International Desk: Dhaka, Aug-16,

The Latest developments on Afghanistan, where a Taliban blitz has taken large swaths of territory just weeks before the final pullout of American and NATO troops:

KABUL, Afghanistan — Senior U.S. military officials say Kabul’s international airport has been closed to commercial flights as military evacuations continue.

The suspension of commercial flights cuts off one of the last avenues to escape the country for Afghans fearful of Taliban rule. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss ongoing operations.

The Taliban captured most of the country in a matter of days and swept into the capital on Sunday.

Scenes of chaos played out at the airport earlier, as Afghans rushed to get on the last flights out of the country.

Videos circulating online showed airport personnel struggling to coral crowds boarding a plane on the tarmac, while a man with an injured leg lay on the ground. In the background, a U.S. Air Force plane was landing.

KABUL, Afghanistan — A Taliban official says the group will soon declare the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan from the presidential palace in the capital, Kabul.

That was the name of the country under the Taliban government ousted by U.S.-led forces after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief media.

KABUL, Afghanistan — The U.S. Embassy in Kabul has suspended all operations and told Americans to shelter in place, saying it has received reports of gunfire at the international airport.

The U.S. is racing to airlift diplomats and citizens out of Afghanistan after the Taliban overran most of the country and entered the capital early Sunday.

“The security situation in Kabul is changing quickly and the situation at the airport is deteriorating rapidly,” the embassy said in a statement.

“There are reports of the airport taking fire and we are instructing U.S. citizens to shelter in place. The U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan has suspended consular operations effective immediately. Do not come to the Embassy or airport at this time.”

PARIS — France is relocating its embassy in Kabul to the airport to evacuate all citizens still in Afghanistan, initially transferring them to Abu Dhabi.

Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drain said in a statement Sunday that military reinforcements and aircraft would deploy in the hours ahead to the United Arab Emirates, “so that the first evacuations toward Abu Dhabi can start.”

Evacuations have been in progress for weeks and a charter flight put in place by France in mid-July. Since May, France has taken in Afghan employees at French structures under potential threat, with 600 people relocated to France.

France gradually pulled out troops from Afghanistan between 2013 and 2015, and since then former personnel who worked for the French Army and their families, some 1,350 Afghans, were brought to France, the statement said.

KABUL, Afghanistan — Afghan leaders have created a coordination council to meet with the Taliban and manage the transfer of the power, after the religious militia’s lightening offensive swept to the capital, Kabul.

In a statement posted on social media by former president Hamid Karzai, he said the body will be led by the head of the High Council for National Reconciliation, Abdullah Abdullah, as well as the leader of Hizb-e-Islami, Gulbudin Hekmatyar, and himself.

The statement said the move was “to prevent chaos and reduce the suffering of the people,” and to manage peace and a “peaceful transfer.”

BERLIN — The United Nations refugee agency says more than 550,000 people in Afghanistan have fled their homes due to the conflict since the start of this year.

A situational update published Sunday by Geneva-based UNHCR shows about 126,000 people were displaced in the previous month to Aug. 9, the most recent date for which figures are available.

A spokeswoman for UNHCR said that while the situation inside Afghanistan is fluid, “for now the displacement is largely internal.”

“There is a need to support the humanitarian response in the country,” Shabia Mantoo told The Associated Press. “If we do see cross border movement then additional support outside the country will be necessary too.”

The agency continues to have international and Afghan staff on the ground, she said.

BERLIN — German media have issued an urgent appeal to Chancellor Angela Merkel and the country’s foreign minister for an emergency visa program to help local staff who worked for them to leave Afghanistan.

In an open letter Sunday, major German newspapers, public and commercial broadcasters, and the dpa news agency warned that “the lives of these freelance staff are now in acute danger.”

The media outlets stressed that reporting from Afghanistan over the past two decades would have been “unthinkable without the efforts and bravery of th e Afghan staff who supported us on the ground: local journalists, stringers and translators.”

Citing several recent fatal attacks on journalists, the letter said that due to the advance of the Taliban “it must be feared that such murders will now dramatically increase - and many of our staff are at risk.”

“We are convinced: there is no time to lose now,” it adds. “Our staff who want to leave the country are at risk of persecution, arrest, torture and deaths. That is why we ask you act quickly.”

KABUL, Afghanistan — Afghan officials say embattled President Ashraf Ghani has fled the country as the Taliban moved further into Kabul.

Two officials speaking on condition of anonymity as they weren’t authorized to brief journalists told The Associated Press that Ghani flew out of the country. Abdullah Abdullah, the head of the Afghan National Reconciliation Council, later confirmed Ghani had left in an online video.

“He left Afghanistan in a hard time, God hold him accountable,” Abdullah said.

Ghani’s whereabouts and destination are currently unknown.

TORONTO -- Canada has suspended diplomatic operations in Afghanistan and Canadian personnel are on their way back to Canada.

Foreign Minister Marc Garneau said in a statement the decision to suspend operations is temporary and the embassy will reopen if the security situation allows staff to be safe.

Some 40,000 Canadian troops were deployed in Afghanistan over 13 years as part of the NATO mission before pulling out in 2014. More than 150 Canadian soldiers died during the Afghanistan mission.

WASHINGTON — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken says the U.S. is evacuating remaining staff at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul as the Taliban enter the Afghan capital. But he is playing down America’s hasty exit, saying “this is manifestly not Saigon.”

Speaking on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday, Blinken said: “The compound itself, our folks are leaving there, and moving to the airport.”

Blinken also confirmed that U.S. Embassy workers were destroying documents and other items ahead of fleeing the embassy, but insisted “this is being done in a very deliberate way, it’s being done in an orderly way, and it’s being done with American forces there to make sure we can do it in a safe way.”

The evacuation of the U.S. Embassy in Kabul had U.S. military helicopters lifting off from embassy grounds Sunday, and sent puffs of black smoke up into the skies over Kabul as U.S. officials worked to keep sensitive material from falling in Taliban hands.

The scene comes after President Joe Biden earlier this year played down any idea that the Taliban could capture the country, or that the Afghanistan war would end up in scenes reminiscent of the Vietnam one, with military helicopters taking off from embassy rooftops.

Blinken defended Biden’s decision to end the nearly 20-year U.S. military mission in Afghanistan, saying Biden’s hands were tied by a withdrawal deal President Donald Trump struck with the Taliban in 2020.

If Biden had called off the withdrawal, “we would have been back at the war with the Taliban,” and forced to surge tens of thousands of American forces back into Afghanistan, Blinken said.

 Ellen Knickmeyer in Oklahoma City.

ISLAMABAD -- A special flight of Pakistan’s national airline PIA has arrived in Islamabad carrying 329 passengers from Kabul, and another carrying 170 people will arrive later today. A spokesman for the airline said Saturday that the airline will operate three flights tomorrow to transport Pakistanis and other nationalities looking to leave Kabul.

PIA and other commercial flights from Kabul were heavily delayed Sunday due to a U.S. military transport plane that blocked the runway, the airline said.

WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Army Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will brief House members on the situation in Afghanistan in an unclassified virtual conference on Sunday morning, according to an invitation obtained by The Associated Press.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi requested the meeting along with an in-person classified briefing when the House is back in Washington the week of Aug. 23.

— Mary Clare Jalonick in Washington

BERLIN — NATO says that it is “helping to maintain operations at Kabul airport to keep Afghanistan connected with the world.”

In a statement it says that it would also maintain its diplomatic presence in Kabul. “The security of our personnel is paramount, and we continue to adjust as necessary,” it added.

NATO provided no details on its number of staff still in Afghanistan, but said it was “constantly assessing developments” in the country.

“We support Afghan efforts to find a political solution to the conflict, which is now more urgent than ever,” the statement said.

ISTANBUL — Turkey’s president says his country will work for stability in Afghanistan along with Pakistan, in order to stem a growing migration.

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