Dozens of people evacuated by the Indonesian government from Afghanistan arrived safely at Halim Perdanakusuma Airport in East Jakarta on early Saturday.

Thunberg's grassroot initiative caught on around the world, with millions rallying at weekly "Fridays for Future" protests to call on world leaders to listen to scientists about, and act to stop, climate change, and in 2019 the Time magazine named her person of the year.

Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi announced on Friday that the government had evacuated 26 Indonesian citizens, five Filipinos and two Afghan nationals.

Taliban militants seized control over the weekend in an upheaval that sent thousands of civilians and Afghan military allies fleeing for safety. Many fear a return to the austere interpretation of Islamic law imposed during the previous Taliban rule that ended 20 years ago.

In an interview aired by ABC News on Thursday, Biden was asked about the effects of the chaotic US withdrawal from Afghanistan and responses in Chinese media telling Taiwan this showed Washington could not be relied on to come to its defense.

The findings meant Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will most likely extend a nationwide lockdown that she announced this week to try and curb the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant of COVID-19.

"They are not going to find anything, just waste their time," Morales said in a press conference from the Bolivian city of Cochabamba that was broadcast on Facebook.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Health Chief Ashley Bloomfield told a news conference 11 new cases had been reported over the past day.

While the Taliban's ability to retake ground from foreign forces was welcomed by anti-Western factions, the group's advance has also triggered concerns that the country could once more become a haven for Arab militants.

"If there's American citizens left, we're going to stay until we get them all out," Biden told ABC News in an interview conducted on a day many US lawmakers pressed him to extend the deadline that he had set for a final pullout.

Last month, however, the total value of China's trade with North Korea plunged around 90 percent from July 2019, when their borders were open, according to the Chinese General Administration of Customs.

The rapid ousting of the Western-backed Afghan government by the Taliban, who lost control of Afghanistan in the US-led invasion two decades ago, will provide jihadists with an example of how patience and careful strategy can pay off even after the defeat of IS in Syria and Iraq.

Dozens of people went to Les Cayes airport demanding food after a helicopter arrived carrying supplies.

The leaders of the Taliban will show themselves to the world, an official of the Islamist movement said on Wednesday, unlike during the last 20 years, when its leaders have lived largely in secret.

Under the militants' hardline 1996-2001 rule, girls' schools were closed, women were prevented from travelling and working, and women were forced to wear an all-covering burqa in public.

Investigators are reviewing footage of what appears to be at least two Afghans plummeting from an airborne C-17 transport Monday as well as videos and social media posts related to other possible casualties, spokeswoman Ann Stefanek said.

Ardern said one of the new cases was a nurse at Auckland Hospital, which had been placed in "internal lockdown" while all staff and patients were tested.

"The Taliban is sanctioned as a terrorist organization under US law and we have banned them from our services under our Dangerous Organization policies," a Facebook spokesperson told AFP.

While insisting that "the buck stops with me," Biden has doled out blame to others over America's humiliating end to the 20-year involvement in Afghanistan that included missteps by four administrations - two Republican and two Democratic.

Quake damage to several major hospitals hampered humanitarian efforts, and doctors in makeshift tents outside battled to save the lives of the many injured, including young children and the elderly.

The Taliban announcements came Tuesday after the return to Afghanistan of their co-founder Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, crowning the group's astonishing comeback after being ousted in a US-led invasion nearly 20 years ago.

Gerindra Party chairman and Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto has said Indonesia should continue to foster good relations with both China and the United States so that it can act as a bridge between the two powers, while expressing his admiration for the former’s rapid development.

The report came as many countries evacuated their embassy staff from Kabul due to concerns over the security situation after Taliban insurgents seized the city, prompting thousands of people to throng the airport in an attempt to flee the country.

"The images of desperation at Kabul airport are shameful for the political West," Frank-Walter Steinmeier said, calling the situation in Afghanistan a "human tragedy for which we share responsibility".

He was elected in 2014 on promises to remake Afghanistan.

Some criticized the State Department, which has sole authority to grant visas to former interpreters and other US military support staff and their families, for waiting more than two months to begin the process for Afghans in fear of their lives. 

China wants the Taliban to "curb all kinds of terrorism and criminal acts as well as enable the Afghan people to stay away from war and to rebuild their beautiful homeland," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told reporters in Beijing.

The airport reopened at 1935 GMT Monday, said Major General Hank Taylor, a logistics specialist on the Pentagon's Joint Chiefs of Staff.

US President Joe Biden defended the troop pull-out, in an address to the nation after having cut short his holiday to return to Washington.

"I am president of the United States of America and the buck stops with me," Biden said in a much-awaited televised address from the White House, after several days of silence on the momentous developments.