Foreign nationals and some vulnerable Afghan citizens were airlifted from Kabul by the United States and its allies in 2021. The airlift followed the Taliban's rapid takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021 and during the final stages of the US and NATO troop withdrawal, marking the end of the 2001–2021 war in Afghanistan.
The Taliban took control of Kabul and declared victory on 15 August 2021, and the NATO-backed Islamic Republic of Afghanistan collapsed. With the Taliban controlling the entirety of the city except Hamid Karzai International Airport, hostilities ceased and the Taliban assisted in the evacuation effort by providing security and screening evacuees during the Biden administration.
Although some countries had previously begun small-scale evacuation efforts in the months leading up to August 2021, such as the American Operation Allies Refuge and the British Operation Pitting, the collapse of the Afghan government occurred sooner than intelligence projections had estimated, and evacuation efforts became more urgent. Several countries launched new evacuation operations, such as Canada's Operation AEGIS, India's Operation Devi Shakti, and South Korea's Operation Miracle.
The evacuation operations were one of the largest airlifts in history. Between 14 and 25 August, the US alone evacuated about 82,300 people from Hamid Karzai International Airport, including US citizens, Special Immigrant Visa applicants, and other vulnerable Afghans. In total, over 122,000 people were airlifted abroad. The evacuation was completed on August 30, one day before a deadline agreed upon with the Taliban.
Background
Following the Afghan peace process, the Trump administration and Taliban signed the Doha Agreement in February 2020. Accordingly, the US agreed to withdraw all US forces from Afghanistan by 1 May 2021. The Taliban failed to honor most of its pledges in the agreement. Nonetheless, the Biden administration decided to continue with the planned withdrawal, although it pushed back the completion date first to 11 September 2021 and then to 31 August 2021.
As the US withdrawal proceeded, the Taliban and allied militant groups began a widespread offensive on 1 May 2021. In the ensuing months, the Taliban seized control of Afghanistan through a combination of negotiating wholesale surrenders of Afghan National Army units and their military offensive, capturing provincial capitals, and expanding their control from 77 districts on 13 April to 104 districts on 16 June to 223 districts on 3 August. In July 2021, the US Intelligence Community estimated that the government of Afghanistan could collapse between six and 12 months after the departure of American troops. Intelligence agencies later reduced the estimation to one month.
However, the government collapsed within days, much more rapidly than many anticipated. The Afghan National Army, poorly led and impaired by widespread corruption, was left in chaos, having only two units remained operational by mid-August: the 201st Corps and 111th Division, both based in Kabul. Intelligence projections quickly worsened. By 14 August, the Taliban had encircled Kabul. On 15 August, Kabul fell and the Taliban declared victory in the War in Afghanistan.
As the Taliban seized control, the urgency to evacuate populations vulnerable to the Taliban, including those interpreters and assistants who had worked with the Operation Enduring Freedom; the International Security Assistance Force, Operation Freedom's Sentinel and the Resolute Support Mission; Hazara people; and vulnerable women and minorities, given the treatment of women by the Taliban, gained importance.
Timeline
13–14 August
After the Taliban seized all border crossings, Kabul Airport remained the only secure route out of Afghanistan. After the fall of Herat on 13 August, the US deployed an additional 3,000 troops and the UK deployed 600 troops to Kabul Airport to secure the airlifts of their nationals, embassy staff, and Afghan citizens who worked with coalition forces. US officials said at the time that all of their forces were still expected to leave Afghanistan by 31 August. On 13 August, a memorandum was sent to all staff of the US embassy to reduce "items with embassy or agency logos, American flags or items which could be misused in propaganda efforts". Diplomats were reported to be rapidly destroying classified documents and other sensitive materials. Among the documents destroyed were the passports of Afghan civilians who had applied for visas.
15–16 August
As the Taliban surrounded and began entering Kabul, US Army CH-47 Chinook, UH-60 Black Hawk and State Department Air Wing CH-46 Sea Knight helicopters began landing at the US embassy to carry out evacuations. A convoy of armored sport utility vehicles (SUVs) was seen departing the embassy grounds, and an attack helicopter was reportedly seen deploying flares in the area to defend against potential shoot-downs. Along with the embassy personnel, 5,000 US troops and some NATO troops remained in the city. The US government later authorized the deployment of 1,000 more troops from the 82nd Airborne Division to the airport, bolstering troop presence in Kabul to 6,000 to facilitate the evacuations.
Panic spread among the civilian population as the Taliban seized the capital, with many citizens rushing to their homes or to the airport, which remained under NATO control after the Afghan government dissolved. A chaotic situation developed as thousands of fleeing Afghan civilians rushed to Kabul Airport, with hundreds crowding the apron in an attempt to catch flights out of the city; some had climbed over boundary walls to enter the airport. US soldiers hovered helicopters low overhead as crowd control, deployed smoke grenades, and occasionally fired warning shots into the air to disperse people attempting to forcefully board aircraft. Video footage emerged showing hundreds of people running alongside a moving United States Air Force C-17A transport plane taxiing toward the runway; some people could be seen clinging onto the aircraft, just below the wing. Others were running alongside "waving and shouting". At least two people, in an apparent attempt to stowaway, were reportedly shown to "fall from the undercarriage immediately after takeoff". Another body was later found in the landing gear of the C-17. One of the victims was identified as Zaki Anwari, who had played for Afghanistan's national youth football team. Three bodies, including that of a woman, were also found on the ground outside near the passenger terminal building, but their cause of death was unclear, though some observers speculated they may have died during a stampede. Seven people were eventually confirmed to have died during this stage—including two armed men shot after firing at US soldiers, according to the US Department of Defense (DOD). The soldiers were not injured, and the gunmen were not identified.
At least 22 Afghan Air Force planes and 24 helicopters carrying 585 Afghan military personnel and their relatives had fled to Uzbekistan. One Afghan Embraer EMB 314 Super Tucano crashed after crossing the border, with Uzbek authorities issuing conflicting reports on the cause. Two Afghan military planes carrying over 100 soldiers also landed in the Tajikistan city of Bokhtar.
About 8:30 p.m. local time, reports emerged that the US embassy was taking fire. The embassy issued a declaration instructing US citizens in the area to shelter in place. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that the embassy would be relocated to the airport as the DOD had taken over security and air traffic control there. Various other nations had announced plans to evacuate their embassies, including Spain, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Denmark. The German government announced that it was sending A400M Atlas aircraft with a contingent of paratroopers for evacuations, adding it would not seek the required parliamentary approval for the operation until after the mission was complete. The Italian government was reported to have transferred its embassy staff as well as the families of 30 Afghan employees to Kabul airport under Carabinieri guard to prepare for evacuation. India was reported to have had C-17 transport planes prepared to evacuate Indian diplomatic staff, but had anticipated that it would take longer for the Taliban to capture Kabul. One group of Indian diplomats were escorted to the airport by the Taliban after negotiating the escort after having had their passage out of the Indian embassy blocked several times by the group. Albania said it had accepted a US request to serve as a transit hub for evacuees.
The Philippine government ordered the mandatory evacuation of Filipino nationals in Afghanistan through the auspices of the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Philippines Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan (which is accredited to Afghanistan). Of the 173 Filipino nationals there, 78 agreed to accept the government's repatriation efforts while some accepted help from their companies. The Philippine government also agreed to accept refugees from Afghanistan.
A flight by the airline Emirates to Kabul was diverted and later returned to Dubai, and United Arab Emirates airline Flydubai announced that it would suspend flights to Kabul on 16 August. By 16 August, most other airlines had also announced suspension of flights to Kabul. The Afghanistan Civil Aviation Authority announced that it had released Kabul airspace to the military and warned that "any transit through Kabul airspace will be uncontrolled".
The US Department of Defense confirmed on 16 August that General Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr., commander of United States Central Command, had met with Taliban leaders in Qatar to secure an agreement. The Taliban reportedly agreed to allow American evacuation flights at Kabul Airport to proceed without hindrance. International airlifts of evacuees had resumed by 17 August following a temporary halt to clear the runway of civilians as the US military confirmed the airport was open for all military flights and limited commercial flights. Pentagon officials added that evacuation efforts were expected to be expedited and were scheduled to continue until 31 August.
Al Jazeera, relaying tracking of flight data posts on Twitter, said that between 15 and 16 August, at least 170 military flights flew from countries including the United States (128); the United Kingdom (12); France (6); Canada (5); Germany (4); Italy (3); Australia (3); India (2); Austria (1); Belgium (1); Denmark (1); Netherlands (1); Sweden (1); Spain (1); and Turkey (1).
A photograph of over 800 refugees packed into an American C-17 taking off from Kabul was widely shared on social media. French newspaper Le Monde stated that the photo had become "a symbol of the escape from the Taliban". Another video went viral on 17 August, where a man attempting to escape the country recorded himself and others clinging onto a C-17 military aircraft. A photograph of a US soldier clutching the furled US embassy flag during the evacuations emerged and was circulated by media outlets.
17–21 August
On 17 August, the United States Department of State and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan challenged reports of Afghans and Americans being unable to reach the airport. Sullivan told reporters that the Taliban were prepared to "provide the safe passage of civilians to the airport, and we intend to hold them to that commitment" while affirming that the withdrawal deadline remained 31 August. Sullivan acknowledged reports of the Taliban physically preventing people from evacuating, but said "By and large, what we have found is that people have been able to get to the airport."
On 18 August, it was reported that an Afghan interpreter who had worked for the Australian military had been shot in the leg by the Taliban as he crossed a checkpoint leading to the airport. That same day, it was further reported that the first Australian evacuation flight had departed the airport with only 26 people on board, despite having capacity for over 120. The first German evacuation flight the day prior had also transported a low number of evacuees, taking off with only 7 on board. The Malaysian High Commission in India (which is accredited to Afghanistan) confirmed it had helped a Malaysian citizen return home earlier in the month. It also confirmed that two other Malaysian nationals working for an international relief organisation had opted to remain in Kabul. The High Commission urged remaining Malaysian citizens to register with them for repatriation.
On 19 August, UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace stated that the evacuation flights could not take unaccompanied children after a number of videos posted to social media showed desperate families attempting to convince NATO soldiers to take their children to safety. The Guardian reported that the British government had informed the 125 Afghan guards who had been guarding the British embassy in Kabul that they would not be offered asylum in the UK because they were hired by the private security firm GardaWorld. In contrast, GardaWorld guards of the US embassy had already been evacuated. That evening, the Finnish government announced it was preparing to send troops to the airport to assist in the evacuations, with around 60 Finnish citizens still stuck in Kabul. French newspaper Libération obtained a confidential United Nations report that found the Taliban had priority lists of individuals to arrest and were also targeting the families of people who had worked with the Afghan government and NATO.