At least 12,000 foreigners and Afghans working for embassies and international aid groups have been evacuated from Afghanistan since the Taliban captured Kabul on August 15, according to a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) representative.
"The evacuation process is slow, as it is risky, for we do not want any form of clashes with Taliban members or civilians outside the airport," the Nato official said Friday on the condition of anonymity.
After the US announced it was withdrawing troops from Afghanistan and wrapping up its military operations, the Taliban launched a rapid offensive on government forces, entering Kabul without a fight just a week ago.
The Taliban's lightning takeover has sparked a hurried exodus of people associated with the Western intervention in the country. President Ashraf Ghani fled the country; the Western nations have struggled to ramp up the pace of evacuations, reports TASS.
At least 12 people have been killed in and around the Kabul airport since Sunday, Nato and Taliban officials have said, "as gun-toting Taliban around it urged those without travel documents to go home."
However, the Taliban rebuffed the claim that they were involved in the airport situation and the unrest that took place there. A Taliban official said, "The West could have had a better plan to evacuate."
More than 550,000 Afghans have been internally displaced since January as a result of conflict and insecurity, on top of 3.0 million people who were already uprooted at the start of the year, according to the UNHCR, the UN refugee agency.
Most of these people, about 300,000 have left their homes as a result of the deteriorating security situation over the last week.
The UN agency recently released a non-return advisory for Afghanistan, calling for a bar on forced returns of Afghan nationals, including asylum seekers who have had their claims rejected.
In the wake of the rapid deterioration in the security and human rights situation in large parts of the country and the unfolding humanitarian emergency, the UNHCR called on states to halt forcible returns of Afghan nationals who have previously been determined not to require international protection.
The UN agency said it was concerned about the risk of human rights violations against civilians in this evolving context, including women and girls, those perceived to have a current or past association with the Afghan government, international organisations or with the international military forces.
