The World Health Organization (WHO) warned Monday that more than 500 tonnes of medical supplies due for delivery in Afghanistan are stuck outside of the country due to chaos at Kabul airport.

Aid officials say the supplies, including surgical equipment and malnutrition kits, are needed to help hundreds of thousands of people displaced by recent violence.

Thousands of people have left the country in recent days, but commercial flights have ceased.

"While the eyes of the world now are on the people being evacuated and the planes leaving, we need to get supplies in to help those who are left behind," WHO spokeswoman Inas Hamam said in a statement to Reuters.

The UN health organisation wants empty planes to divert to Dubai to pick up supplies on their way to pick up refugees.

British Defence Secretary Ben Wallace warned on Monday that the UK must "exploit every minute” to get people out of Kabul as the window to help closes.

Image source, European Pressphoto Agency

A week after the Taliban takeover of the country, many Afghans are uncertain of what it will mean for their lives and their safety. A young female student shared her fears about her future. The BBC is not identifying her to protect her safety.

"Fear has taken over my whole being, and as the days pass, I can feel how hope fades away from within me. It gets replaced with frustration. All I can see is darkness, uncertainty, and a not-so-bright future.

"I will be killed, certainly. I have reasons to be...

"I have witnessed so many hurdles in my life, many that no other girl would be able to tolerate. I could manage to overcome them, but this...

"Hey world, do you care what happens here? Do we matter to you? Do you see us? Do you?

"For those who are listening, for those who care, I am writing this. I am saying this. We are suffering here, we are being left behind.

"If you are listening to us, help us. Help us survive, and once again believe in light and rise; stronger than before. We want our country back. Want our people to live the way they want, the way they deserve.

"Hey world, hey people living out there, lucky you! I envy the life you live."

Read more here.

A spokesman for the Taliban, Muhammad Suhail Shaheen, has spoken with the BBC amid reports the UK will press for a deadline extension for international evacuations beyond 31 August.

"Foreign forces should withdraw on the deadline they have announced earlier. Otherwise, it is a clear violation," Mr Shaheen said.

The spokesman added the Taliban's reaction to such a move would be a decision for the group's leadership.

Thousands of Afghans are continuing to try and flee the country ahead of the end-of-the-month deadline, with many citing fear of life under Taliban rule.

It is unclear whether international flights will be allowed in and out of the country once international forces leave and cease control of the airport.

Jonathan Beale
BBC defence correspondent

Image source, Reuters

Behind the scenes Britain has been pushing the US for an extension of the Kabul airlift. Not for long – just a few days.

That short time would allow evacuation flights to continue for most of this week, while giving the military a few extra days next week to pack up and leave. Military planners in the Ministry of Defence estimate they need 24 to 36 hours to fold up the operation and get every soldier out.

Hopes of an extension still appear slim, not least because of the Taliban.

Some have asked why the UK and allies could not stay longer without the US. But the US is providing the bulk of the troops to keep the airport secure. It’s essentially running the airport, including air traffic control, as well.

The US is also providing intelligence and surveillance for the operation. Replacing these elements would take significant time and resources. Without US military power, there’d also be an increased risk for those left behind.

Staying in Afghanistan without the US was never really an option for the British. Nor is it at Kabul airport

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has said the UK will leave Kabul airport at the same time as US forces.

Speaking to media on Monday, he confirmed Prime Minister Boris Johnson will "try and seek" a US extension beyond the current 31 August evacuation deadline date at a G7 meeting tomorrow.

"When they withdraw that will take away the framework... we will have to go as well," he said. "I don't think there is any likelihood of staying on after the United States."

He added that we are "really down to hours now, not weeks", adding: "We have to make sure we exploit every minute to get people out."

The UK government has deployed five more workers to Kabul airport to aid in evacuation efforts, the Foreign Office has announced.

There are now 19 British personnel working on the ground, including Ambassador Sir Laurie Bristow, who has been praised for remaining at Kabul airport and aiding his team in processing visa applications.

Last week the UK government announced plans to accept up to 20,000 Afghan refugees, with 5,000 expected to arrive in the first year.

President Biden has announced that he plans to withdraw US troops from the airport by 31 August. However, Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to urge him to extend this deadline at Tuesday's virtual meeting of G7 leaders.

Image source, European Pressphoto Agency

Lyse Doucet, the BBC's chief international correspondent, has been at Kabul airport and has written about the evacuation efforts she has witnessed.

It hits you like a brick as soon as you put your foot on the tarmac at Kabul international airport.

The intensity, the urgency, the darkness of this hour. In every direction, there are the huge grey military transport planes from the US and many other countries. Military helicopters are in the sky.

Heading towards every single plane are long queues of Afghans. The lines don't seem to end. They have been told they can only bring one suitcase and the clothes they are wearing, as they leave their country behind - the country now controlled by the Taliban.

But it's not just the country they are leaving. They are leaving behind the life they lived - and for the young, educated generation, the life they built up, the dreams they cherished over 20 years.

Read more from Lyse

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

Image source, Reuters

A spokesperson for the anti-Taliban forces gathering in the Panjshir Valley region of Afghanistan said that the group intends to "pursue peace and negotiations before any sort of war and conflict starts".

Ali Nazary, of the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan, told the BBC that thousands of fighters had gathered in the region under Ahmad Massoud, son of the famed anti-Taliban leader, Ahmad Shah Massoud.

Nazary called on the Taliban to enter into "sincere" negotiations, saying Massoud's forces were "ready for the resistance".

“The National Resistance Front of Afghanistan believes that for any lasting peace, we have to address the underlying problems of Afghanistan. We cannot just continue the same pattern we have been seeing for the past 40 years or 100 years or 200 years in the country. The number one problem is the centralised political system in the country," he said.

"Afghanistan is a country made up of ethnic minorities", he said. "It is a multicultural state. It needs power sharing, a power sharing deal where everyone sees itself in power... If one political force, whoever it is, from wherever they come from, if they try to dominate politics it will just create the conditions for internal warfare and the continuation of the current conflict."

In an article for the Washington Post last week, Ahmad Massoud pledged to "defend Panjshir as the last bastion of Afghan freedom" and called on Western nations to "aid the cause of freedom".

A Syrian family have given advice to refugees from Afghanistan about what to expect from life in Wales.

The Alchikhs made Cardigan in Ceredigion their home in 2017 after spending three years in a Lebanese refugee camp, having fled the violence of the Syrian civil war.

Muhanad Alchikh said they had been made welcome in Wales since their arrival and Cardigan was “very friendly”.

“We hope to help anyone who wants to get a new life,” he said. "We've got a new life in Wales and we are very happy with life here."

The Taliban will not extend the 31 August deadline for the current evacuation mission, a spokesman has said.

The 31st was a red line, Suhail Shaheen said. He said President Biden had said troops would be out by that date, and extending it meant extending Afghanistan's occupation. He warned of consequences if that were to change.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson had been expected to use an emergency G7 meeting on Tuesday to ask President Biden to delay the US troop withdrawal to allow more time for evacuations from Kabul airport.

Thousands of Afghans and foreign nationals are still scrambling to get on flights out of the country.

BBC Breakfast

James Heappey, the UK's armed forces minister, told the BBC about the unfolding evacuation situation in Kabul.

Mr Heappey said officials had realised the situation had changed over the last week. More Afghans eligible for resettlement were coming forward for help, he said, and the UK government was seeking to help others in Afghan civil society deemed vulnerable under Taliban rule.

He also spoke about G7 leaders discussing a possible extension of operations beyond the end of the month, at a meeting tomorrow.

"Let's be clear: although they might be the seven most powerful people on the planet, meeting to discuss what they want to do - they don't get to make the decision of themselves," he said. "The Taliban get a vote as well and that's why in this building we are continuing to work to a deadline of 31 August."

Mr Heappey said more than 1,000 people have been evacuated from Kabul in the last 24 hours, with nine flights planned for the next day.

• Read more: UK cannot stay alone - minister

Thousands of people have been scrambling to flee Afghanistan after the Taliban seized back control of the country.

The surge in numbers trying to leave comes on top of the 2.2 million refugees already in neighbouring countries and 3.5 million people left homeless within Afghanistan's borders as a result of ongoing conflict and political instability.

The BBC's visual journalism team has been looking into the levels of displacement and what other countries are doing to help.

• Read more: Where will refugees go after Taliban takeover?

The German army has said that a member of the Afghan security forces was killed in a gunfight at the north gate of Kabul airport on Monday morning.

A statement said US and German troops had been involved alongside the Afghan guards - with three other Afghans injured in the incident.

It's not clear who started the fighting and German officials said the three Afghans were hurt by "unknown attackers".

The Afghan forces are thought to be part of an army contingent who have been helping international forces, having refused to surrender to the Taliban.

On Saturday, the US advised its citizens to avoid the area because of potential terror threats.

Jon Sopel
BBC North America Editor

There are arguably many reasons to complain about the UK prime minister's handling on any number of issues - but frankly, on the question of US withdrawal, he never stood much of a chance.

Now this isn't me going soft, or in any way being an apologist for Mr Johnson. But from Washington, where I am writing, it is just a statement of realpolitik. It is a statement of the reality of the "special relationship", which is that when push comes to shove, it isn't so special.

America acted unilaterally over Afghanistan - actually maybe that should be Joe Biden acted unilaterally. He wanted out. The warnings of HM Government - and my understanding is they were made strenuously - fell on deaf, indifferent ears in Washington.

In those circumstances, what is a British prime minister to do? The idea that the British armed forces could have swarmed in to fill the vacuum left by a US withdrawal is unrealistic.

It has also been suggested in some sections of the British press that this would never have happened during the supposed acme of the "special relationship" when Ronald Reagan was in the White House and Margaret Thatcher was at Number 10. Are you kidding me? Does anyone remember what happened in the Caribbean island of Grenada, in 1983?

I could list countless other examples where America has ridden roughshod over British sensibilities and it doesn't matter whether the president is Republican or Democrat.

Image source, Reuters

US Vice President Kamala Harris said on Monday that getting people safely out of Afghanistan was her country's "singular focus at this time".

Speaking at a joint press conference on a visit to Singapore, Ms Harris said there would be "plenty of time to analyse what has happened" in the context of the US withdrawal.

"But right now we are singularly focussed on evacuating American citizens, Afghans who worked with us and Afghans who are vulnerable including women and children," she said.

Speaking alongside her, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said Singapore had offered support for evacuation efforts.

An emergency meeting of G7 leaders will be held on Tuesday to discuss the situation in Afghanistan.

The virtual summit was agreed following talks between UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and US President Joe Biden.

Downing Street said the pair had "agreed on the need for the global community to come together to prevent a humanitarian crisis".

The UK heads the G7 group of nations this year - which is made up of the US, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan.

The White House said in a statement that G7 leaders would "discuss a common strategy and approach" following the Taliban's rapid takeover.

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

James Clapper, former US director of national intelligence for the US under Barack Obama, tells BBC Radio 4's Today programme he thinks the 31 August deadline for evacuations is "arbitrary".

"What I hear is the deadline, and then the assurance that at the same time we’re going to do everything we can to get all of our citizens out, and I assume all of our allies’ citizens out, as well as Afghans who assisted us," he says.

"I’m hearing both, so I really think in practice if we have to go beyond 31 August we probably will."

He says he fears Afghanistan will become a "magnet for terrorists of all stripes" including members of the Islamic State group and al-Qaeda "who fled Afghanistan precisely because of the pressure generated by the allied forces".

Asked whether international intelligence about these groups would be weakened with the withdrawal of US forces, he says: "There’s no question that there are considerable capabilities over the horizon and I’m sure our intelligence services are aggressively exploring alternatives but there’s no substitute for on the ground presence."

A firefight broke out between unidentified gunmen and security forces at an entrance to Kabul airport on Monday, according to German army officials.

One Afghan guard was killed and three others injured, officials said, with US and German forces also involved in the incident.

The airport has been a scene of chaos for much of the week since the Taliban takeover of Kabul, with thousands of Afghans and foreign nationals trying to flee the country.

A Nato official told Reuters on Sunday that at least 20 people had died in and around the airport since last weekend - including from crushing and shooting incidents.

We will bring you the latest news from Afghanistan where international evacuation efforts are still continuing.

The main points:

• The German military said an Afghan guard was killed at the airport on Monday after a firefight broke out

• President Joe Biden said on Sunday the US had flown nearly 28,000 people out of the airport in the past week.
• Mr Biden has defended the operation, saying the process was always going to be “hard and painful” regardless of when it began
• Six US commercial airlines are being drafted in to help the effort
• There are discussions under way about the 31 August deadline for departure, Mr Biden has said, amid reports UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is among those pushing for an extension
• Afghanistan will be the focus of a special meeting of the G7 on Tuesday
• US vice-president Kamala Harris - who's visiting Singapore - praised the US military for "doing very hard and difficult work" at Kabul airport