LIVE: Afghanistan now emancipated, we seek no revenge, says Taliban

Afghanistan crisis LIVE updates: An IAF aircraft today left from Kabul to India carrying the Indian ambassador and other personnel as part of the emergency evacuation

1:58 PM

Taliban announces 'amnesty', urges women to join government

The Taliban announced Tuesday an amnesty across Afghanistan and urged women to join its government, trying to calm nerves across a nervous capital city that only the day before saw chaos at its airport as people tried to flee their rule. Read here

1:41 PM

Facebook bans Taliban from accessing the services of the platform

1:18 PM

5,000-plus Afghan students scared as motherland melts down in Taliban heat

An estimated 5,000-plus Afghan students, including around 1,800 girls, are shaken and deeply worried over their future in India as their motherland has apparently collapsed under the Taliban fury, watched with dazed horror by the world in the past few days.

 

Of the estimated 11,000-plus Afghan students studying in different colleges and universities across India, the largest chunk of around 5,000 are in Maharashtra alone.

 

"Around 3,000 are in Pune, some 700 in Mumbai and the rest scattered in different cities in the state," Afghan Students Association of Pune (ASAP) President Wali R. Rahmani told IANS.

12:58 PM

Afghanistan LIVE: Taliban announces 'amnesty,' urges women to join government

A Taliban official has announced a general amnesty for all in Afghanistan and urged women to join its government.

 

Enamullah Samangani, member of Islamic Emirate's cultural commission, made the comments Tuesday on Afghan state television, which the militants now control.

 

The Islamic Emirate don't want women to be victims," he said, using the militants' term for Afghanistan.

 

He added: The structure of government is not fully clear, but based on experience, there should be a fully Islamic leadership and all sides should join.

12:53 PM

IAF plane carrying 120 Indians from Afghanistan lands at Jamnagar airbase

An Indian Air Force plane with 120 people onboard landed on Tuesday at Jamnagar in Gujarat from Kabul in Afghanistan, an official said.

 

The C-17 aircraft touched down at the IAF airbase at Jamnagar at 11.15 am, the official said.

 

The aircraft had taken off from Kabul carrying Indian personnel as part of the emergency evacuation because of the prevailing situation in the Afghan capital following its takeover by the Taliban.

12:40 PM

India strong and self-sufficient to face threat of cross border terrorism: Pralhad Joshi on Afghanistan crisis

Karnataka | India is quite strong and self-sufficient to contain the situation, also to face the threat of cross border terrorism: Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Pralhad Joshi on Afghanistan crisis

12:14 PM

Uzbekistan says 'forced' 46 Afghan aircraft to land

Uzbekistan on Monday said that it "forced landing" of 46 Afghan aircraft crossing into its airspace as the Taliban took control of Afghanistan.

 

Citing a statement that was issued late Monday, Daily Sabah reported that according to officials, hundreds of Afghan soldiers fled to Uzbekistan with 22 military planes and 24 helicopters last weekend, including one aircraft that collided with an escorting Uzbek fighter jet, causing both to crash.

 

The Uzbek Ministry of Defense earlier also said an Afghan military jet had been shot down after crossing the border.

11:43 AM

Indian A C-17 aircraft that took off from Kabul, Afghanistan with Indian officials, lands in Jamnagar, Gujarat

11:15 AM

Biden skirts US failures in Afghan mayhem

President Joe Biden ignored his own administration's failures when he tried to explain why desperate civilians in Afghanistan's capital have been left stranded and in danger from the Taliban because of the swift U.S. departure.

 

While asserting the buck stops with me, Biden on Monday blamed Afghans in large measure for the chaotic evacuation at Kabul's airport and conceded no missteps.

 

A look at his remarks:

 

BIDEN: I know there are concerns about why we did not begin evacuating Afghan civilians sooner. Part of the answer is some of the Afghans did not want to leave earlier, still hopeful for their country. Part of it because the Afghan government and its supporters discouraged us from organizing a mass exodus to avoid triggering, as they said, a crisis of confidence.

 

THE FACTS: This is a misleading explanation that skirts the U.S. failure to anticipate and prepare for the rapid fall of the Afghan government.

 

While some Afghans may have wanted to stay in their country until the lightning Taliban takeover of the last several days plenty didn't. The United States as of last month had a visa application backlog of 18,000 Afghan translators and others who believed themselves to be in danger from the Taliban for their work with the Americans.

10:58 AM

Afghan students in Karnataka worried about their future and family

Many Afghan students who are studying in Bengaluru and Dharwad are a worried lot following the Taliban asserting control over their home country.

 

"We are very much worried about our families (back home). The situation is very bad. I was not able to call them but when I spoke to them through internet, they said they are safe," Haroon, who is studying in a private college here, said.

 

Some other Afghan students, studying in the city, who wished not to be named, said they fear for their kin back home and worry about what lies ahead for them.

10:46 AM

India announces new category of visa for Afghans

The Union Home Ministry on Tuesday announced a new category of visa to fast-tack the applications of Afghans who want to come to India in view of the prevailing situation in Afghanistan.

 

The announcement came two days after the Taliban captured power in Afghanistan.

 

"The MHA reviews visa provisions in view of the current situation in Afghanistan. A new category of electronic visa called 'e-Emergency X-Misc Visa' introduced to fast-track visa applications for entry into India," a home ministry spokesperson said.

10:32 AM

Afghanistan crisis: Doval, US NSA held talks last evening to coordinate Indian officials' evacuation

Afghanistan crisis: Doval, US NSA held talks last evening to coordinate Indian officials' evacuation

10:05 AM

Prices of dry fruits increase in Jammu as imports from Afghanistan disrupted

"We import pistachio, almond, fig, dried apricots from Afghanistan. Import activity not running from last 15 days," Jyoti Gupta, president, Jammu Dry Fruit Retailers Association

9:39 AM

Jaishankar arrives in New York, will chair signature Presidency events at UNSC, discuss Afghan situation

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, who arrived here to chair two high-level signature events this week under India's current Security Council Presidency, has said that he expects to discuss the situation in Afghanistan during his engagements at the United Nations.

 

Jaishankar arrived on Monday as the Security Council held an emergency meeting on the situation in Afghanistan, the second time in just over the 10 days that the powerful UN body met under India's Presidency for the month of August to discuss the rapidly deteriorating and unraveling situation in the war-torn country.

 

Significant UN Security Council discussions today on developments in Afghanistan. Expressed the concerns of the international community. Expect to discuss these during my engagements at the UN, Jaishankar tweeted.

 

Jaishankar also discussed the "latest developments in Afghanistan with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and underlined the urgency of restoring airport operations in Kabul. Deeply appreciate the American efforts underway in this regard.

9:33 AM

Editorial | Taliban 2.0 & its discontents: India should not be rushed into a response

The warp speed with which the Taliban reached Kabul and ousted the elected government of Afghanistan has wrong-footed most countries. As nations, including India, scramble to evacuate diplomatic and other personnel, the vital next step lies in crafting a credible response to the second term of this rogue regime. Aware perhaps of its less-than-salubrious international reputation, Taliban leaders have suggested that Taliban 2.0 is unlikely to operate in a diplomatic vacuum. Such moves may earn it grudging international legitimacy, but, realistically, prospects of a kinder gentler Taliban appear remote. Its brutal reassertion of Sharia law in the territories it has conquered does not indicate a major break from its past ideology or praxis. Read on...