Category: Afghanistan

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Taliban Supreme Leader Arrives in Kandahar

Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada, the supreme leader of whom the world has only a single photo is due to come to Kabul and hold a series of talks with other Taliban officials and Afghan politicians and leaders, reports Asian Lite Newsdesk

The supreme leader of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada, arrived in Kandahar province from an unknown place on Sunday.

He has reportedly met with the tribal leaders of Kandahar province and the IEA is due to release a statement on his behalf, Khaama News reported.

The supreme leader of whom the world has only a single photo is due to come to the Afghan capital and hold a series of talks with other Taliban officials and Afghan politicians and leaders, the report said.

Prior to that, Mullah Abdulghani Baradar, the co-founder of Taliban and head of Taliban’s political office in Doha, had also landed in Kandahar province before coming to Kabul along with a delegation.

The Taliban’s governance is said to be conducted from Kandahar province.

Negotiations over the upcoming government in Afghanistan are expected to be expedited after the supreme leader arrives in Kabul.

Earlier, the acting minister of information and culture and spokesperson of the Taliban, Zabiullah Mujahid, had said that their cabinet will take shape in the upcoming two weeks.

Fulfil commitments: US tells Taliban

US State Department spokesperson Ned Price said that Washington expects that the Taliban must ‘follow through’ on its commitments.

These developments came after the Taliban previously made clear that “they would like to see an American diplomatic presence remain in Kabul,” Pakistan Today reported citing Ned Price.

“We have heard a range of statements from the Taliban. Some of them have been positive, some of them have been constructive but ultimately what we will be looking for, what our international partners will be looking for are deeds, not words,” Price added.

Price also said that the US is not coordinating with the Haqqani network in Afghanistan.

The US had designated the Haqqani Network as a terrorist group in 2012, is now a part of the government in Afghanistan post the Taliban takeover of the war-torn country, said Jason Criss Howk, writing in Clearance Jobs.

During the discussion, Price also reaffirmed that the US military is leaving by August 31, as reported by Pakistan Times.

US is “handing the [Hamid Karzai International] airport back to the Afghan people. What we are doing is trying to lay the diplomatic groundwork and the technical groundwork,” he said.

After the hostile takeover of Afghanistan, the Taliban has re-imposed repressive laws and retrograde policies on Afghan women that defined its 1996-2001 rule when they enforced their version of Islamic Sharia law.

Experts believe that Afghan women are most likely to face an uncertain future under the terrorist group regime.

Sajjan Gohel, a security and terrorism analyst also said that women are scared out of the Taliban minds.

(Image Source ANI)

Female anchor flees country

Beheshta Arghand, a female Afghan anchor, fled the country after an interview with a senior Taliban leader, CNN reported on Monday.

Arghand, who worked for TOLOnews, interviewed Mawlawi Abdulhaq Hemad, a high-ranking Taliban representative in mid-August.

The interview had garnered headlines around the world, as it was the first time in Afghanistan’s history that a Taliban member appeared live on TV sitting next to a female presenter.

The journalist confirmed to CNN that she had left Afghanistan for fear of the Taliban. The Afghan scribe added that she would return if the security situation in the country improved.

“I left the country because, like millions of people, I fear the Taliban,” Arghand was quoted by CNN.

This comes as Afghan journalists, cameramen and photographers in an open letter called on the UN, the international community, rights groups and media-supporting organizations to protect them against threats.

“Considering the increasing challenges and threats facing media workers, as well as their families and property, we urge the United Nations and donor countries to take action to save our lives and our families,” the letter read, published on Saturday and signed by 150 reporters.

The letter comes following the fall of the Afghan government on August 15. Several reporters and media staff have since fled the country fearing reprisal from the Taliban. (ANI)

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Most Americans killed in Kabul airport attack were ‘9/11 babies’

IS-K, a radical affiliate of Daesh active in Afghanistan, had claimed responsibility for the deadly attack which also claimed some 170 Afghan lives outside the Kabul airport, reports Asian Lite News

Twelve of the 13 US service members killed in the August 26 Kabul airport bombing were “9/11 babies”, according to media reports.

The Pentagon released their names and biographies on August 28. The victims, mostly aged from 20 to 25 years old, were born within a few years of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, which led the US to launch two lengthy and painful wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

“They never knew a US that was not at war, never lived in the world before the Department of Homeland Security and the Transportation Security Administration, a country without ID checks in office buildings, metal detectors at schools, shoes X-rayed at the airport,” said a Washington Post report on Sunday.

“Our generation of Marines has been listening to the Iraq/Afghan vets tell their war stories for years,” Mallory Harrison, a friend of 23-year-old Marine Corps Sgt. Nicole L. Gee, one of the 13 dead, wrote on Facebook.

“It’s easy for that war and those stories to sound like something so distant — something that you feel like you’re never going to experience since you joined the Marine Corps during peacetime,” Harrison said.

Photo taken with mobile phone shows smoke rises near the blast site at an airport in Kabul, Afghanistan on Aug. 26, 2021. (Str/Xinhua/IANS)

IS-K, a radical affiliate of the Daesh active in Afghanistan, had claimed responsibility for the deadly attack which also claimed some 170 Afghan lives outside the Kabul airport.

On Sunday, the remains of the 13 troops were brought back home to the US.

President Joe Biden, First Lady Jill Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin, Joint Chiefs Chairman Mark Milley and other senior military officials attended a solemn ceremony at the Dover Air Force Base in Delaware state where the remains arrived.

The President and First Lady met privately with the families of the victims before observing flag-draped cases carrying 11 service members’ remains were loaded into vans.

The remains of two other fallen US service members were being brought home privately at the request of their families.

The White House said that around 111,900 people had left Afghanistan since August 14.

The US pullout from Afghanistan is set to be completed by August 31, the deadline set by President Joe Biden.

Remains of US troops killed in Kabul bombing return home

President Joe Biden attended a solemn ceremony at a base in his home state of Delaware where the remains of 13 troops killed in the August 26 Kabul bombings returned to American soil.

During the ceremony on Sunday at the Dover Air Force Base, Biden was joined by First Lady Jill Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin, Joint Chiefs Chairman Mark Milley and other senior military officials.

The President and First Lady met privately with the families of the victims before observing flag-draped cases carrying 11 service members’ remains were loaded into vans.

The remains of two other fallen US service members were being brought home privately at the request of their families.

Nearly 200 people, including the 13 service members, were killed in a terrorist attack near the gates of Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul as US forces were working to evacuate Americans and allies from Afghanistan.

The IS-K, a local affiliate of the Daesh terror group, claimed responsibility for the carnage.

The Pentagon on august 28 released the names of the fallen troops, mostly aged from 20 to 25 years old.

The White House said that around 111,900 people had left Afghanistan since August 14.

The US pullout from Afghanistan is set to be completed by August 31, the deadline set by President Joe Biden.

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Afghan Sikhs, Hindus prefer West over India

Delays and red tapism while procuring government documents in India forced them to choose West as a destination for dignified life…reports Vishal Gulati

More than 250 Afghans belonging to a minority communities of Sikh and Hindu, who have connections in India, have been holed up in a Sikh shrine just seven km from the international airport in Kabul and are desperately awaiting their evacuation to a Western nation.

For them India is not the preferred destination as a refugee. The reason: they believe it took years and years to procure the Indian citizenship. Also, there is too much red tapism while procuring government documents like a passport and an Aadhaar card.

They are praying to enter a Western nation as a refugee where they are hoping to live a dignified life. They comprise dozens of women and children.

“We understand their urgency at this point in time. Our volunteers are working with a team of ex-military contractors and the US State Department to help 250-270 Afghan Sikhs and Hindus find their way safely to the international airport in Kabul,” US-based global humanitarian non-profit organization United Sikh’s International Humanitarian Aid Director Gurvinder Singh told IANS over phone.

He said many of them took refuge in the Karte Parwan gurdwara after the country fell into the hands of the Taliban.

“Most of them belong to middle-class families and they were doing small-time business in Kabul. Even the Taliban assured them that they won’t be harmed and they will play a crucial role in the recovery of war-torn Afghanistan,” he said.

“But all of them were desperately awaiting their evacuation from the country well ahead of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan (on August 31). After that there might be potential attacks by Islamic State terror group,” he said.

“We are providing them emergency humanitarian aid, besides international protection and intervention for the families. This is vital for their secure and permanent resettlement. We are on the job to evacuate them by August 31,” said an optimistic Gurvinder Singh, 38, who is based in Texas.

“They can be evacuated either to Canada or the US or the UK or Australia or New Zealand. We are in constant touch with all these countries. Our first priority is to ensure safe passage to them from the gurdwara to the airport that is just seven km away,” he said.

A day before “martyrdom attack” near Kabul’s international airport killing 13 US service members and dozens of Afghans on August 27, he said all the Sikh and Hindu families were boarded in nine minivans and were on the way to the north gate of the airport which is under the control of the American forces.

Their vehicles were attacked by some terror groups ahead of the airport and they narrowly escaped. For 18-long hours they remained stranded in the vehicles and failed to enter the airport.

He said their teams still remain in constant contact with the community in Kabul as another attempt is made before the August 31 deadline for evacuation flights from Afghanistan.

Gurvinder Singh said they have set up an Afghan Helpdesk in New Delhi to reach out the displaced.

People queue up to board a military aircraft of Germany and leave Kabul at Kabul airport, Afghanistan. (XinhuaIANS)

Since the terror attack on March 25, 2020 in Gurdwara Har Rai in Kabul, the United Sikhs’ ongoing relief work for Afghan Sikhs was enhanced and moved forward with urgency.

For decades, the Sikhs and Hindus in Afghanistan have been victims of discrimination, terror, violence, and persecution at the hands of extremists. The proof is in the mass exodus of a proud community that once numbered over 100,000 to now being dwindled to less than 700, said the humanitarian organization.

Any Afghan citizen wishing to escape persecution must obtain a passport. To facilitate this resettlement, the United Sikhs has been requested by those on the ground as well as by multiple Afghan Sikh advocates to undertake the responsibility of passports for 356 Afghan Sikhs and Hindus in 2020.

In 2018 after the Jalalabad bombing that left 12 Sikh leaders dead, the global advocacy presented before the 39th session of the Human Rights Council the plight of the Hindus and Sikhs in Afghanistan.

In 2019, the Permanent Missions to the UN were urged to address the continuing threats to the safety of the Afghan Sikhs and Hindus.

Later in 2019 a petition was filed in the Canadian Parliament seeking safe passage.

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Turkey still interested in operating Kabul airport

At the same time, Turkey is neither willing to recognise the Taliban government at this point nor is it willing to take any Afghan refugees….reports SPS Pannu

Turkey is ready to provide its technical aviation experts to help the Taliban in operating the Kabul airport for civilian flights once the US and allied troops evacuate on August 31, a top Turkish official has said.

Turkey’s presidential spokesperson Ibrahim Kalin said on the country’s NTV news channel on Wednesday that “negotiations continue on Turkish civilian experts providing technical support at the airport”.

Germany has also been holding discussions with Turkey on whether it could lead a “civilian only” airlift of people to be evacuated from Kabul after US forces leave, according to leading UK daily The Guardian.

The alternative option was brought to the table as US President Joe Biden had given no categorical assurance that he would extend the August 31 deadline for pulling out US troops from Kabul airport. Now that the G7 meeting has failed to persuade Biden to extend the deadline, the German initiative is expected to gather further momentum.

The Taliban, which had staunchly opposed any move to extend the August 31 deadline for removal of US troops, has said it is not averse to civilian flights resuming from Kabul to enable any foreign nationals that get left behind to leave the country.

German foreign minister Heiko Maas had earlier said: “We are talking with the United States, Turkey and other partners with the aim of facilitating a civil operation of Kabul airport to enable the evacuation of people beyond August 31. We will also have to continue to talk with the Taliban about this issue, and that’s what we are doing.”

Turkey has already started withdrawing its troops and Kalin said it would take 36 hours to complete the evacuation.

Photo taken with mobile phone shows smoke rises near the blast site at an airport in Kabul, Afghanistan on Aug. 26, 2021. (Str/Xinhua/IANS)

“After our troops withdraw, we could continue this operational task at the airport there. If it is agreed in the terms and an agreement is reached in this direction,” he told NTV.

However, at the same time, Turkey is neither willing to recognise the Taliban government at this point nor is it willing to take any Afghan refugees.

While efforts to evacuate foreign nationals have been stepped up at Kabul airport, the chaos created by thousands of desperate people wanting to fly out and the problems that foreigners are facing in reaching the airport have made the task of evacuating all foreign nationals and at-risk Afghans extremely difficult.

The resumption of civil flights at Kabul after August 31 would give the much needed window to fly out those who miss the last date.

The fresh threat of a terrorist attack at the Kabul airport by the Islamic State militants has slowed down the evacuations. The USA, UK and Australia warned their citizens on Thursday to stay away from the Kabul airport as there was a high threat of a terrorist attack in the area.

Meanwhile, British defence secretary Ben Wallace said on Wednesday that Afghans who want to flee to the UK may be better off “trying to get to the border” than awaiting RAF evacuation.

He also indicated that there were few places left on British rescue flights, which have evacuated more than 11,000 people from Kabul since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan less than two weeks ago.

(The content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com)

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Want to continue political, trade ties with India, says Taliban chief

Stanekzai had informally reached out to the Indian side after the Taliban took over Afghanistan and requested New Delhi to retain diplomatic presence in Kabul, reports Asian Lite News

Taliban leader Sher Mohammed Abbas Stanekzai has said the group wants to continue Afghanistan’s political, economic and cultural ties with India, the first time a member of the Taliban’s top hierarchy has spoken on the issue since the takeover of Kabul.

In a nearly 46-minute video posted on the Taliban’s social media platforms on Saturday, Stanekzai spoke extensively in Pashto on the end of the war in Afghanistan and the Taliban’s plans for forming an Islamic administration based on Shariah. He also spoke about the Taliban’s views on relations with key countries in the region, including India, Pakistan, China and Russia.

Since the Taliban assumed power in Kabul after the collapse of the Ashraf Ghani government on August 15, the group’s spokesmen Suhail Shaheen and Zabiullah Mujahid have spoken to the Pakistani media about the group’s views on relations with India. However, Stanekzai is the first senior leader to make a statement on relations with other countries.

“India is very important for this subcontinent. We want to continue our cultural, economic and trade ties with India like in the past,” Stanekzai said.

“Trade with India through Pakistan is very important for us. With India, trade through air corridors will also remain open,” he said, outlining the Taliban’s plans for trade in the region.

However, he didn’t say whether trade via India should be two-way. Pakistan has allowed Afghan traders to ship their goods to India through its territory but has never permitted Indian goods to be transported via Pakistani soil to Afghanistan.

“We give due importance to our political, economic and trade ties with India and we want these ties to continue. We are looking forward to working with India in this regard,” Stanekzai added.

(Image Source ANI)

While speaking about Afghanistan’s relations with Turkmenistan, Stanekzai mentioned the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline project and said the Taliban would work to address the problems holding up the venture once a government is formed.

Stanekzai also referred to the Chabahar port developed by India while speaking about relations with Iran and highlighted its importance for trade.

He also spoke about relations with China, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan and Russia. He thanked Pakistan for hosting millions of Afghan refugees and said Afghanistan wants to have brotherly relations with Pakistan.

Stanekzai had informally reached out to the Indian side after the Taliban took over Afghanistan and made a surprise request for New Delhi to retain its diplomatic presence in Kabul. He had also referred to reports that fighters from Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) were in Kabul and deployed at check posts on routes to the airport, and contended that all check posts, including those at the airport, were firmly in the hands of the Taliban.

However, the Indian side concluded Stanekzai’s message couldn’t be taken at face value and went ahead with plans to pull out nearly 200 diplomats, officials and security personnel, including the ambassador, from Kabul. There was no response from Indian officials to Stanekzai’s remarks.

Stanekzai, who is seen as the number two in the Taliban’s negotiating team and third overall among leaders based in Qatar, trained for several years at the Indian Military Academy (IMA) in Dehradun in the early 1980s. People familiar with developments said on condition of anonymity that he appeared to be taking on a key role in foreign relations though he has not been part of the decision-making in Kabul.

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UNSC not holding discussions on sending peacekeeping mission to Af

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Saturday that Paris and London would be holding talks on Monday discussing the possibility of creating a “safe zone” in the Afghan capital of Kabul…reports Asian Lite News

The UN Security Council (UNSC) is not engaged in any discussions regarding the possibility of sending a UN peacekeeping mission to Afghanistan following the Taliban’s (terrorist organization, banned in Russia) takeover, a UNSC source told Sputnik.

“There are currently no discussions at the SC on sending a UN peacekeeping mission to Afghanistan and in particular to Kabul,” the source said.

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Saturday that Paris and London would be holding talks on Monday discussing the possibility of creating a “safe zone” in the Afghan capital of Kabul. Macron told Journal du Dimanche that France and the UK are developing a “draft resolution” which “aims to define, under UN control, a ‘safe zone’ in Kabul to allow humanitarian operations to continue.”

“UK/US/FR text under negotiations. It is hoped to be endorsed by the whole council as soon as possible. The aim would be to ensure that those Afghans who wish to leave can do so in a secured manner – and with a safe and secure access to the point of departure,” the UNSC source said. (ANI/Sputnik)

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Afghan children at greater risk than ever: UNICEF

With the conflict in the country intensifying, children have been forced from their homes and cut off from their schools and friends…reports Asian Lite News

Afghan children have paid the heaviest price in recent weeks of increased conflict and insecurity, said a UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) senior official, adding that the world “cannot abandon them now”.

George Laryea-Adjei, Regional Director for UNICEF South Asia, said: “Now, with a security crisis, skyrocketing food prices, a severe drought, the spread of COVID-19, and another harsh winter just around the corner, children are at greater risk than ever.”

The children have been deprived of basic healthcare that can protect them against polio, tetanus, and other diseases. With the conflict in the country intensifying, many have been forced from their homes and cut off from their schools and friends, UN News reported.

The UNICEF has predicted that if the current trend continues, one million under-fives in Afghanistan will face severe acute malnutrition, a life-threatening condition.

Laryea-Adjei said more than four million children, including 2.2 million girls, are out of school.

Around 300,000 youngsters have been forced to flee their homes, some of whom were in bed sleeping, “and too many of them have witnessed scenes that no child should ever see”, he said.

“Children and adolescents are struggling with anxieties and fears, in desperate need of mental health support,” he added.

With some humanitarian partners considering cutting aid to Afghanistan, Laryea-Adjei voiced concern over having enough resources to keep health centers up and running, schools open, and services available to treat severely malnourished children.

The UNICEF, which has been in Afghanistan for more than six decades, continues to maintain a field presence across the country and is engaging with interlocutors to scale up the response.

The agency is currently supporting mobile health and nutrition teams at camps for displaced people, and setting up child-friendly spaces, nutrition hubs, and vaccination sites, while also prepositioning additional lifesaving supplies and supporting thousands of students in community-based education classes. (ANI)

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Turkey relocates its embassy back to Kabul

Recep-Tayyip-Erdogan

Turkey officials informed that the country will not assist operations at Kabul airport after NATO’s withdrawal…reports Asian Lite News

The Turkish Embassy in Afghanistan was relocated back to its premises in Kabul after it was temporarily stationed at the Kabul airport, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday.

“Two weeks ago our embassy was temporarily relocated to the Kabul airport. Yesterday, they [embassy staff] returned to their headquarters in the centre of Kabul and resumed their work there. Our plans are to maintain our diplomatic presence in Afghanistan. We are constantly monitoring the development of the security situation and have options ready just in case. Our priority is the safety of our personnel,” Erdogan said as quoted by Turkish NTV broadcaster.

On August 15, the Taliban (a terrorist group, banned in Russia) entered Kabul, which led to the collapse of the US-supported civilian government and the movement gaining control over almost all of Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, Turkey officials informed that the country will not assist operations at Kabul airport after NATO’s withdrawal unless the Taliban agree to the presence of Turkish security at the airport.

These developments came two days after the deadly attack outside the airport. The Taliban have asked Turkey for technical help to run the airport after next Tuesday’s deadline for all foreign military forces to pull out of Afghanistan, The Washington Post reported.

“Our demand is that security should be ensured by Turkey too, through an extensive security team made up of former soldiers, former police, or a fully private firm,” said the Turkish official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The attack raised doubts about the Taliban’s ability to secure the airport or to keep any Turkish operational staff safe, he added.

The senior official also said talks with the Taliban had been “negatively impacted” by the airport attacks.

“It’s a very serious job and we need to think of security and operation together,” the official said. “Our approach is that even if security is not provided by the Turkish Armed Forces, it should be done by Turkey,” another Turkish official informed.

Earlier on Wednesday, Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar had informed that Turkish armed forces have started leaving Afghanistan and the decision has been taken after evaluating the current situation and conditions.

The first plane carried 345 Turkish military staff including civilian personnel. (ANI)

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Boris faces flak over Afghan withdrawal

Current and former officials slammed government failings, suggesting many more Afghans could have been rescued, reports Asian Lite News

The British government faced a torrent of criticism after its hurried withdrawal from Afghanistan ended, leaving hundreds eligible for relocation behind.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson hailed a mission “unlike anything we have seen in our lifetimes” after the UK airlifted over 15,000 people in the last two weeks.

Troops landed back at Brize Norton airbase in southern England on Sunday after Britain was forced to withdraw following the decision of its ally the United States to end its 20-year presence.

Johnson praised the evacuation efforts in “harrowing conditions” and assured the military that decades of deployment “were not in vain” after the Taliban retook control.

But current and former officials slammed government failings, suggesting many more Afghans could have been rescued.

The Observer leftwing broadsheet cited a whistleblower as saying thousands of emails from MPs and charities to the foreign ministry highlighting specific Afghans at risk from the Taliban takeover went unopened.

Foreign Minister Dominic Raab has already been strongly criticised for not immediately leaving a beach holiday when the Taliban took control.

The Observer said it saw evidence that an official email account set up by the Foreign Office to receive such pleas regularly had 5,000 unopened emails last week.

It said these included messages from ministers’ offices and the leader of the opposition Labour party, Keir Starmer.

“They cannot possibly know (how many people have been left behind) because they haven’t even read the emails,” the whistleblower was quoted as saying.

The Foreign Office responded that its crisis team worked 24/7 “to triage incoming emails and calls”.

Officials have given varying estimates of how many eligible Afghans did not board evacuation flights, the last of which left Saturday, with the head of the UK armed forces General Sir Nick Carter putting this “in the high hundreds”.

The Sunday Times right-wing broadsheet quoted an unnamed minister as saying: “I suspect we could have taken out 800 to 1,000 more people”.

The same minister slammed Raab, claiming he “did nothing” to build ties with third countries from which Afghans might enter the UK.

The Foreign Office acknowledged that Raab had delegated calls to his Afghan counterpart while saying he recently called his Pakistani counterpart.

The damning reports came after the Times reported last week that it found contact details of staff and job applicants left behind at the British embassy compound in Kabul, potentially endangering them.

Haphazard and chaotic

Public opinion has been sharply divided in Britain over a high-profile campaign by an ex-serviceman, Paul or “Pen” Farthing who runs a British animal charity to evacuate his animals and staff from a shelter in Kabul.

Farthing managed to fly out on a privately chartered plane on Saturday with around 150 cats and dogs on board, landing at Heathrow on Sunday morning.

He was hailed as a hero by supporters but opponents questioned the ethics of using official time and military support to evacuate animals as Afghans remained behind.

Tom Tugendhat, a Conservative MP and head of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, told LBC Radio that an Afghan interpreter who had worked for the UK asked him: “Why is my five-year-old worth less than your dog?”

Richard Dannatt, a former head of the British army, told Times Radio that it “looks odd that we’re giving prominence to a man and a lot of cats and dogs”, while adding he doubted Farthing’s flight prevented any Afghans leaving.

The focus should be on why Britain did not prepare better while knowing the danger faced by former interpreters and other locally hired civilians, Dannatt said.

He called for an inquiry into why the evacuation “happened in such a haphazard and chaotic fashion”.

Raab acknowledged in The Sunday Telegraph that the Afghan situation was a “bitter pill to swallow”.

To deal with the Taliban regime, the UK must build a wider international coalition of regional powers and other United Nations Security Council members, including countries “with whom we have a difficult relationship”, he wrote.

Several nations to meet virtually and discuss Afghanistan

Foreign ministers from several countries will meet virtually Monday to discuss their next steps in Afghanistan, the US State Department said, as the airlift evacuation out of the country enters its final days.

The United States will host the meeting of “key partners,” the State Department said Sunday, with the summit coming one day before US military forces are set to withdraw from Afghanistan following 20 years of war and slightly more than two weeks after the Taliban swept back to power.

Representatives from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, Turkey, Qatar, the European Union and NATO are set to participate, the State Department said. “The participants will discuss an aligned approach for the days and weeks ahead,” the statement said.

The statement also said US Secretary of State Antony Blinken would speak after the meeting to give an update on the United States’ recent efforts in Afghanistan.

The meeting will come one day after the United States said it destroyed an explosive-laden vehicle with an air strike in Kabul on Sunday, hours after President Joe Biden warned of another terror attack in the capital following a suicide bombing on Thursday.

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Jaishankar talks with Blinken, discusses Afghan situation

The conversation comes after two days of the Kabul airport suicide attack that killed 13 American troops and nearly 170 Afghans….reports Asian Lite News

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar spoke with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Saturday and discussed the latest developments in Afghanistan. The two leaders also exchanged views on the agenda of United Nations Security Council (UNSC).

“Spoke to US Secretary of State @Secblinken. Continued our discussions on Afghanistan. Also exchanged views on the agenda of UNSC,” Jaishankar said in a tweet.

Noting that in their meeting shared priorities including continued coordination on Afghanistan and United Nations was discussed, Blinken said in a tweet that he looks forward to continuing to deepen US-India partnership.

“Spoke with Indian External Affairs Minister @DrSJaishankar today to discuss our shared priorities including continued coordination on Afghanistan and in the United Nations. Look forward to continuing to deepen our partnership,” Blinken tweeted.

The conversation comes after two days of the Kabul airport suicide attack that killed 13 American troops and nearly 170 Afghans. This is the first major attack after the Taliban took control of Kabul on August 15.

US President Joe Biden had vowed to continue evacuations from Afghanistan, and said the US will retaliate against those responsible for the bombings.

India had strongly condemned the deadly bomb blasts near the Kabul airport stating, “Today’s attacks reinforce the need for the world to stand unitedly against terrorism and all those who provide sanctuaries to terrorists.”

Earlier, on Friday terming the current situation in Afghanistan as evolving and fluid, the Ministry of External Affairs had said that it is monitoring the situation. India was maintaining contact with all stakeholders and was in touch with partner countries, the ministry said. (India News Network)

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