A young girl found sleeping at the side of a road has been offered temporary accommodation amid what the United Nations warns is a "child protection crisis" in Afghanistan.
Aisha, featured by ITV News last week, is one of nearly 10 million Afghan children highlighted by UNICEF, the UN's aid agency for children, as being in desperate need of humanitarian aid.
Aisha first came to public attention after being filmed asleep and alone on a Kabul street. She said she was five and her parents were dead, however it has been difficult to establish any facts about her life.
Aisha has collecting and selling plastic bottles in an attempt to make money
What is known is that, adrift from any family ties, she has been collecting and selling plastic for money. A local family has taken her in for the moment, even though they're very poor.
As region after region fell to the Taliban during August, among 72,000 children left their homes and fled to Kabul, Save The Children said, only for the capital to also be seized by insurgents. Like Aisha, many of these children were unaccompanied.
Footage of Aisha sleeping on the side of the road gained public attention
UNICEF has estimated that, due to food shortages, one million children will suffer from severe acute malnutrition over the course of this year. Without treatment, these children could die, the charity added.
Sam Mort, from UNICEF's Afghanistan office, said: "The story of Aisha is heartbreaking, but what is more heartbreaking is that she is not alone.
"We don't even know how many children like her are out, vulnerable, and facing all kinds of dangers all over Afghanistan right now."
Joe Biden launched his most forceful defence yet of America’s chaotic pullout from Afghanistan, a day after the last US troops flew out of Kabul and ended their 20-year military presence in the country.
In remarks delivered from the White House, the US president attempted to put a lid on the biggest national security crisis since he took office in January and rebut criticism that his administration mishandled the departure.
Biden dismissed suggestions that setting a public deadline to withdraw all US troops from Afghanistan had contributed to a chaotic civilian airlift that resulted in considerable bloodshed.
“Let me be clear, leaving August 31 was not due to an arbitrary deadline,” Biden said on Tuesday afternoon. “It was designed to save American lives.”
The president said his hands had been tied by his predecessor, Donald Trump, who signed a deal with the Taliban to withdraw all US forces from Afghanistan by May 1.
“The previous administration’s agreement said that if we stuck to the May 1 deadline that they had signed, the Taliban wouldn’t attack any American forces,” he said. “But if we stayed, all bets are off.”
Biden said Trump’s deal had left him with a “simple decision”: he could either “follow through on the commitment . . . and leave Afghanistan” or send tens of thousands of extra troops and effectively restart the war.
He added: “That was the choice, the real choice: between leaving or escalating. I was not going to extend this forever war. And I was not extending a forever exit.”
Biden acknowledged that his administration had wrongly assumed the Afghan army would be able to prevent the Taliban from conquering the country at lightning speed but insisted the chaotic airlift — which evacuated more than 100,000 people — had been a success.
“It was designed to operate under severe stress and attack, and that’s what it did,” he added.
Biden’s speech came a few hours after Taliban forces assumed control of Kabul’s airport, completing their swift and stunning takeover of the country as the Afghan government withered away over the past month.
The president has long believed in the need to end America’s military presence in Afghanistan, deciding in April to press ahead with exit plans by early September. But the withdrawal turned disorderly and deadly, with a terrorist attack by Isis-K killing scores of Afghans and 13 US troops last week, as US and coalition forces mounted a desperate effort to evacuate more people from the country.
Ending the US presence in Afghanistan as planned has left up to 200 US citizens and many more vulnerable Afghans in the country, where they risk reprisals from Taliban forces.
Top Biden administration officials have said that even though the military’s evacuation efforts have ended, they would keep up diplomatic efforts to get people who want to leave out of the country. But this depends on the Taliban sticking by its pledge to allow the “safe passage” of Afghan citizens to other countries, which Biden urged them to do again on Monday.
After US troops left Kabul, concerns flared that the Taliban would gain control of American military equipment abandoned in the final rush to depart. However, US officials said several Chinook helicopters still at the airport had been rendered “inoperable” before the departure, and they denied reports that they had left US military working dogs in cages at the airport.
A TV presenter was surrounded by Taliban fighters carrying AK-47s while he conducted an interview with one of the group's commanders.
A video shows Mirwais Haidari Haqdoost from Afghanistan TV sitting at a desk, with a row of Taliban soldiers behind him holding their guns close to their chests and pointing towards the floor.
He was interviewing one of the group's commanders, Qari Samiullah, for the channel's special programme "Pardaz" at the time.
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Taliban fighters celebrate at Kabul airport
Starting off the segment by introducing Mr Samiullah, the presenter goes on to explain that there has been "some criticism that there is a difference between the words and the actions of the Taliban".
"The people demand that the commitments and actions of the Taliban must be the same," he adds.
Mr Samiullah used the interview to urge Afghans "not to worry at all" and asked them to remain in the country.
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"God willing, we will try to establish a safe atmosphere in all the provinces of Afghanistan so that the people do not worry and do not fear the Mujahideen, because they are our brothers," he said.
The Taliban, who carried out public executions and banned girls and women from school or work when last in power 20 years ago, have said they will safeguard rights and not pursue vendettas.
The group has previously said the country will be at peace for the first time in more than 40 years, following the withdrawal of American troops.
All of its service members have now departed the country, bringing an end to a 20-year-long campaign that saw more than 2,400 Americans die as well as tens of thousands of Afghans.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has admitted it will be a "challenge" for British nationals left in Afghanistan to now find a route to the UK.
Speaking to Sky News, Mr Raab said the number of British nationals who had not been taken as part of the now-ended UK evacuation effort was in the "low hundreds".
Acknowledging it was "unclear" when the airport in Afghanistan's capital Kabul would again be operating - following this weekend's pullout of US and UK troops - Mr Raab advised those still seeking to leave the country they could find a route to the UK via neighbouring countries.
Image:UK troops how now left Afghanistan following an evacuation effort after the Taliban takeover
The foreign secretary said, since April, more than 17,000 British nationals, Afghans who worked with the UK, and other vulnerable people had been evacuated from the country.
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But, of those UK nationals who were still left in Afghanistan, Mr Raab admitted there were "low hundreds" remaining in the country.
"Most of those are difficult cases where it's not clear around eligibility because they're undocumented," he said.
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"We've now put in place the arrangements with third countries, or we're putting them in place.
"I've spoken to some of the key third countries, so have other ministers, to make sure we can have a workable route through for those outstanding cases."
Asked whether his advice for those UK nationals still in Afghanistan would be for them to head across one of the country's borders, Mr Raab added: "It depends if they are eligible or not and, of course, we're in contact with them to be able to establish that.
"That's made more difficult because we don't have the base at the airport.
"Certainly if they're eligible British nationals, there are embassies in those third countries - whether it's Pakistan or one of the stans."
Pressed on how British nationals in Afghanistan might reach one of the borders, now the country is under Taliban control, Mr Raab admitted it would be a "challenge".
But the foreign secretary said the UK would hold the Taliban to its "explicit assurances" - as well as the terms of a UN Security Council resolution passed on Monday - that they "must allow safe passage not just for our nationals but other Afghans, particularly vulnerable ones, who wish to leave".
The Taliban are now in control of Kabul's airport following the final withdrawal of Western troops in recent days. And Mr Raab said there was "a degree of scepticism" about the group's "capacity to run that airport safely".
"We know that some countries are trying to help them with that effectively functional capacity," he said.
"Of course the previous government had air traffic controllers and things like that. But at what stage that will be ready and viable for international travel, at this point, is unclear."
He added: "What support they get and how quickly they can then salvage a functional operational capacity remains to be seen.
"Which is why we're making sure - working with those third countries, working with our embassies - that, actually, if people can get to the border, we can process those cases."
Mr Raab also rejected claims that a UK request may have contributed to the risk of a terror attack at Kabul airport.
According to the Politico website, the US decided to keep Abbey Gate at Kabul airport open longer in order to allow the UK to continue evacuating British personnel.
The gate was subsequently the location of a suicide bomb attack for which ISIS-K, an offshoot of Islamic State, have been held responsible.
But Mr Raab said it was "just not true" that the UK was "pushing to leave the gate open".
"We coordinate very closely with the US, in particular around the ISIS-K threat that we anticipated - although tragically were not able to prevent," he told Sky News.
"It is certainly right to say we got our civilian staff out of the processing centre by Abbey Gate.
"But it is just not true to suggest, other than securing our civilian staff inside the airport, that we were pushing to leave the gate open.
"In fact, and let me just be clear about this, we were issuing changes of travel advice before the bomb attack took place and saying to people in the crowd, about which I was particularly concerned, that certainly UK nationals and anyone else should leave because of the risk."
A 71-year-old Louisiana man is missing after an alligator bit off his arm in floodwaters caused by Hurricane Ida.
The man was attacked outside his home in the New Orleans suburb of Slidell, which was inundated with several feet of water.
His wife said he was attacked as he waded through the floodwaters around noon on Monday.
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Hurricane Ida wreaks havoc across Louisiana
She said she pulled him to safety and then went to get help in a boat, but when she returned home, he was not on the front steps.
The local sheriff's office used boats and high-water vehicles to search for the man but have not found him.
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His wife does not believe he has survived, according to WWL-TV.
Jason Gaubert, a spokesman for St. Tammany Sheriff's Office, said: "I can confirm that a man was attacked by an alligator at his home on Richards Drive in Avery Estates. This area was flooded from the hurricane.
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"His wife witnessed the attack. The man lost his arm but somehow made it back to his steps. His wife went to get help when she returned he was missing.
"His body has not been recovered."
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Death count from Ida could rise 'considerably'
Officials said that wildlife could have been forced closer to neighbourhoods by the storm and urged people to be cautious.
There have already been two deaths blamed on Hurricane Ida - a motorist who drowned in New Orleans and a person struck by a falling tree outside Baton Rouge.
A spokesperson for John Bel Edwards, the Governor of Louisiana, said the state is likely to have many more confirmed fatalities given the level of destruction.
More than 1 million homes and businesses in Louisiana and Mississippi - including all of New Orleans - were left without power after the storm made landfall on Sunday.
The damage was so substantial that officials have warned it could be weeks before the power grid is repaired.
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Ida 'isn't Katrina', say residents
Hundreds of people have been rescued by boats, helicopters and high-water trucks after becoming trapped by floodwaters.
The governor's office said more than 2,200 evacuees are staying in 41 shelters.
Residents living amid rivers and bayous along the state's Gulf Coast retreated desperately to their attics and roofs, posting their addresses on social media so that search-and-rescue teams could find them.
The storm was downgraded to a tropical storm on Monday afternoon and continued to make its way inland with torrential rain.
The city of New Orleans urged people who left to stay away for at least a few days because of the lack of power and fuel, while the US Environmental Protection Agency issued emergency fuel waivers for Louisiana and Mississippi.
Some 18 water systems serving about 255,000 customers in Louisiana lost service, according to health officials.
Four hospitals have been damaged in the state, with 39 medical facilities forced to operate on generator power.
A former soldier who served with the British Armed Forces has plotted an escape route over Taliban controlled borders in a bid to get himself and 400 Afghans to safety.
Ben Slater, 37, used to serve in the Royal Military Police but now runs a business in Kabul called Nomad Concepts Group.
The ex-soldier, who worked as a bodyguard to British ambassadors abroad, claims the Foreign Office failed to secure visas for the evacuation of himself and his 50 staff, mostly Afghan women.
Mr Slater said he was left with no choice but to flee by land and has shared his plans with the UK Foreign Office and the Ministry of Defence in the hope they will receive assistance as soon as possible.
It comes amid concerns that leaving Afghanistan by land will be near impossible due to closed borders, abandoned foreign embassies and Taliban checkpoints.
According to the Telegraph, Mr Slater has already helped dozens of Afghans flee the country but was unable to secure help are at risk of retribution from the Taliban for his staff - are at risk of retribution from the Taliban.
Ben Slater (pictured), an ex-soldier who served with the British Armed Forces, has plotted an escape route over Taliban controlled borders in a bid to get himself and 400 Afghans to safety
Mr Slater told the Telegraph: 'It's going to be a long trip, and I am hoping on the other end that the FCDO [Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office] have got our visas sorted, or at least have spoken to the foreign affairs ministry in our destination country to allow access for our vulnerable staff.'
The newspaper reports that Mr Slater described himself as being 'massively let down' by the UK Government.
Mr Slater told The Telegraph: 'I was given one hour's notice to send in my people's names, the vehicles and stuff like that.
'And that seemed a little bit like that was set up for me to miss the deadline. But we did it, and then it went sort of quiet, and then there was a little bit of "oh, you can't come because you can't get through the Taliban checkpoint".'
Mr Slater eventually 'lost his marbles' after he was apparently transferred to an automated call centre on Friday and was put 'back at zero'.
He says he has launched his own operation to save 400 Afghan nationals includes the 50 staff and himself.
Last week, the UK anyone who is still trying to get out of Afghanistan to head for the border rather than attempt to get into Kabul airport where US and British forces were winding down their operations.
But there are concerns that leaving Afghanistan is impossible because borders are closed, foreign embassies have been abandoned and the Taliban have put up hundreds of checkpoints.
Mr Slater (pictured), who runs Nomad Concept Group in Kabul, said he and his staff are at risk of retribution from the Taliban and that they had all been let down by the UK Government
Although the Taliban has made assurances that they will allow those fleeing their rule to leave the country unharmed, Mr Slater is concerned this will not be the case.
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) refused to comment on Mr Slater's case, saying it does not comment on individual cases.
But it said in a statement: 'Our staff are working tirelessly to facilitate the swift evacuation of British nationals, Afghan staff and others at risk.
'The scale of the evacuation effort is huge and we have helped nearly 15,000 people leave Afghanistan since the evacuation began. We continue to put pressure on the Taliban to allow safe passage out of Afghanistan for those who want to leave.'
It comes after the UN pressured the militant group to uphold their promise as the security council passed a resolution in New York yesterday.
The Security Council also made clear that Afghanistan must never again become a 'safe haven' for international terrorists.
The UK's ambassador Dame Barbara Woodward stressed 'a co-ordinated approach will be vital to counter any extremist threat emanating from Afghanistan'.
The humanitarian situation also needs to be urgently addressed – with complete access for UN agencies and aid organisations – and the progress made on human rights in the 20 years since the US-led coalition became involved in Afghanistan must also be protected, she said.
No way out: Interpreters fear that fleeing from Afghanistan by land is almost impossible as borders close, Taliban put up checkpoints and last US evacuation flight leaves Kabul
Limited options to escape Afghanistan laid bare in military briefing document
Examines all the rescue options through Afghanistan's surrounding neighbours
Popular Torkham crossing is 'now impassable' and 'blocked by Taliban', it adds
By Marc Nicol and Daniel Martin for the Daily Mail
Escaping Afghanistan by land is all but impossible because borders are closed, foreign embassies have been abandoned and the Taliban have put up hundreds of checkpoints, former interpreters warned yesterday.
The limited options were laid bare in a briefing document circulated among British military officers as the final RAF evacuation flights left Kabul at the weekend.
It examines all the rescue options through Afghanistan's neighbours – but spells out that few are currently realistic or viable.
The most obvious route is through Pakistan but the document warns that this 'is looking very problematic'.
Examining Pakistan's key routes, the document says that the popular Torkham crossing is 'now impassable' and 'blocked by Taliban'.
Referring to the crossing from the town of Spin Boldak, the note says there are 'huge numbers of people at the border'.
It continues: 'Only trucks are being allowed to cross at the moment and people with an existing Afghan refugee card for Pakistan.' It adds that Tajikistan is 'looking the most humanitarian' and is 'preparing for 100,000 arrivals'. But the note continues: 'Certain countries are just closed.'
Uzbekistan is said to be closed to those without a visa, with the note adding: 'Even Afghans who live [there] are not being allowed back in.' Turkmenistan is shut to Afghan nationals trying to cross, according to the document. And Iran has 'closed its borders in all three provinces neighbouring Afghanistan to stop Afghans crossing'.
There is no reference to the border with China, which is not expected to allow Afghans in even though Beijing has fostered a relationship with the Taliban.
Planes are seen on the tarmac at the airport in Kabul late on August 30, 2021, hours ahead of a US deadline to complete its frenzied withdrawal from Afghanistan
Details of several British embassies in the neighbouring countries are given but the note warns that the one in Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan, is currently closed.
The shocking assessment came as a former bodyguard to the British ambassador pledged to lead 400 refugees on a dramatic escape mission.
Ben Slater, 37, who helped dozens of people get on 'freedom flights' last week, was left stranded in Kabul apparently due to bureaucratic issues with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).
But Mr Slater, who ran a humanitarian group in Afghanistan, is now working with the FCDO to lead vulnerable Afghans to a neighbouring country from where he and they can fly to Britain.
He said last night: 'It is going to be a long trip, I am hoping the FCDO will have sorted out our visas so our vulnerable staff can reach their destination.'
