Category: Afghanistan

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Afghan nationals reach Delhi, say situation really bad there

Many Afghan students who study in India arrived in Delhi on Sunday by Air India flight from Kabul…reports Asian Lite News.

Afghan nationals, who arrived in Delhi on an Air Indian flight from Kabul on Sunday, expressed concerns about the safety and security of people back home, saying the situation is ‘really bad’ in Afghanistan.

Air India flight AI244 carrying 129 passengers from Afghanistan’s capital Kabul landed in Delhi on Sunday.

A woman who arrived in Delhi from Kabul broke down at the Indira Gandhi International Airport.

“I cannot believe the world abandoned Afghanistan. Our friends are going to get killed. Taliban are going to kill us. Our women are not going to have any more rights,” she said.

Many Afghan students who study in India arrived in Delhi on Sunday by Air India flight from Kabul.

“People were rushing to banks. I did not see any violence but I cannot say that there was no violence. My family is in Afghanistan. My flight was pre-planned. Many people left Kabul,” Abdullah Masudi, a BBA student of Bengaluru, who arrived in Delhi from Kabul said.

Besides the common citizens, there were several Afghan politicians and officials who arrived in Delhi on Sunday.

“There is calm in most parts of Afghanistan. Almost all political persons like ministers have left Kabul. Around 200 people have come to Delhi. I feel this is new Taliban that will allow women to work,” said Rizwanullah Ahmadzai, senior advisor to Afghan President in Public Health Affairs who arrived in Delhi.

Afghan MP Abdul Qadir Zazai who also arrived in Delhi on Sunday said Pakistan is one of the close supporters of the Taliban.

“There was a peace agreement between the Afghan government and the Taliban. It was just a handover process. Now the situation is calm in Kabul. Pakistan is one of the close supporters of the Taliban. My family is still in Kabul,” Zazai said.

Member of Parliament from Paktia province in Afghanistan, Sayed Hassan Paktiawal who reached Delhi said the situation in the country is very bad.

“I do not want to leave the country. I came here for a meeting. I will go back to Afganistan. The situation is really bad there, especially tonight is really bad,” he said.

The Afghan refugees staying in different pockets of Delhi are worried over developments back home.

“Leaders are running away and civilians are facing hardships. I have spoken to my friends who told me that the Taliban have entered Kabul. Recently I have lost my cousin due to this war,” Hidayatullah who stays in Jangpura said.

Another Afghan national Abdul Kazir said, “My relatives live in Herat, Afghanistan. Everything is shut there. There is no peace. Women and girls are not allowed to go outside without wearing Chadaree. We want independence. “Afghan women staying in Delhi said they are concerned about the rights and freedom of women in Afghanistan.

“The situation is really dangerous there. We do not want to wear Chadaree. I want freedom. I am not able to sleep and eat in peace,” Arifa, an Afghan national said.

Afghan students who are studying at Kozhikode Farook College under Calicut University in Kerala are much worried about their nation’s plight. 14 students are studying in the college in various disciplines. They wish for a non-blood shed nation.

According to sources, India is closely monitoring the fast-changing situation in Afghanistan and will be deciding on the evacuation of diplomatic personnel from Kabul amid the Taliban gaining control.

Afghanistan government collapsed on Sunday with President Ashraf Ghani leaving the country and the Taliban’s entry into the capital, the New York Times reported. (ANI)

ALSO READ-Pak crackdown on media continues

READ MORE-‘No One Wants Afghanistan To Be Breeding Ground For Terrorism’

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-Top News Afghanistan India News

India has divergences with US on Afghanistan, says Jaishankar

India’s concerns in Afghanistan are not merely its investments in the development of the war-torn country, but that Afghanistan could potentially develop into a safe sanctuary for anti-India terrorists as well, reports Asian Lite News

Minister for External Affairs S Jaishankar, has said that India and America’s interests may not be perfectly aligned over the volatile situation currently prevailing in Afghanistan. In February 2020, the United States and the Taliban signed a peace agreement in Doha in Qatar, with the US expected to vacate its troops from Afghanistan by September 11 this year, after intervened militarily in the country two decades ago.

India has backed the intra-Afghan negotiations, though has expressed concern over the violence involving the Taliban in its capture of one provincial capital after another. Taliban’s inroads have prompted a seemingly besieged Afghan government in Kabul to offer a power-sharing arrangement to the Taliban, but it remains to be seen if the Taliban negotiates from what many perceive to be a position of strength.

“We clearly have much more overlaps of interest with the United States east of India which is why the Indo-Pacific allows for a platform like the QUAD,” Jaishankar said at the ‘Freedom Summit on Independence Day.’

“But, when it comes to Afghanistan, I think we have watched a lot of these decisions with a great deal of concern. Unfortunately, all that we’ve been seeing for the last few days have realized many of those fears.”

Last month, Jaishankar met the Afghan Foreign Minister Mohammed Haneef Atmar in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, during the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Council of Foreign Ministers and SCO Contact Group on Afghanistan meetings. Earlier this month, India was not a participant in a meeting convened by Russia, also involving the United States, Pakistan, and China, on the evolving situation in Afghanistan. When asked about this, Jaishankar said, “It is not my case that we are perfectly aligned with Russia on Afghanistan and how to handle those set of issues. There are areas where they have their perspectives and their assessments and we have ours. I should say at the same time that we are not perfectly aligned with the Americans either. That will happen. And that is what makes foreign policy today such a hard-headed exercise.”

India’s concerns in Afghanistan are not merely its investments in the development of the war-torn country, but that Afghanistan could potentially develop into a safe sanctuary for anti-India terrorists as well. Pakistan was among the first countries to recognize the Taliban regime when it came to power in the 1990s, and has been widely seen to be supportive of their surge in Afghanistan now.

Kabul airspace closed, AI flights can’t operate

No flights can operate from Kabul airport now as the airspace has been closed, officials said. That means no aircraft can also land there. An Air India aircraft tasked to fly to Afghanistan to bring out people will no longer be able to go there too, sources have said. A NOTAM or notice to airmen has been issued to say Kabul airspace has been closed.

“The airspace is closed. How any airline can operate? As of now we are not able to operate our 12:30 pm flight to Kabul,” a source in Air India said.

Air India flights coming from the US are likely to be re-routed since the Afghan airspace has been closed, sources said. Flights AI-126 (Chicago-New Delhi) and AI-174 (San Francisco-New Delhi) will have to re-routed to a Gulf nation to refuel, they said, adding Air India is also working on new routes for flights that will depart later from India to the US.

The Afghanistan Civil Aviation Authority asked all transit aircraft to reroute, adding any transit through Kabul airspace would be uncontrolled, news agency Reuters reported. Kabul’s flight information region covers all of Afghanistan.

Flight tracking website FlightRadar24 tweeted that an Air India flight from Chicago to Delhi had changed course and exited Afghanistan’s airspace shortly after entering, while a Terra Avia flight from Baku to Delhi was also changing course.

“There will be no commercial flights from Hamid Karzai Airport to prevent looting and plundering. Please do not rush to the airport,” the Kabul airport authority said.

Chaos unfolded at Kabul airport this morning after thousands of people rushed in to take any available flight out of the country led to a desperate situation. Reports said US troops fired in the air to control the crowd. Hundreds of men were seen jostling and trying to climb onto a parked aircraft.

The Taliban were in control of Afghanistan after President Ashraf Ghani fled the country and conceded the terrorists had won the 20-year war. The astonishingly quick collapse of the government, with terrorists taking over the presidential palace on Sunday night, triggered fear and panic in the capital Kabul.

ALSO READ-Our victory was unexpectedly swift: Taliban

READ MORE-‘No One Wants Afghanistan To Be Breeding Ground For Terrorism’

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-Top News Afghanistan Asia News

Our victory was unexpectedly swift: Taliban

Baradar’s comments come hours after Taliban terrorists entered Kabul and wrested control over the capital of Afghanistan….reports Asian Lite News

Taliban deputy leader Mullah Baradar on Sunday said that the terror group’s victory, which saw all of the country’s major cities fall in a week, was unexpectedly swift and had no match in the world.

In a short video message, he said the real test would begin now with meeting the expectations of the people and serving them by resolving their problems, Al Jazeera reported.

Baradar’s comments come hours after Taliban terrorists entered Kabul and wrested control over the capital of Afghanistan. They faced negligible resistance as Afghan forces surrendered and several government officials including President Ashraf Ghani fled the country.

Meanwhile, according to reports, the Taliban took over the state television station in Kabul, calling on citizens to remain calm.

Spokesman for the Taliban’s political office, Mohammad Naeem, speaking to Al-Jazeera, declared that the war in Afghanistan is “over”.

“We are ready to have a dialogue with all Afghan figures and will guarantee them the necessary protection”, Naeem told the channel. “We do not think that foreign forces will repeat their failed experience in Afghanistan once again.”

As the Taliban claimed control over the Afghan capital, several countries evacuated diplomatic personnel from the country, and crowds of people flocked to the Kabul airport in an attempt to leave Afghanistan.

Naeem stated that all embassies and foreign diplomatic missions are safe in Kabul, urging “everyone” in the city to remain “in complete confidence”.

“We assure all embassies, diplomatic missions, institutions, and residences of foreign nationals in Kabul that there is no danger to them. Everyone in Kabul must be in complete confidence, and the forces of the Islamic Emirate are tasked with maintaining security in Kabul and other cities in the country”, his tweet reads.

Reports suggest that the movement will soon proclaim the re-establishment of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, Afghanistan former President Hamid Karzai along with Abdullah Abdullah and former Mujahideen leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar have formed a Coordination Council in order to prevent chaos and manage affairs related to a peaceful transfer of power. (ANI)

ALSO READ: British Airways orders pilots to avoid Afghanistan airspace

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-Top News Afghanistan Asia News

Who is really winning, Taliban or Pakistan?

The failure of the Istanbul conference on Afghanistan reflects Pakistan’s inability to persuade the top Taliban leadership to attend what was billed as a 10-day jamboree…reports Saeed Naqvi

It is a flawed line of thinking that Taliban victory in Afghanistan is somehow victory for Pakistan too. To the contrary, Pakistan’s problems begin now. Pashtun populations on both sides of the border is just one of them. The failure of the Istanbul conference on Afghanistan reflects Pakistan’s inability to persuade the top Taliban leadership to attend what was billed as a 10-day jamboree. All participants, including President Ashraf Ghani, were expected to emerge having sorted out Afghanistan from A to Z.

Nothing of this happened. Turkish Foreign Minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu came down a few notches in his boss, Tayyip Erdogan’s esteem. The Foreign Minister believed that Pakistan would deliver the Taliban at the conference. It could not.

Turkey’s willingness to “look after” Kabul airport was based on Ankara’s anticipation that, at least in the interregnum, Ghani and the Taliban would agree. The Taliban would have none of it. Bring in mechanics, engineers and experts at handling airports, but no military presence “on Afghan soil”.

Describing Indo-Pak dynamics on Afghanistan as a zero-sum game has antecedents.

In 2010, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, as the force commander in Afghanistan, was unhappy that the popularity of India’s socio-economic development work distracts Pakistan from its war-on-terror focus. To this, Gen. David Petraeus added his bit: “India’s Cold Start doctrine worries Pakistan.”

It is impossible for an itinerant journalist to gauge public opinion across the board, but my interactions in Kabul, Gardez and Mazar-e-Sharif some years ago surprised me: Pakistan was seen as a troublemaker. India’s development works were appreciated. At night all of Kabul was glued to Bollywood on TV.

After US Deputy Secretary, Richard Armitage threatened to “bomb Pakistan into the stone age” a terrified President Pervez Musharraf made a U-turn. His army turned upon exactly the mujahideen that Pakistan ISI had trained to see the back of the Soviets in 1989.

This about-turn by Pakistan became part of the historic memory of Taliban. That’s the rub: the “unreliability” quotient of Pakistan was cited even by the Taliban spokesman who showed disinterest in the Istanbul conference.

There is a suspicion that promoting the Turkish profile in Afghanistan may well have been a Pak ploy to ensure a friendly nodal point, namely Kabul airport in the neighbouring country. Chatter on any high-profile role for Ankara in Kabul is, for the moment, inaudible.

Photo released by Pakistan’s Press Information Department (PID) shows Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan (R) shakes hands with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan after signing joint declaration at a ceremony in Islamabad, capital of Pakistan, on Feb. 14, 2020.

Abdus Salaam Zaeef was the Afghan ambassador in Islamabad and a friend of the late Mullah Omar. After Pakistan joined the war on terror, Zaeef found himself in Guantanamo Bay for four years. Zaeef was bitter: “The manner in which they treated our prisoners was worse than the Israeli treatment of Palestinian prisoners.” These plaints belong to an era many moons ago. Surely, the situation has changed after Prime Minister Imran Khan took charge. The Taliban today are not the ones who won in 1996. The new Taliban have Shia and Uzbek commanders too but keep your fingers crossed for the women of that country.

Like it or not, the Taliban are ascending. Ashraf Ghani, by all accounts has had it. Will he clamber onto the last helicopter out of Kabul? He is being maliciously mocked in this fashion. South Block probably knows the truth but is still clutching onto the myth of Ghani on the Kabul throne.

It is short sighted to rubbish the Taliban. Let us face it, they will be dominant in any eventual power sharing. A harried Ghani has fired his army chief as if the chief was responsible for the Afghan National Army spreading out red carpets for the Taliban advancing with breathtaking speed into urban centres — in addition to the 70 per cent of territory in their control. Taliban spokesman Suhail Shahleen told the BBC that districts fell because of mediation: Afghan soldiers refused to fight.

Was this collapse of a large section of the Afghan Army unexpected? Is one to believe that Green on Blue attacks had ended just because the US media had stopped reporting such incidents? US officers training the Afghan army were frequent victims of their own trainees. Little wonder President Joe Biden was almost bitter: “I don’t regret the decision to withdraw.”

He said the US had spent $3 trillion for 20 years training and equipping an Afghan army of 3,00,000. “Now it is time for the Afghans to sort it out among themselves.”

Years ago, a former Governor of Balkh, Prof. Habibullah Habib, told me a story which sounded conspiratorial then. “The British Provincial Reconstruction team was doing excellent work in the north of the country.” Why did they so willingly agree to vacate the peaceful region for the Germans to take over? What surprised Prof. Habib even more was the alternative destination selected by the British contingent. They chose to be headquartered in the troubled province of Helmand – why?

Prof. Habib’s question may well have been answered two days ago by a former British Defence Minister, Johnny Mercer, who served in Afghanistan: “A lot of British blood was spilled in Helmand.” He asks angrily: “Was it really for nothing?” Helmand, it must not be forgotten, is the world’s largest centre for poppy production which blossomed in 20 years of the war.

His colleague, another Defence Minister, Tobias Elwood has gone one better; he wants Afghanistan re invaded. “Britain must step up and show international leadership, convene a conference of like-minded states and get a plan in place to deliver effective military support. If we don’t, everything we fought for since 2001 will be lost.”

The Mercer-Elwood duo revive images of Laurel and Hardy in frayed army uniform looking after a giant warehouse packed with canned food. News of the armistice has not reached the two, surrounded by mountains of opened cans which have been their only source for food. A bi plane flies low and the pilot asks them what they were doing.

“We are incharge of the war’s biggest canteen,” Hardy says.

“But the war ended years ago.”

As Bobby Talyarkhan used to end his columns, “Do you get me Steve?”

ALSO READ: US prefers India over Pakistan: Imran Khan

ALSO READ: Pakistan Blames Pashtuns, India, Israel for its ‘image problem’

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-Top News Afghanistan Asia News

Politicians slam decision to withdraw scholarships for Afghan students

Liddington called the move “morally wrong,” while Stewart said it was “deeply disappointing”, according to Arab News report…reports Asian Lite News.

The UK lawmakers and politicians have condemned the decision taken by the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) to withdraw university scholarship places to Afghan students in light of the crisis enveloping the country.

About 35 people, just under half of whom are women, will no longer have visas approved for the Chevening Scholarships program this year, with the FCO insisting that the places will be deferred for a year with a view to “reinstating the program as soon as possible”, the Arab News reported.

In a letter sent to the prospective Afghan Chevening scholars, the FCO said: “Current circumstances mean that the British Embassy in Kabul is unable to administer the parts of the program that must be done in Kabul in time for candidates to begin their courses this year.”

David Liddington, a key ally of former Prime Minister Theresa May, and Rory Stewart, the former international development secretary, condemned the decision and urged Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab to intervene on behalf of the students.

Liddington called the move “morally wrong,” while Stewart said it was “deeply disappointing”, according to Arab News report.

Liddington also said that the students in question would be “at particular risk from the Taliban” given their desire to seek an education in the UK.

Meanwhile, over 60 countries including the US, United Kingdom, Japan, Germany and Canada on Sunday (local time) urged “all parties” to safeguard the departure of foreign nationals and Afghans who wish to leave the war-torn country, and said that roads, airports and border crossing must remain open.

The joint statement released by the US Department of State comes after the Taliban entered Afghanistan’s capital Kabul and seized control of the presidential palace.

“Those in positions of power and authority across Afghanistan bear responsibility — and accountability — for the protection of human life and property, and for the immediate restoration of security and civil order,” read the statement released on late Sunday.

Asserting that Afghan people deserve to live in safety, security and dignity, the statement said that the international community stand ready to assist them.

“Given the deteriorating security situation, we support, are working to secure, and call on all parties to respect and facilitate, the safe and orderly departure of foreign nationals and Afghans who wish to leave the country,” the statement added. (ANI)

ALSO READ-Ghani Exits As Talib Army Enter Kabul

READ MORE-TALIBS IN KABUL: Pak Woes Begin Now

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-Top News Afghanistan UK News

Johnson blames US pullout for Afghan bedlam

Johnson made the remarks after he chaired an emergency meeting on Sunday afternoon to discuss the situation in Afghanistan…reports Asian Lite News

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Sunday that the US decision to pull out of Afghanistan has “accelerated things,” noting “no one wants Afghanistan to become a breeding ground for terror” as the Taliban entered the Afghan capital.

Johnson made the remarks after he chaired an emergency meeting on Sunday afternoon to discuss the situation in Afghanistan, Xinhua news agency reported.

Taliban ordered its members to enter the Afghan capital city of Kabul on Sunday.

The move aims to maintain order in the capital city, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement.

US soldiers prepare to depart from Kunduz, Afghanistan. (Brian Harris Planet Pix ZUMA_dpa_IANS)

The British parliament will be recalled on Wednesday from their summer recess to debate the government’s response to the rapidly evolving situation in Afghanistan.

Britain has deployed 600 troops to Afghanistan to help evacuate British nationals and local interpreters.
British Secretary of Defence Ben Wallace on Friday said the US decision to pull its military forces out of Afghanistan was a “mistake,” which has handed the Taliban “momentum” in the country.

The situation in the war-torn country has been worsening since the speedy withdrawal of US-led troops starting on May 1. US President Joe Biden has ordered the US military to end its mission in Afghanistan by the end of this month.

ALSO READ:Canada to evacuate its citizens from Afghanistan

ALSO READ: Biden increases troops deployment to Afghanistan

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-Top News Afghanistan Asia News

TALIBS IN KABUL: Pak Woes Begin Now

Does Taliban victory in Afghanistan mean a Pak triumph? Pashtun populations on both sides of the border will now work hard to create a Greater Afghanistan threatening the disintegration of Punjabi-dominated Pakistan …. Writes SAEED NAQVI

It is a flawed line of thinking that Taliban victory in Afghanistan is somehow victory for Pakistan too. To the contrary, Pakistan’s problems begin now. Pashtun populations on both sides of the border is just one of them. The failure of the Istanbul conference on Afghanistan reflects Pakistan’s inability to persuade the top Taliban leadership to attend what was billed as a 10-day jamboree. All participants, including President Ashraf Ghani, were expected to emerge having sorted out Afghanistan from A to Z.

Nothing of this happened. Turkish Foreign Minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu came down a few notches in his boss, Tayyip Erdogan’s esteem. The Foreign Minister believed that Pakistan would deliver the Taliban at the conference. It could not.

Turkey’s willingness to “look after” Kabul airport was based on Ankara’s anticipation that, at least in the interregnum, Ghani and the Taliban would agree. The Taliban would have none of it. Bring in mechanics, engineers and experts at handling airports, but no military presence “on Afghan soil”. Describing Indo-Pak dynamics on Afghanistan as a zero-sum game has antecedents.

 In 2010, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, as the force commander in Afghanistan, was unhappy that the popularity of India’s socio-economic development work distracts Pakistan from its war-on-terror focus. To this, Gen. David Petraeus added his bit: “India’s Cold Start doctrine worries Pakistan.”

 It is impossible for an itinerant journalist to gauge public opinion across the board, but my interactions in Kabul, Gardez and Mazar-e-Sharif some years ago surprised me: Pakistan was seen as a troublemaker. India’s development works were appreciated. At night all of Kabul was glued to Bollywood on TV.

 After US Deputy Secretary, Richard Armitage threatened to “bomb Pakistan into the stone age” a terrified President Pervez Musharraf made a U-turn. His army turned upon exactly the mujahideen that Pakistan ISI had trained to see the back of the Soviets in 1989.

 This about-turn by Pakistan became part of the historic memory of Taliban. That’s the rub: the “unreliability” quotient of Pakistan was cited even by the Taliban spokesman who showed disinterest in the Istanbul conference.

 There is a suspicion that promoting the Turkish profile in Afghanistan may well have been a Pak ploy to ensure a friendly nodal point, namely Kabul airport in the neighbouring country. Chatter on any high-profile role for Ankara in Kabul is, for the moment, inaudible.

 Abdus Salaam Zaeef was the Afghan ambassador in Islamabad and a friend of the late Mullah Omar. After Pakistan joined the war on terror, Zaeef found himself in Guantanamo Bay for four years. Zaeef was bitter: “The manner in which they treated our prisoners was worse than the Israeli treatment of Palestinian prisoners.” These plaints belong to an era many moons ago. Surely, the situation has changed after Prime Minister Imran Khan took charge. The Taliban today are not the ones who won in 1996. The new Taliban have Shia and Uzbek commanders too but keep your fingers crossed for the women of that country.

Like it or not, the Taliban are ascending. Ashraf Ghani, by all accounts has had it. Will he clamber onto the last helicopter out of Kabul? He is being maliciously mocked in this fashion. South Block probably knows the truth but is still clutching onto the myth of Ghani on the Kabul throne.

It is short sighted to rubbish the Taliban. Let us face it, they will be dominant in any eventual power sharing. A harried Ghani has fired his army chief as if the chief was responsible for the Afghan National Army spreading out red carpets for the Taliban advancing with breathtaking speed into urban centres — in addition to the 70 per cent of territory in their control. Taliban spokesman Suhail Shahleen told the BBC that districts fell because of mediation: Afghan soldiers refused to fight.

Was this collapse of a large section of the Afghan Army unexpected? Is one to believe that Green on Blue attacks had ended just because the US media had stopped reporting such incidents? US officers training the Afghan army were frequent victims of their own trainees. Little wonder President Joe Biden was almost bitter: “I don’t regret the decision to withdraw.” 

He said the US had spent $3 trillion for 20 years training and equipping an Afghan army of 3,00,000. “Now it is time for the Afghans to sort it out among themselves.”

Years ago, a former Governor of Balkh, Prof. Habibullah Habib, told me a story which sounded conspiratorial then. “The British Provincial Reconstruction team was doing excellent work in the north of the country.” Why did they so willingly agree to vacate the peaceful region for the Germans to take over? What surprised Prof. Habib even more was the alternative destination selected by the British contingent. They chose to be headquartered in the troubled province of Helmand – why?

 Prof. Habib’s question may well have been answered two days ago by a former British Defence Minister, Johnny Mercer, who served in Afghanistan: “A lot of British blood was spilled in Helmand.” He asks angrily: “Was it really for nothing?” Helmand, it must not be forgotten, is the world’s largest centre for poppy production which blossomed in 20 years of the war.

 His colleague, another Defence Minister, Tobias Elwood has gone one better; he wants Afghanistan re invaded. “Britain must step up and show international leadership, convene a conference of like-minded states and get a plan in place to deliver effective military support. If we don’t, everything we fought for since 2001 will be lost.”

ALSO READ-Ghani Exits As Talib Army Enter Kabul

READ MORE-US Embassy in Kabul destroys sensitive materials

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-Top News Afghanistan Asia News

Ghani Exits As Talib Army Enter Kabul

Nobel laureate and a victim of Taliban atrocities Malala Yousafzai says she is “deeply worried about women, minorities and human rights advocates” as the Taliban takes control in Afghanistan…reports Asian Lite News.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has left the country bound for Tajikistan as Taliban troops enter the capital city.

The Taliban order their fighters to refrain from violence and allow safe passage for anyone wanting to leave, BBC reported. They say members of the Afghan security forces will be allowed to return to their homes.

Earlier in the day, acting defense minister Bismillah Mohammadi said that the president has handed the authority of solving the crisis in the country to political leaders, Tolo News reported.

Mohammadi said that a delegation will travel to Doha on Monday for talks on the country’s situation.

The delegation includes key political leaders, including Younus Qanooni, Ahmad Wali Massoud, Mohammad Mohaqiq among others.

Sources close to the Taliban said that it has been agreed that Ghani will resign after a political agreement and hand the power to a transitional government.

Afghans have said that they seek a political settlement and an end to the ongoing violence in the country.

Eyewitnesses say the militants met little resistance along the way to the capital.  The Taliban capture more territory, including the former US airbase at Bagram and the central Bamiyan province.

Vice-president Amrullah Saleh is also reported to have fled. Mr Ghani has come under increasing pressure to resign as major cities around Afghanistan have fallen to Taliban militants over the course of 10 days.

In another development, Nobel laureate and a victim of Taliban atrocities Malala Yousafzai says she is “deeply worried about women, minorities and human rights advocates” as the Taliban takes control in Afghanistan.

The women’s rights and education activist urged global powers to call for “an immediate ceasefire” and to protect refugees and civilians.

There is concern that under Taliban rule, women’s rights could deteriorate in Afghanistan. When the militants previously ruled the country, girls over the age of 12 did not receive an education and women could not leave their house without a face covering and a male relative chaperoning them.

Residents flee city

People in Kabul have been fleeing the capital as news of the Taliban advance emerges. Long queues of cars have formed as people try to find a way out of the city. Banks have also been busy as residents try to withdraw their savings, BBC reported.

  Afghan MP Farzana Kochai describeD the scene: “I’m in my house and looking at the people who are just trying to run.”

 She continues: “I don’t know where they’re trying to go, even in the streets and from their houses, their bags they are carrying… and all these things. It’s heartbreaking, you know.”

 Earlier, Pakistan said it was closing the Torkham border crossing with Afghanistan after the militants seized the Afghan side of the border, according to reports.  This leaves Kabul International Airport as the only way out of the country.

Afghan radio reports said that the road to Kabul’s international airport is clogged with thousands of people who are rushing to leave the country.

 Thousands of others stand in long queues, stretching for kilometres, outside the capital’s only passport office, desperately trying to secure travel documents.

Others frantically rush around downtown Kabul, a city of some 5 million people, running last-minute errands before fleeing their homes.

The fear and panic gripping Kabul is palpable as the Taliban militant group marches on the capital following a devastating, months long military offensive during which it has seized large swaths of the war-torn country.

“It’s a feeling of shock and sadness compounded by brutal uncertainty,” says Timor Sharan, a former civil servant and the director of the Afghanistan Policy Lab, a Kabul-based think tank. “Shopping in the city today, I felt people were gripped by a sense of being stuck; stuck in an uncertain future and never able to dream, aspire, think, and believe anymore.”

  Meanwhile, the price of some food staples like flour has surged by 30 percent, while gas prices have almost doubled in recent weeks, even as poverty spreads and a humanitarian crisis worsens.

ALSO READ-US govt issues new terrorism threat warning ahead of 9/11 anniversary

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-Top News Afghanistan Arab News

Govt in talks with Qatar to house thousands of Afghan refugees

Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby on Thursday said that the US would move approximately 1,000 military personnel to Qatar in order to hasten the processing of Afghan SIV Visa applicants…reports Asian Lite News.

The government is working to finalise an agreement with Qatar to temporarily house thousands of Afghan refugees who worked with the US military, local media has reported. The situation in Afghanistan is worsening amid the ongoing withdrawal of the US forces from the country. Taliban has seized over half of 34 provincial capitals in the country and it is now closing on Kabul.

A CNN report noted that the number of refugees could go up to 8,000 and if the deal gets signed, the first group of Afghan nationals may soon arrive in Doha. “We are evaluating all available options. We have no announcements to make on third-country relocation sites for Afghan (Special Immigrant Visas) SIV applicants,” a State Department spokesperson told CNN.

Meanwhile, Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby on Thursday said that the US would move approximately 1,000 military personnel to Qatar in order to hasten the processing of Afghan SIV Visa applicants. Earlier this month, the Biden administration had announced the expansion of the refugee program for Afghans who worked with the US. The State Department had said that it will expand access to the US refugee program for certain Afghans amid fears of reprisal by the Taliban as the US military withdrawal nears completion.

“This designation expands the opportunity to permanently resettle in the United States to many thousands of Afghans and their immediate family members who may be at risk due to their US affiliation but who are not eligible for an SIV because they did not have qualifying employment, or because they have not met the time-in-service requirement to become eligible,” the State Department had said. “However, in light of increased levels of Taliban violence, the US government is working to provide certain Afghans, including those who worked with the US, the opportunity for refugee resettlement to the US.” (ANI)

ALSO READ-Ghani vows to prevent further bloodshed as Taliban offensive continues

READ MORE-Taliban Detain Afghan Warlord Ismail Khan As Herat Falls

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-Top News Afghanistan USA

Biden increases troops deployment to Afghanistan

President authorizes deployment of 5,000 additional troops to Afghanistan to support the drawdown of the American Embassy personnel from Kabul, reports Asian Lite News

President Joe Biden announced that he has authorized the deployment of roughly 5,000 additional troops to Afghanistan to support the drawdown of the American Embassy personnel from Kabul, warning the Taliban not to put the staff and mission at risk.

“Based on the recommendations of our diplomatic, military, and intelligence teams, I have authorised the deployment of approximately 5,000 US troops to make sure we can have an orderly and safe drawdown of US personnel and other allied personnel and an orderly and safe evacuation of Afghans who helped our troops during our mission and those at special risk from the Taliban advance,” Biden said in a statement late Saturday.

“We have conveyed to the Taliban representatives in Doha, via our Combatant Commander, that any action on their part on the ground in Afghanistan, that puts US personnel or our mission at risk there, will be met with a swift and strong US military response,” he added.

The Pentagon announced last week that three infantry battalions, about 3,000 troops, will be deployed to Kabul airport to support US embassy staff reduction and Afghan Special Immigrant Visas (SIV) applicants evacuation given the Taliban’s rapid offensive across the country.

Biden’s decision to send more forces comes as the Taliban seized control of Mazar-e-Sharif, the country’s fourth largest city, dealing another crushing defeat to the Afghan government.

The militant group now controls about 24 of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces, and are rapidly marching towards the capital, Kabul.

Three more key Afghan cities fall to Taliban

Meanwhile, as the Taliban is continuing its rapid march towards Kabul, three more important cities have fallen to the insurgent group amid ongoing intense clashes with the war-torn country’s security forces.

On Sunday, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed that the militants took control of most parts of Jalalabad, capital of Nangarhar province, some 120 km east of Kabul, reports Xinhua news agency.

He said the militants were also trying to seize control of the governor’s office and the provincial police headquarters in Jalalabad.

Jalalabad’s collapse came after the fall of Asadabad city, capital of Kunar province, and Sharan, the capital of Paktika province, on Saturday.

A witness said that the Taliban militants entered Asadabad at around 3 p.m. on Saturday and seized control of the city.

All the provincial officials, according locals, have moved to Nangarhar.

Meanwhile, the Taliban spokesman also confirmed the fall of Asadabad, saying that the government security forces had surrendered and all parts of the city are now under the militants’ control.

In a statement to Xinhua news agency, Paktika provincial council chief Bakhtiar Gul Zadran confirmed the fall of Sharan city, adding that the entire province is now under Taliban control.

All officials of the province have gone to a military base, Zadran said without providing more details

Earlier on Saturday, Taliban declared that they captured Mazar-i-Sharif and Maimana cities in the northern region, Gardez and Mehtarlam cities in the eastern part of the country.

Since the escalation of fighting in May, the Taliban has so far captured more than 20 provincial capitals.

2 key Afghan warlords flee to Uzbekistan

Prominent Afghan warlords Marshal Abdul Rashid Dostum and Atta Muhammad Noor, who were defending Mazar-e-Sharif, have fled to Uzbekistan along with their fighters and sons after the fall of the city to the Taliban.

In a Facebook post, Noor said that the collapse of Mazar-e-sharif was a plot and aimed at getting himself and Dostum surrendered, as per media reports.

The only province in the north of Afghanistan, Balkh, fell to the Taliban which brought the entire northern zone under the fighters’ control.

The Taliban launched heavy attacks on the provincial capital, Mazar-e-sharif, and toppled the city after a relatively heavy confrontation with the Afghan Forces and the armed uprising.

The Afghan government has not commented on the collapse of the Balkh province yet.

Taliban spokesperson Zabiullah Mujahid on his Twitter wrote that the provincial office, police headquarter; NDS local office, and 209th Shaheen corps have fallen to the fighters.

Mujahid added that the central prison has also been broken and inmates were set free.

Earlier, Noor had said he will never ever surrender to the Taliban and there was no power to get him arrested in the province.

Dostum had also said that Balkh is the door of Afghanistan and they will never let the province topple.

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