BBC News

Newspaper headlines: Kabul airlift deadline amid Taliban 'red line'

By BBC News
Staff

Published
image captionThe front pages continue to be dominated by events in Afghanistan - and the US decision to withdraw its military from the country on 31 August. The Times carries a photo of a British soldier welcoming a young Afghan boy on to an evacuation flight. The UK is increasingly resigned to having to conclude its rescue operations by the end of the week, it reports.
image captionThe Guardian says the UK has begun a last-ditch scramble to take people out of Kabul amid warnings from the British ambassador to Afghanistan that staying past the end of the month risks provoking the Taliban. The comments from Laurie Bristow appear to be at odds with Boris Johnson who is due to lobby the US to extend its deadline, it adds.
image captionThe Daily Express highlights a suggestion from the Taliban that there will be "consequences" if international forces stay in the country. The paper carries the headline: "Get out in seven days... or else."
image captionThe i says the UK and US are on a "collision course" with the Taliban. It says Britain does not want to set a date for the last RAF flight out of Kabul and will attempt to negotiate with the Taliban to avoid direct conflict.
image captionUS President Joe Biden is coming under mounting pressure to extend the US departure, says the Metro, amid what it describes as the "Taliban's red line" for Western forces to leave the country.
image captionThe Financial Times says Joe Biden is being "squeezed" between his allies and the Taliban over the evacuation deadline. He will come under pressure to extend the US-led evacuation while facing the "humiliating prospect" the Taliban may veto the idea.
image captionThe Daily Telegraph focuses on the news that an Afghan citizen on a no-fly watchlist arrived in the UK on one of the evacuation flights. He was flagged as a potential threat to national security - although was later released after undergoing checks.
image captionThe Daily Mail leads on the same story - saying the person was cleared to board the RAF plane before checks in mid-air revealed they were barred. The incident is a sign of the challenges facing British forces at Kabul, it reports.
image captionThe Daily Mirror reports the arrest of a man on suspicion of assaulting former model and TV personality Katie Price.
image captionThe Daily Star finds room on its front page to report Millie Court's win on TV's Love Island. Its lead story appears to express surprise at a decision by a Cambridge museum to highlight the absence of diversity in its display of Roman and Greek sculptures.

The main photo on the front of the Times shows a British soldier welcoming an Afghan boy on to an evacuation flight at Kabul with a fist bump.

The paper says the UK is increasingly resigned to having to conclude the airlift by the end of the week.

Three senior government sources have told the Times that they expect President Joe Biden to stick to his deadline for withdrawing US troops, after the Taliban warned of consequences if they stayed.

Metro calls it the "Taliban's red line". "Seven days to go Joe", is the headline.

image sourceMOD

The Guardian says the threat has sparked a last-ditch scramble by Britain to get people out of Kabul.

But according to the i, the UK does not want to set a date for the last RAF flight out for fear of worsening the panic among people at the airport.

The Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mail focus on a suspect on the UK's no-fly watchlist who made it to Britain from Afghanistan on an evacuation flight. The individual was released after it was established that they were not what officials describe as "a person of interest to the security agencies or law enforcement".

Four others were reportedly turned away at Kabul after being indentified as potential threats to national security.

Meanwhile, according to the Daily Mirror, hundreds of Afghan special forces troops are being airlifted to the UK to form counter-terrorism units operating here and abroad.

Sign up for a morning briefing direct to your inbox

Writing in the Daily Telegraph, the civil servant in charge of housing Afghan refugees says she and her team will feel guilt for the rest of their lives over last week's death of a five-year-old boy who fell from a hotel window in Sheffield.

Dr Emma Haddad says that neither she nor her staff are happy housing refugees in hotels but they have no option.

The Financial Times reports that the government has granted a big concession to business by extending the deadline for companies to adopt a new safety and quality mark for their goods after Brexit.

They will be able to continue using the EU's "CE" mark for another year after companies warned that they weren't ready for the "UKCA" replacement at the end of this year.

The Daily Mail reviews Clive Myrie's debut as the new host of Mastermind after John Humphrys stepped down earlier this year.

It says Myrie excelled at the rapid delivery of convoluted questions and thinks his choice of purple jacket and lilac silk tie signals a "more flamboyant era" for the show as it approaches its half-century.

Finally, the Guardian reports that a teenage ballerina with autism will be able to take up her place at a prestigious dance school after its readers donated money to help cover her fees.

Constance Bailey, 13, lives on a housing estate in Leeds with her mother, who could not afford the £29,000 a year it costs to study at the Hammond School near Chester.

Thousands of Guardian readers have contributed to Constance's crowdfunding appeal after her story featured in the paper on Monday.