In an exclusive interview with ABC News' George Stephanopoulos, US president Joe Biden said nobody could have anticipated the speed of the Taliban's takeover.

Mr Biden has been criticised for his handling of the withdrawal. "The idea that somehow, there's a way to have gotten out without chaos ensuing, I don't know how that happens," he said,

Image source, AFP via Getty Images

The Taliban must stop attacking journalists and allow them to report freely, a US-based press watchdog has said.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said they had evidence that Taliban militants had raided the homes of at least four media workers.

These include three employees of German public broadcaster Deutsche Welle, who have gone into hiding.

The CPJ said it was also investigating reports that Taliban fighters had attacked at least two journalists in Jalalabad while they were covering a demonstration against the takeover.

"The Taliban needs to stand by its public commitment to allow a free and independent media at a time when Afghanistan's people desperately need accurate news and information," said CPJ Asia program coordinator Steven Butler.

"The Taliban must cease searching the homes of journalists, commit to ending the use of violence against them, and allow them to operate freely and without interference."

A former Afghan interpreter for the British Army has begged the UK government to evacuate him and his family from the country.

Ahmed - not his real name - says last week he was finally given permission to come to the UK under the the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) - but the next morning, the Taliban had seized control of the capital, Kabul.

He says he, his wife (a hospital doctor) and their six-year-old son have been left stuck in a "horrible" situation.

"Life has ended for us when Kabul collapsed, we are just left behind in a dark room," he tells the BBC.

Taliban figures have said "there will be no revenge" on the people of Afghanistan, but Ahmed says he does not believe them.

"Taliban are not trustable [sic] as you know….If they find me, there will be no mercy, I have done a lot of patrols, missions shoulder to shoulder with British Armies, as like a family, like a brother.

"It's a major threat for me if I go out, they know me. There will be no mercy and I will face death."

Ahmed - who worked with British troops for three years - says during fighting, the Taliban used to target interpreters as they were the "eyes and ears" of the forces.

Asked what he would say to UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson about his family's situation, he says: "I just want him to provide a pathway to safety for me and my family. And I beg him."

In Wednesday's ABC News interview, Biden was asked whether the intelligence was wrong or whether he downplayed it when he said only last month that a Taliban takeover was "highly unlikely".

"I think there's no consensus if we go back and look at the intelligence reports," Biden answered.

"They said it was more likely some time by the end of the year."

He was then pressed by the interviewer: "You didn't put a timeline out when you said 'highly unlikely', you just said flat out it's 'highly unlikely that the Taliban would take over'".

"Yeah," Biden simply stated.

Former President Donald Trump has put out a statement saying that the US operation to airlift its citizens and Afghan allies out of the now-Taliban controlled country could be "another Dunkirk situation".

Trump - who is banned from Twitter - was referring to the retreat by British and French forces during World War Two. It was followed four years later by the Allied invasion that freed Europe from the Nazis.

Trump is not the first commentator to use that analogy.

CNN anchor Brianna Keilar, often accused by conservatives of favoritism towards the Biden administration, used the same historial comparison earlier today to promote a piece she wrote headlined "The moral injury of abandoning Afghan allies".

A female journalist sitting down with a top government official for a hard-hitting interview is hardly news.

But given the Taliban's brutal history of repression against women and girls, many were surprised on Tuesday when one of the militant group's top officials, Mawlawi Abdulhaq Hemad, agreed to be questioned by Tolo News anchor Beheshta Arghand.

It made headlines around the world, and now in her first interview about that interview, Arghand tells the BBC she is scared she could be harmed by the Taliban for simply doing her job.

Image source, Getty Images

Here is the story of a 14-year-old Afghan boy caught up in those chaotic scenes at Kabul international airport a few days ago.

He spoke to the BBC's Zarghuna Kargar. We're not naming him because of his age, but his parents have given permission for the interview to be broadcast:

"We saw some people going to the airport. There was a family of about five women and some men who were trying to get inside. They had lots of luggage, so I asked them if they needed my help. They said yes. I took their bags and went inside the airport with them. I asked the lady and said, auntie, where are you going? She said we’re going to Canada.

She asked if I wanted to go to Canada with her. I said yes but my friend became unsure. I helped them with their bags and wanted to leave but the Taliban were by the gate. They started shooting so we ran back to the airport. There were Americans, they asked us to sit, so we sat. They were talking in English. We sat for about two hours. We were thirsty just wanting to get out.

The family left and boarded a flight to Canada. We were trying to get out but we couldn’t. It was 1am. Then it was daylight and we were still waiting. We didn’t have water. The Americans had water in the cars but they wouldn’t give it to us.

Two planes arrived and suddenly people started running. They [the Taliban] were shooting, the Americans were shooting, too. I saw one plane flying, people were clinging on. I saw one guy dropping from the plane. He died. It was smashed into pieces. Another one fell from high up.

Another plane came, I sat in it. I went inside and they closed the gates. It went about 100 metres but then it stopped and they kicked us out. The Americans said "let’s go" and took us out of the plane and said sit.

I wanted to go. I wanted to leave to Canada. There’s no school here, there’s no education. I so much wanted to go but they wouldn’t take us. I’m scared of the Taliban so wanted to go and have a good life.

[The Taliban] are very dangerous. Do you hear the shooting now? The situation is not good. Taliban walking in the streets, shops are closed, they hit people with sticks."

Image source, Reuters

When asked about Wednesday's news that Ashraf Ghani had sought refuge in the UAE, US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman said that they had seen the announcement and "that is that".

"He is no longer a figure in Afghanistan," she said.

In a video address on Wednesday, Ghani denied he had fled and said he had left to prevent what he described as a "huge disaster".

"For now, I am in the Emirates so that bloodshed and chaos is stopped," he said. "I am currently in talks to return to Afghanistan."

An Afghan refugee who worked as an interpreter for the British Army said he feared he would be "tortured and beheaded" by the Taliban.

He spoke to the BBC from Glasgow where his family have now been resettled.

"I left everything behind," he said.

President Joe Biden - who is facing a political firenado over the debacle in Afghanistan - has again defended his decision to withdraw troops.

In an exclusive interview with ABC News, external on Wednesday, he also again sought to blame the Afghan government and forces.

Asked if he had made any mistakes, the US president said: "No, I don't think it could have been handled in a way, we're gonna go back in hindsight and look, but the idea that somehow there's a way to have gotten out without chaos ensuing, I don't know how that happens.

"I don't know how that happened."

Interviewer George Stephanopoulos asked: "So, for you, that was always priced into the decision?"

"Yes," replied the Democratic president.

When asked about the scenes at Kabul airport on Monday, he grew defensive, telling Stephanopoulos: “That was four days ago, five days ago!”

Asked what he thought about those scenes, he said: “What I thought was, we have to gain control of this. We have to move this more quickly. We have to move in a way in which we can control of that airport. And we did,” he said.

Image source, Getty Images

The US says it expects the Taliban to grant Afghans who wish to leave safe passage following reports that militants are blocking airport access.

"We have seen reports that the Taliban, contrary to their public statements and their commitments to our government, are blocking Afghans who wish to leave the country from reaching the airport," Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman said.

US officials were engaging directly with the Taliban "to make clear that we expect them to allow all American citizens, all third-country nationals, and all Afghans who wish to leave to do so safely and without harassment", she said.

It comes amid reports of chaotic scenes outside Kabul international airport as governments rush to bring home their citizens as well as Afghan colleagues.

Read more here: Chaos at Kabul airport amid scramble to evacuate

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said that Afghanistan will not be able to access IMF resources due to a lack of clarity over the recognition of its government after the Taliban took control of the country.

"As is always the case, the IMF is guided by the views of the international community," an IMF spokesperson said in a statement, according to the Reuters news agency.

It comes amid reports that Joe Biden's administration was working to prevent the Taliban from gaining access to more than $400 million in emergency reserves that the IMF was scheduled to distribute to Afghanistan next week.

Read more here.

Images taken today in Afghanistan show life under the Taliban rule.

Advertisements with female models have been covered up with paint in Kabul. While at the airport, the scene remains tense with Taliban fighters stationed outside while troops attempt to evacuate those who wish to leave.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

As we reported earlier, MPs here in London met in the Commons today to discuss the situation in Afghanistan.

Many would agree that the highlight was the speech of Tom Tugendhat, who spoke of the anger, grief and rage felt by veterans at the “abandonment” of Afghanistan.

Tugendhat, who served in Afghanistan, said President Biden’s comments about the Afghan military were “shameful”.

Veterans in the US have also expressed their anger at the situation and expressed their fear for those left behind who worked with the army.

Army Captain Dustin Elias told CBS News he feared for the Afghans “that helped us, external. The interpreters that risked their lives for us”.

He said he had been in touch with one of his Afghan interpreters who is desperately trying to leave Kabul and fears for the safety of his family.

“These people that have risked their lives to help us, to not do the same and help them, morally, is wrong,” he said.

Marine Sargeant Nick Stefanovic said watching Afghanistan fall was “like your heart being torn out”.

“I think this has got the potential to not only retraumatise but to bring veterans into a dark, hopeless place”.

As we've been reporting all day, an anti-Taliban protest has been put down in the eastern city of Jalalabad in Afghanistan.

The militants now in control of the country have removed the red, black and green national flag from buildings across Afghanistan.

But the crowd in Jalalabad were were determined to raise it once more in their city's main square.

A civil rights activist who witnessed the protest spoke to BBC World Service's Newshour programme about resistance there.

Image source, Reuters

A couple more comments from the US briefing at the Pentagon that we mentioned earlier.

Gen Mark Milley has said that the Afghan security forces had the training and capability to defend their country, but that it came down to "will and leadership".

"I did not, and nor did anyone else, see a collapse of an army that size in 11 days," he said.

Gen Milley was asked how the US mission to evacuate all American citizens who wanted to leave Afghanistan could be successful when some remain in different parts of the country and not at Kabul airport.

"The state department is working with the Taliban to facilitate safe passage of American citizens to the airport," he said.

"We have the capability to do other things if necessary" he added, mentioning "extraction" of US passport holders. But he did not elaborate.

He also said that there was a "steady flow" of people being "processed" at the gates of Kabul airport.

Afghanistan has a young population - many of whom don't remember when the Taliban were last in charge prior to 2001. Also a lot of young people - including young women - have jobs that might come into conflict with the Taliban's strict interpretation of Sharia. How will life change for them now that the Taliban are back?

Sakina Amiri works for Etilaat Roz newspaper in Kabul. She has been telling the BBC World Service about her experience in interviewing Taliban as a female journalist on Tuesday.

"They said, 'First, we don't approve of what you are wearing, you need to fully cover yourself'. Even my face should not be seen."

You can listen to Amiri's description of what it was like to interview a senior Taliban official below.

"You have to remember that after decades of war, worrying about life and what might happen the next day is all part of every Afghan's daily life, especially women."

Back now to Kabul itself, which is gradually returning to a sense of normality. Residents are still waiting to see what kind of government emerges and what Taliban rule will mean for women, human rights and politics freedom.

The BBC's Secunder Kermani reports from the heart of the Afghan capital.

Tara McKelvey
BBC News, Washington

Image source, DEFENSE ONE/HANDOUT VIA REUTERS

Under Donald Trump, the number of refugees admitted to the US was cut. And Stephen Miller, his former adviser, has spoken out against efforts to bring Afghan refugees to the US.

“Resettling in America is not about solving a humanitarian crisis, it’s about accomplishing an ideological objective - to change America,” he said on Fox News.

But Trump himself has issued a statement, saying the US should admit the refugees.

Here at the White House, the problem with admitting the Afghan refugees seems to have more to do with poor planning, than politics.

Officials have been overwhelmed by the number of requests, and struggle to process the paperwork. I asked Chris Meagher, the deputy White House press secretary, about the problem, and whether politics was getting in the way. He looked impatient.

“No, politics has nothing to do with it,” he says. “We’re getting people out.”

A moment later, he sent me an email: “We would never let the prospect of bad-faith criticism from the same people who orchestrated the Muslim ban and decimated America’s refugee pipeline keep us from keeping faith with our Afghan partners.”

The subject of refugees remains highly political in the US, but the calculus has changed. More conservatives are willing to accept refugees, and Democrats are scrambling to get them here.

Image source, Reuters

More from the Pentagon briefing, and Gen Mark Milley (the US's highest ranking military officer) has been giving an update on the situation at Kabul airport, which he describes as "still very dangerious, dynamic and fluid".

Now is not the time for post-mortems, he says - right now there are troops at risk.

"We are the US military and we fully intend to evacuate all US citizens who want to get out of Afghanistan," he said, describing this as "priority one".

The US has already evacuated approximately 5,000 people, he says.