Afghanistan live news: Biden confirms end of 20-year US military presence as Taliban celebrate in Kabul

For the first time since 2001 there are no American troops in Afghanistan after the United States completed the evacuation of most of its citizens and thousands of at-risk Afghans.

Reuters has compiled this explainer on what happens now:

• What happens to Americans and at-risk afghans left behind?
  
  The Biden administration has said it expects the Taliban to continue allowing safe passage for Americans and others to leave Afghanistan after the US military withdrawal is completed. But there are concerns about how those citizens will be able to leave if there is no functioning airport.
  Tens of thousands of at-risk Afghans, such as interpreters who worked with the US military, journalists and women’s rights advocates, have also been left behind. It is unclear what their fate will be but officials are concerned that the Taliban may retaliate against them.

  The Taliban have pledged to allow all foreign nationals and Afghan citizens with travel authorization from another country to leave Afghanistan, according to a joint statement issued by Britain, the United States and other countries on Sunday.

• What happens to Kabul airport?
  
  For the past two weeks, the US military has been securing and operating Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport with nearly 6,000 troops. The Taliban are in talks with governments like Qatar and Turkey to seek assistance to continue civilian flight operations from there, the only way for many people to leave Afghanistan.

  Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Sunday that repairs need to be made at Kabul airport before it can be reopened to civilian flights.

  Turkey, which is part of the NATO mission, has been responsible for security at the airport for the past six years. Keeping the airport open after foreign forces hand over control is vital not just for Afghanistan to stay connected to the world but also to maintain aid supplies and operations.

In his speech on Tuesday evening in Washington, US secretary of state Antony Blinken laid out a five-component plan for America’s future engagement with Afghanistan.

These five components were:

1. The US will continue to help any American citizens who want to leave to do so and will continue to help “eligible” Afghans to do so. The commitment “has no deadline”, Blinken said.
2. The US’s diplomatic operations in Afghanistan have been suspended and moved instead to Doha. ““A new chapter of American’s engagement with Afghanistan has begun. It is one in which we will lead with diplomacy,” Blinken said, moments before saying the diplomatic presence had been moved out of the country.
3. The US will “maintain robust counterterrorism capabilities in the region”. The US will engage with the Taliban in order to carry out counter-terrorism missions, but not rely on them. “Going forward any engagement with the Taliban will be driven by one thing only: our national interests,” Blinken said. But “Every step we take will be based not on what a Taliban government says but by its actions”.
4. The US will continue to send aid to Afghanistan and that aid will flow through a network of independent organisations, not the Taliban government.
5. Support for the Taliban “will have to be earned,” said Blinken. The international community would hold the Taliban to their commitments to allow free movement for those who want to leave, and the Taliban would be judged on their actions – for example respecting women and minorities – not their words, he said.

A divided UN Security Council on Monday adopted a resolution calling on the Taliban to allow safe passage for those seeking to leave Afghanistan but did not mention the creation of a safe zone in Kabul, as suggested by the French president on Sunday.

Reuters reports that the resolution, which had 13 votes in favour and abstentions by Russia and China, also stressed the importance of maintaining humanitarian access, upholding human rights, reaching an inclusive political settlement and combating terrorism.

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Sunday that France and others were working on a UN proposal aimed at establishing a safe zone in Kabul to allow safe passage for people trying to leave Afghanistan.

Monday’s resolution, however, did not refer to a safe zone. Instead, it “expects” the Taliban to keep its commitments “including regarding the safe, secure, and orderly departure from Afghanistan of Afghans and all foreign nationals.”

The resolution did not specify any provisions to punish the Taliban if it failed to allow such departures or take the other steps it urged.

In a speech after the final US plane departed Kabul, US secretary of state Antony Blinken reiterated demand that the Taliban honour its promise to allow free passage, saying US support for the Taliban would need to be “earned” and would be conditional on “actions” rather than words.

Helen Sullivan here, bringing you the latest from Afghanistan as the US ends its longest-ever war and completes its largest-ever airlift.

Afghanistan is once again under the Taliban’s control, and Afghans are uncertain as to what their leadership will look like this time around.

We’ll bring you the news as it happens. In the meantime, here are the key developments from the last few hours:

• US President Joe Biden has released a statement confirming the end of America’s 20-year military presence in Afghanistan .“Now, our 20-year military presence in Afghanistan has ended,” he said. “The past 17 days have seen our troops execute the largest airlift in US history, evacuating over 120,000 US citizens, citizens of our allies, and Afghan allies of the United States. Ending the mission as planned was “the unanimous recommendation of the Joint Chiefs and of all of our commanders on the ground”, he said.
• The Taliban celebrated in the early hours of Tuesday morning, firing guns into the air across Kabul. Spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid declared, “At 12 o’clock tonight, the last American troops left Kabul airport, on which account Afghanistan was completely liberated and independent”.
• Biden will address the nation on the afternoon of Tuesday, 31 August on the way forward, he said.
• ‘American’s work in Afghanistan continues’ was the key message from US secretary of state Antony Blinken. In a speech – after which he took no questions – Blinken said that the US would continue to send aid to the country through independent organisations; would continue counterterrorism operations; has moved its diplomatic presence to Doha; would continue to get all Americans out who wished to leave, as well as eligible Afghans – a commitment that had no deadline, he said; and that western support for the Taliban would have to be “earned”.
• Kabul airport is without air traffic control services now that the US military has withdrawn and US civil aircraft are barred from operating over the country unless given prior authorisation, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said.
• Western powers have been forced to accept the reality of the Taliban’s control of Afghanistan as they swung behind a watered down UN resolution that says it “expects” the Taliban to honour a commitment to allow Afghans to leave the country and “requests” that Kabul airport be securely reopened, but falls short of demanding a UN-sponsored safe zone in the Afghan capital.
• British troops and international allies could return to Kabul airport to help police a UN safe zone in the capital in order to allow safe passage for people trying to leave Afghanistan.
• The White House said around 6,000 Americans have been evacuated from Afghanistan since 14 August.
• Responding to repeated questions about civilian casualties from a drone strike on Kabul on Sunday, the Pentagon spokesman, John Kirby, said: “We are not in a position to dispute it right now, and … we’re assessing, and we’re investigating.” The Pentagon insists that the target was an Islamic State car bomb heading for the airport, but reports from Kabul say there were many civilian casualties, including at least six children. Kirby said that the strike would be thoroughly scrutinised, but added decisions about such strikes had to be made very quickly because of the nature of suicide attacks carried out by Isis-K.
• Politico is reporting that US commanders had planned to close gates at the airport on Thursday, fearing an attack, but chose to keep them open to allow the British to continue to evacuate. Hours later a suicide bomber detonated his explosive vest at the airport, killing nearly 200 people, including 13 US service members.