Tag Archives: Afghanistan

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has told congressional lawmakers that Americans who are trying to leave Afghanistan have been beaten by Taliban fighters, according to several people who participated in the meeting. During the briefing call on Friday, Austin described the reports of Taliban beatings as “unacceptable,” but he did …

Russian President Vladimir Putin has decried the policy of imposing “outside values” on Afghanistan, which has fallen to the Taliban amid a messy US-led withdrawal from the South Asian country. Speaking at a joint news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in the Kremlin on Friday, Putin slammed the “irresponsible …

UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab is facing mounting pressure from British political parties to resign due to the “unforgivable failure” of the government in handling the Afghanistan crisis. Blasting Raab for being on holiday on the Greek island of Crete while Kabul was being retaken by the Taliban, the Labour Party …

A Republican lawmaker has introduced legislation in the US Congress aimed at blocking the Taliban in Afghanistan from accessing the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which has frozen $450 of funds that were scheduled to be dispersed to the country next week. Afghanistan is believed to have over $9 billion in …

Reporters Without Borders called Saturday on US President Joe Biden to make “a special plan for evacuating endangered Afghan journalists” from Taliban-controlled Kabul. RSF said the United States currently seemed to be concerned only with the evacuation “of its own citizens and former employees.” “This is blocking the evacuation of …

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and Turkey’s Tayyip Erdogan discussed the situation in Afghanistan during a phone call and agreed to strengthen bilateral coordination on Afghan issues, the Kremlin said in a statement on Saturday. The presidents emphasized the priority was counter-terrorism and efforts to tackle drug trafficking, the Kremlin said.

Some 125 Afghans who had been hired to guard the British embassy in Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul, have been reportedly informed that they are not eligible for a British scheme designed to help people who worked for the UK resettle abroad, amid the takeover of the country by the Taliban militants. …

The leader of Yemen’s Ansarullah movement says the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan after 20 years of war clearly shows that occupation forces have failed to advance their plans and agendas in the West Asia region. “Our (Yemeni) nation is making progress. The United States is in decline, and recent …

The U.S. State Department is expected to announce that its evacuation flights out of Kabul will now be able to land in Europe, U.S. officials told Reuters on Friday, because of an overflow of people in Qatar. The United States is desperately trying to evacuate thousands of people from Afghanistan …

There are currently about 5,800 US troops at the airport in Kabul to help with evacuation efforts, a US official said on Friday. US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has ordered about 6,000 troops to Kabul, a number that is expected to be reached in the coming days. NATO on Friday …

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has called on European governments to take responsibility for refugees coming from Afghanistan, insisting that his country has no intention of becoming “Europe’s migrant storage unit” after the Taliban’s takeover triggered a new wave of refugee outflow. Erdogan further emphasized following a cabinet meeting that Turkey …

Confidential UN threat assessment report says group making door-to-door visits of people who worked with US and NATO forces. The Taliban is going house-to-house searching for opponents and their families, according to a United Nations threat assessment report, deepening fears that Afghanistan‘s new rulers are planning revenge. After routing government …

US Vice president’s trip, set to focus on China, comes as some allies question US credibility in light of Afghanistan’s chaos. United States Vice President Kamala Harris will embark on Friday on a trip to Asia, with the rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan and Washington’s desperate scramble to evacuate …

A German civilian was shot on his was to Kabul airport but is not in a life-threatening condition and will soon be flown out of Afghanistan, a German government spokeswoman said on Friday. “A German civilian suffered a gunshot wound on his way to Kabul airport. He is receiving medical …

At least two people were killed in Asadabad city when the Taliban opened fire following a stabbing attempt. At least two people have been killed after the Taliban opened fire at a crowd celebrating independence day in Asadabad, witnesses said. In Jalalabad, Taliban fighters fired at people waving the Afghan …

Spain plans to airlift around 500 people including Spanish embassy staff and Afghans who worked with them and their families from Kabul, radio station Cadena SER said on Wednesday, citing sources close to the evacuation. A first military plane landed at Kabul airport late on Wednesday morning, the Spanish Foreign …

At least three people were killed in anti-Taliban protests in the Afghan city of Jalalabad on Wednesday, witnesses said, as the Islamist group moved to consolidate power and Western countries ramped up evacuations from a chaotic Kabul airport. Thousands of people are trying to flee the country, fearing a return …

Australia flew 26 people out of Afghanistan in its first rescue flight, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Wednesday, after Australian troops arrived to help with the evacuation from Kabul airport that has been secured by U.S. and British colleagues. Australia said on Monday it would send 250 military personnel …

German Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke with Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Kahn, the Emir of Qatar and the head of the U.N. Refugee Agency (UNHCR) on Tuesday evening, her spokesman said on Wednesday. “The chancellor spoke yesterday, in the early evening, with Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Kahn as well as with …

Seventeen people were injured on Wednesday in a stampede at a gate to the airport in the Afghan capital, Kabul, a NATO security official said, as Western countries stepped up the evacuation of their diplomats and others. Afghan civilians seeking to leave after the Taliban seized the capital on Sunday …