US intelligence officials tracked al-Zawahri to a home in downtown Kabul where he was hiding out with his family

President Joe Biden is expected to discuss further details of the operation in an address to the nation

Iran has summoned Afghanistan’s envoy in Tehran over attacks the previous day on Iranian diplomatic missions in the neighbouring country, state media reported.

President Joe Biden will sign an order to split billions in Afghan assets frozen in the US to fund humanitarian relief in Afghanistan and to create a trust fund for victims of the September 11 2001 attacks, the White House said.

Senior British diplomats have met leading Taliban figures to discuss the “dire” humanitarian situation in Afghanistan. The UK does not recognise the Taliban regime which swept to power in 2020 amid chaotic scenes as Western forces pulled out of Kabul.

The birth of a baby to an Afghan refugee in a hotel room without a doctor present shows the “cold reality” of the delays faced by many families evacuated to the UK, aid organisations warn.

An independent Pentagon review has concluded that the US drone strike which killed innocent Kabul civilians was not caused by misconduct or negligence – and it does not recommend any disciplinary action, according to reports.

The evacuation took place on Wednesday night

Russia hosted talks on Afghanistan on Wednesday involving senior representatives of the Taliban and neighbouring nations, a round of diplomacy that underlines Moscow’s clout.

“If the world remains silent and does not take urgent action, Afghanistan will face a humanitarian catastrophe.”

The 35 young players and their families – a total of 130 people – just missed the airlift evacuations from Kabul after their country fell to the Taliban in August.

UK officials have held talks with the Taliban in Afghanistan in part to prevent the country from becoming “an incubator for terrorism”.

The Afghan survivors of an errant US drone strike that killed 10 members of their family, including seven children, have said that sorry is not enough.

The Pentagon has retreated from its defence of a drone strike that killed multiple civilians in Afghanistan last month, announcing an internal review revealed that only civilians were killed in the attack, not an Islamic State extremist as first ...

The United Nations drummed up more than 1. 2 billion dollars (£870 million) in emergency pledges on Monday for helping 11 million Afghans facing an escalating humanitarian crisis in their homeland and millions more elsewhere in the region.

The US has halted all inbound flights of Afghan evacuees from two main bases overseas for unspecified “health safety concerns”, a move officials warn will have a severe impact on the evacuation operation.

The sailor killed in the suicide bomber attack during the evacuation mission in Afghanistan late last month has been posthumously promoted, according to the Navy.

A British soldier involved in the evacuation of civilians from Afghanistan has described scenes of chaos as people desperately tried to flee the country.

Northern Ireland First Minister Paul Givan and deputy First Minister Michelle O’Neill are to write to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, advising him of Stormont’s commitment to assist with the humanitarian crisis

Both the British Prime Minister and UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab have been criticised over the withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan and their response since the Taliban takeover.

“Radical Islam” continues to represent a “first-order security threat” 20 years after the 9/11 terror attacks on the United States, Tony Blair has warned.

A former MI6 chief has described the withdrawal from Afghanistan as “unnecessarily messy” and “unnecessarily self-harming”.

A Scottish diplomat has told how the evacuation of UK and Afghan citizens from Kabul has been the most “fraught” crisis he has ever handled at the Foreign Office.

But up to 1,100 Afghans deemed eligible were estimated to have been left behind, though that figure will fall short of the true number the UK would wish to help

The UK Government has received assurances from the Taliban that anybody wishing to leave Afghanistan after August 31 will be allowed to do so.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab and other officials are set to focus on future engagement with the Taliban in a bid to find an international consensus on how to deal with Afghanistan’s new regime.

Soman Noori, 26, was travelling on an evacuation flight from Dubai to Birmingham, having previously left Kabul, when she went into labour

Sir Jeffrey is due to hold a meeting with the Taoiseach on Friday. He said he would be seeking more information about Irish citizens from Northern Ireland in Afghanistan.

Despite airlifting nearly 14,000 people out of Afghanistan in the past two weeks, Ben Wallace said “the sad fact is not every single one will get out”

“This is what defeat looks like,” Conservative MP Tom Tugendhat has said of the explosions that have killed at least 60 people in Kabul.

Concern has grown over the affiliate of the so-called Islamic State in Afghanistan, Isis-K, amid fears it could be planning a terrorist attack on Kabul airport.

A former Royal Marine who was near to the explosion close to Kabul airport has said his vehicle was targeted by a gunman amid the chaos.

Crowding has been a challenge for troops to manage as they attempted to evacuate as many people as possible.

The Times reported that witnesses said they saw Mr Raab swimming and using a paddleboard on the last day of his holiday.

The decision means the UK and other European nations now have limited time remaining for their evacuation effort as US troops are providing security at Kabul airport to allow people to flee the country.

A spokesperson said the leaders agreed to ensure those who are eligible to leave are able to, including after the initial phase of the evacuation has ended

The leaders of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the United States are expected to double down on their commitment to preserving the gains made in Afghanistan over the last 20 years.

Simon Coveney said: “The situation at the airport yesterday was really chaotic and on the outskirts of the airport it was very tragic – a number of people were killed in crowds being crushed."

The Afghanistan flag will be displayed in the opening ceremony of the Paralympics even though the country’s athletes were not able to get to Tokyo to compete.

Hamid told the PA news agency he has applied for relocation to Britain but has not had a response from UK authorities.

Every passenger flying on a British aircraft goes to a passenger handling centre in Kabul where members of the Brigade have been working “tirelessly” on the evacuations, according to the UK Defense department.

“For Britain, out of Europe and suffering the end of the Afghanistan mission by our greatest ally with little or no consultation, we have serious reflection to do,” said Mr Blair.

The UK Foreign Secretary returned to the UK on Monday after Kabul had fallen to the insurgents.

Three more Irish people have been evacuated from Afghanistan, the Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed, with 35 still waiting to leave the country.