US prepares to wind down Kabul evacuation, Taliban says ready to take over airport

Ahead of the August 31 deadline, the US military has begun its final withdrawal from Afghanistan as the Taliban prepares to take control of the Kabul airport.

US forces were in the final phase of pulling out of Kabul, ending two decades of costly involvement in Afghanistan, as the country's new Taliban rulers prepared to take control of the airport. Just over 1,000 civilians remained at the airport on Sunday to be flown out before the troops finally leave, a Western security official told Reuters.