A special aircraft operated by the Indian Air Force was reportedly dispatched on Saturday to retrieve around 50 diplomats and security forces from Afghanistan’s second-largest city. India’s foreign ministry said in a statement that Indian nationals working at the consulate had been “brought back for the time being” due to …
Read More »Taliban militants won’t be allowed to run riot in Tajikistan after Americans pull out of Afghanistan, top Russian General tells RT
The Taliban has set up observation posts and checkpoints after having largely overrun the areas adjacent to the Afghan-Tajik border, the Collective Security Treaty Organization’s (CSTO) Chief of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Colonel Anatoly Sidorov explained. “We’ve seen the Taliban’s outposts. At least for now, we see no …
Read More »Taliban declare ‘full control’ of Afghan’s key border crossing with Iran
“Islam Qala is now under our full control and we will try to put it back in operation today,” Zabihullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the militant movement, told AFP. On Thursday, an anonymous Afghan official told AP that the Taliban took over customs at the crossing point. Videos purportedly shot …
Read More »Biden defends Afghanistan withdrawal, says Taliban takeover ‘not inevitable’
Facing a surprisingly hostile and rambunctious White House press corps on Thursday, Biden argued that US troops shouldn’t stay in Afghanistan because the Taliban are the strongest they’ve been in 20 years – before backtracking to say they are still less capable than the US-backed Afghan security forces. A Taliban takeover …
Read More »Taliban fighters storm capital of Afghan province, taking over police HQ and sparking mass prison break
Militants stormed the city of Qala-e-Naw on Wednesday morning before being cleared out by government forces around 4pm local time, the Ministry of Defense said in a Facebook post. Airstrikes were used to push the Taliban back and Afghan National Defense and Security Forces were also deployed to restore order …
Read More »Taliban continues crushing offensive with assault on northwestern provincial capital as US nears full withdrawal from Afghanistan
The capital of Afghanistan’s Badghis became the site of fierce fighting on Wednesday as Taliban fighters reportedly captured the city’s police headquarters and the regional offices of Afghanistan’s spy agency, the National Directorate of Security. “The enemy has entered the city, all the districts have fallen. The fighting has started …
Read More »As Taliban gains ground, Pentagon says US withdrawal from Afghanistan more than 90% complete
“The withdrawal process continues; US Central Command estimates that we have completed more than 90 percent of the entire withdrawal process,” the military command said in a statement on Tuesday. Central Command added that more than 17,000 pieces of equipment had been transferred to the Defenсe Logistics Agency for disposition, …
Read More »Taliban says seizing Kabul not a military objective, but warns ‘policy’ could change if foreign troops stay past exit deadline
Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen told the BBC that any foreign soldiers who stay behind after the September exit agreement risk being treated as occupiers. He said that, while capturing the Afghan capital was “not Taliban policy,” nothing would be off the table should foreign forces – including military contractors – …
Read More »Taliban captures key Kandahar district as Afghan troops suffer wave of defeats in wake of US withdrawal
The militant group took the Panjwai district following a fierce overnight battle with soldiers loyal to Kabul, AFP reported, citing regional officials. Panjwai District Governor Hasti Mohammad said government troops retreated from the area following the clashes, and that the Taliban had seized the district police headquarters as well as …
Read More »Over 300 Afghan troops fleeing from Taliban cross border to Tajikistan after heavy fighting, border forces tell media
More than a dozen districts, mostly in Afghanistan’s northeastern Badakhshan Province, have fallen into the hands of the Taliban over the past 24 hours, security sources told local outlet TOLOnews. The heavy fighting on the other side of the border was also confirmed by the military of neighboring Tajikistan. More …
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