Chilling reports of human rights abuse and mounting violations against women after Taliban sweep to power UN Security Council told

Afghanistan's ambassador to the UN says the body's Security Council must "use every means at its disposal to call for an immediate cessation of violence" in his country, and "respect for human right and international humanitarian law".

He urged all members of the United Nations not to recognise any administration that achieves power by force or government that is not inclusive.

It comes as Afghanistan is poised for an announcement that it is now the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, under Sharia law, after the Taliban swept to power and amid chaos at Kabul's airport as thousands try to leave.

Afghanistan live updates: All the latest as the Taliban establish new government

Image: The United Nations Security Council meets regarding the situation in Afghanistan

Taliban officials have declared war in Afghanistan is over and it is in charge of 90% of government buildings, amid allegations of revenge killings, brutal tactics, and some looting and lawlessness.

Advertisement

At a meeting of the UN Security Council convened following the Taliban's apparent victory, official Afghan ambassador Ghulam Isaczai said: "I'm speaking for millions of Afghan girls and women who are about to lose their freedom... thousands of human rights defenders, journalists, academics, civil servants... whose lives are at risk... thousands of internally displaced people who are in desperate need of shelter and protection.

"We are extremely concerned about the Taliban not honouring their commitments... We've witnessed time and again how Taliban have broken their promises in the past. We have seen gruesome images of Taliban mass executions, of military personnel and targeted killings of civilians in Kandahar and other big cities.

Image: A man pulls a girl to get inside Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul

"We cannot allow this to happen in Kabul. Kabul residents are reporting the Taliban have already started house to house searches... and looking for people on their target list. There are already reports of target killings in the city."

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the 15-member council: "We are receiving chilling reports of severe restrictions on human rights throughout the country. I am particularly concerned by accounts of mounting human rights violations against the women and girls of Afghanistan.

"We cannot and must not abandon the people of Afghanistan," he said.

US ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said non-combatants must be protected, the rights of women and minorities must be respected and Afghanistan must never again become a base for terrorism.

Thank you for your leadership, Prime Minister, and for allowing me to share concerns I am hearing from women in Afghanistan. I urge the Security Council to pass a resolution to protect Afghan women, girls and minorities. https://t.co/tWAUoWk25z

â€" Malala (@Malala) August 16, 2021

The British representative said the Taliban must do three things: cease all military action, commit not to harbour terrorists and to honour their promises to protect human rights.

The Russian ambassador, while urging restraint, said it was important not to panic, and the representative for China said it respects the will of the people of Afghanistan and added all parties must respect the rights of people in the country, as part of a "smooth transition".

Pakistan's ambassador Munir Akram to the UN, speaking outside the meeting which he wasn't allowed to attend, criticised the Security Council for not allowing his country to take part, but said Pakistan is making efforts to promote an inclusive political settlement in Afghanistan.

He added he would like to take the Taliban at their word that they would form an "inclusive government" and Pakistan believed that women have demonstrated they have an important role in the future of Afghanistan, and must continue to do so.

"We hope there will be female members of the Afghan government," he said.

Image: Taliban fighters took control of the Afghan presidential palace on Sunday after President Ashraf Ghani fled the country. Pic AP

Earlier, chaotic scenes unfolded at Kabul's international airport with thousands of people trying to get past a cordon to aircraft that are evacuating diplomatic staff.

Several officials said no flights are leaving Kabul airport at the moment because desperate people trying to flee the country have been blocking the tarmac.

Footage has emerged, which Sky News has not been able to verify, of an Apache helicopter being used to clear a runway as a C-17 military transport plane comes in to land.

Senior US military officials said seven people were killed at Kabul Airport on Monday morning, including some who fell from a departing US military transport jet.

Read more:

Trump calls for Biden to resign, as Dominic Raab accused of 'going AWOL' with week-long holiday
Who are the Taliban, what is their history and what do they want for the country?

Image: People have been trying to climb on to an airbridge at Kabul airport Image: The latest lines of control map for Afghanistan

A US official said soldiers had fired in the air to deter people trying to force their way onto a military flight that was set to take US diplomats and embassy staff out of the fallen city.

Another US official later said forces protecting the airport in Kabul had killed two gunmen in separate incidents.

A third official described the crowd trying to get onto the tarmac at the airport as "out of control" and other images showed people dragging children over barbed wire fences, climbing on to an airbridge that allows people to walk onto an aircraft from a terminal and onto the undercarriage housing of a military plane taxiing along the runway.

Other footage distributed by Afghan media and on social media was said to show at least one person falling from the undercarriage of a military plane that had taken off.

British and US forces are on the ground in the military side of the airport and the US said it would focus intensively on securing Kabul airport with additional US forces being flown in to help achieve the aim.

Afghanistan's aviation authorities said the "civilian side" of the airport had been "closed until further notice" and there were reports the US military had taken over air traffic control to ensure safety in the region, with many carriers saying they would be avoiding airspace above the country.

The UK's Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said on Monday that the UK government was "surprised by the scale and the pace" with which the Taliban took control of Afghanistan.

He revealed that 150 British nationals would be arriving back in the UK in the early hours of the morning, with a further 350 Britons and Afghan nationals arriving in the coming days.

Image: Crowds gather at Kabul Airport amid evacuation

Sky's Stuart Ramsay, who is near the airport, said the sound of gunfire he has heard is thought to be the military attempting to keep people out of the airport, but says in the rest of Kabul the people are already dressing differently, as the Taliban take over.

He said he understands the airport has been surrounded by razor wire in an attempt to make it secure.

It comes as many of the countries which have been involved in the efforts to rebuild the country amid two decades of war with the Taliban started pulling out their diplomatic staff and continued attempting to evacuate their civilians and Afghans who had helped them.

Among the countries planning to pull out staff was Russia, which launched an invasion in 1979 and fought mujahideen including members of the Taliban during a 10-year war. It came as the Taliban deployed guards to the Russian embassy.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Congested traffic comes to a standstill in Kabul, amid the chaos of the Taliban's takeover

The first group of evacuated Britons and embassy staff arrived at RAF Brize Norton last night, the Ministry of Defence confirmed.

There were reported to be 4,000 Britons in Afghanistan and the UK has said it plans to ramp up efforts to evacuate up to 1,500 people from Afghanistan a day.

A US defence official said his country's aim was to extract tens of thousands of at-risk Afghans and the Germans also said they wanted to fly out 10,000.

The Taliban, who ruled from 1996 to 2001 until a US-led invasion reduced them to conducting a guerrilla war, have routed the US-backed government's forces following a US decision to pull out its troops.

Image: A picture issued by the Ministry of Defence of evacuated personnel arriving at RAF Brize Norton

President Ashraf Ghani fled the country on Sunday as the Islamists began to enter Kabul virtually unopposed - despite ongoing but short-lived resistance elsewhere - saying he wanted to avoid bloodshed.

But Russia's embassy in Kabul said the next day that he had fled with four cars and a helicopter full of cash, and had to leave some money behind as it would not all fit in.

There were reports that around 100 Afghan soldiers had also managed to escape by flying to Tajikistan and also that an Afghan air force jet had been shot down in Uzbekistan airspace, with the condition of any pilots unconfirmed.

Taliban says its 'type of rule' will become clear soon after President Ashraf Ghani flees

Image: British troops were sent back to Afghanistan last week to assist in evacuating British nationals and entitled persons from Kabul. Pic AP

Taliban spokesperson Suhail Shaheen said in a message on Twitter its fighters were under strict orders not to harm anyone and on Monday it put out videos showing quiet city streets in Kabul as fighters manned major intersections.

A Taliban official said its fighters in Kabul had started collecting weapons from civilians because people no longer need them for personal protection.

The Russia-led security bloc CTSO, which includes central Asian states such as Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, but excludes Uzbekistan, said it was deeply concerned the Taliban taking control in Afghanistan will have a significant impact on the situation in Central Asia.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Footage released by the Taliban shows them checking cars at road checkpoints going into the city of Kabul, Afghanistan

Russia is said to be talking to the US about the deteriorating situation.

President Joe Biden, whose order pulling out US troops from the country preceded the Taliban surge, was seen at his Camp David retreat on Sunday, alone in a conference room meeting virtually with military, diplomatic and intelligence experts.

US officials are said to be stunned by how quickly the Taliban have overcome Afghan forces, despite the billions spent on military hardware and training to equip them for the fight.

Mr Biden is due to speak at 8.45pm UK time, but US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said the Afghan military was to blame. "We could not give them the will and ultimately they decided that they would not fight for Kabul," he said.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Tobias Ellwood predicts that the Taliban will launch another major attack on the West 'the likes of 9/11'

Not all foreigners were pulling out. Doctors Without Borders (MSF) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said their operations across Afghanistan have continued and the United Nation's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Aid (OCHA) said it and its partners "are staying and delivering to people in need".

Saudi Arabia called on the Taliban and "all Afghan parties" to preserve lives and property and expressing hope that the situation in the central Asian state stabilises as soon as possible.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said on Monday the United States' "military failure" presented an opportunity to establish lasting peace in Afghanistan.

Share this post