Afghans Rash To Flee Taliban Amid Biden's Confirmation of Airlift Deadline
Afghans on Wednesday, August 25 Increasingly desperate rash to escape life under Taliban after President Joe Biden confirmed US-led evacuations will end next week.
Otieno Cynthia 
The rash is a result of a huge crowd that remained outside Kabul airport hoping to flee the threat of reprisals and repression in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan; More than 80,000 people have been evacuated since August 14.
Biden said on Tuesday the United States would stick to his August 31 deadline to completely withdraw its troops despite warnings from European allies that not all vulnerable Afghans would be able to leave by then.
"The sooner we can finish, the better... each day of operations brings added risk to our troops," Biden said on Tuesday.
"We are currently on the pace to finish by August 31."
Washington and its allies have been flying out thousands of such Afghans every day on hulking military transports, but it has become an increasingly difficult and desperate task.
Many Afghans fear a repeat of the brutal five-year Taliban regime that was toppled in 2001, and violent retribution for working with foreign militaries, Western missions, and the previous US-backed government.
On Wednesday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the international community must maintain dialogue with the Taliban if it is to protect any progress made over the past 20 years.
"Our goal must be to preserve as much as possible what we have achieved," she said.
