Human Rights Watch advocates rescue of 'Afghans at risk', says evacuation needs more time

Thousands of Afghans fearing persecution are queuing outside Kabul airport to be evacuated from the war-torn country as the US prepares to end large-scale airlift operations from Afghanistan. According to US President Joe Biden, the US military presence at the airport will end on August 31. According to research by Human Rights Watch (HRW), flights for Afghans wanting to flee would likely terminate even sooner as operations turn away from ferrying vulnerable civilians and toward reducing military presence.

US evacuating some Afghans in recent days

The Taliban warned the US on Tuesday against pushing Afghan elites to flee the country. According to Tolo News, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid warned that the US should not encourage Afghan elites to flee the nation because the US has been evacuating some Afghans in recent days. This comes as a number of countries, notably the United States, are evacuating their nationals and Afghans from Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.

Though Biden's present focus is on terminating the evacuation effort and packing up US officials to return home, HRW's Director of Crisis Advocacy Akshaya Kumar said "even people approved for travel and on lists for evacuation may be left behind. Those who need rescue are not only people who worked directly for US or allied forces, but human rights defenders, women's rights activists, journalists, court officials, LGBTI people, and members of some minority communities such as the Hazara." She also stated that the evacuation will take longer and that the US should do more to assist at-risk Afghans attempting to evacuate.

Meanwhile, the US announced on Wednesday morning that it has evacuated 19,000 people from Afghanistan in the previous 24 hours. According to White House deputy spokesperson Andrew Bates, the total number of refugees from Afghanistan since the operation began on August 14 has now reached 82,300.

American troops are facing risks from ISIS-Khorasan

US President Joe Biden made it plain to the G7 leaders that the US is "on track" to complete its departure from Afghanistan by August 31, but that American troops are facing increased risks from ISIS-Khorasan with each day of operations on the ground. After the Taliban's aggressive takeover of Afghanistan, Biden tweeted earlier on Tuesday that he stands by his vow to evacuate people, including vulnerable Afghans such as women leaders and journalists.

(Inputs from ANI)

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