US steps up pace of evacuations as Taliban warn deadline must be met

A woman evacuated from Afghanistan steps off a bus with a baby as they arrive at a processing centre in Chantilly, after arriving on a flight at Dulles International Airport (Andrew Harnik/AP)

The US military pulled off its biggest day of evacuation flights out of Afghanistan by far, but deadly violence that has blocked many desperate evacuees from entering Kabul’s airport persisted, and the Taliban signalled they might soon seek to shut down the airlifts.

Twenty-eight US military flights ferried about 10,400 people to safety out of Taliban-held Afghanistan over 24 hours that ended early Monday morning, and 15 C-17 flights over the next 12 hours brought out another 6,660, White House officials said.