Evacuation flights resume with new urgency after Kabul blasts kill more than 100

Evacuation flights from Afghanistan resumed with new urgency on Friday a day after two suicide bombings targeted the thousands of desperate people fleeing the Taliban takeover and killed more than 100The US warned more attacks could come ahead of the Tuesday deadline for foreign troops to leave ending Americas longest warAs the call to prayer echoed through Kabul along with the roar of departing planes the anxious crowd outside the airport was as large as ever Dozens of Taliban members carrying heavy weapons patrolled one area about 500 meters 1600 feet from the airport to prevent anyone from venturing beyondThursdays bombings near Kabuls international airport killed at least 95 Afghans and 13 US troops Afghan and US officials said in the deadliest day for American forces in Afghanistan since August 2011Afghan officials warned that the true toll could be higher with morgues stretched to capacity and the possibility that relatives are taking bodies away from the scene One official said as many as 115 may have died The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the mediaAt least 10 bodies lay on the grounds outside Kabuls Wazir Akbar Khan Hospital where relatives said the mortuary could take no more Afghans said many of the dead are unclaimed because family members are travelling from distant provincesAlso ReadWe will hunt you down and make you pay Biden warns Kabul airport attackersIn an emotional speech Thursday night President Joe Biden blamed the Islamic State groups Afghanistan affiliate far more radical than the Taliban militants who seized power less than two weeks ago in a lightning blitz across the countryldquoWe will rescue the Americans we will get our Afghan allies out and our mission will go onrdquo Biden said But despite intense pressure to extend Tuesdays deadline he has cited the threat of terrorist attacks as a reason to keep to his plan mdash and the Taliban have repeatedly insisted he must stick to itThe Taliban have wrested back control of Afghanistan two decades after they were ousted in a USled invasion following the 911 attacks which were orchestrated by alQaida extremists being harboured in the country Their return to power has terrified many Afghans who fear they will reimpose the kind of repressive rule they did when they were last in control and have rushed to flee the country ahead of the American withdrawalThe US said Thursday that more than 100000 people have been safely evacuated from Kabul but as many as 1000 Americans and tens of thousands more Afghans are struggling to leave in one of historys largest airlifts Gen Frank McKenzie the US Central Command chief overseeing the evacuation said about 5000 people were awaiting flights at the airfield on ThursdayMore continued to arrive Friday Thursdays attacks led Jamshad to head to the airport in the morning with his wife and three small children clutching an invitation to a Western country he didnt want to name This was his first attempt to leaveAfter the explosion I decided I would try because I am afraid now there will be more attacks and I think now I have to leaverdquo said Jamshad who like many Afghans uses only one nameOthers acknowledged that going to the airport was risky mdash but said they have few choicesldquoBelieve me I think that an explosion will happen any second or minute God is my witness but we have lots of challenges in our lives that is why we take the risk to come here and we overcome fearrdquo said Ahmadullah Herawi also seeking to fleeScenes of chaos desperation and horror from the airport have transfixed the world Images of people standing kneedeep in sewage and families thrusting documents and even young children toward US troops behind razor wire have come to symbolize both the disarray of the last days of the American presence in the country and the fears Afghans have for their futureBut chances to help those hoping to flee are fading fast for many Some US allies have said they are ending evacuation efforts in part to give the US time to wrap up its own operations before getting 5000 of its troops out by TuesdayBritain said Friday its evacuations from Afghanistan will end within hours and the main British processing centre for eligible Afghans has been closed Defense Secretary Ben Wallace told Sky News there would be ldquoeight or ninerdquo evacuation flights on Friday and they will be the last British troops will leave over the next few daysThe Spanish government said it has ended its airlift And the French European affairs minister Clement Beaune said on Europe 1 radio that the country will end its operation ldquosoonrdquo but may seek to extend it until after Friday nightThe Taliban has asked Turkey to operate Kabul airport after the Americans leave but a decision will be made ldquoafter the administration in Afghanistan is clearrdquo Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Friday Taliban leaders have been holding talks with former Afghan leaders including former President Hamid Karzai and Abdullah Abdullah who headed the previous governments reconciliation council tasked with negotiating a deal with the TalibanUntold numbers of Afghans especially ones who had worked with the US and other Western countries are now in hiding from the Taliban fearing retaliation despite the groups offer of full amnestyThe new rulers have sought to project an image of moderation in recent weeks mdash a sharp contrast to the harsh rule they imposed from 1996 to 2001 when they forced women to wear the allencompassing burqa required them to be accompanied by a male relative when they left home banned television and music and held public executionsBut Afghans in Kabul and elsewhere have reported that some Taliban members are barring girls from attending school and going door to door in search of people who had worked with Western forcesNo one knows how effective the Taliban will be at combating the Sunni extremists of IS who have links to the groups more wellknown affiliate in Syria and Iraq and have carried out a series of brutal attacks in Afghanistan mainly targeting its Shiite Muslim minorityThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever