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A30 world news
Diasabra 28 augustus 2021

US presses on with evacuations despite fears of more attacks

children, clutching an invita- The military said it had also have been safely evacuated
tion to a Western country he asked the Taliban to close through the Kabul airport,
didn’t want to identify. certain roads because of the according to the U.S., but
“After the explosion I decid- possibility of suicide bomb- thousands more are strug-
ed I would try because I am ers in vehicles. gling to leave in one of his-
afraid now there will be more tory’s biggest airlifts.
attacks, and I think now I At the same time, the Penta-
have to leave,” said Jamshad, gon said evacuees with prop- The White House said Friday
who like many Afghans uses er credentials were able to get morning that 8,500 evacuees
only one name. through. Inside the airport had been flown out aboard
gates, about 5,400 evacuees U.S. military aircraft in the
The names of the Afghan awaited flights. previous 24 hours, along
victims began emerging with about 4,000 people on
and included a news agency In Washington, U.S. com- coalition flights. That was
founder along with a num- manders briefed Biden on about the same total as the
ber of impoverished Afghans developing plans to strike day before the attacks.
(AP) — The United States death tolls in a terror attack. who had gone to the airport back at the Islamic State.
pressed on into the final The U.S. said it was the most in hopes of realizing a better On Thursday, the president But chances to help those
days of the chaotic airlift lethal day for American forc- life. warned those responsible for hoping to join the evacuation
from Afghanistan amid es in Afghanistan since 2011. the carnage: “We will hunt are fading fast. More Euro-
tighter security and warn- British officials said two of you down and make you pay.” pean allies and other nations
ings of more possible at- The officials who gave the the country’s citizens and were ending their airlifts Fri-
tacks Friday, a day after a Afghan death toll were not the child of another Briton The president on Friday day, in part to give the U.S.
devastating suicide bomb- authorized to talk to the me- also were among those killed called U.S. efforts to evacuate time to wrap up its own op-
ing at the Kabul airport dia and spoke on condition of when the bomb exploded in Americans, Afghan allies and erations and get 5,000 of its
killed well over 100 Af- anonymity. The number of the crowd. others most at risk from the troops out by Tuesday.
ghans and 13 U.S. service dead was subject to change as Taliban a “worthy mission.”
members. authorities examined the dis- The 13 U.S. service mem- The Taliban have said they
membered remains. bers who died included 10 “And we will complete the will allow Afghans to leave
The U.S. said more blood- Marines, a Navy sailor and mission,” he said. via commercial flights after
shed could come ahead of The Pentagon also said Fri- an Army soldier. The mili- the U.S. withdrawal, but it is
President Joe Biden’s fast-ap- day that there was just one tary has not identified them The Islamic State’s Afghani- unclear which airlines would
proaching deadline Tuesday suicide bomber — at the air- or given a service affiliation stan affiliate is far more radi- return to an airport con-
to end the evacuations and port gate — not two, as U.S. for the last victim. cal than the Taliban fighters trolled by the militants.
withdraw American forces. officials initially said. who seized power less than
The next few days “will be On the morning after the two weeks ago in a lightning Untold numbers of Afghans,
our most dangerous period As the call to prayer echoed attack, the Taliban posted a blitz across the country. The especially ones who had
to date,” White House press Friday through Kabul along pickup full of fighters and two groups are battlefield en- worked with the U.S. and
secretary Jen Psaki said. with the roar of departing three captured Humvees and emies. other Western countries, are
planes, the anxious crowds set up a barrier 500 meters now in hiding, fearing retali-
Thursday’s bombing — thronging the airport in hope (1,600 feet) from the airport, The Taliban have wrested ation despite the group’s of-
blamed on Afghanistan’s of escaping Taliban rule ap- holding the crowds farther back control of Afghanistan fer of full amnesty.
offshoot of the Islamic State peared as large as ever de- back from the U.S. troops at two decades after they were
group, a lethal enemy of both spite the bombing. Afghans, the airport gates than before. ousted in a U.S.-led invasion The new rulers have sought
the Taliban and the West — American citizens and other following the 9/11 attacks. to project an image of mod-
made for one of the deadliest foreigners were all acutely U.S. military officials said Their return to power has eration in recent weeks — a
days in the two-decade Af- aware the window is closing that some gates were closed terrified many Afghans, who sharp contrast to the harsh
ghan war. to board a flight. and other security measures have rushed to flee the coun- rule they imposed from 1996
put in place. They said there try ahead of the American to 2001, when they forbade
Two officials said the number The attacks led Jamshad to were tighter restrictions at withdrawal. girls to get an education,
of Afghans killed rose to 169, head there in the morning Taliban checkpoints and few- banned television and music
one of the country’s highest with his wife and three small er people around the gates. More than 100,000 people and held public executions.

More students freed in Nigeria, amid questions over ransom

(AP) — Overjoyed parents yu Babangida, 54, a teacher 1,000 students have been kid- termediaries in hopes of se- nappings left people aghast
welcomed home 90 young whose two children aged 7 napped from schools since curing his 6-year-old daugh- because the children were
schoolchildren who had and 17 were among those re- December. Most are eventu- ter’s freedom. so young. The ramifications
spent three months held leased. ally freed though about 200 could be long lasting as par-
by gunmen in northern remain missing. The abduc- Gunmen on motorcycles had ents reconsider whether to
Nigeria, though authori- Some of the abducted pu- tions have stepped up pres- attacked the Salihu Tanko send their children to school.
ties confirmed Friday that pils in Niger state were just sure on the Nigerian govern- Islamic School there in late
one of the kidnapped chil- 4 years old, he said. Several ment to do more to secure May. Other preschoolers As the attacks have mounted
dren had died during the were undergoing medical educational facilities in re- were left behind as they could across the north, there are
ordeal. treatment after their release mote areas. not keep pace when the gun- also signs they are becoming
late Thursday. men hurriedly moved those more violent.
Meanwhile, elsewhere po- But questions remained Fri- abducted into the forest.
lice announced that a second “They are exposed to this day about how much ransom
group of 15 students taken harsh weather, no food, mos- had been paid to secure the Authorities initially said that
earlier this month also were quitos everywhere,” he said. children’s release, and if so 136 students had been taken
freed, raising hopes across “Some of them had never whether that could in turn but revised that figure to 91,
the country’s north that oth- been outside the comfort of fuel further abductions by including the child that died
er child hostages could even- their homes.” the unknown armed groups in captivity.
tually be delivered. referred to locally as bandits.
News of the children’s re- While Nigeria has seen scores
“The happiness can’t be lease was celebrated across Muhammad Musa Kawule, of school abductions for ran-
quantified,” said Yahya Ali- Nigeria, where more than 42, acknowledged paying in- som, the Niger state kid-