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Afghanistan Taliban Crisis Highlights: The Taliban is returning to power in Kabul after a military advance across Afghanistan. President Ashraf Ghani fled the country on August 15 as the Islamist militants entered the city, bringing the Islamist militants close to taking over the country two decades after they were overthrown by a US-led invasion. Their advance accelerated as US and other foreign troops withdrew in line with President Joe Biden's decision to end America's longest war, launched after the September 11, 2001, attacks. In a Facebook post, Ghani said he had left the country to avoid clashes with the Taliban that would endanger millions of residents of Kabul. The spokesman for the Taliban's political office told Al Jazeera TV that the war in Afghanistan is over and that the type of rule and form of new regime will be clear soon. Speaking on the situation, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said that he is 'deeply concerned' about the situation in Afghanistan and urged the Taliban to exercise utmost restraint.
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Bangladesh on Monday said it was "carefully observing" the developments in Afghanistan which may have an impact on the region and beyond, amid speculation by security experts here that some home-based extremists were trying to join the Taliban in the war-ravaged country.
The brutal war in Afghanistan reached a watershed moment on Sunday when the Taliban insurgents closed in on Kabul before entering the city and taking over the presidential palace, forcing embattled President Ashraf Ghani to join fellow citizens and foreigners to flee the country. "Bangladesh is carefully observing the fast evolving situation in Afghanistan, which we believe, may have an impact on the region and beyond," the foreign ministry said in a statement. (PTI)
British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace held back tears Monday as he conceded that Britain was unlikely to be able to evacuate all its Afghan allies from Kabul. Wallace, who served as a captain in the Scots Guard before entering politics in the late 1990s, has in recent days voiced regret at the sudden seizure of Afghanistan by Taliban militants. He has openly worried about the potential return of al- Qaida and instability in Afghanistan and criticized the deal then-U.S. President Donald Trump signed with the Taliban in February 2020 that limited direct military action against the insurgents.
But it was during his morning media round on Monday, the day after Kabul fell, that Wallace briefly offered a glimpse into the strain he has been under. Speaking via webcam on LBC Radio, Wallace’s voice started shaking when he began describing his regret at Britain’s likely inability to get all eligible Afghans back to the U.K. in coming days.
“It is a really deep part of regret for me that some people won’t get back,” he said. “Some people won’t get back and we will have to do our best in third countries to process those people.”
AP
"For last 20 years, terrorist organizations such as Islamic State(ISIS) andAl-Qaeda have gathered anddeveloped in Afghanistan, posting a serious threat to int'ernational and regional peace and security. Afghanistan must never again become a haven for terrorists," said China's DeputyPermanent Representiveto UN, Geng Shuang.
At least seven people, including three Afghan nationals who clung to a US Air Force plane to escape Taliban rule, died on Monday in a melee at the Kabul airport, as hundreds of people scrambled to board flights in a desperate bid to get out of Afghanistan, following the toppling of the government led by President Ashraf Ghani. Taliban insurgents swept Kabul on Sunday after the US-backed Afghan government collapsed and President Ghani fled the country, bringing an unprecedented end to a two-decade campaign in which the US and its allies had tried to transform the war-ravaged nation. (PTI)
The soldiers of United States killed 2 armed men at Kabul airport, Pentagon said, according to news agency AFP.
United States President Joe Biden, being widely criticised for the American troops departure from Afghanistan following a 20-year stay, will address the nation on the Afghan crisis at 19:45 GMT. The address comes a day after the insurgent Taliban took over Kabul, and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani fled the nation for neighbouring Tajikistan.
In its first reaction to the unfolding developments in Afghanistan, India on Monday said it is constantly monitoring the situation and will take all steps to ensure the safety and security of Indian nationals as well as its interests in that country. External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said India is also in touch with representatives of the Afghan Sikh and Hindu communities in Afghanistan and will facilitate the repatriation of those who wish to leave that country.
"The situation in Afghanistan is being monitored on a constant basis at high levels. The government will take all steps to ensure the safety and security of Indian nationals and our interests in Afghanistan," Bagchi said. Capping its month-long rapid advances, the Taliban took positions in Kabul on Sunday evening hours after Afghan President Ashraf Ghani left for an unknown destination, paving the way the takeover of the capital as well as the country.
"The security situation in Kabul has deteriorated significantly in the last few days. It is changing rapidly even as we speak," Bagchi said. He said there are a number of Afghans who have been India's partners in the promotion of mutual developmental, educational and people-to-people endeavours and India will stand by them.
"We have been issuing periodic advisories for the safety and security of Indian nationals in that country, including calling for their immediate return to India," he said. "We had circulated emergency contact numbers and had also been extending assistance to community members. We are aware that there are still some Indian nationals in Afghanistan who wish to return and we are in touch with them," Bagchi added.
PTI
Doctors Without Borders says its operations across Afghanistan have not been affected by the recent developments in Kabul. While many foreigners have fled the country, the group known by its French initials, MSF continues to have some international staff on the ground. It also has more than 2,300 Afghan colleagues spread out across five Taliban-held provinces: Kandahar, Herat, Kunduz, Khost and Helmand. While many foreigners have fled the country, the group known by its French initials, MSF continues to have some international staff on the ground. It also has more than 2,300 Afghan colleagues spread out across five Taliban-held provinces: Kandahar, Herat, Kunduz, Khost and Helmand.
Filipe Ribeiro, MSF's country representative in Afghanistan, told The Associated Press that the group's female medical practitioners in these provinces have resumed work and were already veiled or in the sky-blue burqas before the Taliban takeover, in line with local norms and customs. We do not face any impediments with regards to female staff coming to work, he said, referring to MSF-run projects in those provinces. We do not face any impediments with regards to female staff coming to work, he said, referring to MSF-run projects in those provinces.
AP
Saudi Arabia called on the Taliban and "all Afghan parties" on Monday to preserve lives and property, after the insurgents seized the capital Kabul.
A statement issued by the Saudi foreign ministry on Twitter added that the kingdom "stands with the choices that the Afghan people make without any interference," expressing hope that the situation in the central Asian state stabilises as soon as possible.
Reuters
"I had to run, else the Taliban would have killed me. Everything ends here. I could not bring my family along," Afghan intelligence officer Asif said in broken Hindi as tears welled up in his eyes, hours after he landed in Delhi.
The 41-year-old officer took the last commercial flight from Kabul to Delhi on Sunday to escape "certain death", leaving behind his ailing mother, wife and an eight-year-old son. A compatriot helped Asif find a modest accommodation -- a small room, attached bathroom and a marble slab with a sink that he called kitchen -- in Lajpat Nagar for Rs 500 a day.
His hands trembled and lips quivered as he took out his passport, an NDS identity card and photographs of his family from his bag. "The Taliban are catching us, killing us. They sent us notices, asking us to revolt against the government or die. We lost hope after (President Ashraf) Ghani fled (the country). Hundreds of officers from the security establishment have fled to Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and other countries, he said, as beads of sweat trickled down from his forehead.
PTI
Germany must urgently evacuate up to 10,000 people from Afghanistan for whom its has responsibility, Chancellor Angela Merkel told party colleagues, warning that the fallout from the conflict will last for a very long time.
The remarks, made at a closed-door meeting of her Christian Democrat party on Monday and relayed by meeting participants, reflect growing concern about bloodshed in Afghanistan after the Taliban seized the capital and proclaimed peace.
"We are witnessing difficult times," Merkel said. "Now we must focus on the rescue mission."
Merkel said those needing evacuation included 2,500 Afghan support staff as well as human rights activists, lawyers and others whom the government sees as being at risk if they remained in the country, up to 10,000 altogether.
Reuters
