Afghanistan

UPDATED: Evacuations from Afghanistan gather momentum as Taliban promise peace

More than 2,200 diplomats and civilians have been evacuated from Afghanistan on military flights, a Western security official said on Wednesday, as the Taliban made first efforts to set up…

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UPDATED: Dutch get 35 citizens out of Afghanistan after chaos holds up evacuations

The Netherlands managed to get 35 of its citizens out of Afghanistan on Wednesday in a slow start to its evacuation operation amid chaos outside Kabul airport, Defence Minister Ank…

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Human remains found in landing gear of military flight from Kabul, says U.S. Air Force

The U.S. Air Force said that it was investigating the circumstances surrounding human remains that were found in the wheel well of one of its C-17s that flew out of…

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UK’s Johnson wants to discuss Afghanistan with G7 as soon as possible

Prime Minister Boris Johnson intends to hold a virtual meeting of Group of Seven leaders at the earliest opportunity to discuss the situation in Afghanistan, his office said after the British leader spoke…

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Taliban say they want peace, will respect women’s rights under Islamic law

KABUL, Aug 17 (Reuters) - The Taliban held their first official news conference in Kabul on Tuesday since the shock seizure of the city, declaring they wanted peaceful relations with…

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Taliban’s Afghanistan takeover presents fresh challenge for social media companies

The Taliban's rapid takeover of Afghanistan poses a new challenge for big U.S. tech companies on handling content created by a group considered to be terrorists by some world governments. Social media giant…

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Merkel says Germany may need to rescue 10,000 people from Afghanistan

BERLIN, Aug 16 (Reuters) - Germany must urgently evacuate up to 10,000 people from Afghanistan for whom its has responsibility, Chancellor Angela Merkel told party colleagues, warning that the fallout…

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France’s Macron urges UN to act with single voice on Afghanistan

Islamist militants will seek to benefit from the turmoil in Afghanistan, said French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday, adding that France would do all it could to ensure Russia, the United States…

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UPDATE – Evacuation flights resume at Kabul airport as Biden defends U.S. withdrawal

Aug 17 (Reuters) - Military flights evacuating diplomats and civilians from Afghanistan resumed early on Tuesday after the runway at Kabul airport was cleared of thousands of people desperate to…

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Britain asks: Is America back or has it turned its back?

The humiliation of the lightning Taliban takeover in Afghanistan after a 20-year war that cost hundreds of thousands of lives has raised a question for the United States' staunchest European…

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CDU says Germany can’t repeat 2015 migrant influx over Afghanistan, Austria calls for ‘deportation centres’

Germany cannot fix the situation in Afghanistan through a repeat of the open-door migrant policy it pursued in 2015, the general secretary of Chancellor Angela Merkel's party said on Monday.…

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Joe Biden under fire over unfolding chaos in Afghanistan

Joe Biden is facing the worst crisis of his presidency as his plans for an orderly US withdrawal from Afghanistan crumbled. The frantic scramble to evacuate American diplomats before the…

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Chaos and death at Kabul airport

Five people were killed in chaos at Kabul airport on Monday, witnesses said, as people tried to flee a day after Taliban insurgents seized the Afghan capital and declared the…

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Airlines reroute flights to avoid Afghanistan airspace

Major airlines are rerouting flights to avoid Afghanistan airspace after insurgents took control of the presidential palace in Kabul as U.S.-led forces departed and Western nations scrambled on Monday to…

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Taliban declares ‘war is over’ as president and diplomats flee Kabul

The Taliban declared the war in Afghanistan was over after insurgents took control of the presidential palace in Kabul as U.S.-led forces departed and Western nations scrambled on Monday to…

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Afghan President Ashraf Ghani confirms having left Kabul to avoid bloodshed

Update - Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has confirmed he left the country as the Taliban entered Kabul, saying he wanted to avoid bloodshed. Earlier Ashraf Ghani was reported as having…

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Taliban say they have control of Afghan presidential palace

KABUL, Aug 15 (Reuters) - The Taliban has taken control of Afghanistan's presidential palace, two senior Taliban commanders present in Kabul told Reuters on Sunday, after President Ashraf Ghani left…

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Taliban insurgents enter Afghan capital Kabul

KABUL, Aug 15 (Reuters) - Taliban insurgents entered the Afghanistan capital Kabul on Sunday, an interior ministry official said, as the United States evacuated diplomats from its embassy by helicopter.…

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Blood and billions of dollars: NATO’s long war in Afghanistan

Here are some facts about NATO's military involvement in support of the United States in Afghanistan: * On Sept. 12, 2001, NATO allies invoked their mutual defence clause for the…

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Qatar urges Taliban to cease fire at meeting in Doha

DUBAI (Reuters) - Qatar said it had urged the Taliban to cease fire and pull back their offensive in Afghanistan during a meeting between the Qatari foreign minister and a…

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British ambassador to be flown out of Afghanistan on Sunday -newspaper

LONDON, Aug 14 (Reuters) - Britain's ambassador to Afghanistan will be flown out of the country by Sunday evening, the Sunday Telegraph reported, after UK troops moved to evacuate most…

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Factbox: What to watch for as the Taliban inch closer to Kabul

Aug 14 (Reuters) - The insurgent Taliban have captured Afghanistan's second- and third-largest cities, and a town just south of Kabul, and now have their sights set on the capital.…

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Biden adds forces for Afghan evacuation, defends withdrawal decision

WASHINGTON, Aug 14 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden said on Saturday that he had approved additional military forces to go to Kabul to help safely draw down the American…

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Canada to accept 20,000 vulnerable Afghans such as women leaders, human rights workers

Canada plans to resettle more than 20,000 vulnerable Afghans including women leaders, human rights workers and reporters to protect them from Taliban reprisals, Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino revealed. The effort…

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UPDATED: Afghan president in urgent talks as Taliban take key town near Kabul

Afghanistan's President Ashraf Ghani held urgent talks with local leaders and international partners on Saturday as Taliban rebels pushed closer to Kabul, capturing a town south of the capital that…

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Afghanistan spiralling into failed state where al Qaeda will thrive – UK says

Afghanistan is spiralling into a failed state and a civil war in which militant groups such as al Qaeda will thrive and likely pose a threat again to the West,…

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UPDATED: Taliban captures two major cities, tightening grip on Afghanistan

Taliban insurgents tightened their grip on Afghanistan on Friday, wresting control of its second and third biggest cities while Western embassies prepared to send in troops to help evacuate staff…

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Photo Story: Taliban take Ghazni city on road to Afghan capital

Taliban militants patrol after taking control of the Governor's house and Ghazni city, in Afghanistan, 12 August 2021. Taliban fighters on 12 August captured the strategic Ghazni province that connects…

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Taliban could take Afghan capital within 90 days after rapid gains -U.S. intelligence

Taliban fighters could isolate Afghanistan's capital in 30 days and possibly take it over within 90, a U.S. defence official cited U.S. intelligence as saying, as the resurgent militants made…

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Taliban could take Afghan capital in 90 days- U.S. intelligence

Taliban fighters could isolate Afghanistan's capital in 30 days and possibly take it over in 90, a U.S. defence official told Reuters on Wednesday citing U.S. intelligence, as militants took control…

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Taliban control 65% of Afghanistan, EU official says, after series of sudden gains

Taliban insurgents tightened their grip on captured Afghan territory on Tuesday as civilians hid in their homes, and a European Union official said the militants now control 65% of the country…

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Taliban tighten control of Afghan north as UN fears erasure of human rights

President Ashraf Ghani called on regional strongmen to support his government after a stunning string of Taliban gains as U.S.-led foreign forces pull out, while a U.N. official said the gains made…

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U.S. says it is up to Afghans to defend country as Taliban take more territory

The United States said it was up to Afghan security forces to defend the country after Taliban militants captured a sixth provincial capital on Monday, along with border towns and trade routes.…

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At least 27 children killed in Afghanistan, UNICEF says

At least 27 children have been killed and 136 injured across three provinces of Afghanistan over the past three days amid escalating violence, the U.N. children's agency said on Monday.…

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Taliban capture city of Kunduz

Taliban fighters have seized key government buildings in the northeastern Afghan city of Kunduz, leaving government forces hanging onto control of the airport and their own base, a provincial assembly…

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Taliban close in on two provincial Afghan capitals as U.S. forces exit country

Taliban fighters on Friday intensified clashes with Afghan forces and targeted militias allied with the government, officials said, stretching their dominance of border towns and closing in on two provincial…

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Blast in Afghan capital as Taliban battle government forces in south, west

An explosion near a facility of Afghanistan's main security agency in the capital, Kabul, on Wednesday wounded two civilians and a security official, police said. The blast near a National Directorate of Security compound…

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U.S. offers refuge to more Afghans who aided Americans in new program

Thousands more Afghans who may be targets of Taliban violence due to their U.S. affiliations will have the opportunity to resettle as refugees in the United States under a program announced by the…

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Taliban rockets hit Kandahar airport in Afghanistan, flights suspended

KABUL (Reuters) - Taliban fighters struck Kandahar airport in southern Afghanistan with at least three rockets overnight, the insurgent group's spokesman said on Sunday, adding that the aim was to…

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Foreign missions in Afghanistan call for Taliban ceasefire

KABUL, July 19 (Reuters) - Fifteen diplomatic missions and the NATO representative in Afghanistan urged the Taliban on Monday to halt their military offensives, just hours after the insurgents and…

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Foreign missions in Kabul issue joint call for Taliban ceasefire

Fifteen diplomatic missions and the NATO representative in Kabul joined hands on Monday to urge the Taliban to halt military offensives across Afghanistan, just hours after a peace meeting in…

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Reuters journalist killed covering clash between Afghan forces, Taliban

Reuters journalist Danish Siddiqui was killed on Friday while covering a clash between Afghan security forces and Taliban fighters near a border crossing with Pakistan, an Afghan commander said. Afghan…

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Afghan neighbours wary of new refugee crisis as violence surges

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani meets regional leaders for talks in Uzbekistan on Thursday as deteriorating security in his country raises fears of a new Afghan refugee crisis with neighbouring Pakistan…

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Afghan Taliban seize border crossing with Pakistan in major advance

Taliban fighters in Afghanistan said on Wednesday they had taken control of one of the main border crossings with Pakistan, perhaps the most strategic objective they have captured so far in…

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UNHCR warns of imminent humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is warning of a looming humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan as the escalating conflict brings increased human suffering and civilian displacement. An estimated 270,000 Afghans have…

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In symbolic end to war, U.S. general steps down from Afghanistan command

The U.S. general leading the war in Afghanistan, Austin Miller, relinquished command on Monday at a ceremony in Kabul, in what was a symbolic end to America's longest conflict even as…

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India pulls officials from Afghanistan’s Kandahar as Taliban widens control

India said on Sunday it had temporarily brought back officials from its consulate in Kandahar, a major city in southern Afghanistan, as Taliban fighters continue to gain control amid the…

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Taliban seize more territory, say they control much of Afghanistan

Taliban officials said on Friday the Sunni Muslim insurgent group had taken control of 85% of territory in Afghanistan, and its fighters were tightening their grip on strategic areas. Government…

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Taliban aim to present written peace plan at talks as soon as next month

The Taliban plan to present a written peace proposal to the Afghan government side as soon as next month, a spokesman for the Islamist insurgents said even as they make major territorial…

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Western forces pack up to end their war in Afgnaistan, U.S. hands Bagram Airfield to Afghans

Afghan scrap dealers are picking over the detritus of the two-decade U.S. military intervention in Afghanistan, collecting whatever they can of value from heaps of broken military hardware, scrapped machines…

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Biden to meet with Afghan President Ghani as violence surges

U.S. President Joe Biden will meet at the White House with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and chairman of Afghanistan's High Council for National Reconciliation Abdullah Abdullah on Friday to discuss…

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At least 11 people killed by a landmine in northern Afghanistan

At least 11 civilians, including children, were killed when their vehicle set off a landmine in northern Afghanistan, local government officials said on Sunday, accusing Taliban insurgents for planting the…

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Massacre at Kabul mosque during Friday prayers

At least 12 people were killed in an explosion inside a mosque in the Afghan capital Kabul during Friday prayers as worshippers gathered for the second day of the Eid…

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Photo Story – Afghanistan observes day of mourning for victims of school bombing

An Afghan man prays over the grave of his family member who lost her life in the recent attack on Sayyid al-Shuhada school in west Kabul, Afghanistan, 11 May 2021.…

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Afghan Taliban declares three-day ceasefire for Eid celebration this week

Taliban insurgents said on Monday they would observe a three-day ceasefire in Afghanistan for the Muslim religious holiday of Eid, starting this week, after weeks of increasing violence that gripped…

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Afghan school blast toll rises to 58, families bury victims

The death toll from an explosion outside a school in Afghanistan’s capital Kabul has risen to 58, Afghan officials said on Sunday, with doctors struggling to provide medical care to…

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UPDATE – Children among 40 people killed in bombing in Kabul, Afghanistan

Multiple blasts at a school in the Afghan capital Kabul on Saturday killed at least 40 people and wounded dozens more, mostly female students, officials said, in an attack Afghan President Ashraf…

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