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Afghanistan updates: US, Taliban hold first direct talks since withdrawal
State Dept. spokesperson Ned Price called the talks "candid and professional."
It's been more than a month since the U.S. withdrew all U.S. troops from Afghanistan on President Joe Biden's order to leave by Aug. 31, ending a chaotic evacuation operation after the Afghan government collapsed and the Taliban seized control of the country.
In testimony to Congress last month, their first since the withdrawal of all U.S. forces from Afghanistan -- Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Mark Milley and Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, commander of U.S. Central Command, candidly admitted that they had recommended to Biden that the U.S. should keep a troop presence there, appearing to contradict his assertions to ABC News' George Stephanopoulos.
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German military planes unable to land in Kabul
Two German military planes approached the Kabul airport in an effort to carry out evacuations on Monday but could not land because of crowds on the tarmac, a Bundeswehr spokesperson confirmed to ABC News.
One plane was forced to leave to refuel.
The second plane was circling, waiting to land but may also be forced to leave in order to refuel.
German authorities said their planes will shuttle people out of Kabul and drop them off at nearby locations that are deemed safe, but they are relying on the U.S. to secure the landing strips.
-ABC News' Luisa Rollenhagen and Christine Theodorou
UN calls of cessation of hostilities, ‘united, inclusive and representative’ new government
The United Nations is calling for an "immediate cessation of all hostilities and the establishment, through inclusive negotiations, of a new government that is united, inclusive, and representative," according to a joint Security Council statement just released.
The statement was negotiated by diplomats from the 15 countries on the U.N. Security Council -- following their open session Monday morning in New York.
As envoys said during that session, the statement calls for an "Afghan-led, Afghan-owned process of national reconciliation" -- and expressed "deep concern about the number of reported serious violations of international humanitarian law and human rights abuses."
The Security Council members also "expressed deep concern about the number of reported serious violations of international humanitarian law and human rights abuses in communities affected by the ongoing armed conflict across the country, and stressed the urgent and imperative need to bring the perpetrators to justice."
Pentagon confirms it will transport 30,000 Afghans out
The State Department requested the Pentagon transport and temporarily house 22,000 Afghans who have Special Immigrant Visas, their families and others who are at risk at two U.S. military facilities. The Defense Department also said that another 8,000 individuals will be transported to a third country for processing.
The SIV program is intended to help Afghans who aided the U.S. mission to relocate from the country. The Pentagon previously announced that Fort Lee in Virginia would house 22,000 SIVs awaiting processing and that, as of Sunday, nearly 2,000 had already been relocated to the Army post. Monday's announcement of 8,000 additional people to a military installation in a third country is a new development.
"Under the second request, the Department will provide protection, air transportation, and processing of up to 30,000 at-risk individuals from Kabul. This total includes embassy personnel, US citizens, Afghan SIV applicants and other at-risk individuals," Lt. Col. Christian Mitchell said in a statement.
Biden returns to White House ahead of remarks
Biden has returned from Camp David earlier than initially planned, heading back to Washington to address the nation on the crisis in Afghanistan at 3:45 p.m.
The White House said in a statement that Biden was briefed in the morning by his national security team, including Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, on security at the Kabul airport "and ongoing efforts to safely evacuate American citizens, US Embassy personnel and local staff, SIV applicants and their families, and other vulnerable Afghans."