Afghanistan crisis live updates: Ghani vows to return, ensure 'justice' for Afghans in 1st address since fleeing

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar underlined the urgency of restoring airport operations in Kabul as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke to him over phone and discussed the situation in the war-ravaged country after the Taliban recaptured the Afghan capital of Kabul. (PTI)

"Due to the rapid worsening of the security situation in Afghanistan, we are temporarily closing our embassy there," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement, adding that it was relocating the embassy's duties to an office in Istanbul. "Twelve remaining embassy personnel have been flown out of Kabul airport on a military flight provided by a friendly nation and been evacuated to Dubai."

Facebook announced that it has banned the Taliban and all content supporting the insurgents from its platforms as it considers the group to be a terrorist organisation.The company says it has a dedicated team of Afghan experts to monitor and remove content linked to the group. "The Taliban is sanctioned as a terrorist organization under US law and we have banned them from our services under our Dangerous Organization policies. This means we remove accounts maintained by or on behalf of the Taliban and prohibit praise, support, and representation of them," a Facebook spokesperson said.

Britain cautioned the Taliban on Tuesday that Afghanistan must never be used to launch terror attacks but added that the West must try to positively influence the insurgents who have grabbed power after the United States withdrew its forces. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said the West would have to be pragmatic in its relations with the Taliban and try to see if it could moderate the new rulers of Afghanistan."Our message is going to be this: Afghanistan must never be used to launch terrorist attacks against the West, we've had 20 years of success in that regard," Raab said.

Citing a statement that was issued late Monday, Daily Sabah reported that according to officials, hundreds of Afghan soldiers fled to Uzbekistan with 22 military planes and 24 helicopters last weekend, including one aircraft that collided with an escorting Uzbek fighter jet, causing both to crash. The Uzbek Ministry of Defense earlier also said an Afghan military jet had been shot down after crossing the border. A total of 585 Afghan soldiers arrived on aircraft and 158 more crossed the border on foot on Sunday, the Uzbek prosecutor general's office said in a statement cited by the Turkish media outlet.

The Taliban say they want to form an "inclusive, Islamic government'' with other factions. They are holding negotiations with senior politicians, including leaders in the former government. They have pledged to enforce Islamic law but say they will provide a secure environment for the return of normal life after decades of war. But many Afghans distrust the Taliban and fear that their rule will be violent and oppressive. One sign that worries people is that they want to rename the country the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, which is what they called it the last time they ruled.

Pakistan has emphasised the importance of an "inclusive" political settlement in Afghanistan as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke to Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and discussed the chaotic and rapidly changing situation in the war-ravaged country after the Taliban recaptured the Afghan capital of Kabul.

Senior Taliban leader Amir Khan Muttaqi is said to be in the Afghan capital negotiating with Kabul's political leadership, including Abdullah Abdullah, who once headed the country's negotiating council, and former President Hamid Karzai. Muttaqi was a higher education minister when the Taliban last ruled and he began making contacts with Afghan political leaders even before Afghan President Ashraf Ghani secretly slipped away from the Presidential Palace on the weekend, leaving a devastating vacuum that Taliban who were surrounding the city strode in to fill.

About 40 embassy staffers had been brought back by another C-17 yesterday

Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai said she was deeply concerned about the situation in Afghanistan, particularly the safety of women and girls, and called on Monday for world leaders to take urgent action. Yousafzai said Biden "has a lot to do" and must "take a bold step" to protect the Afghan people, adding she had been trying to reach out to several global leaders. "This is actually an urgent humanitarian crisis right now that we need to provide our help and support," Yousafzai said.