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

10:21 AM

Afghanistan LIVE updates: UK Parliament to be recalled over Afghan crisis

The UK Parliament will be recalled on Wednesday from their summer recess to debate the British government's response to the crisis in Afghanistan as Taliban has captured Kabul and entered the Presidential Palace, the House of Commons confirmed.

 

MPs will return to Westminster for a session from 9.30 a.m. to 2.30 p.m. over the rapidly evolving situation in Afghanistan amid the withdrawal of US, British and NATO troops, reports Xinhua news agency.

 

Prime Minister Boris Johnson also held an emergency COBRA meeting on Sunday to discuss the situation in Afghanistan, Downing Street has said.

 

COBRA is shorthand for the Civil Contingencies Committee that is convened to handle matters of national emergency or major disruption.

9:43 AM

'World must not look away as Taliban sexually enslaves women, girls'

Vrinda Narain, Associate Professor, Faculty of Law, Centre for Human Rights and Legal Pluralism; Max Bell School of Public Policy, McGill University Toronto, Aug 16 (The Conversation) Since the withdrawal of American and NATO forces from Afghanistan in July, the Taliban have swiftly taken control of large parts of the country. The president has fled and the government has fallen. Emboldened by their success, lack of resistance by Afghan forces and minimal international pressure, the Taliban have intensified their violence. For Afghan women, their increasing power is terrifying. In early July, after Taliban leaders who took control of the provinces of Badakhshan and Takhar issued an order to local religious leaders to provide them with a list of girls over the age of 15 and widows under the age of 45 for marriage with Taliban fighters. It's not yet known whether they've complied. If these forced marriages take place, women and girls will be taken to Waziristan in Pakistan to be re-educated and converted to authentic Islam. This order has caused profound fear among women and their families living in these areas and forced them to flee and join the ranks of internally displaced persons, adding to the humanitarian disaster unfolding in Afghanistan. 

9:07 AM

Taliban leader Mullah Baradar says our 'victory was unexpectedly swift'

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.

9:04 AM

Afghans fear return of sharia laws as Taliban declares 'war is over'

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 evacuate their citizens.

 

President Ashraf Ghani fled the country on Sunday as the Islamist militants entered the city, saying he wanted to avoid bloodshed, while hundreds of Afghans desperate to leave flooded Kabul airport.

 

"Today is a great day for the Afghan people and the mujahideen. They have witnessed the fruits of their efforts and their sacrifices for 20 years," Mohammad Naeem, the spokesman for the Taliban's political office, told Al Jazeera TV.

 

"Thanks to God, the war is over in the country." It took the Taliban just over a week to seize control of the country after lightning sweep that ended in Kabul as Afghan forces, trained for years and equipped by the United States and others at a cost of billions of dollars, melted away. Read on...

8:53 AM

Afghanistan latest news: Hundreds of Afghans protest outside White House

People with ties to Afghanistan blamed President Joe Biden for betraying the people of the war-torn country and demand for sanctioning Pakistan as hundreds of people protested Sunday afternoon outside the White House.

 

The protests were after the presidential palace in Kabul was "handed over" to the Taliban, vacated just hours ago by government officials, including President Ashraf Ghani who has fled the country.

8:32 AM

Afghanistan latest news: US to expand its security presence at Kabul airport to 6,000 troops

The United States has said that it would deploy as many as 6,000 of its troops at the Kabul airport to ensure safe departure of its citizens and those from its friends and allies from Afghanistan which has now been taken over by the Taliban, in a sudden an unprecedented collapse of the elected regime led by President Ashraf Ghani.

 

Secretary of State Antony Blinken also made a series of calls to his counterparts of his key allies. India was not one of them.

 

Simultaneously more than 60 countries led by the United States and the European Union issued a joint statement urging those in positions of power and authority across Afghanistan to bear responsibility and accountability for the protection of human life and property, and for the immediate restoration of security and civil order.

8:31 AM

US to take over air traffic control at Kabul airport, boosts troop strength

The United States has announced that it will be taking over air traffic control at Kabul airport and will expand the country's security presence to nearly 6,000 troops to facilitate the safe departure of the American and allied personnel from Afghanistan via civilian and military flights.

 

In a joint statement on Sunday, the US Department of State and Department of Defence said the US will be transferring thousands of American citizens as well as locally employed staff of the US mission in Kabul and their families over the coming days.

 

The US has flown approximately 500 staff members from the US Embassy in Kabul out of Afghanistan today, a defence official told CNN. Read on...

8:30 AM

US President Joe Biden's team surprised by rapid Taliban gains in Afghanistan

President Joe Biden and other top US officials were stunned on Sunday by the pace of the Taliban's nearly complete takeover of Afghanistan, as the planned withdrawal of American forces urgently became a mission to ensure a safe evacuation.

 

The speed of the Afghan government's collapse and the ensuing chaos posed the most serious test of Biden as commander in chief, and he was the subject of withering criticism from Republicans who said that he had failed. Read on...

8:26 AM

Abdulhaq Azad, Press Secy to Afghan Embassy in India loses access to Twitter handle of Afghan Embassy India

8:04 AM

Afghanistan crisis latest news: Afghan president Ghani says left to prevent 'flood of bloodshed'

7:55 AM

Afghanistan crisis: Over 60 nations urge Taliban to let foreign nationals, Afghans leave

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. Read on...

7:53 AM

Afghanistan crisis: Donald Trump blames Joe Biden for Afghan crisis, seeks his resignation

Former US President Donald Trump called on his successor Joe Biden to step down after the Afghan government collapsed and the Taliban ceased control of Afghanistan's capital Kabul.

 

Trump, in a statement on Sunday, said that it was time for the incumbent US president, Joe Biden, to resign, "for what he has allowed happening in Afghanistan, along with the tremendous surge in Coronavirus (Covid-19), the Border catastrophe, the destruction of energy Independence, and our crippled economy."

 

The ex-US president went on to say that it "shouldn't be a big deal" since, according to Trump's version of events, Biden "wasn't elected legitimately in the first place!". Read on...

7:49 AM

Afghanistan crisis latest news: Taliban seek 'open, inclusive' Islamic govt, says spokesman after Kabul falls

A Taliban spokesman and negotiator said told The Associated Press on Sunday that the militant group is holding talks aimed at forming an open, inclusive Islamic government in Afghanistan.

 

Suhail Shaheen spoke to the AP after the Taliban overran most of the country in a matter of days and pushed into the capital, Kabul, as the United States scrambled to withdraw diplomats and other civilians. Read on...

7:45 AM

Working to secure orderly departure of foreign nationals & Afghans who wish to leave the country: USA

Given the deteriorating security situation, we support, are working to secure & call on all parties to respect & facilitate, safe & orderly departure of foreign nationals & Afghans who wish to leave the country: Joint statement released by US Department of State