the strike overnight was part of the necessary steps that the us has been taking, not just to try and keep the airport safe and their us troops and civilians safe but the brits as well. we ve only been able to do this evacuation because the us was willing to put in an extra 6,000 troops to secure the airport. so, when we re under attack and our personnel on the ground have been under attack in recent days. it s been dangerous desperate, desperate mission under the most unimaginable circumstances. where necessary, it was important that they did that strike and i think our thoughts now, as those last british military planes and then those last british us planes leave, these are prime terrorist targets. and we all want to see our british troops, every one of them, back home safely soon, and the us troops back home safely as well. and ijust think one of the main political focus is now in the uk will be on those afghans who have been left behind, who worked
and are now ready to fly. so it is. for all that we ve seen on the news over the last few days, and they have been the most awful images, the reality is things are flowing now quite well and we need people who are being told to come forward, to have the confidence to do so. that was the uk armed forces minister. the taliban have been giving their first response to the situation at the airport in kabul, blaming the chaos there on the americans. our correspondent, dan johnson, is monitoring developments from delhi. he told us more about the statement from the taliban and what was known about the current situation at the airport in kabul. the situation does seem calmer today in the streets around the airport. the taliban helping to organise the crowds, forming people into queues, which is making the processing effort more efficient and people are more quickly able to get through the gates into the airport,
and afghan refugees, only the third time such a thing has been done. they won t be flying to kabul, but rather used for moving evacuees from interim bases in the middle east, which have been overwhelmed. in kabul, defense secretary lloyd austin said the military was looking at different and creative ways to help get americans and their afghan allies into the airport. the former uk prime minister, tony blair, has said president biden s policy which led to the withdrawal of troops from afghanistan was imbecilic . mr blair called the decision to leave tragic, dangerous and an unnecessary abandonment of the country. this morning, he urged the government to use its role as chair of the g7 group of nations to coordinate international efforts to help the afghan people. days after president biden said there s been no criticism from allies of his withdrawal of troops, in comes a scathing attack from the us s
the prime minister called on the international community to work together to ensure safe evacuations, and prevent a humanitarian crisis. nato officials say over the past week at least 20 people have died at kabul airport, where crowds of afghans have continued to gather in a desperate attempt to flee the country. the taliban blamed the chaos on the united states. but the uk s armed forces minister, james heappey, said the situation at the airport was improving, and that the royal air force had flown out more than 1,700 people in the last 2a hours. today the marshalling that the taliban are doing is making a big difference and so if people have had the instruction from the ministry of defence or the foreign office to come forward and to get on a flight, we encourage them to do so because we are getting people through now at a good rate. already this morning, 731 people have been successfully admitted and processed through the handling centre
have the everybody out in time, you s would have the uk s full support if the us did decide have the uk s full support if the us did decide to stay a bit longer. just to did decide to stay a bit longer. just to supplement what she said about the g7, we understand that on tuesday president biden will be a appearing virtually, discussing the situation in afghanistan. and it is the prime minister, borisjohnson, thatis the prime minister, borisjohnson, that is convening that meeting. president biden appearing virtually on tuesday the 24th at the g7 meeting. the time is quarter past three. borisjohnson has called a meeting of g7 leaders on tuesday to discuss the crisis in afghanistan. the area around kabul airport is reported to be calmer