Biden holds to Afghan airlift deadline as Taliban blame US for chaos

Protesters in London carry placards and wave Afghan flags as they march in solidarity with the people of Afghanistan

US President Joe Biden said Sunday he still hopes to finalize the dramatic evacuation of tens of thousands of people from Taliban-controlled Afghanistan by August 31, as the Islamists blamed Washington for harrowing scenes of chaos and despair at the airport in Kabul.

One week after the hardline militant group made a stunning return to power, terrified Afghans kept trying to flee, skeptical of Taliban promises of a softer version of their brutal 1996-2001 rule. 

But the United States and its allies have been unable to cope with huge numbers of people trying to get on evacuation flights, leaving Kabul airport in disarray and the European Union warning it may be "impossible" to get everyone out before the deadline.

"We'll see what we can do," he added when asked by reporters what his reply was to foreign leaders asking for more time.

He acknowledged the searing scenes at the US-controlled Hamid Karzai International airport, which have included babies and children being passed to soldiers over razor-wire fences and men clinging to the outside of departing planes.

"There is no way to evacuate this many people without pain and loss and heartbreaking images you see," he said.

Biden spoke after the Taliban, who have been holding talks with elders and politicians to set up their government, slammed the chaotic evacuation.

Britain's defence ministry said Sunday seven people had died in the crowds, without giving further details.

"They were showing us their passports and shouting 'take us with you... please take us with you'," the journalist told AFP.

During the distress of evacuation, an Afghan woman went into labour on a US Air Force flight and gave birth to a baby girl in the plane's cargo bay moments after landing at a base in Germany, the Air Mobility Command tweeted.

Earlier this week the administration said there are up to 15,000 Americans and 50,000 to 60,000 Afghan allies who need to be evacuated. Countless others are also trying to flee.

The crisis has seen mounting criticism of the US and its Western allies, which this year pressed on with the troop withdrawal as the government and security forces struggled to contain rising Taliban violence.

- Resistance -

Some ex-government troops have gathered in the Panjshir Valley, north of the capital -- long known as an anti-Taliban bastion.

The Islamists have "massed forces near the entrance of Panjshir," tweeted Amrullah Saleh, latterly vice president of Afghanistan who has taken refuge in the area. 

The NRF is prepared for a "long-term conflict" but is also still seeking to negotiate with the Taliban about an inclusive government, its spokesman Ali Maisam Nazary told AFP in an interview.

bur-st/dw

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Originally published as Biden holds to Afghan airlift deadline as Taliban blame US for chaos