Terrified Afghan interpreters were in hiding near Kabul airport tonight as dozens of others were finally airlifted to Britain.
In frantic messages to the Mail, the trapped translators said militant gunmen wanted to kill them before they could board RAF mercy flights.
As the dramatic airlift unfolded, former Royal Marine Paul Farthing told of his fears for his wife, who failed to get into the airport and was last night sheltering in the Afghan capital. Several interpreters said they were hiding with their young families close to the airfield, but could not reach sanctuary because of the Taliban checkpoints littered across Kabul.
They issued their desperate pleas as an RAF rescue flight - carrying dozens of Afghan interpreters and their family members to safety - was due to touch down in Oxfordshire. It is one of several flights expected to land in the coming days as UK troops desperately try to repatriate at least 6,000 British and eligible Afghan personnel before the airport falls.
Boris Johnson last night held a telephone conversation with Joe Biden, in what is believed to be one of the US President's first calls since Afghanistan fell to the Taliban. The Prime Minister is preparing to announce to Parliament on Wednesday that Britain will accept as many as 25,000 Afghan refugees in one of the largest resettlement schemes in the country's history.
Streams of people, some clutching immigration documents, have been queuing under the guns of armed Taliban in Kabul as Apache helicopters buzzed through the air. However, Admiral Sir Ben Key, the commander of the British evacuation mission admitted the Taliban could order it to stop at any moment.
At least 12 military flights took off from Kabul Airport on Tuesday, including three UK planes as the Ministry of Defence aims to ferry up to 7,000 Britons and Afghan allies out of the country. Most are heading to other stable parts of the Middle East, where the passengers catch charter flights back to Britain. A British student who took a holiday to Afghanistan before being trapped by the Taliban takeover today shared a video from inside a military plane as he landed in Dubai after being evacuated to safety.
Some 370 UK embassy staff and British nationals were flown out by the RAF on Sunday and Monday, adding to the 289 Afghan nationals transported last week. A further 350 Britons and Afghans should be taken out of the country in the next 24 hours - but the pace will need to be stepped up dramatically if those at highest risk are to get to safety.
There are at least 56,000 people who need evacuating from Afghanistan - including some 22,000 flying on US special immigrant visas, 4,000 British nationals, 10,000 refugees that Germany has said it will accept, and 20,000 bound for Canada. In reality, that number is likely to be far higher once diplomatic staff from dozens of countries which had relations with Afghanistan's former government are taken into account.
The US said it may issue up 80,000 special immigrant visas to those who helped with combat operations and are likely to face revenge attacks from the Taliban, while 7,500 troops currently guarding the airport - including 6,000 Americans and smaller numbers of British, Turkish and Australians - will also need to leave.
At least 6,000 people have already managed to flee the country on evacuation flights that began on Sunday, with a dozen departing on Tuesday - most of them flying to neighbouring Middle Eastern countries before continuing their journeys west.
Spain, France and India confirmed their diplomatic staff were evacuated on Tuesday. Russia and Indonesia said their embassies will be partially evacuated, while the EU mission said staff including its ambassador Andreas Von Brandt are still in the country and will need to leave.
In other developments:
An exclusive poll for the Mail revealed that the British public believe Mr Biden is most to blame for the crisis, and two-thirds say the decision to pull out of Afghanistan was wrong; The poll also showed that the public fear the turmoil will lead to fresh terror attacks on our soil; The Taliban's leaders claimed they would 'like to live peacefully'; Mr Johnson suggested the new Taliban government could be recognised internationally if it upheld human rights standards; Emmanuel Macron was under fire after he said France would 'protect' itself from migrants fleeing the crisis; It was claimed the Foreign Office had pulled all of its diplomats out of Kabul apart from the ambassador himself - creating havoc for Afghan interpreters wanting to leave; Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab conceded he would not have left the UK for a five-star Crete holiday had he known what would unfold over the weekend; It emerged that Afghans who apply to come to Britain are being rigorously checked for links with radical Islamist groups and crime; The Archbishop of Canterbury condemned the 'tragic failures' in Afghanistan and called for rapid humanitarian help for its people.
Coaches are pictured arriving at RAF Brize Norton, southern England, on August 17, 2021, ahead of a repatriation flight from Kabul landing this evening
A soldier holds his gun as he stands guard while coaches arrive at RAF Brize Norton, southern England, on August 17, 2021, ahead of a repatriation flight from Kabul set to land this evening
Military personnel board the RAF Airbus A400M at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire. Royal Navy Vice Admiral Sir Ben Key, who is organising the RAF evacuation from Permanent Joint HQ in Northwood, told Sky News that people wanting to be evacuated would have to rely on the Taliban letting them through at Kabul
A British soldier stands guard as British citizens and dual nationals residing in Afghanistan are loaded on to an evacuation flight at Kabul Airport in an undated photograph
People gather outside Kabul Airport today as the Taliban declared an 'amnesty' and urged women to join their government
Evacuees on a US Air Force C-17 Globemaster III transport aircraft, carrying 640 Afghans to Qatar from Kabul on Sunday
US troops, backed by British SAS and Royal Marines special forces, are positioned at the 7.8-mile perimeter with snipers on rooftops, as well as machine gunners and armored cars on the runway. Meanwhile, truck-loads of Taliban fighters are outside the airport and manning the gates into the airport armed with AK-47s and rocket launchers
Mr Johnson will announce details of the refugee scheme on Wednesday as Parliament is recalled to discuss the crisis, with many of the MPs returning from their summer recess expected to savage the West's handling of events.
A total of 20,000 Afghan refugees will be given the right to live here - with 5,000 expected in the first year - plus an additional 5,000 under the programme for translators and their families.
Last night Mr Johnson said the country owed 'a debt of gratitude' to all those who had helped 'make Afghanistan a better place over the last 20 years'.
Yesterday, Taliban leaders held an extraordinary press conference to proclaim the group's return to government and to portray the outfit as a new, modernised force. During an astonishing 40-minute appearance, they said there would no revenge, their opponents will be 'pardoned' and women will be allowed to work and study as a 'very important part of society'.
But on the streets of Kabul, the reality of life under Taliban rule was setting in, with 'terrified' women reportedly confined to their homes, and militants going door to door hunting for ex-government workers.
This year alone, the Taliban have murdered seven Coalition Forces translators, with many more wounded. The father of a US translator was also shot dead yesterday according to his family.
Around 1,700 so-called locally employed staff who worked with British forces and their family members have now been approved to come to the UK. A further 200 are having their claims assessed.
But while many are at Kabul airport waiting for a flight out, many more are in hiding in the city or elsewhere in the country, too terrified to brave the streets. As the Taliban tighten their grip, they face an uncertain future.
Last night, an interpreter called Ahmed shared his harrowing story. He said: 'My wife and I were hiding in the basement of a storeroom, but the man who gave us shelter got scared when the Taliban were nearby and asked us to leave.
'We are about half a mile from the airport. Now we have found somewhere else, a private place. I have to speak quietly because the Taliban checkpoint is nearby. Other interpreters are hiding nearby, they have children with them, so it is worse for them.
'The Taliban have positioned their gunmen at the airport and are demanding to see paperwork and visas. Apparently they let you through if your papers are valid but I do not trust them. A mistake now could cost us our lives.'
Remarkably, in spite of the presence of 7,000 elite US troops and 900 British Special Forces and Paratroopers at Hamid Karzai International Airport, the Taliban are calling the shots.
Admiral Key said the Taliban could withdraw their consent at any time. He added: 'We have to be pragmatic and honest. The Taliban are controlling what and how much we can achieve. We do not know how long we are going to have to do this and we may find the security situation makes it untenable for us to continue to evacuate people.
'The Taliban are providing the security tapestry around Kabul now - they are the providers of security, not us. At the moment we have their consent. They are happy so long as we are going about our business [of withdrawing].'
The revelation that the Taliban are already dictating terms last night caused further anxiety among those waiting for flights to the UK. Only one mercy mission left Kabul yesterday - an RAF Voyager aircraft carrying 250 passengers which was due to touch down at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire last night.
It is not known how many of those on board were eligible Afghans and how many were UK passport-holders.
Last night, former translator Farid, 33, described the 'nightmare' being experienced by those stranded in Kabul. He said: 'It is terrifying, they are on every street. This is their last chance to get us. Taliban fighters are coming to Kabul from Helmand province.
'If they recognise us they will not be waving us through their checkpoints. They are going from house to house asking if people know any government workers and people who worked for Western forces.'
Mr Johnson suggested last night there could be a way for the Taliban to win recognition from the international community.
A Downing Street spokesman said: 'He said any legitimacy of any future Taliban government will be subject to them upholding internationally agreed standards on human rights and inclusivity.'
Western nationals trying to flee Kabul have described being crushed and groped during a stampede of Afghans held at Taliban checkpoints outside the airstrip providing evacuation flights as Afghanistan is taken over by the Islamist terror group.
Taliban soldiers at the entrance of Afghanistan's international airport in Kabul. UK military chiefs admit that the new regime now has total control of access to the airport
The body of an Afghan man is trapped in the wheel arch of a C-17 transport plane that took off from Kabul Airport on Monday
Many founders of the original Taliban are still in leadership positions today as the militants take control of Afghanistan, while others are the sons of founders who have since died or were killed in action. After the deaths of former chief Mohammed Omar and his successor Akhtar Mohammad Mansour in less than 12 months, the leadership is held by Haibatullah Akhundzada. Dubbed 'Leader of the Faithful', the Taliban's Supreme Commander who has the final word on its political, religious and military policy. Despite being the now-obvious choice, there is speculation that Akhundzada may not become the front-facing leader of the new Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan - the full name of Afghanistan under the new Taliban rule. Under Akhundzada sits three deputies. In addition to Mullah Yaqoob, there is Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar and Sirajuddin Haqqani, with the three being described be one Western official as 'the just-about-OK, the bad and the very, very ugly'. Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar - who arrived back in Afghanistan today after 20 years in exile - is perhaps the most well-known and senior. He was the co-founder of the Taliban along-side Mullah Omar - who bestowed the title 'brother' upon him as a sign of affection. Some have suggested he may take up a prime-ministerial role under the new regime. Sirajuddin Haqqani heads up his late-father's group - the Haqqani Network - a US-designated terror cell responsible for a number of brutal killing throughout Afghanistan, including a bombing that killed seven children. After a meteoric rise to power following his father's death, Mullah Yaqoob heads up the Taliban's military, and was likely responsible for the recent incursion that has seen Afghanistan fall under the group's control once more
Armed militants have surrounded the capital's airport and seized control of all access points, meaning they they can decide who stays and who leaves the Middle Eastern state as the Taliban plunge Afghanistan back into what locals and many Western governments fear will be Islamic tyranny.
Ex-Royal Marine commando Paul 'Pen' Farthing described how his wife and pregnant employee, from whom he has been separated, had been 'crushed, groped and pushed' by crowds outside the airport - and had been denied entry by British and US troops stationed there.
In videos posted to Facebook, Farthing said they are now in a secure British location, but furiously urged Boris Johnson to 'get his s**t together' and slammed 'snake' Biden's 'absolutely disgusting' withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan following the 20-year Western intervention.
He also took fire at the British troops who allegedly prevented his wife from entering Kabul airport, adding: 'They should not be wearing the beret of Her Majesty's British forces if they're not prepared to open that gate for a pregnant woman.'
One female student also described how she feared she would be crushed to death by panicking crowds at Kabul airport. Speaking to MailOnline, Aisha Ahmad - who studies in the capital - said: 'People had heard that the Americans were letting people onto the aircraft to get them out of the country.
'I didn't believe it at first, but then I went to the airport and saw that people had been allowed onto the tarmac without any checks, so I thought maybe it was true.
'There were thousands of people inside the airport. Then at one point we were all pushed back by the Taliban police to get us out of the airport and women and children were trampled under people's feet.
'I couldn't breathe in the crush and I really thought I was going to die. My feet are all swollen and covered in bruises. We thought there was a flight going to Germany which we might get on, but in the end they only took German nationals on board.'
She added: 'From what I can see in the media, the situation inside the perimeter has calmed down a bit, but that has just transferred the problem outside onto the streets. People are so desperate.'
Aisha has received 'serious threats' from Islamists after changing her Twitter profile image to one of ex-law student Breshna Musazai, who was shot twice by the Taliban in 2016 but survived the assassination attempt and who works with an NGO to help girls receive an education.
She also that Kabul was like a 'ghost town' since the Taliban had arrived and most shops were closed as traders worried about the worsening security situation and the possibility of looters.
'People are very conflicted about the future and what kind of Taliban we are facing now. Some think they've changed, and others are not so sure. I personally believe they will be softer for a few months, and then after that they will be the same Taliban of old,' Aisha said.
'We're also uncertain about how women will be treated. In some provinces they've told women not to come to work, but we don't know if that's temporary. Whether they will start punishing men for shaving their beard and women for not wearing the hijab, no-one really knows.
'I have lost all hope and I don't think it will be an easy path for Afghan women. My mother used to tell me stories about what the Taliban did and now I fear it will all come true like a bad dream.'
Farthing said on Facebook: 'If I hear on the radio or the TV one more time that the airport is secure, its not - absolutely not. And for them to try to be evacuated and have to be groped, pushed and crushed to get to the gate and then refused by the British soldiers and the American soldiers on the other side to open it - all those soldiers need to grow a pair.
'Boris Johnson, you get your s**t together. I am absolutely furious. They are now out on the streets of Kabul at night trying to get back here. This is a complete cluster. This is the biggest cluster, and if they get injured or hurt, I am holding you 1000 per cent responsible.
'We will not be leaving, if they get here safely, we will not be leaving here again until that airport is secured and you can get into it. Don't you dare send another expat or any of these innocent Afghans to that airport to try to get them in through the thousands, the thousands of desperate people that are trying to get in there.
'You have not got a grip on this, your military does not have a grip of this.
'Boris Johnson and his government and the Americans, and that absolute snake Joe Biden, you are responsible for this, absolutely responsible. Saying you have no regrets about withdrawal? You have totally f**ked this up.'
Mr Johnson hopes to convene a meeting of G7 world leaders at the 'earliest opportunity' as he looks to co-ordinate the international response, as Mr Raab said the UK would have to work with 'challenging' partners on how to deal with the Taliban.
'We will honour women's rights (within Islamic law)': Taliban spokesman holds first news conference in Kabul and promises they won't persecute women or take revenge against anyone - as deputy leader returns after 20 years in exile
The Taliban claimed that Afghan women will not be persecuted under their Islamic rule during their first press conference since their sweeping conquest of Kabul this week, as the man tipped to be Afghanistan's next leader arrived in the country after a 20-year exile.
Zabihullah Mujahid, a spokesman, claimed 'there is a huge difference between us and the Taliban of 20 years ago', when female Afghans were beaten in the street or publicly executed, denied work, healthcare and an education, and barred from leaving home without a male chaperone.
During their press conference in the capital city, the Taliban insisted girls will receive an education and women will be allowed to study at university - both of which were forbidden under Taliban rule in Afghanistan between 1996 and 2001 before the US-led invasion.
The terror group also claimed they want women to be part of the new government after female Afghans staged a protest outside a local Taliban HQ in Khair Khana district, a suburb of north-west Kabul, while chanting 'honour and lives are safe' and 'join voices with us'.
However, women and girls remain the most at risk under the new regime, with gangs in conquered areas allegedly hunting children as young as 12 and unmarried or widowed women they regard as spoils of war - 'qhanimat' - being forced into marriage or sex slavery.
The Taliban has also said women will have to wear hijabs but not burkas. During the press conference on Tuesday, Mujahid did not detail what restrictions would be imposed on women, although he did say it would be a government with 'strong Islamic values'.
Mujahid claimed: 'We are committed to the rights of women under the system of Sharia. They are going to be working shoulder to shoulder with us. We would like to assure the international community that there will be no discrimination.'
The Taliban denied it was enforcing sex slavery, and claims that such actions are against Islam. During the 1990s, the regime established religious police for the suppression of 'vice', and courts handed out extreme punishments including stoning to death women accused of adultery.
Just minutes before the hour-long press conference, it was confirmed that Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the Taliban's deputy leader and co-founder, had arrived back in Kandahar from Qatar, with what was described as a high-level delegation.
'We are going to decide what kind of laws will be presented to the nation. This will be the responsibility of the government with the participation of all people,' Mujahid claimed.
In a day of fast-moving developments:
Taliban's deputy leader and co-founder Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar arrived in Kandahar on Tuesday after 20 years of exile - confirming regime's grip on power; The Taliban held a press conference in which the group said they 'want to live peacefully' and insisted it would respect women's rights 'within Islamic law'; Joe Biden was condemned for the 'humiliating' retreat after Afghan forces capitulated with barely a fight; EU foreign ministers met in Brussels for emergency talks amid fears over a new European refugee crisis; Mr Johnson is pushing for a virtual G7 meeting to be arranged, raising the idea with German Chancellor Angela Merkel during a call today and doing the same during talks with French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday; Dominic Raab promised that Britain will take 'tens of thousands' of Afghans on a longer-term resettlement scheme while increasing foreign aid; Turkey said it welcomed 'positive messages' from the Taliban and diplomats will hold talks with the Islamists; The Duke and Duchess of Sussex issued a statement on the crisis, saying it had left them 'speechless'; Meanwhile the Afghan vice president and the son of a dead legendary military commander rally anti-Taliban forces in last stronghold less than 100 miles from Kabul; The Pentagon warned of a swift response to any attack carried out by the Taliban as mission to evacuate US staff and Afghan allies resumed.
Pictured: Zabihullah Mujahid, chief spokesman for the Taliban, speaks during a press conference in Kabul on Tuesday, August 17, 2021. For years, Mujahid had been a shadowy figure issuing statements on behalf of the militants
The same group of women started protesting this morning, demanding the extremist group does not 'eliminate' women from society but were not approached by Taliban fighters until the afternoon
Pictured: Taliban fighters on a pick-up truck move around a market area, flocked with local Afghan people at the Kote Sangi area of Kabul on August 17, 2021, after Taliban seized control of the capital following the collapse of the Afghan government
Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid answers press members questions as he holds a press conference in Kabul, Afghanistan
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, shakes hand with a journalist after his first news conference, in Kabul, Afghanistan
The Taliban went on a PR offensive today promising women and girls their 'honour and lives are safe' and they will be able to work and go to university after coming face-to-face with brave protesters demanding equality faced in Kabul
Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the Taliban's co-founder and deputy leader, has arrived back in the country from Qatar, a spokesman has said (file image)
A woman wearing a blue-coloured burqa walks next to the construction site of a building in Kabul on June 21, 2021
Under the hardline version of Sharia - Islamic law - that the Taliban imposed the last time they controlled the capital, women and girls were mostly denied education or employment.
Burqas - full body and face coverings - became mandatory in public, women could not leave home without a male companion, and public floggings and executions, including stoning for adultery, were carried out in city squares and stadiums.
Under threat of execution, girls were banned from mainstream education after the age of eight - forcing those who wanted to learn to do so in secret schools.
From the age of eight, girls were not allowed to be in direct contact with males other than a close 'blood relative', husband, or in-law.
Punishments were often carried out publicly, either as formal spectacles held in sports stadiums or town squares or spontaneous street beatings. Many punishments were meted out by individual militias without the sanction of Taliban authorities.
In October 1996, for instance, a woman had the tip of her thumb cut off for wearing nail varnish - while in 1999, a mother-of-seven was executed in front of 30,000 spectators in Kabul's Ghazi Sport stadium for murdering her husband. She had been jailed for three years and tortured prior to the execution, but had refused to plead her innocence in a bid to protect her daughter.
Even after the Taliban's ousting in 2001, women often remained marginalised, especially in rural areas.
The United Nations chief called for an immediate end to violence in Afghanistan and urging the international community to unite to ensure that the human rights of all people are respected.
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appealed to the Security Council at an emergency meeting on Monday 'and the international community as a whole to stand together, work together and act together.'
He said he is 'particularly concerned by accounts of mounting human rights violations against the women and girls of Afghanistan who fear a return to the darkest days' in the 1990s when the Taliban ruled and barred girls for getting an education and imposed draconian measures on women.
Mr Guterres said 'the world is following events in Afghanistan with a heavy heart and deep disquiet about what lies ahead' and with the country's future and the hopes and dreams of a generation of young Afghans in the balance, the coming days 'will be pivotal.'
At this 'grave hour,' the secretary-general urged all parties, especially the Taliban, 'to exercise utmost restraint to protect lives and to ensure that humanitarian needs can be met.'
Mr Guterres said the UN continues to have staff and offices in areas now under Taliban control, and which so far have been respected. 'Above all, we will stay and deliver in support of the Afghan people in their hour of need.'
'We cannot and must not abandon the people of Afghanistan,' he said.
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Much of the rest of Mujahid's press conference was also aimed at quashing fears about reprisal attacks against those who supported the Western-backed government, saying the new government did not want internal or external enemies.
Earlier, Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen told Sky News 'thousands' of schools would continue to educate girls as the group announced a 'general amnesty' for those who previously worked in the Afghan government, saying 'their properties will be saved and their honour and their lives are safe.'
A group of women staged a demonstration demanding the right to work and study in Kabul on Tuesday morning.
Chanting the slogan: 'join voices with us' the small group of women approached a local Taliban HQ in Khair Khana district, a suburb of north-west Kabul.
But rather than arresting or beating the protestors, the senior Taliban commander present tried to reassure them by telling them: 'Don't worry, your rights will be respected. You will be allowed to work and study.'
One observer who saw the women's protest said: 'The Taliban are on their best behaviour at the moment. They are keen to take control of the levers of government in Kabul with the least possible bloodshed and in the quickest time.
'They know that to do that they need to win the hearts and minds of the people, or at least allay their fears.
'We've all heard orders from their high command stating that women will be allowed to work and girls to go to school, but that's very different from the way the Taliban have behaved in the past. The proof will be whether they continue to maintain that position over the next few weeks and months, or revert to their old ways.'
Meanwhile, MailOnline received a heartfelt video plea from a young Afghan student outlining her fears for the days ahead.
Kabul University student Rukhsar, 22, said; 'I am disheartened by the recent situation and advance of the Taliban
