More on the overnight drone strike now, and Pentagon spokesman John Kirby says those targeted were affiliated with IS-K, or the Islamic State Khorasan Province group.

"It was a single mission to get these targets," he says.

"They were IS-K planners and facilitators... that's enough of a reason."

IS-K earlier said it had carried out an attack outside Kabul airport on Thursday that may have killed as many as 170 people, including 13 US troops.

"We're going to defend ourselves," Kirby adds.

Another Pentagon briefing is taking place now, with Maj Gen William Taylor providing further details on the US drone strike in eastern Afghanistan overnight.

He said two high-profile Islamic State group targets had been killed in the targeted strike, with another wounded.

No civilians were hurt in the strike, he added.

Image source, EPA

Despite civilian evacuation operations winding down at Kabul airport, many Afghans still hope to get beyond the gates and leave the country, the BBC's Nafiseh Kohnavard reports.

Our correspondent has been in contact with eyewitnesses and aid officials who have said that people are still being turned away - even with security escorts - after spending hours queuing to reach the gates.

Two non-governmental organisations (NGOs) who had been helping with the evacuation process said Afghans with approved paperwork had missed flights because it was "too dangerous" to approach the gates.

There have been reports of further sporadic shooting around the airport to control or disperse groups of people.

Afghans hoping to leave will now have to try to travel to neighbouring countries, but they are afraid of possible visa issues and what might happen at Taliban checkpoints.

Image source, Getty Images

As we continue to watch developments out of Kabul airport, Afghanistan's two Paralympic athletes have arrived in Tokyo to compete in this year's Games.

In a statement,, external the International Paralympic Committee said the pair were evacuated from Kabul to Paris, where they have been resting and preparing at a French sports ministry training centre.

Zakia Khudadadi, Afghanistan's first female Paralympian since 2004, will be competing in taekwondo. Hossain Rasouli, meanwhile, will be taking part in athletics.

"Through the Paralympic Movement and the Paralympic Games, we all can deliver the positive message that peaceful co-existence is best for humanity," said Arian Sadiqi, Chef de Mission of the Afghan Paralympic Team.

Sam Farzaneh, Angélica Casas & Indrani Basu
BBC News

Image source, Getty Images

Afghans who have managed to flee before the allied troop withdrawal deadline of 31 August can potentially look forward to a new life in the US - but what happens on arrival?

Men, women, children and the elderly recently landed at Dulles Airport in Washington DC and were shepherded aboard a fleet of buses. They were then taken to a centre that would give them temporary shelter.

Rows of neatly made beds with green covers made the cavernous place resemble the inside of a military barracks. A fleet of 20 or 30 portable toilets had been put in a back lot.

Some 300 people would spend the night there, BBC Persian was told before access to the centre was cut off to journalists.

A translator volunteering at the centre described seeing among the arrivals a young girl who had come with only a sister and cousins, but no parents. "Her mother had to choose between sending her daughter alone or keeping her in Afghanistan," BBC Persian was told.

Another woman had just given birth five days earlier, but had kept quiet about her condition, bearing the pain all the way from Kabul to Virginia. The translator discovered that she was bleeding and called an ambulance, she said.

John Kirby, the Pentagon spokesman, has said that the US plans to start the resettlement of those who arrived in America by first placing some 25,000 refugees at four military bases.

You can read more here.

A doctor who is helping recently-arrived Afghan refugees in the UK has said it was "very emotional" to witness children "beginning to play and smile again".

"Many have been arriving dehydrated and malnourished, as well as exhausted, after days waiting outside the airport in Kabul," said Dr Luke Tester, a 27-year-old A&E doctor in Brighton.

"I can't imagine the suffering they must have gone through."

Dr Tester praised the resilience of the refugees, with many arriving unwell and without any possessions.

"People are exhausted and ill, having gone through the unimaginable but [are] still comforting each other. Children who are realising they're safe are beginning to play and smile again.

"There's been such amazing support for these people from the public, I just hope it continues," he said.

The British Red Cross said that more than £1m ($1.3m) had so far been raised to help provide the refugees with essentials such as food, warm clothing, blankets and wash stuff.

The suicide bombing that killed as many as 170 people on Thursday is one of the deadliest incidents of the conflict.

Many of the victims worked with the international community.

One person killed at Kabul airport had served alongside US forces and has left behind a family including eight children.

You can watch the report by the BBC's Secunder Kermani in Kabul above.

Image source, EPA

In the aftermath of the deadly bomb attack at Kabul airport on Thursday, details are slowly emerging about those who died.

In total, it's believed as many as 170 people were killed. The vast majority of these were Afghan civilians.

Among the dead were 13 US military personnel, including several marines and a navy medic.

On Friday, the US military also confirmed in a tweet, external that a member of its Special Forces had been killed in the blast.

While most of the names of those killed haven't been officially released, the relatives of some victims have been speaking to US media.

Steve Nikoui told The Daily Beast, external that his son Kareem, a 20-year-old lance corporal, had been killed.

“I’m still in shock. I haven’t been able to grasp everything that’s going on,” he said. “He was born the same year it started, and ended his life with the end of this war.”

Image source, Getty Images

Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Chancellor Angela Merkel have been discussing how to deal with a Taliban-led Afghanistan.

In a phone call today, the leaders "resolved to work, alongside the rest of the G7, to put in place the roadmap on dealing with any new Afghan government," a UK government spokesperson said.

"The prime minister stressed that any recognition and engagement with the Taliban must be conditional on them allowing safe passage for those who want to leave the country and respecting human rights."

Meanwhile, a Taliban official who led peace negotiations with the US has said that under the group's rule, borders will remain open to Afghans who want to leave following the withdrawal of foreign troops.

"There would be no restriction in this regard," Sher Mohammad Stanikzai said in a televised address.

"Holding the correct and legal documents, these people can at any time travel out of the country or come inside," he said.

More on the UK's operations - as the Ministry of Defence says the final civilian evacuation flight has left Kabul.

Further flights "will have UK diplomatic and military personnel on board", the MoD said.

A mass airlift has been under way since the Taliban took control of the capital this month, with all foreign forces expected to be out by 31 August under an agreed timetable.

More than 1,000 UK troops were in Kabul helping to process departures at the airport at the height of the operation. Some have already left and the rest will depart over the weekend.

The head of the armed forces, Gen Sir Nick Carter, said it was "heartbreaking" they had not been able to rescue everybody.

"We are forever receiving messages and texts from our Afghan friends that are very distressing. So we're all living this in the most painful way," Sir Nick told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

Image source, Reuters

Italy has evacuated almost 5,000 Afghan citizens from Kabul so far, which it says is the highest number of Afghans evacuated by any EU country.

Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio told reporters at Rome's Fiumicino airport: "Our imperative will be not to abandon the Afghan people, not to abandon Afghan women, or young Afghans and all those who over all these years have shown a great desire for evolution, for change."

He added that Italy hopes to evacuate more Afghans after the 31 August deadline, with the help of the UN, NGOs and other countries.

The US, UK and Germany have also airlifted thousands of people out of the country. About 4,000 Afghans were among those evacuated by Germany.

The final UK flight purely for civilian evacuees has left Kabul airport, the Ministry of Defence has confirmed.

Flights for British military personnel and a small number of Afghan evacuees will continue over the weekend.

The UK Ambassador to Afghanistan Laurie Bristow says his team in Kabul "have been working until the very last moment", as the evacuation of UK nationals, Afghans and "others at risk" comes to an end.

"Thursday's terrorist attack was a reminder of the difficult and dangerous conditions in which [the operation] has been done," he wrote on Twitter.

"It's time to close this phase of the operation now, but we haven't forgotten the people who still need to leave. We will continue to do everything we can to help them.

"Nor have we forgotten the brave, decent people of Afghanistan - they deserve to live in peace and security."

French President Emmanuel Macron has renewed his warning about the Islamic State group as he attended a summit on Iraq that has been overshadowed by recent events in Afghanistan.

Macron told Iraq's PM in Baghdad: "We all know that we must not lower our guard, because (IS) remains a threat, and I know that the fight against these terrorist groups is a priority of your government."

Iraq has long suffered attacks by jihadists militants.

The Afghan branch of IS said it was behind the bomb attack on Kabul airport on Thursday that killed as many as 170 people.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Getty Images

As we reported earlier, the UK's evacuation of civilians from Afghanistan is due to come to an end on Saturday.

Chief of the defence staff Gen Sir Nick Carter said there were still some civilian flights leaving Kabul for the UK, but "very few now".

He added: "It's gone as well as it could do in the circumstances... but we haven't been able to bring everybody out and that has been heartbreaking."

A mass airlift has been under way at Kabul airport since the Taliban took control of the capital earlier this month. A 31 August deadline is now in place for foreign troops to leave the country.

On Friday, the Ministry of Defence said the UK had evacuated 14,543 people from the capital since 13 August - but up to 1,100 Afghans who are eligible to come to the UK - as well as approximately 150 Britons - remain in Afghanistan.

Chairman of the foreign affairs select committee Tom Tugendhat told BBC Breakfast it left him "extremely sad" to see so many of his friends left behind.

"We're looking at different networks to get people into second countries, and then connecting them to high commissions and ambassadors of the United Kingdom, to get them to the UK safely," he said.

Those people still in the country have been warned against travelling to Kabul airport, due to the numerous dangerous checkpoints that have been installed along the motorways.

Image source, Reuters

Let's take a look away from the airport now, because dozens of people have reportedly been protesting in Kabul over the closure of banks and money exchanges.

Video obtained by the Reuters news agency shows the protest, with one eyewitness explaining that the demonstrators are calling for banks to open.

Since the Taliban takeover this month, concerns have been raised about the state of Afghanistan's economy, with the value of the national currency falling sharply and food prices rising.

And as we just reported, the UN has warned that an ever-worsening drought is threatening Afghanistan's food security and the livelihoods of seven million people who rely on agriculture or livestock.

Image source, Getty Images

The UN's food and farming body has warned that an ever-worsening drought in Afghanistan is threatening the livelihoods of more than seven million people who rely on agriculture or livestock.

Many of these workers are already among the 14 million people - one in three Afghans - who are acutely food insecure and in need of urgent humanitarian assistance, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has said., external

The FAO adds that food production is under extreme pressure in Afghanistan, and the country has been hit hard by the economic impacts of the Covid pandemic, and the wide-scale displacement of communities during the Taliban's takeover.

"If we fail to assist the people most affected by the acute drought, large numbers will be forced to abandon their farms and be displaced," said FAO Director General, Qu Dongyu.

As the final day of UK evacuations from Kabul continues, here's a reminder of what happens to refugees on arrival:

• Those on official flights enter a 10-day Covid quarantine in a hotel
• Government officials and local authorities are trying to find them permanent homes
• A shortage of suitable accommodation means many will be placed in hotels
• Some will get refugee status and can live in the UK permanently
• Others will get a five-year visa to live and work in the UK - and can then apply for permanent residence
• Afghans arriving independently will enter the normal system for asylum claims - which has a backlog of 70,000 people
• These people cannot settle, or work, while their claims are considered

Here's the warning issued by the US embassy in Afghanistan several hours ago:

Event: Because of security threats at the Kabul airport, we continue to advise US citizens to avoid travelling to the airport and to avoid airport gates.

US citizens who are at the Abbey gate, East gate, North gate or the New Ministry of Interior gate now should leave immediately.

Actions to take:

• Be aware of your surroundings at all times, especially in large crowds.
• Follow the instructions of local authorities including movement restrictions related to curfews
• Have a contingency plan for emergencies and review the Traveller’s Checklist
• Monitor local media for breaking events and adjust your plans based on new information
• Enrol in the Smart Traveller Enrollment Program to receive Alerts and make it easier to locate you in an emergency.
• Follow the Department of State on Facebook and Twitter

Image source, Nowzad

A former Royal Marine and founder of an Afghan animal charity has made it through Kabul airport's security, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) says.

Paul "Pen" Farthing was trying to get his staff and rescue animals out of Afghanistan when they became caught up in Thursday's airport bomb blasts.

Mr Farthing set up the Nowzad animal shelter in Kabul, rescuing dogs, cats and donkeys, after serving in Afghanistan in the mid-2000s.

It's unclear how many members of his staff have also been given clearance.

Read more here.