3 Irish Citizens Have Been Evacuated From Afghanistan

36 Irish citizens wanting to be evacuated

Evacuations of Irish citizens from Afghanistan is continuing, while refugees from the country are to arrive in Ireland, in the coming days.

36 Irish citizens, which includes eight dependents, are among the thousands trying to leave.

This morning, Simon Coveney announced 3 Irish citizens have been successfully been repatriated, including teacher Aoife McManus from Ashbourne in Co. Meath.

Minister Simon Coveney said that three Irish citizens have been successfully evacuated from Afghanistan, including Aoife MacManus, who spoke to RTÉ this week from Kabul https://t.co/miKLxgy2yE

— RTÉ News (@rtenews) August 19, 2021

Women and children have been pleading with troops in Kabul to get them out of the country, but priority is being given to foreign nationals and Afghans who have worked with western forces.

Pakistan's ex-foreign minister, Hina Rabbani Khar, is critical of how they left Afghanistan in the first place:

Several people have died in the Afghan city of Asadabad, at an Independence Day rally.

The protesters were fired upon by Taliban forces after they took down the militant group's flag, to replace it with the national flag.

August 19th marks the country's independence from Britain, with protesters in a number of cities using the occasion to express their dislike for the insurgency.

Taliban officials say 12 people have been killed by gunshots or stampedes at Kabul airport since Sunday.

At least 3 people have died during protests in Afghanistan challenging the Taliban's authority.

7 others were injured in the eastern city of Jalalabad after insurgents opened fire and attacked demonstrators with batons.

Up to now, the militant group had been attempting to show the world it had changed since taking over power from the government.

But Shabnam Dawran - a well-known TV presenter in Afghanistan - says the Taliban are now stopping her from working:

Former Afghan women's soccer captain Khalida Popal had always used her voice to encourage young women ‘to be bold, to be visible.’ But now, she has a different message for players: delete social media, erase your public identity and burn your uniforms https://t.co/VqlioYYhky pic.twitter.com/1RFk6KR6Rq

— Reuters (@Reuters) August 19, 2021

Meanwhile the EU's development and foreign affairs committee's are meeting later to form a response to the humanitarian crisis there.

But Dublin MEP, Barry Andrews, says it's too soon to say how the Taliban takeover will play out:

The former president of Afghanistan has defended his decision to flee Kabul as Taliban fighters advanced into the capital.

Militants are outside the city's airport - checking paperwork and nationalities before letting people approach the allied area, as evacuations continue.

Meanwhile in a video posted on Facebook, the country's exiled President Ashraf Ghani has denied claims he'd stolen millions of dollars from state funds.

Mr. Ghani also blamed the Taliban's takeover on the "failure of the peace process":

US President Joe Biden has vowed to keep American soldiers in Afghanistan until all US citizens have been evacuated - even if that goes beyond the end of the month.

Top officials say the Taliban is allowing them safe passage to the airport.

Footage appears to show Afghans babies thrown over razor wire in desperate efforts to escape.

In an exclusive interview with ABC News' George Stephanopoulos, Mr. Biden said Western troops had to leave, one way or another.

Biden said he does not believe the withdrawal of troops could have happened without "chaos".

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark A. Milley, says the situation at Kabul airport remains under control:

Gen. Mark Milley says "the intelligence clearly indicated multiple scenarios were possible" in drawdown of U.S. troops in Afghanistan, adding: "There was nothing that I or anyone else saw that indicated the collapse of...this government in 11 days." https://t.co/85JfnhdhGJ pic.twitter.com/BQKqJFgYmn

— ABC News (@ABC) August 19, 2021