In Afghanistan

A panicked crush of people trying to enter Kabul's international airport killed seven Afghan civilians in the crowds, the British military said on Aug. 22, showing the danger still posed to those trying to flee the Taliban's takeover of the country.

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President Joe Biden said on Aug. 22 the U.S.-led evacuation of Americans, at-risk Afghans and others from the Kabul airport picked up speed this weekend, although it remains vulnerable to threats posed by the Islamic State extremist group.

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As many as 104 more Turkish nationals were flown out from Afghanistan's capital in a C-130 transport aircraft of the Turkish Air Force on Aug. 20. 

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Efforts to evacuate Turkish citizens from the war-torn country continue at the Hamid Karzai International Airport, and the citizens were rescued by Turkish security forces from areas in central Kabul.

As scenes of chaos and desperation have unfolded in Kabul, the response of EU leaders has varied from impassioned calls on the Taliban to allow refugees to leave to expressions of concerns over women's rights.

Beyond the hand-wringing, however, one theme stands out.

Over 18,000 people were evacuated from Kabul airport since the Taliban took over the main Afghanistan city, a NATO official said. Taliban militants controlling access to the airport have fired shots into the air to disperse approaching crowds, BBC reported. Only in the past 24 hours some 5,000 people managed to escape through the airport, which is being run by specially deployed US troops.

This happened, as Jutarnji list states, as part of the action of "cleansing" Kabul and other occupied cities and provinces, in which the Taliban go "door to door" in search of their previous political opponents.

Tuesday's press conference hosted by the Taliban promised to usher in a new dawn for the Islamist insurgency, respect the rights of women and forgive those who had fought against them.

The Taliban are going house-to-house searching for opponents and their families, according to an intelligence document for the U.N. that deepened fears on Aug. 20 Afghanistan's new rulers were reneging on pledges of tolerance.

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A second Romanian national, an employee of a NATO agency, was evacuated from Afghanistan on Thursday night by a Romanian Air Force aircraft, according to the Romanian Foreign Ministry (MAE). The Romanian had already been at the international airport in Kabul, and with him three other citizens of NATO countries were also taken over: a Bulgarian, a British and an American.

Turkey helped a number of senior former Afghan government officials leave the country after the capital Kabul fell to the Taliban.

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As the turmoil gripped the country, Ankara made arrangements to repatriate Turkish citizens from Afghanistan.

As part of those plans, a plane belonging to Turkish Airlines was dispatched to Kabul to airlift Turkish citizens.