President Joe Biden has decided not to extend his Aug. 31 deadline for completing the US-led evacuation of Americans and Afghan allies from Afghanistan, an administration official said Tuesday. Biden made the decision after consultation with his national security team. Weighing the risks of keeping forces on the ground beyond the deadline, he opted to … Read more
Pakistan has temporarily suspended Kabul flight operations and is not evacuating anyone at the moment, according to media reports. The state-run Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) was the sole commercial airline that had been operating flights to and from Kabul during the past few days to help in the evacuation of diplomats and foreign nationals from … Read more
This is what 26-year-old Benafsha Faizi heard when she answered her cellphone around 9 am on August 15. She was on her way to work. She soon told her taxi driver to take her back home. She wanted to be with her family. The situation was already grim. Taliban forces were advancing quickly in Afghanistan. … Read more
The United States and NATO invaded Afghanistan 20 years ago in response to the terrorist attacks of 9/11 by al-Qaida, harboured by the Taliban. Now that the Taliban are back in power, there are already worries that Afghanistan will again become a breeding ground for Islamic radicalism and terrorism, aided by new technologies and social … Read more
Western technocrat. Would-be populist. Wartime president. Ashraf Ghani tried to inhabit many roles during his years as Afghanistan’s president. But after fleeing the Taliban’s advance into Kabul this weekend, Ghani — wherever he is — is stepping into a far less welcome role: that of a failed leader whose hasty escape from Kabul scuttled negotiations … Read more
People try to get into Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, August 16, 2021. (Reuters) NOTHING ILLUSTRATED more powerfully Kabul’s rapid descent to chaos than the chilling scenes from the Hamid Karzai International Airport that played out on screens across the world Monday. They showed crowds surging to the tarmac in a desperate bid … Read more
NOTHING ILLUSTRATED more powerfully Kabul’s rapid descent to chaos than the chilling scenes from the Hamid Karzai International Airport that played out on screens across the world Monday. They showed crowds surging to the tarmac in a desperate bid to flee with gunfire echoing in the background, many of them scrambling up a ladder to … Read more
Around noon, in a school in Qallai Fatulla area of Kabul, the principal called the teachers and asked them to leave for their homes. He had just heard that the Taliban had reached the city, and did not want the teachers, especially the women, to stay back and get stuck. The principal, a 62-year-old and … Read more
Kabul, the ultimate prize in every Afghanistan war, fell to the Taliban Sunday, completing their takeover of the country in a lighting offensive that saw provinces and warlords give up without a fight, days after the hasty withdrawal of US troops. President Ashraf Ghani, sources said, had fled the country, hours after Pakistan-backed Taliban fighters … Read more
Taliban insurgents have entered Afghanistan’s capital city of Kabul on Sunday and according to various news agencies, President Ashraf Ghani has left the city for Tajikistan, capping the militants’ lightning push for power. Amid panic and concerns, various nations are involved in hurried evacuations of their citizens from Afghanistan. India has put in place contingency … Read more
