Afghanistan news and discussions

[weatheriscool]

The Taliban issued a death sentence to the brother of an Afghan interpreter who helped the US
Source: Business Insider

despite saying it won't seek revenge

The Taliban accused the brother of an Afghan interpreter of aiding Americans and sentenced him to death, according to letters obtained by CNN, after previously claiming that it would not seek revenge against people who helped the US military.

In the first of three letters, the man was accused of "helping the Americans" and providing security for his brother, who was an interpreter, and was ordered to appear for a hearing. The second letter informed him that his case had been sent to the Sharia court because he didn't appear.

In the third letter, the Taliban notified the man that he had been found "guilty in absentia" after not appearing for the Sharia court hearing. The letter said the man was sentenced to death, and that he could not object to the sentence.

"You chose this path for yourself and your death is imminent, God willing," the letter read, as quoted by CNN.

Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/th ... ar-AANDJFe

[weatheriscool]

US and allies will face 'consequences' if troops stay after deadline, Taliban warn
Source: The Guardian

The Taliban has warned that there will be “consequences” if the United States and its allies extend the presence of troops in Afghanistan beyond next week, as chaos continued to overwhelm Kabul airport, with a deadly gun battle on Monday at one of the airport’s gates.

The comments were made after a firefight between unidentified gunmen and US, German and Afghan guards at the airport left one Afghan guard dead and three wounded, underscoring the fragile security situation around the site and throughout the capital.

The fight, which took place at just after 7am Kabul time at the north gate of the airfield, started when former Afghan security forces who are acting as guards exchanged fire with the gunmen. Then German and US forces became involved.

In further evidence of the tense security situation surrounding the continuing evacuation, French special forces entered Kabul to escort about 260 Afghans working for the EU to the airport.

Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/us ... li=BBnb7Kz

[weatheriscool]

Allies push Biden to extend Afghanistan airlift beyond August 31
Source: Axios

President Biden is attempting to navigate between calls from allies to extend the Kabul airlift operation beyond Aug. 31 and warnings from the Taliban that doing so would cross a red line.

Driving the news: U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to push for an extension beyond the end of August at a virtual G7 meeting tomorrow, which he will chair.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian also said today that France was "concerned about the deadline set by the United States" as "additional time is needed to complete ongoing operations."

But National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said Biden still believes all Americans can be evacuated before Aug. 31. The goal remains to conclude the evacuations by then, though Biden will consult with allies, Sullivan added.

Read more: https://www.axios.com/biden-afghanistan ... 352e4.html

[Time_Traveller]

Female athletes from Afghanistan leave Kabul after being granted Australian visas

Tue 24 Aug 2021

A group of 77 Afghani athletes and family members, including members of the Afghanistan women’s national football team, youth team and women’s football officials have left Kabul airport on a plane bound for Australia.

In a furious 10-day period the players’ union Fifpro, a team of human rights lawyers and other NGOs worked around the clock with former team coaches Kelly Lindsey and Haley Carter and team founder and former captain Khalida Popal pursuing every avenue available to get them on evacuation lists, secure the players visas and get into the airport perimeter.

Players were forced to take their chances running past Taliban checkpoints, some suffering beatings and having to avoid gunfire to reach the relative safety of the airport.

The Australian team of former Socceroo Craig Foster and human rights lawyer and former Olympian Nikki Dryden, that were critical in ensuring the safety of detained Bahrain footballer Hakeem al-Araibi in 2019, and director of Human Rights for All, Alison Battisson, were some of the many that swung into action and Australia quickly became the most viable escape route as Australian visas were secured for all athletes and the Australian government called for them to report to the airport.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/ ... lian-visas

[weatheriscool]

Taliban spokesperson says Afghans should stop attempting to reach Kabul's airport
Source: Axios

Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said Tuesday that Afghans should stop attempting to reach Kabul's international airport, and reiterated that the militant group would not agree to extend the Aug. 31 deadline for U.S. troops to withdraw.

Why it matters: The evacuation effort has ramped up significantly over the last 48 hours, but given Mujahid's statement that "we are not in favor of allowing Afghans to leave" the window to complete the operation could soon begin to close.

What he's saying: Mujahid said the journey to the airport was dangerous and that Afghans should instead remain in the country and help to rebuild it. He also claimed the Taliban would guarantee their security after the U.S. left.

Afghans continue to flee, clearly not trusting such assurances from the Taliban. There have been reports of reprisals against people who worked for the ousted government or with NATO troops.

Read more: https://www.yahoo.com/news/taliban-spok ... 24721.html

[caltrek]

More clues on what went wrong in the U.S. policy toward Afghanistan over the years:

No One Can Win Here
by Tom Lasser
August 25, 2021

https://www.counterpunch.org/2021/08/25 ... -win-here/

Introduction:

(Counterpunch) “No one can win here,” I found myself whispering as I looked at the distant mountain peaks surrounding Bagram Airfield. Single file out of the C-130 we came. It was 2013, a point at which we were told the war was all but over...

Photograph Source: Staff Sgt. Whitney Amstutz – Public Domain

[caltrek]

...and this....

The Moral Implications of Bloodlust, White Supremacy, Christian Nationalism
by Wendell Griffen
August 25, 2021

https://www.counterpunch.org/2021/08/25 ... tionalism/

Extract:

(Baptist News via Counterpunch) Foreign troops and weapons never would outlast Afghan mores, customs, history, ancestral warrior pride and centuries of refusal to be ruled by foreign invaders, especially when the invaders propped up corrupt and incompetent indigenous rulers and Afghan military personnel who would not fight for the future of their society even with overwhelming military, logistical and diplomatic advantages.

A combination of bloodlust, Western hubris, white supremacy and racism, conservative Christian nationalist imperialism, and capitalist greed also must be admitted. The monetary cost of wars always produces wealth for people who profit in supplying weapons and war materiel.

….No matter how many troops were deployed, how many drone missions were flown, and how many U.S. military personnel were killed and wounded, bloodlust, cultural incompetence, disregard for military and political history, hubris, white supremacy and racism, Christian national imperialism, capitalist greed and national pride transformed the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan into a 20-year fiasco that bedeviled the presidencies of George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Donald Trump and Joe Biden.

[weatheriscool]

AFP News Agency
@AFP
·
Aug 25, 2021
Replying to @AFP
#UPDATE More than 80,000 people have been evacuated from #Afghanistan since August 14, but huge crowds remain outside #Kabul airport hoping to flee the threat of reprisals and repression in the Taliban-ruled country before an August 31 deadline http://u.afp.com/UrtA

[weatheriscool]

AFP News Agency
@AFP
#BREAKING Taliban agree to let Afghans leave Afghanistan after US withdrawal deadline of August 31: German envoy

[weatheriscool]

Blast reported at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul
Source: CNN

(CNN)An explosion was reported outside the Hamid Karzai International Airport on Thursday, according to two US officials.

One official said there are injuries among Afghans, but there is no information yet on any US casualties.

Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby confirmed there was an explosion outside of the airport. "We can confirm an explosion outside Kabul airport. Casualties are unclear at this time. We will provide additional details when we can," he said in a tweet.

This is a developing story.

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/26/asia/afg ... index.html

[weatheriscool]

Pentagon confirms second explosion near Kabul airport and "a number of US and civilian casualties"
Source: CNN

Pentagon press secretary John Kirby confirmed that there was at least one other explosion near the airport, this at or near the Baron Hotel.

He said he can confirm that the explosion at Abbey Gate was a "result of a complex attack that resulted in a number of US & civilian casualties."

Note: The term "casualties" can refer to those wounded or dead.

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/afg ... index.html

[weatheriscool]

Pace drops but US evacuates another 13,400 from Afghanistan
Source: The Hill

Roughly 13,400 people were evacuated from Afghanistan between early Wednesday morning and early Thursday morning, the White House said, a steep drop from a day earlier as the U.S. begins to wind down its mission there.

Of the 13,400 evacuees, more than 5,000 were evacuated on 17 U.S. military flights out of Kabul. Another 8,300 people were evacuated on civilian aircraft, the White House said.

Biden administration officials said the U.S. has evacuated more than 95,000 people from Afghanistan since Aug. 14, when the capital city of Kabul fell to the Taliban. The U.S. has relocated more than 100,000 people from Afghanistan since the end of July.

-snip-

But Thursday's evacuation total of 13,400 marked a sharp drop from the 19,000 people who were evacuated in the previous 24 hours. The dip comes as President Biden has said the U.S. will aim to have all troops out of Afghanistan by Aug. 31, despite calls from lawmakers in both parties to extend that deadline to get all Americans and Afghan allies out of the country.

Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics ... li=BBnbfcQ

[caltrek]

ISIS and the Taliban
by Alex Henderson
August 26, 2021

https://www.alternet.org/2021/08/taliban-2654803030/

Introduction:

(Alternet) As the Biden Administration scrambles to get U.S. citizens out of Afghanistan following the Taliban's takeover of that country, President Joe Biden and Pentagon officials have feared an attack by one of the Taliban's sworn enemies: ISIS (Islamic State, Iraq and Syria). And on Thursday morning, August 26, the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul suffered a deadly terrorist attack; multiple U.S. casualties were reported by the Pentagon.

Details about the airport attack in Kabul continue to emerge. But the presence of ISIS in Afghanistan only adds to the tension and volatility in that country, as the animosity between ISIS and the Taliban is enormous.

Politico, on August 26, reported, "An ISIS militant wearing a suicide vest was responsible for the first bombing, two U.S. officials and a person familiar with the situation told Politico, detonating around 5 p.m. local time just outside Abbey gate. Three sources said the U.S. troops returned fire soon after."

Afghanistan has its own branch of ISIS, which is known as ISIS-K and has been recruiting jihadists in the war-torn country. On Tuesday, August 24 — two days before the Kabul Airport attack — U.S. Central Command's Gen. Joseph Votel told reporters, "They represent a very sophisticated and dangerous threat that we have to stay focused on." And that same day, Biden warned, "Every day we're on the ground is another day we know that ISIS-K is seeking to target the airport and attack both U.S. and allied forces and innocent civilians."

The presence of ISIS-K in Afghanistan is not something the new Taliban government welcomes. The Taliban regard ISIS as infidels, and the feeling is mutual.

[weatheriscool]

WRAPUP 15-Attack on Kabul airport kills at least 13; airlift thrust into chaos
Wed, August 25, 2021, 8:12 PM·6 min read

Aug 26 (Reuters) - Suspected suicide bombers struck the crowded gates of Kabul airport with at least two explosions on Thursday, causing a bloodbath among desperate civilians hoping to flee and casting the final days of the Western airlift of its allies into chaos.

A Taliban official said at least 13 people including children had been killed and 52 wounded, while witnesses spoke of many more bodies. A surgical hospital run by an Italian charity said it was treating more than 60 wounded. The Pentagon said U.S. personnel were among those hurt.

Video images uploaded to the internet by an Afghan journalist showed a pile of bloodsoaked bodies in a street surrounded by debris. The man filming it was wailing.

The explosion took place amid the crowds outside the airport who have been massing in hope of escaping in an airlift which the United States says will end by Tuesday, following the swift capture of the country by the Taliban.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blasts, but U.S. officials pointed the finger at Islamic State's Afghan affiliate, ISIS-Khorosan https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-paci ... 2021-08-26, which has emerged as enemies of both the West and of the Taliban.

[weatheriscool]

Last Canadian military flight takes off from Kabul, ending mission
Source: The Canadian Press

Mike Blanchfield

OTTAWA -- Canada's military mission at Kabul airport ended Thursday morning with the majority of its personnel departing, but some Canadians and their families remain trapped in Afghanistan, government officials said Thursday.

Gen. Wayne Eyre, the acting chief of the defence staff, said the Canadians were among the last to leave, and that military personnel are taking the withdrawal personally and many will feel guilty that they had to leave people behind.

Eyre said the airport was under constant threat of attack and Canada and its allies acted admirably.

Indeed, an hour after Eyre and other government officials finished a sobering media briefing, locals left behind could hear several explosions near Hamid Karzai International Airport, so named after the man who became Afghanistan's first post-Taliban president two decades ago.

Much more at the link.

Read more: https://www.ctvnews.ca/mobile/politics/ ... -1.5561989

[wjfox]

Latest death toll at Kabul airport is now 60, including 12 U.S. servicemen.

[Yuli Ban]

[Yuli Ban]

So the Taliban's our allies in the War on Terror now
Christ, this is loony.

[Time_Traveller]

Afghanistan: Charity worker Pen Farthing 'targeted' in Kabul attack

40 minutes ago



An ex-Royal Marine who was near to the explosions outside Kabul airport has told how "all hell broke loose" as gunmen fired near his vehicle.

Dozens of people have been killed in two blasts near the airport after warnings that a terror attack could be launched in Afghanistan.

Paul 'Pen' Farthing said his mission to get 200 dogs and cats out alongside his staff had been blocked by US policy.

Mr Farthing said there were chaotic scenes at the airport.

"All hell broke loose at the airport circle which is where I was, which is probably about a mile from the explosions across at the Abbey Gate and we had Taliban there firing into the air," Mr Farthing, who founded the Nowzad shelter, told the BBC.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-b ... s-58345074

[caltrek]

Taliban Claims to be Planning ‘Inclusive Caretaker Government’ in Afghanistan
by Osama Bin Javaid
August 27, 2021

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/8/2 ... fghanistan

Introduction:

(Al Jazeera) The Taliban says it is planning an inclusive caretaker government in Afghanistan after the group toppled the Western-backed administration in a stunning sweep earlier this month.

Taliban sources told Al Jazeera that the caretaker government will include leaders from all ethnicities and tribal backgrounds in the country.

Nearly a dozen names are being considered to be part of the new government, sources said.

The duration of the caretaker government is unclear at the moment.

Afghanistan’s ethnic diversity has been at the centre of politics and conflict in the country, with no single ethnic group enjoying a decisive majority in the country of 40 million people.

Taliban members attending the intra-Afghan peace talks in Doha, Qatar.
File: Sorin Furcoi/Al Jazeera