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The family of a 23-year-old Marine from Omaha said Friday he was among 13 US service members killed in the suicide bombing attack at the Kabul airport in Afghanistan, AP reports.
Corporal Daegan William-Tyeler Page served in the 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment based at Camp Pendleton, California.
The family said Page was raised in Red Oak, Iowa, and the Omaha metro area and joined the Marines after graduating from Millard South High School.
He is mourned by his girlfriend, parents, stepmom and stepdad, four siblings and grandparents, the family said in a statement released through a family friend. The statement said the family did not wish to speak to the media at this time.
“Daegan will always be remembered for his tough outer shell and giant heart,” the statement said.
“Our hearts are broken, but we are thankful for the friends and family who are surrounding us during this time. Our thoughts and prayers are also with the other Marine and Navy families whose loved ones died alongside Daegan.”
Hi, Helen Sullivan joining you now from Sydney. I’ll be bringing you the latest developments in Afghanistan for the next few hours. As always, you can get in touch on Twitter @helenrsullivan.
- The UK’s ability to process any more evacuations from Afghanistan is now “extremely reduced”, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) warned, as the focus turned to getting diplomats and service personnel out of the country. The MoD said 14,543 people had now been extracted from Kabul since 13 August, a mix of Afghan and British nationals.
- France will maintain contacts with Taliban officials in Afghanistan to ensure that at-risk people can leave the country now that the French evacuation operation is over, the country’s foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said.
- Pentagon spokesman, John Kirby, denied claims that the Taliban had taken over parts of Kabul airport. “I saw that report. It’s false,” he said.
- The Taliban has made clear it wants US diplomatic presence to remain in Afghanistan, according to the US State Department.
- Texas governor Greg Abbott has confirmed US Marine David Lee Espinoza was among those killed in yesterday’s bombing.
- The UK’s Ministry of Defence says former Royal Marine Paul “Pen” Farthing, who runs an animal sanctuary in Afghanistan, and his pets are being helped out of the country.
- The last German troops returned to the northern air base of Wunstorf on Friday, after evacuating more than 5,300 people from 45 nations out of Kabul airport over the past 11 days. Three military aircraft landed on the base, greeted by fire engines spraying fountains of water for the planes to pass through as a welcome ceremony, Reuters reports.
- A US Marine Corps lieutenant colonel who posted a video demanding accountability from military leaders over the evacuation of Afghanistan has been relieved of his duties and will leave US service. Stuart Scheller posted his video to Facebook and LinkedIn on Thursday, the day 13 US service members, 11 of them Marines, and reportedly as many as 170 Afghans, were killed in a suicide bomb attack at the airport in Kabul.
- The number of Afghans killed in the Islamic State suicide bomb attack on Kabul airport rose to 79, with more than 120 wounded, some still in hospital. The bombing also killed 13 US service members.
- Two British nationals and the child of a British national were among those killed, the UK foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, said. Two more British nationals were injured.
- There was one suicide bomber attack and not two, as previously stated, the Pentagon clarified.
- A “credible” terror threat remains as the airlift continues, the Pentagon said. A spokesperson said: ““We still believe there are credible threats, in fact I’d say specific credible threats, and we want to make sure we’re prepared for those.”
- Up to half a million Afghans could flee the crisis in their homeland, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said, appealing to all neighbouring countries to keep their borders open for those seeking safety.
- An “unprecedented” number of people are travelling from Afghanistan to Pakistan through the official border crossing after the airport suicide attack has driven more to try to flee the country.
- Anxious crowds of Afghans still hoping to join the western evacuation airlift from Kabul crowded airport gates less than a day after the bombing as flights resumed with fresh urgency.
A High Court judge has ordered ministers to take “reasonable steps” to get relatives of an Afghan man recruited by the British Government out of Afghanistan.
Lawyers representing the man, who now lives in the UK, took legal action against Home Secretary Priti Patel after Government officials said his family members were not eligible for removal.
The Foreign Office was listed as an interested party in the case.
Lawyers representing the UK’s government “resisted” the man’s claim and said the decision was not wrong.
But Mrs Justice Foster made a ruling in the man’s favour at a High Court hearing in London, PA reports.
A government spokesman said later: “Our immediate priority is to evacuate those in danger in Afghanistan in order to save lives.
“Since the start of our evacuation on August 15, we have secured the safe return of over 10,000 people.”
France will maintain contacts with Taliban officials in Afghanistan to ensure that at-risk people can leave the country now that the French evacuation operation is over, the country’s foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said.
Le Drian, in a joint statement with defence minister Florence Parly, said the French operation to fly people out of Kabul airport had to end on Friday evening because security was not assured and because US forces were swiftly leaving, Reuters reports.
The British government has acknowledged that more can be done to help Afghan nationals and their families settle in Britain.
Britain earlier announced plans to welcome up to 5,000 Afghans fleeing the Taliban during the first year of a new resettlement programme that will prioritise women, girls and religious and other minorities.
“Approximately only 5% of councils have declined to sign up to our relocation and assistance scheme and close to a third of councils have already stepped up to support new arrivals, but we know there is more that can be done for those that have risked their lives supporting us,” a UK government spokesperson told Reuters.
“This is why we are calling on all councils who have not yet come forward with a firm offer of support to help Afghan nationals and their families as they build a new life here in safety,” the spokesperson said.
The Telegraph newspaper reporter earlier that around 30 councils have refused to take any Afghan refugees who have arrived in the UK after fleeing the Taliban.
“We do not recognise these figures,” the government spokesperson added.
“Councils in England, Scotland and Wales will have access to a share of an additional £5 million to help them provide the necessary housing and support to Afghans who have worked for this country in Afghanistan, but who now face threats of persecution or worse,” the statement added.
A US Marine Corps lieutenant colonel who posted a video demanding accountability from military leaders over the evacuation of Afghanistan has been relieved of his duties and will leave US service, the Marines and the officer involved said on Friday.
Stuart Scheller posted his video to Facebook and LinkedIn on Thursday, the day 13 US service members, 11 of them Marines, and reportedly as many as 170 Afghans, were killed in a suicide bomb attack at the airport in Kabul.
“I have been fighting for 17 years,” said Scheller, then commander of the advanced infantry training battalion. “I am willing to throw it all away to say to my senior leaders: ‘I demand accountability.’”
Scheller said he knew someone killed in Kabul, but was making his video “because I have a growing discontent and contempt for … perceived ineptitude at the foreign policy level, and I want to specifically ask some questions to some of my senior leaders.”
The UK’s ability to process any more evacuations from Afghanistan is now “extremely reduced”, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has warned, as the focus turned to getting diplomats and service personnel out of the country.
The MoD said 14,543 people had now been extracted from Kabul since 13 August, a mix of Afghan and British nationals.
Some 8,000 of those were Afghans and their families under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (Arap) scheme, which applies to those who helped the UK and are at risk of persecution by the Taliban.
But Operation Pitting – the name for the evacuation effort – is drawing to a close.
Already the Baron Hotel facility, which was being used to process those leaving the country by British officials, has closed.
The MoD said this would allow a focus on evacuating the British nationals and others who have already been processed and are at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul.
But the department said “the UK’s ability to process further cases is now extremely reduced and additional numbers will be limited”, and no-one else would now be called forward.
Evacuating all those already processed will now free up space on military aircraft to bring diplomats and military personnel home, PA reports.
Texas governor Greg Abbott has confirmed US Marine David Lee Espinoza was among those killed in yesterday’s bombing.
Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX)
I ordered flags to be lowered to half-staff to honor the U.S. service members killed in yesterday’s horrific attack in Kabul.
U.S. Marine David Lee Espinoza, a Laredo native, was one of the 13 service members killed.
He was 20 years old.
These heroes should never be forgotten. pic.twitter.com/2QVSBhZdGV
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