NATO: Slow Kabul evacuation aims to avert clashes with Taliban

SANAA, Aug. 21 (YPA) – About 12,000 foreigners and Afghans working for embassies and international relief groups have been evacuated from Afghanistan since Taliban fighters have taken the capital Kabul, a NATO official said.

Amid chaos and reports of Taliban violence, Western nations have struggled to ramp up the pace of evacuations since the Islamist movement’s lightning takeover just a week ago.

Amid chaos and reports of Taliban violence, Western countries have had difficulty increasing the pace of evacuations since the group took power just a week ago.

The Taliban have disowned responsibility for the disorder at the airport, besieged by thousands desperate to flee, saying the West could have had a better plan to evacuate.

NATO and Taliban officials said at least 12 people have died at the airport and the surrounding area since Sunday, as the heavily armed Taliban urged those without travel documents to return home.

E.M