US starts troop withdrawal from Kabul; hits Islamic State with drone attack
Reuters President Joe Biden warned on Saturday that another militant attack was highly likely as US troops began their withdrawal from Kabul airport after a two-week scramble by Washington and its allies to evacuate citizens and at-risk Afghans. As Washington neared the end of its military involvement in the country with the Taliban militants it […]
US braces for more IS attacks after 85 killed in Kabul airport carnage
Reuters US forces helping to evacuate Afghans desperate to flee Taliban rule braced for more attacks on Friday after an Islamic State suicide bomber killed 85 people, including 13 US soldiers outside the gates of Kabul airport. Two blasts and gunfire rocked the area outside the airport on Thursday evening, witnesses said. Video shot by Afghan […]
Biden again defends US pullout, West struggles with Afghanistan chaos; Franklin Graham calls for day of prayer
Kabul, Afghanistan/Washington DC, USReuters Western nations struggled on Friday to ramp up the pace ofevacuations from Afghanistan after reports of Taliban reprisals, as US President Joe Biden insisted that the chaos following the American troop withdrawal had not diminished Washington’s international credibility. Facing a torrent of criticism at home and abroad for his handling of the […]
President and diplomats flee as Taliban enter capital; Pope urges dialogue
Kabul, AfghanistanReuters Taliban insurgents entered Kabul on Sunday and President Ashraf Ghani left Afghanistan saying he wanted to avoid bloodshed, bringing the Islamist militants close to taking over the country two decades after they were overthrown by a US-led invasion. As night fell, local television 1TV reported that multiple explosions were heard in the city, […]
Taliban seize more Afghan cities, assault on capital Kabul expected
Kabul, AfghanistanReuters Taliban insurgents have seized Afghanistan’s second- and third-biggest cities, local officials said on Friday, as resistance from government forces crumbled and fears grew that an assault on the capital Kabul could be just days away. A government official confirmed that Kandahar, the economic hub of the south, was under Taliban control as US-led […]
US, British troops to aid Afghan evacuation as Taliban poised to take key cities
Kabul, AfghanistanReuters The United States and Britain said on Thursday they would send thousands of troops to Afghanistan to protect and help evacuate civilians, as the Taliban stood poised for their two biggest military victories since they began a broad offensive in May. In response to the militants’ swift and violent advances that are further […]
Taliban overrun northern Afghan cities of Kunduz, Sar-e Pul, Taloqan
Kabul, AfghanistanReuters Taliban fighters overran three provincial capitals including the strategic north-eastern city of Kunduz on Sunday, local officials said, as the insurgents intensified pressure on the north and threatened further cities. The insurgents have taken dozens of districts and border crossings in recent months and put pressure on several provincial capitals, including Herat in […]
Resurgent Taliban take provincial capital, kill Afghan government spokesman
Kabul, AfghanistanReuters Taliban insurgents captured an Afghan provincial capital and killed the government’s senior media officer in Kabul on Friday amid a deteriorating security situation as US and other foreign troops withdraw. A police spokesman in southern Nimroz province said the capital Zaranj had fallen to the hardline Islamists because of a lack of reinforcements […]
Airlift begins for Afghans who worked for US during its longest war
Washington DC, USReuters Some 200 Afghans were set to begin new lives in the United States on Friday as an airlift got under way for translators and others who risk Taliban retaliation because they worked for the United States during its 20-year war in Afghanistan, US officials said. The operation to evacuate US-affiliated Afghans and […]
Biden authorises $US100 million in emergency funds for Afghan refugees
Washington DC, USReuters US President Joe Biden on Friday authorised up to $US100 million from an emergency fund to meet “unexpected urgent” refugee needs stemming from the situation in Afghanistan, including for Afghan special immigration visa applicants, the White House said. Biden also authorised the release of $US200 million in services and articles from the […]