Afghanistan news – live: Biden not ruling out sending more troops to Kabul, as airport death toll hits 20

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Joe Biden asks his defence chiefs “every single day” whether they need more troops or other resources to ensure safe evacuations of Americans and non-US citizens from Kabul airport, his national security chief said today.

Jake Sullivan told NBC’s Chuck Todd on Meet the Press that “so far” that the US president’s top generals have not indicated a need for more forces beyond the 6,000 deployed to assist with evacuations and securing the perimeter at Hamid Karzai International Airport.

He left open the possibility that such an assessment could change.

Mr Sullivan’s comments came as a Nato official confirmed that at least 20 people had been killed near Kabul airport following chaotic scenes as large crowds gathered to escape from the country.

Meanwhile, a senior Tory MP has warned that the crisis in Afghanistan showed that there had been a “demise” in the so-called special relationship between the UK and US.

Tobias Ellwood, the chair of the Commons Defence Committee, said on Sunday that the UK had “not been included in the conversations” around the withdrawal of US troops – which has led to the takeover of the country by the Taliban.