teachers went back to school and hopped on a rickshaw to get there ... However, the Taliban stopped them and beat up the driver for transporting her without a male chaperone," she said.

"Everyone is waiting to see."

A woman in the city of Herat described the shock that has gripped the city along with questions on what the Taliban's laws and rules will look like.

"Women are stressed and are asking the question: Will we really go back to the '90s after 20 years of so much hard work and progress?" she asked.

"Though men don't feel the same personal level of anxiety as women, they are worried ... for the future of their wives and children, especially those who have young daughters," she said.

Read the full story here.

5:30 a.m. ET, August 20, 2021

Family member of German broadcaster DW journalist killed by the Taliban

From CNN’s Nadine Schmidt in Berlin

The head office of German international broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW) is pictured in Bonn, Germany, in September 2016.
The head office of German international broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW) is pictured in Bonn, Germany, in September 2016. Marius Becker/dpa/AFP/Getty Images

The Taliban has killed a family member of a journalist for Deutsche Welle, the German international broadcaster said.

In an article published on Thursday, DW said that Taliban fighters had been searching for one of their journalists in Afghanistan, and confirmed that a relative of the journalist was shot dead by the Taliban on Wednesday with one other person seriously injured. Other relatives were able to escape at the last minute and are on the run, the DW article said. 

"The killing of a close relative of one of our editors by the Taliban yesterday is inconceivably tragic, and testifies to the acute danger in which all our employees and their families in Afghanistan find themselves," DW Director General Peter Limbourg was quoted as saying in the article.
"It is evident that the Taliban are already carrying out organized searches for journalists, both in Kabul and in the provinces. We are running out of time!" Limburg added. 

The article added that the homes of at least three DW journalists had been searched by the Taliban. 

DW's press spokesman Christoph Jumpelt told CNN in a written statement that ''at this point we are not giving individual statements pertaining to the tragic event concerning the relatives of one of our journalists.''

On Sunday -- the day Kabul fell to the Taliban -- DW and other major German news media urged the German government to help evacuate their Afghan staff to Germany. 

In an open letter to German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, German major newspapers as well as public and commercial broadcasters including DW and the DPA news agency requested a speedy evacuation of their Afghan journalists whose lives were in danger. They also called for an emergency visa program to allow their employees to emigrate to Germany. 

The signatories of the letter warned that "the lives of these freelance staff are now in acute danger.''

''Even life in Kabul has become extremely risky for employees of international media organizations. Following the withdrawal of international troops, including German troops, there are growing concerns that the Taliban will take revenge against our employees," the letter said.

The letter added that dozens of journalists have been murdered in recent years, by the Taliban, by the "Islamic State," or by unknown persons -- and almost never has the government identified the perpetrators.

"It must be feared that such murders will now dramatically increase — and many of our staff are at risk. Employees who want to leave the country face persecution, arrest, torture and death. We, therefore, ask you to act quickly," the letter's signatories pleaded. 

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has described the Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan as “bitter, dramatic and terrible,” and stressed the importance of evacuating as many Afghans as possible, who supported the German military and civilian efforts in the country.

8:15 a.m. ET, August 20, 2021

Germany has evacuated more than 1,600 people from Afghanistan

From CNN’s Claudia Otto and Nadine Schmidt in Berlin

Evacuees from Kabul sit inside a military aircraft in Tashkent, Uzbekistan on August 17, before reaching their final destination in Germany.
Evacuees from Kabul sit inside a military aircraft in Tashkent, Uzbekistan on August 17, before reaching their final destination in Germany.  (Marc Tessensohn/Bundeswehr/Getty Images)

Germany’s 11th military evacuation flight departed Kabul Friday morning with 181 people on board, bringing the total number of evacuees to 1,640, said the country's Defense Ministry.

The Airbus A400M military transport aircraft, belonging to the German Armed Forces, landed in the Uzbekistan capital of Tashkent with the 181 on board, said the ministry.

Germany has been operating a shuttle service between Tashkent and Kabul several times a day as part of its evacuation efforts.

In an earlier tweet, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said, ''Germany is providing 100 million euros in emergency aid for refugees from Afghanistan.'' The funds aim to support international aid organizations that are helping people in neighboring countries, he said.

Germany has started relocating people from Afghanistan who have arrived in Frankfurt. The country's Federal Office for Migration and Refugees confirmed to CNN Friday morning that around 60 Afghans, including three children, have arrived in Doberlug-Kirchhain, the federal state of Brandenburg close to Berlin.

'We have to expect that these people may be traumatized -- some of them severely," Martin Burmeister, spokesperson at the Interior Ministry in Brandenburg, told CNN.

The evacuees are set to stay in Doberlug-Kirchhain until Tuesday, Burmeister said, where they will be tested for the coronavirus, given a hygiene package, medical assistance and if needed clothing, before they are moved to other locations. 

8:15 a.m. ET, August 20, 2021

Photojournalist in Kabul: "I spent 20 years investing in myself ... and now I can see I won’t have anything"

From CNN's Valentina Di Donato

M.A., a photojournalist in Kabul, has locked herself at home since the Taliban took the capital. "I may be in danger just because of who I am," she said. "If you, as a woman, take photos, it's forbidden."

But she has continued taking photos of life in Taliban-occupied Kabul even while in hiding, capturing snapshots out her window and when she occasionally ventures outside.

CNN is identifying M.A. by her initials for her safety.

A street view of Kabul, Afghanistan, on August 19.
A street view of Kabul, Afghanistan, on August 19. M.A.

Her photos show military vehicles and armed men on the street, as well as crowds of people -- including women and children -- near the airport, where people have been unable to enter due to Taliban fighters stationed outside.

She and other women are now living in fear, dreading the loss of rights that they had worked hard to gain over the past 20 years.

"Most women here that used to work in offices, in the government offices, on social media they are all worrying about the situation," she said. "They all say that they didn’t think they would have to deal with this anymore."

Though the Taliban have promised to be more inclusive and allow women to go to school, M.A. says she and others have little faith in that assurance, after still-fresh memories of their oppressive regime between 1996 and 2001.

“I spent 20 years investing in myself and my education and career, and now I can see I won’t have anything," M.A. said. "Tomorrow I may not be able to work or go out, and people are afraid of this."

There is widespread anger among her friends and colleagues over the US withdrawal, and a sense that they have been abandoned, she said. "How is it possible that the US comes to my country and starts to fight with the Taliban and kicks them out of my country -- and now they just leave us and it creates a situation that is so unbelievable?" she said.

Crowds of Afghan civilians and their families in Kabul, Afghanistan, on August 19.
Crowds of Afghan civilians and their families in Kabul, Afghanistan, on August 19. M.A.

And across the city, people are desperate to flee. M.A. tried to go to the airport with her mother and brother, who has a mental illness and is married with two children -- but they weren't able to get out.

Earlier in the week, videos and photos went viral showing desperate people clinging to US evacuation planes as they took off and falling to their deaths. The horrific images "tell me how tired of war my people are," M.A. said. "The young generation want to just go somewhere better than this country, they don’t see a future for themselves here in this country.” 

She is still trying to leave, and is in contact with allies overseas and in the US -- but "my reality is that I have a family, (and) I will not leave my family," she added. "I cannot leave them here there is no way for them to get out.”