7 dead in Kabul airport evacuation chaos: Top developments

NEW DELHI: The US-backed Afghanistan government collapsed on Sunday as Taliban insurgents swept into Kabul to take over the control of war-torn country. President Ashraf Ghani left the country but there is no clarity about his final destination.
Here are latest developments:
Pentagon says US and international forces working to clear Kabul airport
US forces are working with Turkish and other international troops to clear Kabul airport to allow international evacuation flights to resume, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said on Monday.
Kirby told a news briefing Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had authorized the deployment of another battalion to Kabul that would bring the number of troops guarding the evacuation to about 6,000.
Joe Biden to address nation on Afghanistan
President Joe Biden will address the nation Monday on the dramatic US retreat from Afghanistan, the White House said.
Cutting short his planned vacation, Biden will return to Washington from the Camp David presidential residence and "will deliver remarks on Afghanistan" in the White House's East Room, a statement said.
The address was scheduled for 3:45 pm (1945 GMT).
US tells Taliban not to hinder Kabul evacuation
A US defence 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 US 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.
Taliban will not get access to Afghan reserves held in US: Official
The Taliban will be denied access to any Afghan reserves held in US accounts, a US administration official told AFP on Monday. As US forces were evacuating Afghanistan's capital after the Taliban's swift takeover, the official said, "Any Central Bank assets the Afghan government have in the United States will not be made available to the Taliban."
Biden team surprised by rapid Taliban gains in Afghanistan
President Joe Biden and other top US officials have been stunned by the pace of the Taliban's nearly complete takeover of Afghanistan, as the planned withdrawal of American forces urgently became a mission to ensure a safe evacuation.
The speed of the Afghan government's collapse and the ensuing chaos posed the most serious test of Biden as commander in chief, and he was the subject of withering criticism from Republicans who said that he had failed.
Biden campaigned as a seasoned expert in international relations and has spent months downplaying the prospect of an ascendant Taliban while arguing that Americans of all political persuasions have tired of a 20-year war, a conflict that demonstrated the limits of money and military might to force a Western-style democracy on a society not ready or willing to embrace it.
By Sunday, though, leading figures in the administration acknowledged they were caught off guard with the utter speed of the collapse of Afghan security forces. The challenge of that effort became clear after reports of sporadic gunfire at the Kabul airport prompted Americans to shelter as they awaited flights to safety after the US Embassy was completely evacuated.
Kabul airport mobbed as Afghans make a desperate dash to exit
US troops fired shots into the air and all commercial flights were cancelled at Kabul airport on Monday as thousands of Afghans crowded onto the tarmac in the hope of catching any flight out after the weekend Taliban takeover.
At least five people were killed as hundreds of people tried to forcibly enter planes leaving the Afghan capital, witnesses told Reuters.
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.
The situation caused such a commotion that US troops fired into the air to restore order and all commercial flights were cancelled.
Dramatic footage posted on social media showed a scene of chaos on the runway, with civilians frantically clambering up an already overcrowded and buckling set of airstairs.
As a crowd of hundreds watched on, those who successfully climbed the stairs helped others up, while some hung from the stair railings by their hands.
China: Ready for 'friendly relations' with Taliban
China is ready to deepen "friendly and cooperative" relations with Afghanistan, a government spokeswoman said Monday, after the Taliban seized control of the country.
Beijing has sought to maintain unofficial ties with the Taliban throughout the US' withdrawal from Afghanistan, which spurred an advance by the Islamist hardliners across the country that saw them capture the capital Kabul on Sunday.
China shares a rugged 76-kilometre (47-mile) border with Afghanistan.
Beijing has long feared Afghanistan could become a staging point for Muslim minority Uyghur separatists in Xinjiang.
But a top-level Taliban delegation met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Tianjin last month, promising that Afghanistan would not be used as a base for militants.
In exchange, China offered economic support and investment for Afghanistan's reconstruction.
On Monday, China said it "welcomed" the chance to deepen ties with Afghanistan, a country that has for generations been coveted for its geo-strategic importance by bigger powers.
"The Taliban have repeatedly expressed their hope to develop good relations with China, and that they look forward to China's participation in the reconstruction and development of Afghanistan," foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told reporters.
"We welcome this. China respects the right of the Afghan people to independently determine their own destiny and is willing to continue to develop... friendly and cooperative relations with Afghanistan."
Taliban: 'War is over'
The Taliban declared the war in Afghanistan was over after insurgents took control of the presidential palace in Kabul as US-led forces departed and Western nations scrambled on Monday to evacuate their citizens.
"Today is a great day for the Afghan people and the mujahideen. They have witnessed the fruits of their efforts and their sacrifices for 20 years," Mohammad Naeem, the spokesman for the Taliban's political office, told Al Jazeera TV.
"Thanks to God, the war is over in the country."
It took the Taliban just over a week to seize control of the country after a lightning sweep that ended in Kabul as Afghan forces trained for years and equipped by the United States and others at a cost of billions of dollars, melted away.
Al Jazeera broadcast footage of what it said were Taliban commanders in the presidential palace with dozens of armed fighters.
Naeem said the form of the new regime in Afghanistan would be made clear soon, adding the Taliban did not want to live in isolation and calling for peaceful international relations.
"We have reached what we were seeking, which is the freedom of our country and the independence of our people," he said. "We will not allow anyone to use our lands to target anyone, and we do not want to harm others."
Left to avoid bloodshed: Ghani
"To avoid bloodshed, I thought it would be better to leave," he said on Facebook in his first comments.
"The Taliban have won with the judgement of their swords and guns, and are now responsible for the honour, property and self-preservation of their countrymen," he said in a statement posted to Facebook.
US lowers flag at Kabul embassy
The United States lowered the flag on its embassy in Kabul and has relocated almost all staff to the airport, where US forces are taking over air traffic control, officials said on Sunday.
"We are completing a series of steps to secure the Hamid Karzai International Airport to enable the safe departure of US and allied personnel from Afghanistan via civilian and military flights," the Pentagon and State Department said in a joint statement.
"Almost all" personnel from the embassy have relocated to the airport including the acting ambassador, Ross Wilson, who remains in touch with Secretary of State Antony Blinken, a State Department spokesperson said.
"The American flag has been lowered from the US embassy compound and is now securely located with embassy staff," the spokesperson said.
'My first concern was to grow my beard'
Kabul's streets were deserted and offices were empty on Monday, a day after Taliban insurgents took over the Afghanistan capital without a fight, but the airport was jammed with hundreds of civilians trying to flee.
The Wazir Akbar Khan embassy district was deserted with almost all diplomats and their families either flown out of the city or at the airport awaiting a flight.
There were few guards left at the checkpoints in the usually heavily fortified area - some motorists were getting out of their cars to lift barriers at the checkpoints before driving through.
"It strange to sit hear and see empty streets, no more busy diplomatic convoys, big cars with guns mounted," said Gul Mohammed Hakim, one the city's ubiquitous naan (bread) makers who has a shop in the area.
"I will be here baking bread, but will earn very small amounts of money. The security guards who were my friends, they are gone."
He had no customers yet, said, and was still heating his tandoor (clay oven) in anticipation.
"My first concern was to grow my beard and how to grow it fast," Hakim added. "I also checked with my wife if there were enough burqas for her and the girls."
During the Taliban's 1996-2001 rule, men were not permitted to trim their beards and women were required to wear the all-enveloping burqa cloak in public.
In the city's Chicken Street, the scores of shops for Afghan carpets, handicraft and jewellery, as well as small cafes, were closed.
Sherzad Karim Stanekzai, who owns a carpet and textiles store, said he decided to sleep inside his shuttered shop to protect his goods.
"I am in a complete state of shock. The Taliban entering that scared me, but (President Ashraf) Ghani leaving all of us in this situation has been the worst," he said.
"I lost three brothers in seven years in this war, now I have to protect my business."
He said had no idea where his next customers would come from. "I know there will no foreigners, no international people who will now come to Kabul," he said.
Pentagon approves more troops to secure Kabul airport for evacuations
The Pentagon has authorized another 1,000 troops to help evacuate US citizens and Afghans who worked for them from Kabul as the US government said it would assume air traffic control to facilitate the departure of thousands of Americans.
A joint statement from the State Department and Pentagon after Taliban insurgents entered the Afghan capital confirmed that the United States over the next 48 hours will "have expanded our security presence to nearly 6,000 troops, with a mission focused solely on facilitating these efforts and will be taking over air traffic control."
The statement said it was working to secure the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul "to enable the safe departure of US and allied personnel from Afghanistan via civilian and military flights."
It added the United States "will be transferring out of the country thousands of American citizens" and others and added the government would "accelerate the evacuation of thousands of Afghans eligible for US Special Immigrant Visas."
Airlines reroute flights to avoid Afghanistan airspace
Major airlines are rerouting flights to avoid Afghanistan airspace after insurgents took control of the presidential palace in Kabul as US-led forces departed and Western nations scrambled on Monday to evacuate their citizens.
Air India, United Airlines, British Airways and Virgin Atlantic said they were not using the country's airspace.
Airlines and governments have paid more attention to the risks of flying over conflict zones in recent years after two deadly incidents involving surface-to-air missiles.
(With inputs from agencies)