Taliban

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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...

Taliban Can't Access Central Bank's $9B in Reserves

$7B of that is in the US Federal Reserve

(Newser) - The Taliban now control Afghanistan, but they don't have access to the central bank's currency reserves, and the Biden administration aims to keep it the way. Ajmal Ahmady, Afghanistan's central bank chief, fled the country on Sunday. He tells the Wall Street Journal that almost all of...

Former Captive in Afghanistan Sees Cruel Parallel Now

Journalist David Rohde has tried to help Tahir Luddin get his family out for months

(Newser) - David Rohde owes Tahir Luddin more than just a debt of gratitude. Twelve years ago, the two men, along with an Afghan driver, were kidnapped by the Taliban. Luddin, a journalist like Rohde, led Rohde to safety during a middle-of-the-night escape after seven months of being held. Luddin moved to...

Taliban Respond With Violence After Flag Is Pulled Down

3 people were reportedly killed in Jalalabad

(Newser) - In the eastern city of Jalalabad, locals went public with their dissent in a rare protest: They took down the Taliban flag that had been raised by the militants upon seizing control of the area. In its place they raised the national flag, a move made a day before Thursday'...

Malala Lays Out Plan on 'Critical Moment' in Afghanistan

Activist says women, girls need neighbors' help, more specific education guarantees from Taliban

(Newser) - After Afghanistan's capital fell to the Taliban on Sunday, the extremist group's final symbolic move to controlling the country, its members made a promise to all Afghan women and girls that they'd retain their right to an education and shouldn't fret. That vow has been met...

Up to 15K Americans Are Still in Afghanistan, and It's a Big Mess

It's not clear what will happen to those outside Kabul

(Newser) - Americans are being evacuated from Afghanistan amid the Taliban's takeover of the country, but as many as 15,000 still remain there, according to administration sources who spoke to NBC News and the Washington Post . About 1,100 had been evacuated as of Tuesday night, but "now that...

A Key Figure Makes Symbolic Return to Afghanistan
A Key Figure Makes Symbolic
Return to Afghanistan
the rundown
Aug 17, 2021 11:27 AM CDT

A Key Figure Makes Symbolic Return to Afghanistan

Abdul Ghani Baradar, a former prisoner, is a co-founder of the Taliban

(Newser) - Americans might soon become more familiar with the name Abdul Ghani Baradar, a pivotal figure in the Taliban who arrived back in the country on Tuesday for the first time in a decade. Coverage:
  • A co-founder: Baradar is described as the Taliban's de facto leader by the Washington Post
...

Taliban Makes a Vow to All Afghan Women

Officials say right to education will be protected, urge women to join government

(Newser) - An Afghan journalist showed her outrage Monday during a Pentagon press briefing, speaking of the fears of the Afghan people, especially women, now that the Taliban has marched on the capital. "I'm very upset today because Afghan woman didn't expect that overnight all the Taliban came,"...

US Officials Fooled Themselves Into This Mess Over 20 Years

Daniel Silverberg and Fred Kaplan see a mission that was misguided and unsuccessful all along

(Newser) - Afghanistan was never America's to lose. The US and its Afghan allies did not, at any point, control the country, Daniel Silverberg writes in the Atlantic . Instead, officials in Washington deluded themselves and each other for two decades, until President Biden was left with nothing but bad choices . A...

US Reaches Out to Russia, China on Afghanistan

Merkel calls developments 'bitter, dramatic, and awful'

(Newser) - The Biden administration is reaching out to top rivals Russia and China as the situation in Afghanistan continues to deteriorate amid a scramble to evacuate Americans, other foreigners and at-risk Afghans from the Kabul airport. The outreach also comes amid concerns that either or both Moscow and Beijing might stymie...

Female Mayor Is 'Waiting for Taliban to Kill Her'

'There is no one to help me or my family,' says Zarifa Ghafari

(Newser) - In 2018, Zarifa Ghafari became one of Afghanistan's first female mayors—and the country's youngest mayor. Now, the 27-year-old says she is at her home in Kabul, waiting for the Taliban to kill her. "There is no one to help me or my family. I'm just...

Biden: 'I Stand Squarely Behind My Decision'

'I’ve learned the hard way that there was never a good time to withdraw US forces'

(Newser) - With the Taliban in control of Afghanistan and desperate Afghans clinging to US planes amid chaos at Kabul's airport, President Biden is defending his decision to pull American troops out of the country. "I stand squarely behind my decision,” he said at the White House Monday, per...

Taliban Have Seized the Presidential Palace
Taliban Have Seized
the Presidential Palace
the rundown
Aug 16, 2021 1:20 AM CDT

Taliban Have Seized the Presidential Palace

Government collapses as Taliban declare the war 'over'

(Newser) - Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, on Sunday fell to the Taliban, completing the militant group's takeover of the country so quickly that even the Taliban's co-founder admitted in an evening video statement the group was surprised at the speed. Hours earlier, the Taliban had entered Kabul as Afghanistan'...

Afghan President Leaves Nation as Taliban Reach Kabul

Ashraf Ghani flies out with militants on brink of total takeover of Afghanistan

(Newser) - Afghanistan’s embattled president left the country Sunday, joining his fellow citizens and foreigners in a stampede fleeing the advancing Taliban and signaling the end of a 20-year Western experiment aimed at remaking Afghanistan, per the AP . The Taliban, which for hours had been in the outskirts of Kabul, announced...

After Afghan Cities Fall Without a Fight, Biden Announces New Deployment

Another 1K Americans will go for a 'safe drawdown'

(Newser) - The Taliban advance through Afghanistan rolled on Saturday unchecked, with government forces surrendering territory without a fight. When the central province of Daykundi fell, a lawmaker said, only two gunshots were fired in the capital. President Biden announced a series of steps, while reiterating that he will not "pass...

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