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Pentagon:'still time,' to get Americans out

According to the Pentagon, it is still ready to fly more Americans out of Kabul Airport even though the evacuation has ended.

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Pentagon:'still time,' to get Americans out

John Kirby, Pentagon press secretary, said Monday that there was still time for Americans to evacuate. He wouldn't be more specific on the status of the evacuation. He stated that 5,400 Americans had been airlifted so far.

President Joe Biden has given Tuesday as the deadline to complete the evacuation.

DOHA, Qatar -- The Taliban asked all employees at private and public universities in Afghanistan to resume work on Tuesday.

Qatar's political office in Doha tweeted a statement from a Qatari spokesperson for the insurgent group. It called on male and female employees alike to return to work.

According to the statement, the Ministry of Higher Education asks rectors, deans and professors to report to work Tuesday and resume their academic and administrative works, including preparations for classes.

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ISLAMABAD -- Pakistan's Interior Minister says that his country has not granted refugee status for any Afghans since the Taliban took over in Kabul.

Monday's Sheikh Rashid Ahmed stated that Pakistan was helping to facilitate the departure of foreigners from Afghanistan. He said that there has been no influx of Afghans from Afghanistan as was expected after the attack on Kabul's airport last week.

The Pakistani authorities repeatedly stated that they could not accommodate any more Afghan refugees.

Around 2 million Afghans have fled to Pakistan as refugees, some of them for over 40 years. This is a reflection of decades of violence in Afghanistan.

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DUBAI (United Arab Emirates) -- Qatar has been in discussions with the Taliban to provide civilian technical assistance at Kabul's international Airport once the U.S. military withdraws on Tuesday.

The Associated Press was informed Monday by Qatar's Foreign Ministry that it had been participating in negotiations regarding Kabul airport operations with Afghan and other international parties, mainly the United States of America and Turkey.

Lolwa Al-Khater, Qatar's Assistant Foreign Minister, stated in a statement that Qatar's primary priority is to restore regular operations and preserve safety at the airport facilities.

Qatar is close to both Washington and Taliban. The Taliban took over most of Afghanistan in the past week. The small Gulf Arab state will be attending a meeting of key partners hosted Monday by the United States to discuss next steps for Afghanistan.

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DUBAI (United Arab Emirates) -- A plane donated by Pakistan brought medical supplies and medicine from the World Health Organization to Afghanistan.

WHO stated Monday's shipment was the first medical supply to arrive in Afghanistan since two weeks ago, when the country fell under Taliban control.

The plane left Dubai and landed in Mazar-e-Sharif. This is the capital of Balkh. It was captured by the Taliban the day before Kabul.

WHO stated that the supplies include trauma kits and emergency kits sufficient to meet the basic needs of over 200,000 people as well as 6,500 trauma patients. The supplies will be distributed to 39 health facilities across Afghanistan in 29 provinces.

WHO's Logistics Team at the International Humanitarian City, Dubai loaded the plane with supplies. WHO stated that "a reliable humanitarian aircraft bridge is essential."

The agency stated that the urgent humanitarian work to meet the needs of the tens of million of Afghans remaining in Afghanistan is now underway.

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CAIRO -- An affiliate of Islamic State in Afghanistan claimed responsibility Monday for the rocket attack on Kabul. It said it fired at least six Katyusha missiles at Kabul's airport.

Rockets were launched from a nearby neighborhood to Kabul's airport. The militant group's media arm, Aamaq news agency, claimed responsibility. It did not provide any further information.

According to the U.S. military, five rockets struck the airport Monday morning. The U.S. defense system was used to intercept them.

The steady flow of C-17 military cargo jets from the United States landed at Hamid Karzai International Airport despite the attack.

This was the latest militant attack. Thursday's terrorist attack by Islamic State killed at least 169 Afghans as well as 13 U.S. military personnel.

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WASHINGTON -- Five rockets were fired at Kabul's airport Monday morning. U.S. forces used a defensive system against them.

Capt. Capt. Urban, spokesperson for the U.S. military’s Central Command said that there were no U.S. casualties. In response to the attack, he said that the U.S. used a defensive weapon called C-RAM (a Counter-Rocket, Artillery and Mortar System).

Urban stated that the rockets were hit by a hail of bullets. Urban said that the system emits a distinctive, drill-like sound which echoed throughout the city at the time.

According to him, the Kabul airfield was operational during Monday's evacuation. Additional details were not immediately available.

Ross Wilson, who is now the U.S. Embassy's charge d’affaires in Kabul, insists that evacuations continue Monday. He rejected as false the claims that American citizens were turned away from Kabul airport by U.S. Embassy staff and American troops.

This is a high-risk operation. He claimed that claims that American citizens were denied access to HKIA because they were refused entry by Embassy staff or US Forces personnel are false. He didn't elaborate.

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ISLAMABAD -- The Pakistani ambassador to Kabul stated Monday that the national carrier of Pakistan is arranging an airlift to transport medical supplies from Afghanistan's northern city Mazar-e-Sharif to the World Health Organization.

Mansoor Ahmed Khan, a diplomat, tweeted that Pakistan International Airlines, a state-run airline, will be a humanitarian air bridge to Afghanistan for essential supplies. This was in coordination with international agencies.

He thanked PIA for the supplies. The airlift wouldn't start immediately, it wasn't clear at the time.

This latest development follows WHO's request for Pakistan's assistance in airlifting medical supplies from Afghanistan to Afghanistan after last week's attack at Kabul's airport.

Mazar-e-Sharif was the capital of Balkh, and fell to the Taliban just one day before Kabul.

Later Monday, Pakistan's state-run media agency reported that the PIA plane landed at Mazar-e-Sharif, after being taken off from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

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TIRANA (Albania) -- A second plane carrying 150 Afghans fleeing their homeland in fear of the Taliban tookover arrived in Albania on Monday morning, according to the Foreign Ministry.

With the new arrivals, 607 Afghans arrived in this Balkan country. According to a ministry statement, the plane came from Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Most Afghans have been accommodated in Albanian hotels, with some temporarily staying at the campus of students in Tirana.

According to the government, it could house as many as 4,000 Afghans for at most one year before they are allowed to move to the United States.

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ISLAMABAD -- Pakistan's military claims that militants opened fire on a Pakistani military post in northwestern Pakistan from Afghanistan, killing two soldiers.

According to the military, the attack occurred in the district Bajur in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. According to the military, Pakistani troops responded in "a fitting manner", killing some attackers and injuring others.

According to the military, Pakistan strongly condemned the use of Afghan soil for terrorist activities against Pakistan and expects that the current and future Afghan authorities will not allow such activities.

The attack was not immediately claimed by anyone, and the Pakistani military did not provide any further information. Pakistan and Afghanistan have been accusing each other for long of harbouring militants against their governments.

They share a internationally recognized border called the Durand Line. It was drawn during the British rule of South Asia in 1913. The boundary has not been recognized by Kabul.

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