Taliban fighters in the Afghan capital, Kabul, started collecting weapons from civilians on Monday because people no longer need them for personal protection, a Taliban official said. “We understand people kept weapons for personal safety. They can now feel safe. We are not here to harm innocent civilians,” the official told Reuters. City resident Saad … Read more
With Kabul falling into the hands of the Taliban, the UN Security Council under India’s current Presidency will hold an emergency meeting on the situation in Afghanistan on Monday, the second time in just over a week. The longstanding war in Afghanistan reached a watershed moment on Sunday when the Taliban insurgents closed in on … Read more
Pakistani border and security personnel clashed with hundreds of Afghans wanting to cross into Afghanistan from a key border crossing in Chaman closed by Taliban in the restive Balochistan province. Hundreds of Afghans had gathered on the Pakistan side of the Chaman border wanting to cross over but the Taliban who have captured the Spin … Read more
The Taliban have captured another three provincial capitals in southern Afghanistan, including in Helmand, the scene of some of the heaviest fighting in the past two decades, as the insurgents press a lightning offensive that is gradually encircling the capital, Kabul. The loss of Helmand’s provincial capital comes after years of toil and blood spilled … Read more
When Wahab disappeared from his home in Afghanistan to sign on for jihad, it was in neighbouring Pakistan that he got his training. The 20-year-old was recruited by childhood friends and was taken to a militant outpost in Parachinar, on Pakistan’s rugged mountainous border with Afghanistan. There, he underwent training, preparing to fight alongside the … Read more
Taliban fighters overran two provincial capitals, including the strategic northeastern city of Kunduz and northern Sar-e Pul on Sunday, local officials said, as the insurgents intensified pressure on the north and threatened further cities. Taliban fighters seized key government buildings in the city of Kunduz, leaving government forces hanging onto control of the airport and … Read more
The first flight evacuating Afghans who worked alongside Americans in Afghanistan brought more than 200 people, including scores of children and babies in arms, to resettlement in the United States on Friday, and President Joe Biden welcomed them home. The evacuation flights, bringing out former interpreters and others who fear retaliation from Afghanistan’s Taliban for … Read more
More than 22,000 Afghan families have fled from their homes to escape fighting in the former Taliban bastion of Kandahar, officials said Sunday, as authorities arrested four suspected insurgents over this week’s rocket attack on Kabul. Since early May, violence has surged across several provinces including in Kandahar after the insurgents launched a sweeping offensive … Read more
Afghan forces clashed with Taliban fighters Friday after launching an operation to retake the key Spin Boldak border crossing with Pakistan, police said. “The Afghan forces are fighting against the Taliban, who have taken shelter in civilian homes,” Jamal Nasir Barakzai, police spokesman for southern Kandahar province, told AFP. Afghan forces were in the main … Read more
Pakistan is well prepared to deal with the spillover effect it may face in case of a civil war in neighbouring Afghanistan, the country’s Army spokesman has said, insisting that Islamabad is only a facilitator of the Afghan peace process, not a guarantor. Major Gen Babar Iftikhar’s comments came as Taliban officials said the group … Read more