Taliban Block Kabul Airport to Most as Foreign Airlifts Wane

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Taliban forces have sealed off Kabul’s airport to most Afghans as NATO nations wrap up their evacuation flights out of Afghanistan.

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Western leaders on Saturday acknowledged that their withdrawal would mean leaving behind some of their citizens and many Afghan locals who helped them over the years.

And they vowed to try to continue working with the Taliban to allow local allies to leave even after President Joe Biden’s Tuesday’s deadline to withdraw from the country.

Taliban forces beefed up perimeter checkpoints around the airport on Saturday, two days after a suicide attack by an Islamic State-affiliated group killed at least 169 Afghans and 13 U.S. military personnel.