FORMER commando turned animal rescuer Pen Farthing and his dogs are trapped in Afghanistan after Kabul airport was sealed off.
The ex Commando, who has been battling to evacuate his staff and almost 200 rescue animals, was forced to turn away from an evacuation flight yesterday.
It happened as two suicide bombers detonated devices at the airport in separate attacks on Thursday - killing at least 85 people and leaving scores injured.
Women and kids were killed as officials said it was “highly likely” that British nationals had died in the carnage.
Pen, 69 Afghans and the rescue animals were 300 metres inside the airport perimeter when when the Taliban told the group they couldn't board a jet.
However, a defiant Pen told The Sun this morning: "I am going to try again."
It comes as Boris Johnson vowed to continue British rescue efforts in the country despite the attack. He said the evacuation effort would continue "until the very last moment".
Read our Kabul explosion live blog for the latest updates...
US SAYS 105,000 PEOPLE EVACUATED FROM AFGHANISTAN SINCE MID AUGUST
About 12,500 people were evacuated from Afghanistan on Thursday, raising the total evacuees amid the Taliban takeover of Kabul to roughly 105,000 since Aug. 14, the White House said on Friday.
Renewed evacuation efforts ramped a day before the militant group entered the Afghan capital on Aug. 15. Since the end of July, about 110,600 have been evacuated, the White House said.
Evacuations have resumed after two blasts killed scores of people, including 13 U.S. soldiers, outside the gates of Kabul airport Thursday evening, with troops on alert for more possible attacks.
About 5,000 of the 12,500 individuals evacuated on Thursday were air-lifted out that night, according to the White House tallies.
HORROR SCENES AT KABUL AIRPORT
People waiting desperately for a space on a flight out of Afghanistan were seen carrying those who had been wounded to ambulances, their clothes covered in blood.
Desperate kids showed British passports at Kabul airport just hours before the terrorist blasts.
Three-year-old Tawid, his sister Asia, six, and their mum Sultan Zari had been among crowds trying to flee Afghanistan.
Sobbing Sultan said: “Getting to the UK is everything for us. this is hell on earth.”
It was not known last night if the family had been evacuated yet.
Bloodied survivors were raced from the scene in wheelbarrows, according to local TV news channels.
TERROR ATTACK WARNINGS
Americans were warned on Wednesday not to travel to Kabul airport as fears of a potential terrorist attack continue to rise.
An alert from the US Embassy in the Afghan capital said: “Because of security threats outside the gates of Kabul airport, we are advising US citizens to avoid traveling to the airport and to avoid airport gates at this time unless you receive individual instructions from a US government representative to do so.”
The warning was related to threats involving ISIS and potential vehicle bombs, the Associated Press reports.
BORIS JOHNSON: EVACUATIONS WILL CONTINUE FOLLOWING ‘BARBARIC TERRORIST ATTACK’
After chairing an emergency Cobra meeting on Thursday, Mr Johnson said: “I can confirm that there’s been a barbaric terrorist attack, what looks like a series of attacks, in Kabul, on the airport, on the crowds at the airport, in which members of the US military, very sadly have lost their lives and many Afghan casualties as well.”
The PM told reporters in Downing Street that the evacuation programme would work “flat out” according to “the timetable we’ve got”.
“That’s what we’re going to do because the overwhelming majority of those who are eligible have now been extracted from Afghanistan,” he added.
HOW MANY PEOPLE HAVE THE BRITISH ARMY EVACUATED FROM KABUL?
More than 13,000 people have been evacuated in two weeks under the British military’s Operation Pitting.
It included 8,000 Afghans under the ARAP scheme who served as interpreters and other workers for British troops during the conflict.
DONALDSON SEEKS URGENT INFORMATION ABOUT NI CITIZENS STILL IN AFGHANISTAN
DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has said he is seeking urgent clarification from the UK Government about people from Northern Ireland who remain in Afghanistan.
The UK has entered the final stages of its Kabul evacuation and no more people will be called to the airport to leave, the Ministry of Defence has said.
But Sir Jeffrey expressed concerns over British citizens who have not yet been evacuated. He also said he would be raising cases of Irish citizens from Northern Ireland who are believed still to be in the country with the Taoiseach Micheal Martin.
He told the BBC: "Whilst I understand absolutely the need to protect our armed forces and the civilian staff who are working at Kabul Airport, I am concerned that perhaps there remain British citizens who haven't yet been transported, evacuated out of Kabul.
"I am seeking clarity on that from the Foreign Office and the Home Office today. That includes some Northern Ireland citizens whose cases I have been dealing with. I hope that by now they are in the airport compound and will be transported home but those are matters that we need to clarify.
"Obviously our thoughts are with the people working at Kabul Airport last night. It was absolutely devastating and clearly there has been a reaction to that; the UK Government is anxious to safeguard its people.
‘WEAK’ JOE BIDEN ‘CRUMBLES’ DURING KABUL AIRPORT BLAST SPEECH AS US MILITARY SUFFERS DEADLIEST DAY IN A DECADE
JOE Biden "crumbled" and seemed "lost for words" as he addressed Americans following the deadly terrorist attacks in Kabul, according to a body language expert.
The blasts in the Afghan capital saw at least a dozen Marines and a Navy medic killed, marking America’s deadliest day in the war-torn country for ten years.
Body language expert Judi James said Biden appeared to “crumble” under the pressure even though he tried to act defiant by gritting his lower teeth.
She told The Sun: “All of this acted aggression was undermined by the sense of physical weakness that at times made it worryingly look as though he might be crumbling under pressure.
“His shoulders often fell making him look stooped in a way that suggested possible exhaustion.”
LEAVING PAPERS IDENTIFYING BRITISH EMBASSY WORKERS IN KABUL 'NOT GOOD ENOUGH'
Documents identifying Afghan workers and job applicants have been found on the ground at the British diplomatic mission in Kabul, sparking criticism from the Defence Secretary.
Ben Wallace said Prime Minister Boris Johnson "will be asking some questions" about how the papers were left unsecure, adding: "Clearly it's not good enough."
The Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee is set to launch an inquiry after a journalist from the Times found the documents containing contact details of seven Afghans while on a tour through the city's abandoned diplomatic quarter accompanied by a Taliban patrol on Tuesday.
Amid fears of Taliban reprisals for any locals who helped Western interests in the country, the documents included the name and address of a senior embassy staff member, other employees and their contact details, and the CVs and addresses of applicants for jobs as interpreters. Some applicants listed previous work for Western countries.
The Times said it called the numbers listed and found that some of the staff members had already been evacuated to the UK, but that others had been left behind.
RUSSIA: KREMLIN CONDEMNS KABUL BOMB ATTACKS 'IN STRONGEST POSSIBLE TERMS'
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Friday said Russia "condemns in the strongest possible terms" the twin suicide bombings -- claimed by the Islamic State group -- on crowds trying to flee Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.
"Unfortunately, the pessimistic forecasts that entrenched terrorist groups, especially ISIS, will not fail to take advantage of the chaos in Afghanistan, are being confirmed," Peskov told reporters.
SWEDISH GOVERNMENT SAYS IT HAS ENDED EVACUATIONS FROM KABUL
Sweden said Friday it had ended its evacuations out of Kabul, after airlifting more than 1,100 people to Sweden in the wake of the Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan.
Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde told reporters: "The incredibly difficult and risky conditions meant we were not able to evacuate more Swedes and local employees."
JOE BIDEN SAYS HE WILL GRANT “ADDITIONAL FORCE” TO CARRY OUT US EVACUATION IN AFGHANISTAN
Joe Biden has said the U.S. will “grant additional force” to continue its evacuation of its citizens and Afghans who are vulnerable to the Taliban advance following a devastating suicide attack.
At least 12 US troops were killed in twin blasts outside Kabul airport where thousands were queuing for rescue flights.
Biden said: “We will not be deterred by terrorists.”
“These ISIS terrorists will not win. We will rescue those Americans in there,” the president explained.
‘WE WILL NOT FORGIVE’
President Joe Biden has said the country will not “forgive” the terror attack which killed at least 12 military personnel in Kabul as they tried to help people flee the Taliban.
Addressing the nation, he said: “The lives we lost today were lives given in the service of liberty, the service of security, the service of others.”
“Those who carried out this attack, as well as anyone who wishes America, know this: We will not forgive, we will not forget, we will hunt you down and make you pay,” he added.
AT LEAST 85 PEOPLE DEAD INCLUDING 13 US MARINES
Twin suicide bombs ripped through crowds outside Kabul airport on Thursday, killing at least 85 people including 13 US troops and deepening panic in the final days of an already frenzied evacuation effort from Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.
The bombings, claimed by the Islamic State group, left scenes of carnage outside the airport where thousands of Afghans desperate to flee their country had massed.
They had swarmed around the airport despite a flurry of foreign government warnings — made just hours before — that a major terror attack was imminent.
NEARLY 100,000 WESTERNERS HAVE BEEN EVACUATED FROM AFGHANISTAN IN 12 DAYS
The US will press on with evacuations despite the threat of further attacks, with it said there are around 1,000 US citizens still in Afghanistan.
The pace of evacuation flights had accelerated on Friday and American passport holders had been allowed to enter the airport compound, said a Western security official stationed inside the airport.
In the past 12 days, Western countries have evacuated nearly 100,000 people.
But they acknowledge that thousands will be left behind when the last U.S. troops leave at the end of the month.
HOW MANY PEOPLE HAVE THE BRITISH ARMY EVACUATED FROM KABUL?
More than 13,000 people have been evacuated in two weeks under the British military's Operation Pitting.
It included 8,000 Afghans under the ARAP scheme who served as interpreters and other workers for British troops during the conflict.
KABUL HOSPITALS OVERWHELMED BY WOUNDED FOLLOWING AIRPORT BOMB ATTACKS
Medical staff in Kabul's hospitals have been working round the clock to treat some of the 150 people injured in Thursday's double bomb attack near the airport.
Hospitals, already struggling with fewer staff since the Taliban took power a week ago, have been overwhelmed.
The Kabul Surgical Centre says it received 60 wounded people in less than two hours.
Of these, at least 16 people were announced dead on arrival.
At least 85 people, including 13 Us military serviceman, were killed in yesterday's twin blasts.
WITNESS STANDING CLOSE TO SUICIDE BOMBER RECALLS MOMENT EXPLOSIVES WERE DETONATED
Zubair, a 24 year-old civil engineer, said he was close to a suicide bomber who detonated explosives.
“Men, women and children were screaming. I saw many injured people – men, women and children – being loaded into private vehicles and taken toward the hospitals,” he told Reuters.
FORMER BRIT ARMY CHIEF BRANDS US SHARING OF INTELLIGENCE WITH TALIBAN 'A DANGEROUS GAME'
A former head of the British army has called the US sharing of intelligence with the Taliban about people trying to flee Afghanistan a "dangerous game".
General Lord Richard Dannatt said: "I think it is a dangerous game. It's a matter where expediency comes in. I think it's a case of 'my enemy's enemy is my friend'.
"We are in many dimensions of least-worst situations. We do worry that information has been passed about those who we were trying to get out, who we failed to get out, that the Taliban do know who they are and this places them under great threat."
The comment follows reports that the United States is sharing biometric information with the Taliban to aid its evacuation efforts as they withdraw from Afghanistan ahead of the August 31 deadline.
IN PICTURES: BLASTS ROCK KABUL AIRPORT, AT LEAST 85 DEAD
At least 85 people, including 13 US military personnel, have been killed following yesterday's twin bomb attacks at Kabul airport.
Mr Wallace branded the bombings "a cowardly, callous and pointless attack" targeting people trying to flee the country.
No Brits were killed, but the Defence Sec said the threat of another attack will only increase as the military presence winds up.
It comes after at least 85 people were killed in suicide blasts yesterdayCredit: AP 
Pen, 25 members of staff and almost 200 animals were 300 metres inside the airport's perimeter when the Taliban turned them backCredit: Reuters NO BRITS KILLED IN TWIN BOMB ATTACKS AT KABUL AIRPORT
No Brits were killed, but the Defence Secretary said the threat of another attack will only increase as the military presence winds up.
More than 13,000 people have been evacuated in two weeks under the British military's Operation Pitting.
It included 8,000 Afghans under the ARAP scheme who served as interpreters and other workers for British troops during the conflict.
'I DON'T KNOW WHAT HIS CHANCES ARE'
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace admitted in an interview on Good Morning Britain today that the chances of trapped former serviceman Pen Farthing making it out on an RAF plane are slim.
"If he makes his way and we can find him, we will try and put him on a flight," he said.
"I don't know what chances are going to be right now for Pen."
BORIS JOHNSON: EVACUATIONS WILL CONTINUE FOLLOWING 'BARBARIC TERRORIST ATTACK'
After chairing an emergency Cobra meeting on Thursday, Mr Johnson said: “I can confirm that there’s been a barbaric terrorist attack, what looks like a series of attacks, in Kabul, on the airport, on the crowds at the airport, in which members of the US military, very sadly have lost their lives and many Afghan casualties as well.”
The PM told reporters in Downing Street that the evacuation programme would work “flat out” according to “the timetable we’ve got”.
“That’s what we’re going to do because the overwhelming majority of those who are eligible have now been extracted from Afghanistan,” he added.
WATCH: FOOTAGE SHOWS MOMENT OF EXPLOSION OUTSIDE KABUL AIRPORT
NEARLY 100,000 WESTERNERS HAVE BEEN EVACUATED FROM AFGHANISTAN
The US will press on with evacuations despite the threat of further attacks, with it said there are around 1,000 US citizens still in Afghanistan.
The pace of evacuation flights had accelerated on Friday and American passport holders had been allowed to enter the airport compound, said a Western security official stationed inside the airport.
In the past 12 days, Western countries have evacuated nearly 100,000 people.
But they acknowledge that thousands will be left behind when the last U.S. troops leave at the end of the month.
DEFENCE SECRETARY SAYS BRITAIN 'WILL HONOUR ITS DEBT' BY DOING WHAT IT CAN TO EVACUATE PEOPLE IN AFGHANISTAN
This morning Mr Wallace vowed: "We will continue to honour our debt to all those who have not yet been able to leave Afghanistan.
"We will do all that we can to ensure they reach safety."
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiZGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LnRoZXN1bi5jby51ay9uZXdzLzE1OTczOTgxL3Blbi1mYXJ0aGluZy1uZXdzLWxhdGVzdC1hZmdoYW5pc3Rhbi1hbmltYWxzLWlzaXMtZG9ncy1rYWJ1bC_SAWhodHRwczovL3d3dy50aGVzdW4uY28udWsvbmV3cy8xNTk3Mzk4MS9wZW4tZmFydGhpbmctbmV3cy1sYXRlc3QtYWZnaGFuaXN0YW4tYW5pbWFscy1pc2lzLWRvZ3Mta2FidWwvYW1wLw?oc=5
2021-08-27 10:13:50Z
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