Taliban

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Departure of Last US Planes Ends 20-Year War

Pentagon, Taliban say last planes left just before midnight Kabul time

(Newser) - Taliban guards at Kabul's airport and officials at the Pentagon have confirmed that the last US planes have flown out. Celebratory gunfire erupted across the Afghan capital marking the symbolic end of 20 years of war, with the Taliban back in power, the AP reports. In Washington, the US...

98 Countries Announce Travel Agreement With Taliban
98 Countries Reach
Deal With Taliban
Aug 30, 2021 12:40 PM CDT

98 Countries Reach Deal With Taliban

Agreement will allow at-risk Afghans to leave country after deadline, joint statement says

(Newser) - The US and 97 other countries, from Albania to Zambia, have announced a deal with the Taliban that will allow people, including their citizens and at-risk Afghans, to depart Afghanistan after the American military withdraws. "We will continue issuing travel documentation to designated Afghans, and we have the clear...

Female Afghan Mayor Who Feared for Her Life Escapes

Zarifa Ghafari says she hopes to return to Afghanistan someday

(Newser) - Zarifa Ghafari, one of Afghanistan's first female mayors who earlier this month said she was waiting for the Taliban to kill her , has made it to safety in Germany but is already imagining her return to her country. The 29-year-old former mayor of Maidan Shar describes the pain she...

Evacuations Resume Day After Kabul Bombings
US Gave Taliban Names
of People to Evacuate
THE RUNDOWN
Aug 27, 2021 6:13 AM CDT

US Gave Taliban Names of People to Evacuate

Flights from Kabul airport resume as death toll from Thursday attacks rises

(Newser) - Heavily armed Taliban fighters were on patrol outside Kabul's airport Friday as evacuation flights resumed a day after Thursday's horrific scenes. The death toll from Thursday's twin suicide bombings has now risen to more than 100, including 13 US troops, the AP reports. Officials say at least...

Pentagon Confirms Explosion Outside Kabul Airport
'It's a Hard Day Today:'
13 US Troops Killed
UPDATED
Aug 26, 2021 2:37 PM CDT

'It's a Hard Day Today:' 13 US Troops Killed

Twin suicide blasts outside Kabul airport also killed dozens of Afghans

(Newser) - Twin explosions outside the Kabul airport on Thursday resulted in dozens of civilian and military deaths. The Pentagon says 13 US troops were killed, reports CNN . "It's a hard day today," said Gen. Kenneth "Frank" McKenzie, head of the US Central Command, at a briefing. In...

Taliban Says US Has 'No Proof' bin Laden Is Behind 9/11

Comment raising skepticism about group's pledge to distance itself from al-Qaeda

(Newser) - Now that the Taliban is back in power, its spokesmen have a much larger voice. And in a new interview with NBC News , one of them makes a claim that will likely cause a lot of Americans to do a double take: There's "no proof" Osama bin Laden...

'Imminent Attack' Feared at Kabul Airport

Massive airlift is entering final phase

(Newser) - European nations offered stark warnings Thursday about the waning days of a massive airlift to bring people out of Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, with a British official saying an "imminent attack" could target Kabul's international airport. As President Biden says he'll stick with his deadline of Aug. 31 to...

CIA Is Helping Extract Americans From Kabul

Blinken says 1.5K Americans are still in the country

(Newser) - There are still around 1,500 American citizens left in Afghanistan—not including the thousands of troops involved in the evacuation mission—and Secretary of State Anthony Blinken says the US is doing all it can to get them out. Blinken said Wednesday that diplomats are in direct contact with...

Facing Death, Evacuation Race on for Afghan Women Judges

Tens of thousands could be left behind in Kabul as Taliban says no more Afghans can evacuate

(Newser) - A retired US judge working 20 hours a day to evacuate some 250 female judges and their families from Afghanistan says her network is quickly running out of time. President Biden said Tuesday that he would stick to the Aug. 31 deadline for removing Americans and endangered Afghans from the...

Biden: We're Sticking to Aug. 31 Afghanistan Deadline

He warns of terror attacks if evacuation mission extends past withdrawal date

(Newser) - President Biden declared Tuesday he is sticking to his Aug. 31 deadline for completing a risky airlift of Americans, endangered Afghans and others seeking to escape Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. The decision defies allied leaders who want to give the evacuation more time and opens Biden to criticism that he caved to...

Taliban: We Won't Allow Afghans to Leave

Biden is expected to stick with the deadline of Aug. 31 rather than extend it

(Newser) - The deadline for the US to be out of Afghanistan is a week away, and President Biden is unlikely to extend it. The president spoke to G7 leaders Tuesday and will make public remarks later in the day, but the Pentagon has recommended sticking to the Aug. 31 withdrawal date...

CIA Chief Had Hush-Hush Meeting With Taliban Leader: Sources

Washington Post: William Burns sat down with Abdul Ghani Baradar in Kabul on Monday

(Newser) - Last week, William Burns had a full calendar in the Middle East, meeting with various officials from Israel, the Palestinian Authority, Lebanon, and Egypt, per Axios . This week, a more under-wraps gathering went down, this time in Kabul between the CIA chief and Abdul Ghani Baradar, the de facto leader...

Jen Psaki Not Happy With Reporter's 'Stranded' Comment

Says Americans are not stranded in Afghanistan

(Newser) - Peter Doocy, Fox News' White House reporter, had a question for Jen Psaki during Monday's White House press briefing that the press secretary did not appreciate. "Does the president have a sense that most of the criticism is not of leaving Afghanistan, it’s the way that he...

US Forces Go Beyond Kabul Airport to Save Citizens

With clock ticking, evacuation has been stepped up

(Newser) - US forces in Afghanistan are going beyond Kabul's airport to rescue stranded American citizens and allies, the Pentagon confirmed Monday. Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said troops and helicopters have extracted around 350 Americans from the city and there could be similar missions in cases where people are "...

Taliban: US Deadline of Aug. 31 Is a 'Red Line'

Warning not to extend it comes as lethal chaos continues at Kabul airport

(Newser) - The new week brings a continuation of deadly chaos at the Kabul airport. Some of the new developments in Afghanistan:
  • Warning: A Taliban spokesman said Monday that foreign nations should not extend their deadlines to leave. "Otherwise, it is a clear violation," the spokesman told the BBC . The
...

Frustration Builds for Family of Taliban Captive

Pressure on Trump, Biden administrations for help hasn't won release of Mark Frerichs, 59

(Newser) - Charlene Cakora has been trying for more than a year, during two presidential administrations, to win US help for rescuing her brother from the Taliban. A Navy veteran, Mark Frerichs, 59, had worked as a civil engineer for 10 years in Kabul when he was kidnapped , the BBC reports. Cakora...

IMF Blocks Taliban&#39;s Access to Reserves
IMF Move Adds to
Pressure on Taliban
THE RUNDOWN
Aug 19, 2021 8:45 AM CDT

IMF Move Adds to Pressure on Taliban

Release of $460M in reserves blocked

(Newser) - The Taliban now control Afghanistan—but with access to funds extremely limited, they will have a tough time running the country. The International Monetary Fund, under pressure from the US, is blocking the Taliban's access to emergency reserves that were supposed to be released to Afghanistan next week. the...

Afghans Face Dilemma on Covering Up Digital Lives

Many fear Taliban will find evidence of cooperation with Americans

(Newser) - Afghans who worked with US troops or contractors in the past 20 years—or did anything that might displease the Taliban—are facing difficult decisions about covering up the paper and digital trails that could incriminate them. Destroying records of US employment would seem to make sense, except that they'...

Biden: There Was No Way to Avoid Chaos in Afghanistan

He doesn't think there was a failure in 'intelligence, planning, execution, or judgment'

(Newser) - President Biden insisted Wednesday that chaos in Afghanistan as US troops pulled out was unavoidable—and he bristled when asked about distressing scenes at Kabul's airport. When asked by ABC interviewer George Stephanopoulos if he thought the "exit could have been handled better in any way," Biden...

Senate to Investigate What Led to 'Worst-Case Scenario'

'Highest-level' Biden officials will speak at congressional hearings, Pelosi says

(Newser) - Democratic lawmakers have largely avoided directly criticizing President Biden's administration over events in Afghanistan—but they still have a lot of questions about how the Taliban were able to seize control with stunning speed, leading to a chaotic evacuation from Kabul's airport. Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Mark Warner...

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