London: India as a key partner of the UK in the region and chair of the United Nations Sanctions Committee will have a very important role to play in dealing with the unfolding crisis in Afghanistan with the takeover of the Taliban, the UK government said on Tuesday.

New Zealand's government took drastic action Tuesday by putting the entire nation into a strict lockdown for at least three days after finding a single case of coronavirus infection in the community.

US President Joe Biden has conceded that the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan happened "more quickly" than anticipated, but insisted that he remains "squarely behind" his decision to withdraw American troops from the war-torn country, amidst "gut-wrenching" images emerging out of Kabul.

The Union Home Ministry on Tuesday announced a new category of visa to fast-tack the applications of Afghans who want to come to India in view of the prevailing situation in Afghanistan.

At least seven people, including three Afghan nationals who clung to a US Air Force plane to escape Taliban rule, died on Monday in a melee at the Kabul airport, as hundreds of people scrambled to board flights in a desperate bid to get out of Afghanistan, following the toppling of the government led by President Ashraf Ghani.

Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani has fled the war-torn country aboard a helicopter stuffed with money but had to leave some cash as it could not be squeezed into the chopper, according to Russian official media reports on Monday.

Islamabad: Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday seemed to endorse the Taliban taking over Kabul by saying that Afghanistan has broken the "shackles of slavery" in the neighbouring war-torn country.

Kabul: Thousands packed into the Afghan capital's airport on Monday, rushing the tarmac and pushing onto planes in desperate attempts to flee the country after the Taliban overthrew the Western-backed government.