Afghanistan Crisis: Seven Afghan civilians have been killed in chaos near Kabul airport. (File)
London, United Kingdom:
Britain said on Sunday that seven Afghans were killed in chaos near Kabul airport as Britain’s defense secretary expressed his support for extending the end-of-month deadline in Washington to allow the evacuation of as many as to enable people.
The United States and its allies have struggled with the thousands of foreigners and Afghans who have tried to flee Afghanistan in the week since the Taliban regained power.
“Our sincere thoughts are with the families of the seven Afghan civilians who sadly died in crowds in Kabul,” a defense ministry spokesman said without giving the circumstances.
Britain’s Sky News had broadcast images of at least three dead bodies covered in white tarpaulin outside the airport on Saturday.
Sky reporter Stuart Ramsay, who was at the airport, said people were “crushed” in front of some of the crowd, while others were “dehydrated and terrified”.
The Defense Ministry spokesman said: “Conditions on the ground remain extremely challenging, but we are doing everything we can to manage the situation as safely and securely as possible.”
The ministry said separately that the UK has now evacuated nearly 4,000 people from Afghanistan since August 13.
Meanwhile, Secretary of Defense Ben Wallace made what could be read as a plea to Washington for greater flexibility from US President Joe Biden’s August 31 target date to complete the rescue missions.
“If the US timetable remains, we will have no time to lose to keep the majority of people waiting,” he wrote in the Mail on Sunday.
“Perhaps the Americans will be allowed to stay longer, and if they do, they will have our full support.”
US President Joe Biden has said the airlift deadline could be extended. “I think we can get it done then, but we will make that judgment as we go,” he said on Friday
According to the Sunday Times, British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab wants to meet with his US counterpart Antony Blinken to discuss extending the August 31 deadline.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NewsMadura staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.)
