Inside the purgatory where Afghans are trying to take the longest three steps in the world
It’s only a gate. A big, reinforced iron gate protected by paratroopers, but nevertheless it is just a gate.
On one side a rocky drive leads to a complex of apartments and offices and tree-lined streets filled with evacuees.
On the other side, it is a vision of misery.
There is a dusty, rubbish strewn street filled with thousands of people desperate to take the three steps needed to cross the threshold to the Hamid Karzai International Airport and sanctuary.
Right now it’s the longest three steps in the world.
The evacuation effort from Kabul airport is now a multinational nightmare, not just for the US and Britain
For the hopeful they are stuck in a sort of purgatory.
Day, night, it makes no difference – in their thousands they have to wait, sleeping rough and hoping for news.
Hoping they can get into the system, a system that can get them out of Afghanistan.
The truth is most of them probably won’t because they don’t have the right paperwork.
At night we walk past thousands of children, parents and grandparents grabbing sleep where they can or basically passing out from exhaustion. The struggle never stops.
The soldiers do their best to help, but there is no food out here and little water.
Children, parents and grandparents are among those stuck in purgatory while they wait for processing
Thankfully, it is cooler at night. But when the sun comes up the true horror of the conditions these people are living in is obvious, and it is absolutely dreadful.
In the American section of the processing chain, they are penned in behind cement road blocks and guarded by hundreds of armed, sunglass-wearing US Marines.
The heightened security threat alert identified by the Americans means there’s no movement allowed at all.
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Taliban crowd help making ‘big difference’ – minister
There is no shade here, only what can be fashioned from scarves and plastic bags.
Soldiers are slowly trying to work through paperwork belonging to thousands of people but the conditions of entry to the United States are getting stricter and more and more are failing the eligibility test.
Even those who have been contacted by the State Department to go to the airport for a flight out have been denied.
We met one woman, a worker for USAID, who struggled through the crowds for a day with her family and elderly mother.
She got through the gate, had her documents checked by multiple US soldiers, spent the night outside sleeping without any food or water, and once she got to the final step, was told the flight was only for American passport holders.
Instead of putting her family in a separate section of the crowd, the American soldiers threw them out of the airport complex.
They now have to run the gauntlet – again – if they can bear to.
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Kabul evacuation ‘calmer, but that could change’
At the British end of the process, the paratrooper and Taliban cooperation is actually working quite well. They are at least communicating.
You couldn’t make it up – Taliban fighters oversee the crowds from sea containers the paras put in a couple of days ago to create a screening barrier.
Containing the crowds is vital here and clearing up this evacuation mess requires some pretty lateral thinking and that means working with the “enemy”.
Obviously after 20 years of fighting this is something of a culture shock for the soldiers but also the Taliban.
The commanding officer of 3 Para, who have been brought in to assist in the crisis, said it was a simple fact that if the paratroopers weren’t there to do it “nobody else would”.
“The main thing for us is to make sure that we have a smooth system to get those entitled people through,” Lt Col Will Hunt told us.
Lt Col Will Hunt said soldiers have put thoughts of ‘previous tours aside’ to work with the Taliban on restoring order
Soldiers are slowly trying to work through paperwork belonging to thousands of people
“At the moment that involves an element of the Taliban being here alongside us as you would’ve seen while you’ve been here – and also we have to put our thoughts of previous tours aside because obviously everyone’s trying to get the safest situation here, which is to avoid a humanitarian crisis and bring those people through who need to.”
This airlift is now a multinational nightmare, not just for the US and Britain.
In the crowds they try to identify themselves to the soldiers and foreign services of countries they have links to.
One group are wearing T-shirts with Finland and the country’s flag drawn on it.
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But there are plenty of other countries as well: Spain, Poland, New Zealand, Australia, Canada, Germany, Austria… the list goes on.
Their days are spent hoping someone will spot them and take them out of this hellhole and put them on a plane.
The wait is often days and days.
In the horrendous rush to get here families have been split. We saw posters for missing children dotted among the crowds.
People search for their loved ones in a daze of panic – but this is a tough environment and only a few will make the flights.
Only some will go as a complete family, and nobody knows how long they have left before the flights stop. It is purgatory.
World
Bodies of two more Israeli hostages handed over by Hamas – but uncertainty over missing remains
The bodies of two more Israeli hostages have been handed over to the Red Cross by Hamas – but uncertainty still hangs over the fate of the missing remains of others.
Under the ceasefire agreement, all remaining 48 hostages, dead and alive, were supposed to be returned by this Monday.
So far, only the 20 living hostages have been returned, as well as seven dead hostages, according to Israel’s count, with two further bodies still being verified.
Just hours after today’s handover, the Israeli military said a tenth body previously turned over was not that of a hostage – and the confusion added to tensions over the fragile truce that has paused the two-year war.
What has Hamas said?
Hamas has previously said recovering the remaining bodies could take time, as not all burial sites are known.
Its armed wing put out a statement on Wednesday, saying it has returned all the bodies it could reasonably recover, but would require special equipment to hand over the remaining ones.
Meanwhile, the Gaza Health Ministry said it received 45 more bodies of Palestinians from Israel, another step in the implementation of the ceasefire agreement.
Red Cross vehicles escort a truck transporting the bodies of Palestinian hostages. Pic: Reuters.
That brings to 90 the total number of bodies returned to Gaza for burial. The forensics team examining the remains claimed they showed signs of mistreatment.
Trump issues warning
The return of all the hostages is a key pillar of the deal agreed to by Israel and Hamas, heralded by US President Donald Trump as having brought “peace in the Middle East”.
Israel – which has freed around 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees as part of the peace deal – had already threatened to keep the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt closed on Wednesday, and limit aid entering Gaza, due to Hamas not returning all of the dead.
And in an interview with CNN on Wednesday, Mr Trump warned that Israel could resume the war if he feels Hamas is not upholding its end of the agreement.
“Israel will return to those streets as soon as I say the word,” he said.
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Since the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel in 2023 – in which around 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage – the two sides have been at war.
Nearly 68,000 Palestinians have been killed since Israel’s subsequent offensive, according to the Health Ministry, which is part of the Hamas-run government in Gaza.
The ministry maintains detailed casualty records that are seen as generally reliable by UN agencies and independent experts – though the ministry does not say how many of those killed are combatants.
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Middle East correspondent Adam Parsons explains why tensions may begin to bubble
Similar incident in previous ceasefire
This is not the first time Hamas has returned a wrong body to Israel.
During a previous ceasefire, the group said it handed over the bodies of Shiri Bibas and her two sons, but testing in February 2025 showed that one of the bodies returned was identified as a Palestinian woman. Ms Bibas’ body was returned a day later.
Meanwhile, Hamas spokesperson Hazem Kassem accused Israel of violating the deal with shootings on Tuesday in eastern Gaza City and the southern city of Rafah.
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Israel’s defence minister, Israel Katz, said the military is operating along the deployment lines troops withdrew to under the deal, and he warned that anyone approaching the lines will be targeted, as happened on Tuesday with several militants.
Aid trickling in
The World Food Programme said its trucks began arriving in Gaza after the entrance of humanitarian aid was paused for two days due to the exchange on Monday and a Jewish holiday on Tuesday.
The timing of the scaled-up deliveries – which are also part of the ceasefire deal – had been called into question after Israel said on Tuesday that it would cut the number of trucks allowed into Gaza, saying Hamas was too slow to return the hostages’ bodies.
Trucks carrying humanitarian aid and fuel enter Khan Yunis, a city in the southern Gaza Strip. Pic: AP
Abeer Etefa, spokesperson for the World Food Programme, lauded the trucks’ passage but said the situation remained unpredictable.
“We’re hopeful that access will improve in the coming days,” she said.
The Egyptian Red Crescent said 400 trucks carrying food, fuel and medical supplies were bound for Gaza on Wednesday.
Fifteen UK charities have launched a fresh appeal for donations to Gaza to address “catastrophic levels of need” in the devastated region.
The charities make up the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC), which has been raising millions for Gaza – where tens of thousands have been killed over the past two years of war – and the wider Middle East.
After the initial stage of a much-sought ceasefire deal aimed at ending the conflict in Gaza was agreed on by Israel and Hamas, aid has begun to trickle into the devastated region again.
According to the DEC, its charities and local partners have been scaling up their work in the Gaza Strip since the agreement took effect last week.
Palestinians walk past the rubble of destroyed buildings in Gaza City. Pic: Reuters
It said lorries carrying food and other aid began to enter Gaza on Sunday, with the British Red Cross and Plan International UK among those confirming supplies had made it in.
After raising more than £50m since the Middle East Humanitarian Appeal was launched last October, the DEC is renewing calls for donations, saying £10 could provide blankets for two people, while £50 could provide emergency food for five families for one week.
Read more:
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Israel says no match for body handed over by Hamas
As goods are returning to Gaza’s markets, the DEC said, they are increasing cash assistance to help people buy essentials as they become more affordable.
They’re also distributing clean water, medicine, food, and nutrition support.
On its website, the DEC pointed to how famine was declared in Gaza City in August as it appealed for funds saying: “Your support can save lives.”
You can donate to the Middle East Humanitarian Appeal at dec.org.uk.
Donald Trump has refused to say if the CIA has the authority to assassinate Venezuela’s president, after approving covert operations in the country to tackle alleged drug trafficking.
The classified decision, first revealed by The New York Times, marks a significant escalation in efforts to pressure President Nicolas Maduro‘s regime.
Mr Trump said large amounts of drugs were entering the US from Venezuela, much of it trafficked by sea.
“We are looking at land now, because we’ve got the sea very well under control,” he said.
When asked why the coastguard wasn’t asked to intercept suspected drug trafficking boats, which has been a longstanding US practice, Mr Trump said the approach had been ineffective.
“I think Venezuela is feeling heat,” he said.
He declined to answer whether the CIA has the authority to execute Mr Maduro.
The US has offered a $50m (£37m) reward for information leading to his arrest, accusing him of connections to drug trafficking and criminal organisations – claims he denies.
President Nicolas Maduro. Pic: Reuters
Donald Trump at the White House on Wednesday evening. Pic: Reuters
US targets ‘drug boats’
Mr Trump also alleged Venezuela had sent a significant number of prisoners, including individuals from mental health facilities, into the US, though he did not specify the border through which they reportedly entered.
On Tuesday, he announced America had targeted a small boat suspected of drug trafficking in waters off the Venezuelan coast, resulting in the deaths of six people.
According to the president’s post on social media, all those killed were aboard the vessel.
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Footage of the strike was released by Donald Trump on social media. Pic: Truth Social
The incident marked the fifth such fatal strike in the Caribbean, as the Trump administration continues to classify suspected drug traffickers as unlawful combatants to be confronted with military force.
War secretary Pete Hegseth authorised the strike, according to Mr Trump, who released a video of the operation.
The black-and-white footage showed a small boat seemingly stationary on the water. It is struck by a projectile from above and explodes, then drifts while burning for several seconds.
Mr Trump said the “lethal kinetic strike” was in international waters and targeted a boat travelling along a well-known smuggling route.
There has also been a significant increase in US military presence in the southern Caribbean, with at least eight warships, a submarine, and F-35 jets stationed in Puerto Rico.
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