Thwarted attack comes after reports of civilian deaths following drone strikes by the US in the Afghan capital
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Talks are due in Doha and New York to try to reach an international consensus on the conditions for recognising the Taliban government in Afghanistan. There are signs of tensions between superpowers after Russia called on the US to release Afghan central bank reserves that Washington blocked after the Taliban’s takeover of Kabul earlier this month.
“If our western colleagues are actually worried about the fate of the Afghan people, then we must not create additional problems for them by freezing gold and foreign exchange reserves,” said the Kremlin’s envoy to Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov.
Related: International talks aim for consensus on Taliban government
Politico is reporting that US commanders had planned to close gates at the airport on Thursday, fearing an attack, but chose to keep them open to allow the British to continue to evacuate.
Hours later a suicide bomber detonated his explosive vest at the airport, killing nearly 200 people, including 13 US service members.
Commanders calling in from Kabul relayed that the Abbey Gate, where American citizens had been told to gather in order to gain entrance to the airport, was “highest risk,” and detailed their plans to protect the airport.
“I don’t believe people get the incredible amount of risk on the ground,” Austin said, according to the classified notes.
This appears as close to confirmation as we’re going to get from the MoD that, per @laraseligman POLITICO scoop, the Americans wanted to close the gates at Kabul airport sooner fearing an attack, but kept them open to allow Britain to continue evacuating https://t.co/itrLxnAck7 pic.twitter.com/NIbSyNPvRv
A UK defence source says that for security reasons they will not comment on operational details
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