Tensions are running high over the August 31 deadline to evacuate refugees and nationals of G7 countries from the facility. Despite concerns from leaders to extend the deadline, President Joe Biden told his allies that “we are on pace to finish” the mission in Kabul by August 31.

During a press briefing Tuesday, the Pentagon reiterated the U.S.’s commitment to the August 31 withdrawal mark after the Taliban said it would not extend the deadline.

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said the scene at the Kabul airport is less chaotic than it was during the first few days of evacuation operations as processing becomes more efficient and crowds around the airport are reduced.

Over 21,000 people were airlifted out of Afghanistan over the last 24 hours and approximately 4,000 Americans have been evacuated from Kabul since operations began.

The Taliban said during its press conference Tuesday that it will no longer allow Afghans to leave the country after the August 31 deadline.

The live updates for this blog have ended.

KEY MOMENTS

Players from Afghanistan women’s national soccer team evacuated from Kabul Airbnb will house Afghan refugees for free UN Human Rights Council received reports of human rights abuses under Taliban rule Boris Johnson insists on “safe passage” out of Afghanistan beyond August 31

“We expect that number to continue to grow in the coming days,” Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby said in a statement.

Biden also “asked the Pentagon and the State Department for contingency plans to adjust the timeline should that become necessary.”

European Council President Charles Michel said that “several leaders expressed concerns about the timing of August 31,” during the G-7 summit Tuesday.

Biden said he plans to stick to that deadline, but European Union leaders were concerned about the ability of their people to reach the Kabul airport.

Michel says the EU “raised this issue with our American friends and partners,” specifically “the need to secure the airport, as long as necessary, to complete the operations; and second, a fair and equitable access to the airport, for all nationals entitled to evacuation.”

During his address to the main meeting of his party, United Russia, Putin noted that militants could take advantage of the chaos in Afghanistan to destabilize bordering nations in Central Asia.

“There is a danger that terrorists and different groups that found a refuge in Afghanistan will use the chaos left by our Western colleagues and try to launch an expansion into neighboring countries,” Putin said. “That will pose a direct threat to our country and its allies.”

“The number one condition that we’re insisting on is safe passage beyond the 31st, so beyond the initial phase for those who want to leave Afghanistan,” Johnson said.

U.S. President Joe Biden said during the meeting that he will not extend the August 31 evacuation deadline.

Biden discussed “a continuation of our close coordination on Afghanistan policy, humanitarian assistance, and evacuating our citizens, the brave Afghans who stood with us over the last two decades, and other vulnerable Afghans,” the White House said in a tweet.

According to CNN, Biden told G7 leaders he is sticking with the August 31 deadline to withdraw from Afghanistan.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said there were “important discussions” on Afghanistan among the G7 leaders.

“NATO is coordinating to ensure effective evacuation,” he said in a tweet. “Together we must also ensure that terrorist groups cannot again operate freely from Afghanistan.”

“Sometimes our security teams are not well trained enough in dealing with women. So they do encounter problems sometimes for that reason,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said during a press briefing Tuesday.

He said women will not be permanently prevented from going to work

“So we’ve requested that women remain in their homes, until we develop a procedure. They won’t be terminated [from their jobs]. They will continue receiving their salaries, even if they’re not showing up to work.”

The email was sent last Friday by supervisory special agent Colin Sullivan, a State Department official who serves as a liaison to the Central Command, and went to officials at both the State Department and Pentagon. The message was read aloud to Axios by a U.S. government official who chose to remain anonymous for security purposes.

In the email, Sullivan described “a life-threatening humanitarian disaster” and included excerpts from Doha Embassy staff that described the conditions for refugees as “a living hell” and “nightmare.”

“A humid day today. Where the Afghans are housed is a living hell. Trash, urine, fecal matter, spilled liquids and vomit cover the floors,” wrote one excerpt, according to Axios.

READ MORE: “Squalid, Unsanitary Conditions Reported at U.S. Afghan Refugee Base: ‘A Living Nightmare’”

Kirby said the “crush” of the first few days of evacuation has been reduced.

“The situation is not as chaotic as it was in the first few days,” he said.

Kirby said the “flow” and processing have improved as the crowds around the airports have been reduced.

“We are not seeing the same pressure now being put on the system as there was in the earlier days,” Kirby said.

During the press briefing Tuesday, he added that it will take “several days” to draw down U.S. operations in Afghanistan.

Kirby said there is “not much difference” between what the Taliban said publically and what they said privately about the August 31 deadline.

Maj. Gen. Hank Taylor said that 21,600 individuals have been evacuated from Kabul in the past 24 hours.

“We’re seeing increased pace in the flight schedule from Kabul,” Taylor said.

The Pentagon would not give the specific number of Americans who have been airlifted out of Afghanistan, but Kirby said the figure was around “several thousand.”

Mujahid told the crowds at the airport to go home and said that their security would be guaranteed.

He said the United States should evacuating skilled Afghans.

“We ask the Americans,” he said. “Don’t encourage Afghans to leave…We need their talent.”

During a press conference Tuesday, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the U.S. has enough time and resources to get foreign nationals out. He added that the Taliban is “not in favor of allowing Afghans to leave.

“These young women, both as athletes and activists, have been in a position of danger and on behalf of their peers around the world we thank the international community for coming to their aid,” the global soccer players’ union FIFPRO said in a statement.

Khalida Popal, the team’s former captain, called the evacuation “an important victory” but said there is still more work to be done.

“The last few days have been extremely stressful but today we have achieved an important victory,” she said in a statement. “The women footballers have been brave and strong in a moment of crisis and we hope they will have a better life outside Afghanistan. But there is still much more work to do. Women’s football is a family and we must make sure everyone is safe.”

“The displacement and resettlement of Afghan refugees in the U.S. and elsewhere is one of the biggest humanitarian crises of our time. We feel a responsibility to step up,” CEO Brian Chesky said on Twitter.

“I hope this inspires other business leaders to do the same. There’s no time to waste.”

Chesky thanked the generosity of hosts and non-governmental organizations on the ground who are supporting this pledge.

The company said the cost of these stays would be funded through contributions from Airbnb and Chesky himself, as well as donors to the Airbnb.org Refugee Fund, according to the BBC.

UNHRC Chief Michelle Bachelet said her office received “harrowing and credible” reports of human rights violations in areas under Talian control, including executions, restrictions on freedoms for women and girls, recruitment of child soldiers and repression of peaceful protests.

Her office is concerned for people who worked with Afghan or international governments, journalists, minorities, women, human rights advocates “or those whose lifestyles and opinions are simply perceived to be opposed to the Taliban ideology.”

“International human rights law is immutable,” Bachelet said. “Enjoyment of human rights is not subject to changes in control of territory or de facto authority.

Bachelet said that Afghanistan has come a long way in the advancement of personal freedoms and now “the onus is now fully on the Taliban to translate its [promises to protect human rights] into reality.”

“For the development and prosperity of any country to be sustainable, people need to live without fear, without discrimination, without repression and with full respect of their human rights,” she said.

Bachelet called on nations to hold the Taliban accountable for upholding freedoms and said “a fundamental red line” will be the Taliban’s treatment of women and girls, in particular, their access to employment, education and freedom.

“United and unequivocal action by Member States will be an important signal to the Taliban that a return to past practices will not find acceptance in the international community – neither now, nor in the future,” she added. “The Afghan people have come too far for such an outcome to ever be tolerable.”

The figure includes around 12,700 people at Kabul’s airport - on 37 U.S. military flights - and another 8,900 people evacuated on 57 coalition flights. according to the White House.

It is the highest daily number so far - and more than double yesterday’s total.

If the story is accurate, this would signal a willingness by the U.S. to positively engage with the militant group in private. It is not yet known what was discussed.

Yesterday German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said “we do not recommend going” to the facility, which has been the site of chaotic evacuation flights. But this morning Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg told people stuck in Kabul: “At the moment we say you have to come to the airport.”

Some countries, now including Germany, are recommending against travelling to the airport due to safety concerns, citing videos which show Taliban and U.S. soliders firing warning shots in dangerously overcrowded areas nearby.

Mark Frerichs, a U.S. contractor, was abducted in late January 2020 by elements believed to be tied to the Haqqani network - a Taliban-aligned militia operating across the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan. Newsweek was the first to report on his kidnapping days later and has made contact with his family and former U.S. officials regarding his case.

READ MORE: Biden Ready to Make Deal with Taliban for Last U.S. Hostage, But Needs Proof of Life

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin told reporters:

Defense Secretary Ben Wallace, in an interview with Sky News, conceded it was “unlikely” President Biden would changed his mind on the August 31 deadline - but the country hopes to join G7 allies to persuade the White House to change its mind.

The meeting is set to dissect the collapse of Afghanistan after the withdrawal of U.S. and N.A.T.O. troops but also the looming deadline, set by the Taliban and so-far backed by the President Biden, to evaucuate civilians from Kabul’s airport.

Follow Newsweek’s liveblog throughout Tuesday for all the latest.