Drones attack military plant in Iran, Tehran says | CNN

Drones attacked a military plant in Iran’s central city of Isfahan, Tehran said on Sunday.

“An explosion has occurred in one of the military centers affiliated to the Ministry of Defense,” the deputy head of security for Isfahan governorate Mohammad Reza Jan-Nesari told the semi-official Fars News Agency.

Jan-Nesari said the explosion left some damage, “but fortunately there were no casualties.”

The state news agency IRNA later said the explosion had been caused by “small drones.”

“There was an unsuccessful attack by small drones against a defense ministry industrial complex and fortunately with predictions and air defense arrangements already in place, one of them (struck),” IRNA said in a post on Twitter, citing the country’s defense ministry.

“The air defense system of the complex was able to destroy two other drones. Fortunately, this unsuccessful attack killed no one and minor damage was sustained to the roof of the complex.”

The ministry said the attack took place at 10:30 p.m. local time.

The plant is about 440 kilometers (270 miles) south of Tehran.

In the past few years, several explosions and suspicious fires have occurred around Iranian military and nuclear facilities.

Source: Drones attack military plant in Iran, Tehran says | CNN

Nearly 220 million people in Pakistan without power after countrywide outage | CNN Business

A nationwide power outage in Pakistan left nearly 220 million people without electricity on Monday, threatening to cause havoc in the South Asian nation already grappling with fuel shortages in the winter months.

Source: Nearly 220 million people in Pakistan without power after countrywide outage | CNN Business

Six killed as Israel targets militants in West Bank raid

 

Six Palestinians, including a militant commander, die in one of the biggest operations in months.

Five Palestinians, reportedly all gunmen, have been killed in a major Israeli raid against a militant group in the occupied West Bank.

A sixth Palestinian was shot dead by Israeli troops who were attacked with stones in a protest against the raid, Palestinian medical sources say.

The operation in the northern city of Nablus targeted the recently formed Lion’s Den group.

The group killed an Israeli soldier in a shooting earlier this month.

Source: Six killed as Israel targets militants in West Bank raid

More than 500 Pennsylvania National Guard soldiers deployed to Middle East

The soldiers will serve as part of Operation Spartan Shield with missions throughout southwest Asia.

It’s the second time they’ve answered the call to duty in that area.

“As you can see, the world is a pretty volatile place right now,” Maj. Gen. Mark McCormack said. “But, usually, the presence of American soldiers helps to calm things wherever that volatility happens to be.”

During Sunday’s ceremony, the division’s rally flag was cased and furled, which signals they are ready for their mission.

The colors will be uncased when they arrive in the Middle East.

Source: https://www.wtae.com/article/pennsylvania-national-guard-soldiers-deployed-to-middle-east/41574759

Taliban: Car bomb near Kabul mosque kills 7, wounds 41

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A car bomb went off Friday as worshippers were leaving a Kabul mosque, killing at least seven people and wounding 41, including several children, a Taliban official said. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the bombing, the latest in a steady stream of attacks since the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan just over a year ago.

Source: Taliban: Car bomb near Kabul mosque kills 7, wounds 41

US takes out al Qaeda leader Ayman Al Zawahiri in ‘successful’ Afghanistan counterterrorism operation | Fox News

The United States killed the leader of al Qaeda, Ayman Al Zawahri in a “successful” counterterrorism operation in Afghanistan over the weekend that senior Biden administration officials say “deals a significant blow” to the terror network and degrades its ability to operate, including against the U.S. homeland.

The United States government, on July 30 at 9:48 p.m. ET, and 6:18 a.m. Kabul time, undertook a “precision counterterrorism operation,” killing Al Zawahiri, who served as Usama bin Laden’s deputy during the 9/11 attacks, and as his successor in 2011, following bin Laden’s death.

President Biden spoke to the American people to announce the strike, saying Monday: “the United States continues to demonstrate our resolve and our capacity to defend the American people against those who seek to do us harm. You know, we we make it clear again tonight that no matter how long it takes, no matter where you hide, if you are a threat to our people, the United States will find you and take you out.”

Source: US takes out al Qaeda leader Ayman Al Zawahiri in ‘successful’ Afghanistan counterterrorism operation | Fox News

U.S. special forces raid in Syria kills ISIS leader, Biden says

Local residents and first responders described a dramatic overnight incident that left a number of people dead, including women and children.

U.S. special forces carried out an overnight raid in northwestern Syria that killed Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi, the leader of the Islamic State terrorist group, President Joe Biden said Thursday.

“Last night at my direction, U.S. military forces successfully undertook a counterterrorism operation,” Biden said in a statement. “Thanks to the bravery of our Armed Forces, we have removed from the battlefield Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi — the leader of ISIS.”

 “All Americans have returned safely from the operation,” he said.

Source: U.S. special forces raid in Syria kills ISIS leader, Biden says

Yemen: Airstrikes kill 70 people and knock out internet – CNN

At least 70 people were killed and more than 130 injured when an airstrike hit a detention center in Yemen on Friday, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said, as the Saudi-led coalition continued to ramp up its deadly offensive on rebels in the war-torn nation.

(CNN)At least 70 people were killed and more than 130 injured when an airstrike hit a detention center in Yemen on Friday, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said, as the Saudi-led coalition continued to ramp up its deadly offensive on rebels in the war-torn nation.

Another airstrike early Friday hit a telecommunications building in the strategic port city of Hodeidah, causing a nationwide internet blackout, according to NetBlocks, an organization that tracks network disruptions. At least three children were killed in that attack, Save the Children said.
The Norwegian Refugee Council said the internet blackout, which was still ongoing as of Friday evening, would affect aid delivery.
The Iran-back Houthi rebels, who control much of Yemen, blamed the Saudi-led coalition for the strikes. CNN has reached out to the coalition for comment.

Source: Yemen: Airstrikes kill 70 people and knock out internet – CNN

Kabul: At least 16 wounded in hospital blasts – CNN

(CNN)At least 16 people were wounded in two blasts at a military hospital in the Afghan capital on Tuesday.

It was unclear if there were fatalities in the blasts at the Daoud Khan Military hospital, a teaching facility near the Afghan capital’s diplomatic quarter. Taliban officials said special forces have arrived at the scene.
A doctor treating incoming patients at the nearby Wazir Akbar Khan civlian hospital said seven injured people had come in so far. All were male, two of them were in critical condition, he said. He said he did not know if the patients from the nearby military hospital hit in the blasts were visitors, medical personnel or patients.
In addition, the humanitarian NGO “Emergency” tweeted that nine injured were brought to its hospital in Kabul.
The Daoud Khan Military hospital has been targeted before. In 2011, suicide bombers linked tothe Taliban blew themselves up inside the facility, killing six people and injuring 26 others.

Source: Kabul: At least 16 wounded in hospital blasts – CNN

Woodward/Costa book:  Milley took secret action to protect nuclear weapons – CNN

Two days after the January 6 attack on the US Capitol, President Donald Trump’s top military adviser, Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley, single-handedly took secret action to limit Trump from potentially ordering a dangerous military strike or launching nuclear weapons, according to “Peril,” a new book by legendary journalist Bob Woodward and veteran Washington Post reporter Robert Costa.

Right after Trump lost the election, Milley discovered the President had signed a military order to withdraw all troops from Afghanistan by January 15, 2021, before he left the White House.

The authors write, ‘Milley was overseeing the mobilization of America’s national security state without the knowledge of the American people or the rest of the world.’

Source: Woodward/Costa book: Worried Trump could ‘go rogue,’ Milley took secret action to protect nuclear weapons – CNNPolitics

Israeli jets strike Gaza after 2nd rocket attack in 24 hours | The Times of Israel

 

The Israel Defense Forces overnight Saturday-Sunday carried out another round of retaliatory airstrikes in the Gaza Strip, following two rocket attacks on southern Israel in less than 24 hours.

The military said the raids targeted a Hamas underground rocket production workshop, weapons storage site, training facility, and tunnel. The IDF said it holds Hamas responsible for all rockets emanating from the enclave.

Earlier Saturday night, Palestinian terrorists in the Gaza Strip fired a rocket at southern Israel, raising the specter of renewed conflict. The rocket was intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defense system. The attack triggered sirens in the town of Sderot and surrounding communities in southern Israel.

A 29-year-old man sustained a light head wound after he fell while running to a bomb shelter. He was taken to Ashkelon’s Barzilai Medical Center for treatment, medics said.

Shortly after 11 p.m. on Friday, Palestinian terrorists in the Gaza Strip fired a single rocket towards Israel that was intercepted by the Iron Dome system, the army said. The rocket triggered warning sirens in the Eshkol region and local residents reported hearing several explosions. There were no reports of injuries or damage.

Source: Israeli jets strike Gaza after 2nd rocket attack in 24 hours | The Times of Israel

Kabul strike killed US aid worker and family, not ISIS bombers

 

A US airstrike in Kabul against a supposed Islamic State bomber actually killed an innocent man who worked for a US aid group and his family, according to newly published testimony and footage — raising the specter that the Pentagon lied to the public about the strike.

The reported case of mistaken identity also further tars President Biden for his chaotic pullout of US troops from Afghanistan, which left behind hundreds of US citizens and thousands of at-risk Afghans.

Zemari Ahmadi and nine members of his family, including seven children, were killed in the airstrike on Aug. 29, one day before the final US evacuation flights from Kabul, his brother Romal Ahmadi told the New York Times.

Ahmadi, who was the apparent target of the strike, worked for 14 years as a technical engineer in Afghanistan for the Pasadena, Calif.-based charity group Nutrition and Education International, which feeds hungry Afghans.

The aid group had applied for him to move to the US as a refugee.

New security footage from his workplace shows Ahmadi, whose neighborhood had unreliable water service, filling containers with water at his employer’s office at 2:35 p,m. shortly before he returned home. Fire-damaged containers consistent with the water canisters were photographed by the Times.

Source: Kabul strike killed US aid worker and family, not ISIS bombers

Women join protests on Kabul streets in defiance of Taliban rule

“People need to express their anger, men and women, they must not stay silent,” one protester said.

Hundreds of Afghans, many of them women, protested in Kabul on Tuesday, chanting slogans against neighboring Pakistan and expressing support for rebels in the last part of the country resisting Taliban rule.

Video posted online showed protesters near the Pakistani Embassy in Kabul holding signs saying “#SanctionPakistan” and “#StandWithPanjshir.” Elsewhere on a street near the Iranian and Turkish embassies, video emerged of Taliban fighters firing into the air to disperse the protests.

Several journalists covering the demonstration were arrested, according to the Associated Press. In one case a reporter had their microphone taken by fighters waving Kalashnikov rifles, who then beat him with it and broke it, the AP reported.

Panjshir province, around 60 miles north of Kabul, has drawn resistance fighters from across Afghanistan since the Taliban seized power last month. Pakistan has been accused of assisting the Taliban.

Source: Women join protests on Kabul streets in defiance of Taliban rule

Joe Biden’s call to Afghan president is impeachable: Devine

Miranda Devine

BY MIRANDA DEVINE

OPINION

Psst, Nancy Pelosi! Still looking for a phone call worth impeaching a president?

Do I have news for you.

Reuters has a bombshell report about a July phone call between Joe Biden and then-Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani, in which the US president promises military aid in return for lies.

The “perception around the world and in parts of Afghanistan, I believe, is that things aren’t going well in terms of the fight against the Taliban,” says Biden in the July 23 call. “And there’s a need, whether it is true or not, there is a need to project a different picture.”

Whether it is true or not.

No, things weren’t going well, three weeks after the US abandoned Bagram Airfield in the dead of night.

Biden’s solution was to create the “perception” that all was fine. He wanted to keep the illusion going long enough to cover his Aug. 31 self-imposed deadline to withdraw US troops and have a victory lap on September 11th, when he would preen as the first president to end the forever war.

So he asked Ghani to trick up an event to make it look as if he had a plan to push back on the Taliban to reassure America’s allies who were beginning to question Biden’s timetable.

“I don’t know whether you’re aware,” said Biden, “just how much the perception around the world is that this is looking like a losing proposition . . . so the conclusion I’m asking you to consider is to bring together everyone from [ex-Afghan Vice President Abdul Rashid] Dostum, to [ex-President Hamid] Karzai and in between. If they stand there and say they back the strategy you put together, and put a warrior in charge, you know a military man . . . in charge of executing that strategy, and that will change perception.”

Ghani tried to explain that the situation was dire: “Mr. President, we are facing a full-scale invasion, composed of Taliban, full Pakistani planning and logistical support, and at least 10-15,000 international terrorists.”

He begged for US air support. “What is crucial is, close air support . . . a very heavy reliance on air power.”

The Afghan army was based on the US model, which relies on air support for enemy strikes, ferrying the wounded, and so on. But the contractors who serviced Afghan aircraft had left, leaving the Afghan army exposed.

Biden offered conditional air support, in return for Ghani going along with his ruse, but only until his Aug. 31 deadline. After that, “who knows?”

Source: Joe Biden’s call to Afghan president is impeachable: Devine

U.S. drone strikes an ISIS-K vehicle packed with explosives in Kabul

WASHINGTON – The United States carried out a military strike on Sunday against an ISIS-K target in Kabul, a development that comes in the final days of an immense humanitarian evacuation mission.

“U.S. military forces conducted a self-defense unmanned over-the-horizon airstrike today on a vehicle in Kabul, eliminating an imminent ISIS-K threat to Hamad Karzai International airport,” U.S. Central Command spokesman Navy Capt. Bill Urban wrote in a statement.

There were no known civilian casualties following the strike.

The latest strike follows a Friday drone strike that killed two high-profile ISIS-K members believed to be involved in planning attacks against U.S. forces in Kabul. Army Maj. Gen. William Taylor said that there were no known civilian casualties following the strike.

Friday’s strike came less than two days after a suicide bomber detonated an explosive near the gates of Kabul’s airport, resulting in the deaths of 13 American service members.

The White House said Sunday that the president and first lady will meet with the families of the fallen and observe a dignified transfer of the remains at Dover Air Force Base.

Source: U.S. drone strikes an ISIS-K vehicle packed with explosives in Kabul

US airstrike targets Islamic State member in Afghanistan

WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States military struck back at the Islamic State on Saturday, bombing an IS member in Afghanistan less than 48 hours after a devastating suicide bombing claimed by the group killed as many as 169 Afghans and 13 American service members at the Kabul airport.

U.S. Central Command said the U.S. conducted a drone strike against an Islamic State member in Nangahar believed to be involved in planning attacks against the U.S. in Kabul. The strike killed one individual, and spokesman Navy Capt. William Urban said they knew of no civilian casualties.

It wasn’t clear if that individual was involved specifically in the Thursday suicide blast outside the gates of the Kabul airport, where crowds of Afghans were desperately trying to get in as part of the ongoing evacuation from the country after the Taliban’s rapid takeover.

The airstrike fulfilled a vow President Joe Biden made to the nation Thursday when he said the perpetrators of the attack would not be able to hide. “We will hunt you down and make you pay,” he said. Pentagon leaders told reporters Friday that they were prepared for whatever retaliatory action the president ordered.

“We have options there right now,” said Maj. Gen. Hank Taylor of the Pentagon’s Joint Staff.

Source: US airstrike targets Islamic State member in Afghanistan

Biden admits admin may have given Taliban ‘kill list’ of Afghans who aided US

A potentially deadly blunder by President Joe Biden’s administration effectively handed the Taliban a “kill list” to target Afghans who aided the US, according to a report Thursday — and admitted it may have happened when asked later at a White House briefing.

Following the Taliban takeover of Kabul, US officials there gave the Islamic extremist group the names of American citizens, green card holders and Afghan allies so they could be allowed to enter the Taliban-controlled perimeter around the Hamid Karzai International Airport, according to Politico.

The decision was reportedly made despite the Taliban’s notorious reputation for brutally executing Afghans who helped the US military and other Western forces during the war and occupation that followed the Sept. 11 terror attacks.

Source: Biden admits admin may have given Taliban ‘kill list’ of Afghans who aided US

Kabul airport explosions: US troops, Afghans killed – CNN

(CNN)Twelve US service members and dozens of Afghans have been killed in two bombing attacks outside Kabul’s airport, according to the Pentagon and Afghanistan’s Ministry of Public Health.

The deadly blasts came as the United States and other Western countries raced to complete a massive evacuation of their citizens and Afghan allies following the Taliban takeover of the country.
An official with Afghanistan’s Ministry of Public Health told CNN on Thursday that more than 60 people were dead and 140 wounded.
Fifteen US service members were injured in addition to the 12 dead, said Gen. Frank McKenzie, Commander of US Central Command.
US officials have been warning over the past week that a threat of a terror attack at the airport was becoming more acute. Earlier on Thursday local time, US diplomats in Kabul warned American citizens to “immediately” leave several gates into the airport, citing security threats.
A US defense official had also told CNN that officials were concerned by a “very specific threat stream” involving the ISIS affiliate in Afghanistan.
US officials believe the group, ISIS-K, was likely behind today’s attack but are still working to confirm its involvement, according to a senior US official and another source briefed on initial assessments. The second source told CNN it may take a few hours before US officials are able to identify the specific individuals who carried out the apparent suicide bombing.

Source: Kabul airport explosions: US troops, Afghans killed – CNN

Seth Moulton, a Democrat who is speaking the truth about Afghanistan — and President Biden – The Boston Globe

US Representative Seth Moulton is back to a familiar place in the Massachusetts congressional delegation — out there, alone, as he speaks the truth about the chaotic aftermath of President Biden’s decision to withdraw American troops from Afghanistan.“

To say that today is anything short of a disaster would be dishonest,” Moulton said in a statement he also posted on Facebook after the Taliban took over Kabul and scenes of Afghans, desperate to leave their country, took over cable news. When Biden first went on television to defend the withdrawal and blamed the chaos on Afghans who “did not want to leave earlier,” Moulton called out that presidential excuse as “utter BS.” He also told CNN’s Jake Tapper that the hasty withdrawal could lead to more veteran suicides.

Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., and Rep. Peter Meijer, R-Mich flew unannounced into Kabul airport in the middle of the ongoing chaotic evacuation Tuesday, stunning State Department and U.S. military personnel who had to divert resources to provide security and information to the lawmakers, U.S. officials said.

Moulton and Meijer were on the ground at the Kabul airport for several hours. That led officials to complain that they could be taking seats that would have otherwise gone to other Americans or Afghans fleeing the country, but the congressmen said in a joint statement that they made sure to leave on a flight with empty seats.

“As Members of Congress, we have a duty to provide oversight on the executive branch,’” the two said in their statement. “We conducted this visit in secret, speaking about it only after our departure, to minimize the risk and disruption to the people on the ground, and because we were there to gather information, not to grandstand.”

Source: Seth Moulton, a Democrat who is speaking the truth about Afghanistan — and President Biden – The Boston Globe

Source: https://boston.cbslocal.com/2021/08/24/rep-seth-moulton-visits-kabul-airport-amid-chaotic-evacuation-to-provide-oversight/

Harris laughs at, shuts down questions as she says Afghanistan is her highest priority | Washington Examiner

Vice President Kamala Harris chuckled at and cut off a reporter to say that Afghanistan is the administration’s top priority.

Harris, who is currently traveling through South Asia, was asked about the situation in Afghanistan, where the United States and other Western countries have been rapidly working to get their own citizens as well as Afghan refugees out of the country since the Taliban took over.

“Hold on. Hold on. Slow down, everybody,” she said when approached with questions after disembarking from her voyage. “Hahaha. Um, I want to talk about two things. First, Afghanistan — we couldn’t have a higher priority right now.”

The Biden administration, which was slow to address the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan publicly, has sought to protect Americans and Afghan allies from danger after the Taliban quickly and easily rose to power in Afghanistan, the speed of which caught U.S. officials by surprise.

Military and intelligence experts said the Taliban could defeat the Afghan army in a matter of months or years, even though the latter had both greater numbers and nearly two decades of U.S. military training. However, the Taliban were able to capture nearly the entire country during an 11-day offensive.

Source: Harris laughs at, shuts down questions as she says Afghanistan is her highest priority | Washington Examiner

British military: 7 Afghans killed in chaos at Kabul airport

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A panicked crush of people trying to enter Kabul’s international airport killed seven Afghan civilians in the crowds, the British military said Sunday, showing the danger still posed to those trying to flee the Taliban’s takeover of the country.

The deaths come as a new, perceived threat from the Islamic State group affiliate in Afghanistan has seen U.S. military planes do rapid, diving combat landings at the airport surrounded by Taliban fighters. Other aircraft have shot off flares on takeoff, an effort to confuse possible heat-seeking missiles targeting the planes.

The changes come as the U.S. Embassy issued a new security warning Saturday telling citizens not to travel to the Kabul airport without individual instruction from a U.S. government representative. Officials declined to provide more specifics about the IS threat but described it as significant. They said there have been no confirmed attacks as yet by the militants, who have battled the Taliban in the past.

On Sunday, the British military acknowledged the seven deaths of civilians in the crowds in Kabul. There have been stampedes and crushing injuries in the crowds, especially as Taliban fighters fire into the air to drive away those desperate to get on any flight out of the country.

“Conditions on the ground remain extremely challenging but we are doing everything we can to manage the situation as safely and securely as possible,” the Defense Ministry said in a statement.

On Saturday, British and Western troops in full combat gear tried to control the crowds pressing in. They carried away some who were sweating and pale. With temperatures reaching 34 degree Celsius (93 degrees Fahrenheit), the soldiers sprayed water from a hose on those gathered or gave them bottled water to pour over their heads.

“Listen sir, you need to calm down,” one soldier told a man laying in the dirt, as another gave him an orange liquid. “Calm down.”

It wasn’t immediately clear whether those killed had been physically crushed, suffocated or suffered a fatal heart attack in the crowds. Soldiers covered several corpses in white clothes to hide them from view. Other troops stood atop concrete barriers or shipping containers, trying to calm the crowd. Gunshots occasionally rang out.

Speaking to an Iranian state television channel late Saturday night in a video call, Taliban spokesman Mohammad Naeem blamed the deaths at the airport on the Americans in what quickly became a combative interview.

“The Americans announced that we would take you to America with us and people gathered at Kabul airport,” Naeem said. “If it was announced right now in any country in the world, would people not go?”

Source: British military: 7 Afghans killed in chaos at Kabul airport

Afghan resistance fighters take back territory from Taliban

 

The fight for Afghanistan may not be entirely over.

A high-ranking former Afghan government official said Friday that resistance fighters — mainly made of about 300 battle-ready mujahideen members and commanders linked to the Northern Alliance — wrestled three districts in the northeastern Baghlan province out of Taliban control on Friday, killing upwards of 36 Taliban fighters and wounding dozens more.

The local fighters, often referred to as the public uprising forces, are said to have used their own weapons to retake control of Banu, Pol-e-Hesar and De Salah districts in the beleaguered province.

“The advance continues towards Khenjan in North Salang now,” the former official said, noting that locals were quick to remove the Taliban flag in the re-captured regions.

As the Taliban swept to control of Afghanistan’s provincial capitals and big cities last week, culminating by their capture of Kabul on Sunday, local warlords appealed en masse to the central government for air support and heavy weaponry to repel the offensive — to no avail.

Source: Afghan resistance fighters take back territory from Taliban

Pence claims Biden broke Trump administration’s deal with Taliban

Former Vice President Mike Pence claimed Tuesday that President Joe Biden reneged on the cease-fire deal his predecessor, former President Donald Trump, agreed with the Taliban in February 2020, setting the stage for what Pence called “a foreign-policy humiliation unlike anything our country has endured since the Iran hostage crisis.”

In a Wall Street Journal op-ed, Pence claimed that by the time the 45th president left office, “the Afghan government and the Taliban each controlled their respective territories, neither was mounting major offensives, and America had only 2,500 U.S. troops in the country—the smallest military presence since the war began in 2001.”

The key provisions of the agreement — described as “foolhardy” in the pages of The Post by Rich Lowry last month — included the US withdrawing all combat forces from Afghanistan by May of this year, the Taliban denying safe haven to terror groups, the release of up to 5,000 Taliban prisoners in exchange for 1,000 Afghan security forces held by the Taliban, and the beginning of comprehensive peace negotiations between the Taliban and the Western-backed Afghan government.

In Tuesday’s op-ed, Pence credited the agreement with the fact that the US “has not suffered a single combat casualty” in Afghanistan in 18 months.

Source: Pence claims Biden broke Trump administration’s deal with Taliban

Afghanistan: striking image appears to show 640 people fleeing Kabul in packed US military plane | Afghanistan | The Guardian

The picture obtained by US defence and security news site Defense One is believed to show 640 people crammed into a C-17 Globemaster III, among the highest number of people ever carried in such an aircraft.
Reach 871

 

US defence officials reportedly said the passengers – among them women and children – on the flight were safely evacuated from Kabul to Qatar on Sunday.

Source: Afghanistan: striking image appears to show 640 people fleeing Kabul in packed US military plane | Afghanistan | The Guardian

Protest outside White House as Taliban seizes Afghan cities | wusa9.com

5,000 troops are being sent to Afghanistan to evacuate U.S. Diplomats and Afghan allies.

WASHINGTON — People with ties to Afghanistan are pleading to President Joe Biden to step in and help as hundreds of people protested Saturday afternoon outside the White House.

The protest was hours after President Biden authorized an additional 1,000 U.S. troops for deployment to Afghanistan, raising to roughly 5,000 the number of U.S. troops to evacuate U.S. diplomats and Afghan allies.

“We want Mr. President to hear and to act immediately, we want him to act now because Afghanistan is in a tragedy and we want him to stop the Taliban,” Azahullah Zalmay said.

RELATED: Biden orders 1,000 more troops to aid Afghanistan departure

Zalmay lives in Northern Virginia but his home country is Afghanistan.

He said it’s been hard to watch what’s happening from 7,000 miles away.

“To be honest I am dying,” Zalmay said. “Since last night I haven’t slept yet. I couldn’t sleep. It’s a tragedy for my people. I can’t sleep.”

Source: Protest outside White House as Taliban seizes Afghan cities | wusa9.com

Taliban take over Afghanistan: What we know and what’s next – ABC News

The insurgents stormed across the country, capturing all major cities in a matter of days, as Afghan security forces trained and equipped by the U.S. and its allies melted away.

WHY DID THE AFGHAN SECURITY FORCES COLLAPSE?

The short answer? Corruption.

The U.S. and its NATO allies spent billions of dollars over two decades to train and equip Afghan security forces. But the Western-backed government was rife with corruption.

WHAT WILL HAPPEN NEXT IN AFGHANISTAN?

It’s not clear.

The Taliban say they want to form an “inclusive, Islamic government” with other factions. They are holding negotiations with senior politicians, including leaders in the former government.

They have pledged to enforce Islamic law but say they will provide a secure environment for the return of normal life after decades of war.

But many Afghans distrust the Taliban and fear that their rule will be violent and oppressive. One sign that worries people is that they want to rename the country the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, which is what they called it the last time they ruled.

Source: Taliban take over Afghanistan: What we know and what’s next – ABC News

Biden restates commitment to Afghan drawdown amid Taliban offensive – POLITICO

 

President Joe Biden showed no sign of backing away from his decision to withdraw all troops and a significant portion of the diplomatic corps from Afghanistan, restating his determination to leave the country in a statement released Saturday.

Biden authorized the deployment of some 5,000 U.S. troops to ensure “an orderly and safe” drawdown of U.S. and allied personnel in Afghanistan, which came after reports of the evacuation of U.S. Embassy staff in Kabul to the international airport as the Taliban rapidly close in on the capital.

Source: Biden restates commitment to Afghan drawdown amid Taliban offensive – POLITICO

How the Taliban retook half of Afghanistan – BBC News

The Taliban are advancing rapidly across large parts of Afghanistan. They are now in control of more territory than at any time since they were ousted from power in 2001.

Emboldened by the withdrawal of US troops, they are gaining ground in many districts. Government forces are in retreat.

Cities now under Taliban control include Kandahar, Herat, Lashkar Gah and Ghazni, which is just 150km from Kabul.

Taliban fighters have also taken Mazar-i-Sharif, an anti-Taliban bastion which was the last major city in northern Afghanistan still under government control.

 

 

Source: How the Taliban retook half of Afghanistan – BBC News

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