Friday, March 29

Afghanistan

Taliban Also Capture Afghanistan’s Third Largest City, Herat
Afghanistan, News

Taliban Also Capture Afghanistan’s Third Largest City, Herat

The Taliban are conquering more and more provincial cities in Afghanistan. The Foreign Office, therefore, requests Germans to leave the country. In the country, people are fleeing to the borders and also to the capital Kabul.   The Taliban's advance is unstoppable. Now they have also conquered the third largest city in Afghanistan, Herat. In addition, they took control of the police headquarters in the city near the Iranian border without resistance. There are eerie images that are now also taking place in the third-largest city in Afghanistan, Herat. Armed with assault rifles and rocket launchers, the Taliban run through various city areas and take control of life there. The Taliban are now on the streets where there were a few cars. The police headquarters were abandoned and bro...
Taliban Urge Townspeople in Afghanistan to Surrender
Afghanistan, News

Taliban Urge Townspeople in Afghanistan to Surrender

The Taliban have called on townspeople in Afghanistan to surrender to avoid fighting in towns. At the same time, they warn Ankara against keeping Turkish troops in the country after the retreat of the other foreign troops.   "Now that the fighting from the mountains and the deserts has reached the gates of cities, the mujahideen do not want battle in cities. Therefore, our compatriots should use all their channels to get in touch with us to come to a sensible deal to avoid damage in their cities," said Amir Khan Muttaki, a top Islamist executive. Former Minister of Information and Culture when the Taliban ruled, he heads the Insurgent Invitation and Council Committee. Soldiers, policemen, heads of government, officials, or ordinary citizens who wish to defect or surrender should ap...
US Troops Leave Afghanistan at the End of August
Afghanistan, News, US

US Troops Leave Afghanistan at the End of August

US troops in Afghanistan are expected to leave the country by the end of August. The White House is responding to speculation about an early retirement of the US military.   On Friday, it was announced that the US and other NATO troops had left the largest airbase in Afghanistan. It has now been handed over to the Afghan army. Some US media saw this as a sign that the last US military personnel would leave Afghanistan within days. The international soldiers will leave Afghanistan by September 11, which was announced earlier this year when the withdrawal was announced. This marks the end of the international struggle against the Taliban. They were in power in Afghanistan when the United States and its allies invaded the country after the attacks of September 11, 2001, after nearly...
White House Pulls Back Troops from Afghanistan by September 11
Afghanistan, News, US

White House Pulls Back Troops from Afghanistan by September 11

The United States will withdraw its troops from Afghanistan this year. According to the Washington Post newspaper, President Joe Biden has decided that the departure will be finalized on September 11.   It will then be precisely twenty years ago that Muslim extremists attacked the US with attacks in New York and Washington. In the fight against terrorism, the US then went to Afghanistan to hunt down Osama bin Laden, the mastermind behind the devastating terror. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had recently stated that the Americans are not withdrawing from Afghanistan alone, but together with NATO allies "when the time is right". Other member states are also contributing troops to the NATO mission in Afghanistan. Blinken and US defence minister Austin are reported to be inform...
Another 2,500 American Soldiers in Both Afghanistan and Iraq
Afghanistan, Iraq, News, US

Another 2,500 American Soldiers in Both Afghanistan and Iraq

The United States has completed the intended partial withdrawal of its troops from Afghanistan and Iraq, the Pentagon reports.   The number of soldiers in Afghanistan has been reduced from 4,500 to 2,500. 500 of the 3,000 US military have left Iraq, as President Trump announced in November. The US troop level is now at its lowest level in nearly two decades. "Our ability to reduce the number of troops is evidence of real progress," Deputy Defense Secretary Cristopher Miller said in a statement. According to him, the withdrawal will not be at the expense of security for the US. The outgoing Trump promised to bring troops home during his 2016 election campaign, much to NATO's discontent. In Afghanistan, the Americans have been fighting the extremist Taliban since the US of Septembe...
US Secretary of State Pompeo Mediates Between Two Afghan Presidents
Afghanistan, News, US

US Secretary of State Pompeo Mediates Between Two Afghan Presidents

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo unexpectedly left for Afghanistan. He tries to find a compromise between the two self-declared presidents Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah to save the peace agreement between the US and the Taliban rebels.   Pompeo will speak to the two presidents Ghani and Abdullah in Afghanistan. They have previously declared themselves the winner of last year's presidential election and have each taken the oath. The US minister first talks to Ghani and Abdullah separately and then brings them together. The two may still talk privately afterwards. Pompeo especially wants to break the current stalemate between the two presidents, but so far none of them wants to admit it. The US and United Nations envoys were only present at the swearing-in of Ashraf Ghani, and...
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani Defeat Rival in Just Two Days
Afghanistan, News

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani Defeat Rival in Just Two Days

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has deposed his cabinet chief and rival Abdullah Abdullah today, two days after both were inaugurated.   The office of the head of government no longer exists in the structure of the government, Ghani's spokesperson said. Abdullah responded through his Facebook page with the announcement that Ghani is no longer president and that his decrees have no legal validity. "We ask civilian and military staff from the former government to take on their daily duties and responsibilities and to continue as before," said Abdullah. Abdullah did not recognize the results of last September's elections and was sworn in as Monday as Ghani as head of state. In 2014, the two were already upset for months about the result of the polls. As a compromise, a unitary governm...
Taliban Claim Shooting American Military Aircraft Over Afghanistan
Afghanistan, News, US

Taliban Claim Shooting American Military Aircraft Over Afghanistan

The Taliban say that they shot down an American military plane over eastern Afghanistan on Monday. All passengers were killed in the crash, including senior CIA officers.   It is unclear how many people were in the device. The claim from Taliban spokesman Zobihullah Mujahid could not be verified by Reuters news agency. The plane is said to have crashed into a mountainous area that is partly in the hands of the Taliban, an Islamic resistance movement that is fighting the American military presence in Afghanistan. According to Mujahid, the aircraft, presumably a Bombardier E011A, was on a spy mission and was taken down in Sado Khel in the Deh Yak district in Ghazni province. A senior Afghan defence official said no US officers were killed and the cause of the crash is being investi...
At least Ten People Killed in Suicide Bombing in Kabul
Afghanistan, Asia, News

At least Ten People Killed in Suicide Bombing in Kabul

In a suicide attack in the Afghan capital Kabul, at least ten people were killed Sunday afternoon. At the gate of a ministry, a suicide bomber exploded his bomb jacket, reports GOK News.   The attack occurred when the staff of the Ministry of Rural Development left the building at the end of the day. The attack was not claimed yet. A suicide attack on the same ministry by the terrorist movement IS made thirteen deaths on 11 June. Twenty-five people were also injured. On Sunday morning, the United Nations reported that in the first half of this year, 1,692 civilian deaths occurred in Afghanistan. That is the highest number since the start of the counts in 2009.
Fifty Taliban Killed in Afghanistan-102 Hostages Released
Afghanistan, Asia, International, News, US

Fifty Taliban Killed in Afghanistan-102 Hostages Released

The US military has killed about fifty Taliban fighters in operation against those responsible for an attack on the provincial capital Farah. Afghan elite units have liberated 102 people from the hands of the Taliban in the southern province of Helmand.   The Afghan army and US forces drove the Taliban fighters from Farah back and pursued them, said General John Nicholson, the commander of the US and NATO troops in Afghanistan. The Taliban retreated to their stronghold in the southern Helmand, posted by CNN News. On 24 May they were spotted in a building known as a command centre of the Taliban in the town of Musa Qala. "It was a group of military leaders who gathered about the operation in Farah in which she had participated," said the general. "Our intelligence services were able...