Local residents say a loud explosion was heard before 8 am local time on New Year’s Day An explosion was heard outside the military airport in Kabul which is feared to have caused “multiple casualties”, Afghanistan’s Taliban government has said. “Today morning an explosion took place outside Kabul military airport, …
Read More »Deadlock in talks to run Afghan airports: Officials
Negotiations between the Taliban and a Qatar-Turkey consortium for operating Afghanistan’s five airports, including in the capital, have hit a deadlock after the Taliban insisted their fighters will guard the facilities, officials said. Kabul’s only airport was trashed in August when tens of thousands of people rushed to evacuate on …
Read More »Taliban ask airlines to resume international flights to Afghanistan
The Taliban government in Afghanistan appealed on Sunday for international flights to be resumed, promising full cooperation with airlines and saying that problems at Kabul airport had been resolved. The statement from the foreign affairs ministry comes as the new administration has stepped up efforts to open up the country …
Read More »First foreign commercial flight since Taliban takeover lands in Kabul
A Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) plane carrying a handful of passengers touched down at Kabul airport Monday, the first international commercial flight to land since the Taliban retook power in Afghanistan on August 15. “There was hardly anyone on the plane, around 10 people… maybe more staff than passengers,” said …
Read More »First post-evacuation flight from Afghanistan lands in Qatar after Taliban approval
On Wednesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken criticized the Taliban and revealed that they were not allowing charter flights to evacuate US citizens and at-risk Afghans to depart the airport. The Taliban allowed a flight of foreigners, including American citizens, to finally depart Afghanistan on Thursday after the top …
Read More »Qatari official: Kabul airport 90 percent operational, expects gradual reopening
Afghanistan’s Kabul Airport is about 90 percent ready for operations but its reopening is planned gradually, a Qatari official said speaking on the tarmac on Thursday. There would be a flight on Friday, another Qatari official said speaking to journalists, adding that a flight out from Kabul on Thursday was …
Read More »US used secret CIA base outside Kabul to evacuate Americans, 1,000 Afghan commandos & their families – media
The US reportedly used a secret CIA compound to rescue Americans, along with members of elite Afghan special forces, amid the chaos in and around the Kabul airport. The compound, known as the Eagle Base and located less than three miles north of the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, …
Read More »Qatar plane carrying technical team lands in Kabul: Source
A Qatari aircraft landed in Kabul Wednesday carrying a technical team to discuss the resumption of airport operations after the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, according to a source with knowledge of the matter. “A Qatari jet carrying a technical team has landed in Kabul earlier today to discuss the resumption …
Read More »This US soldier’s boots were last on the ground in Afghanistan before final pullout
After 20 years of US military presence in Afghanistan, Army General Chris Donahue was the last American Soldier to officially leave the country, the Pentagon said on Tuesday. “The last American soldier to leave Afghanistan: Maj. Gen. Chris Donahue, commanding general of the 82nd Airborne Division, XVIII Airborne Corps boards …
Read More »Global coalition pledges to keep fighting ISIS after Kabul attack
The group of countries that have banded together to fight ISIS, including the US, released a statement pledging to work to eliminate the group and taking special aim at its affiliate in Afghanistan that took responsibility for Monday’s rocket attack on Kabul’s airport. “We will draw on all elements of …
Read More »Only 300 American citizens left to be evacuated from Afghanistan: Blinken
Only 300 American citizens still in Afghanistan are seeking to leave the country, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Sunday, just days ahead of the US deadline for evacuations. “We are down to a population of 300 or fewer Americans who are still on the ground there, and we …
Read More »Biden to receive bodies of U.S. troops killed in Afghanistan
US President Joe Biden headed to Dover Air Force Base on Sunday to honor members of the U.S. military killed in a suicide bomb attack during the evacuation of civilians from Kabul airport last week. An Islamic State suicide bombing just outside Kabul airport on Thursday killed scores of Afghans …
Read More »Civilians were allegedly shot & killed by US forces during Kabul airport bombing mayhem, eyewitnesses tell BBC
Some of the dozens of civilians reportedly killed in a suicide blast outside Kabul’s airport, may have been shot by US soldiers amid the chaos caused by the deadly explosion, according to the BBC. Eyewitnesses who survived Thursday’s attack, which claimed at least 95 lives and left 150 people wounded, …
Read More »Poll: Biden shedding support from independent voters as Delta variant spreads
US President Joe Biden is shedding support from independents, a crucial voting bloc that helped Democrats win the White House and Congress last year, as a resurgence of COVID-19 cases slows the country’s return to normal from the pandemic, Reuters/Ipsos polling shows. The drop in support comes at a precarious …
Read More »Baghdad condemns Kabul explosion
The Iraqi Foreign Ministry condemned today the bloody bombing that targeted the Afghan capital, Kabul. The vicinity of Kabul Airport witnessed two explosions targeting crowds of Afghans who were trying to leave their country. The bombing killed at least 12 American soldiers. The Foreign Ministry said in a statement, “We …
Read More »Factbox: Evacuations from Afghanistan by country
The United States and allies are hurrying to evacuate as many people from Afghanistan as possible before an Aug. 31 deadline amid deteriorating security. The United States and partners have evacuated about 105,000 people since Aug. 14, the day before the Taliban entered Kabul, the White House said on Friday. …
Read More »90 Afghan civilians, 13 US service members killed in Kabul attack claimed by Daesh; US vows to retaliate
Scores of Afghan civilians and at least 13 members of the US military have been killed and many more injured in the Kabul suicide bombing attacks claimed by the Daesh terrorist group. Two explosions rattled the area outside the airport in the Afghan capital on Thursday amid the precarious security …
Read More »85 killed in Kabul airport carnage as US braces for more ISIS attacks
– Summary Attack kills at least 85 in all: 72 Afghans, 13 U.S. soldiers Evacuations accelerate despite ISIS threat – Western official Biden says the U.S. will hunt bombers down Foreign forces aim to get citizens embassy staff out by Aug. 30 Nearly 100,000 evacuated in 12 days U.S. forces …
Read More »Italy plane did not come under fire in Kabul -govt source
Afghan forces shot into the air to disperse crowds near Kabul airport on Thursday and did not fire at an Italian military transport plane, a government source said, quoting intelligence reports. Earlier, a defence source said the C-130 transporter, carrying almost 100 Afghan civilians, had come under attack minutes after …
Read More »Canada ends evacuation efforts of citizens, Afghans from Kabul: Official
Canada has ended evacuations from Kabul’s airport, a Canadian general said Thursday, as the clock ticks down on dramatic Western efforts to help people flee the Taliban takeover ahead of a full American withdrawal. General Wayne Eyre, the country’s acting chief of Defense Staff, said all the other countries have …
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