Taliban fighters stand guard at the main gate leading to the Afghan presidential palace, in Kabul, Afghanistan. (AP)Afghanistan-Taliban crisis LIVE news updates: The Taliban held their first official news conference in Kabul on Tuesday, promising to respect the rights of women, seek good relations with other countries, and not to extract retribution on former members of the Afghan military.
Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said that they will reach a settlement through which an Islamic government will be established in the country. He also said that the rights of women will be honored as per Islamic law. “Women can work in the health sector and other sectors where they are needed…there will be no discrimination against them,” Mujahid said.
Taliban’s assertion that the insurgents would protect women’s rights comes after the Taliban’s earlier rule saw women’s lives and rights severely restricted. Many Afghans have expressed fear that the Taliban will return the country the brutal rule they used when last in charge.
Meanwhile, the Afghan vice president claimed that after President Ashraf Ghani fled in the face of the Taliban sweep into Kabul over the weekend and with his whereabouts unknown, the vice president is the country’s ‘legitimate’ caretaker president.
People try to get into Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, August 16, 2021. (Reuters)
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas Tuesday said that the west will judge the Taliban "by their actions". His remarks come just hours after the Taliban held their first official press conference, convincing world powers, and a fearful population that they have changed.
Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday told an Afghan delegation, led by former vice president Muhammad Younas Qanooni, that Pakistan was committed to supporting an inclusive government in Afghanistan. The delegation of political leaders from Afghanistan arrived here on Sunday for talks amidst a whirlwind takeover of the country by the Taliban insurgents. Khan's Office said in a statement that he underlined that no other country is more desirous of peace and stability in Afghanistan than Pakistan. (PTI)
According to the Associated Press, the Russian ambassador to Afghanistan said he had a "constructive and positive meeting" with Taliban representatives in Kabul to discuss security for the Russian diplomatic mission. Ambassador Dmitry Zhirnov told Russian state TV Tuesday that the meeting was dedicated exclusively to the security of the embassy and involved senior Taliban representatives in the city.
During the press conference, Taliban spokesman Mujahid assured the international community saying that Afghanistan's soil is not going to be used against any nation.
The Taliban say that they can assure the world that Afghanistan will no longer be a hub for poppy cultivation or for the drug business. Spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid also said that they require the world to support them.
The Taliban say that the security of embassies in Kabul is of 'crucial importance to them. 'We would like to assure all foreign countries that our forces are there to ensure the security of all embassies, missions, international organizations, and aid agencies,' Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said during the press conference.
The Taliban spokesperson says that they want all media outlets to continue their activities. He, however, suggested three things: No broadcast should contradict Islamic values, they should be impartial, no one should broadcast anything that goes against our national interests.
The Taliban has pledged to secure Afghanistan after the insurgents took over the country following a blitz that lasted over a week. In its first press conference, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the insurgents sought no revenge and that "everyone is forgiven".
Taliban spokesperson says women can work in the health sector and other sectors where they are needed, adds there will be no discrimination against women.
Taliban spokesperson says that the security situation in Kabul is improving day by day as Taliban forces have been stationed in various places.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid is currently addressing reporters in Kabul. Mujahid says they do not have enmity toward anyone and based on their leader's orders they have pardoned everyone.
The Afghan vice president is claiming that after President Ashraf Ghani fled in the face of the Taliban sweep into Kabul over the weekend and with his whereabouts unknown, the vice president is the country's "legitimate" caretaker president.
The banned Pakistani Taliban or the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) terror group has congratulated the Afghan Taliban on taking control of Afghanistan, describing it as a "victory for the whole Islamic world", according to a media report on Tuesday.
In the statement, TTP spokesperson Mohammad Khorasani reiterated the group's "allegiance to the Afghan Taliban leadership," and pledged to "support and strengthen the Islamic Emirates of Afghanistan."
"It is a victory for the whole Islamic world," according to an official statement issued by the TTP and released to CNN. (PTI)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday chaired a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security against the backdrop of the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, PTI reported.
The Cabinet Committee on Security is the apex government body that deals with the issues of national security. Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman attended the meeting, besides senior officials.
Those present in the meeting also included National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla, as also India's Ambassador to Afghanistan Rudrendra Tandon, who returned to India on Tuesday itself, PTI reported.
Russias top diplomat on Tuesday said that Moscow was in no rush to recognize the new Taliban government in Afghanistan and called for an inclusive dialogue of all political forces in the country.
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Russia was just like all other countries and in no rush to recognize the Taliban government. At the same time Lavrov noted encouraging signals from the Taliban who are declaring their desire to have a government with the participation of other political forces. (AP)
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar Tuesday said that the movement of the Indian Ambassador and the Embassy staff from Kabul to India was a difficult and complicated exercise. "Thank all those whose cooperation and facilitation made it possible," he tweeted.
According to the Associated Press, a top Taliban official has met with a Qatari official before reportedly leaving the country for Afghanistan.
Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar met with Qatar’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani on Tuesday.
A statement said the two “reviewed the latest security and political developments in Afghanistan, stressing the need for the protection of civilians, intensifying necessary efforts to achieve national reconciliation, working for a comprehensive political settlement and a peaceful transfer of power.”
The United States and NATO invaded Afghanistan 20 years ago in response to the terrorist attacks of 9/11 by al-Qaida, harboured by the Taliban. Now that the Taliban are back in power, there are already worries that Afghanistan will again become a breeding ground for Islamic radicalism and terrorism, aided by new technologies and social media. These are early days and experts disagree on how the Taliban may choose to govern and on how big a threat they might become, or how quickly. Read the full report here.
Two IAF transport aircraft landed at Hindan airbase in Ghaziabad now with the people evacuated from Kabul in a C-17 Globemaster that had landed in Gujarat's Jamnagar earlier today. IAF had sent additional C-130J Super Hercules aircraft to Jamnagar to bring passengers to Delhi.
Indian Ambassador to Afghanistan Rudrendra Tandon on Tuesday asserted India has not abandoned the people of the war-ravaged country with whom New Delhi forged longstanding ties and which is now under the Taliban control.
Maintaining that welfare of the Afghan people and "our relationship with them is very much in our mind", the envoy expressed happiness over the safe return of Indians from Afghanistan following the Taliban takeover of that country whose citizens now face an uncertain future. (PTI)