Pakistani paramilitary soldiers stand guard as people enter Pakistan through Chaman's border crossing point. Chaman, is a key border crossing between Pakistan and Afghanistan, normally thousands of Afghans and Pakistanis cross daily and a steady stream of trucks passes through, taking goods to Afghanistan. (AP Photo)Taliban Afghanistan Crisis Latest Update Live, Kabul Live Latest News: When Zabihullah Mujahid faced the global media in Kabul, it was a mix of curiosity as well as palpable tension. Curiosity because it was for the first time that the elusive Taliban leader was seen in media and tension because nobody knows what happens next. Unlike its 1996 avatar, the Taliban 2.0 seems to know a thing or two about media and presenting its side of the story. When asked by a female reporter of AL Jazeera about the fate of women in Afghanistan, Zabihullah Mujahid insisted that there is no need to worry. ‘If they follow Sharia, they will be happy, we will be happy.’ He went on to say that there was no curb on media as long as it doesn’t report against the Afghan ‘national interest’ or anything that flames ethnic tension.
But those who are watching the rapidly changing events in Afghanistan say that the moderate voice from the hardline group is nothing but an attempt to get legitimacy on the global stage. Another key point is that the world media is focusing on Kabul. There is absolutely no news of any other province and what’s happening there after the Taliban took over the country. Barring few claims on social media by some reporters and those who know the region, the fact of the matter is that we don’t know what’s going on outside Kabul.
Stay with us as we follow the ever-changing situation in Afghanistan and bring you the latest reactions, developments from Kabul and across the world:
Highlights
The leaders of Afghanistan's Taliban will show themselves to the world, an official of the Islamist movement said on Wednesday, unlike during the past 20 years, when its leaders have lived largely in secret."Slowly, gradually, the world will see all our leaders, there will be no shadow of secrecy," the senior Taliban official, who declined to be identified, told Reuters.The official said Taliban members had been ordered not to celebrate their recent sweep of the country, which brought them to the capital, Kabul, on Sunday, and added that civilians should hand over weapons and ammunition. - Reuters
The first Lufthansa plane carrying evacuees from Afghanistan landed in Frankfurt early on Wednesday with about 130 people aboard, the airline said.The Airbus A340 picked up passengers who had been taken by Bundeswehr flights from the Afghan capital of Kabul to the Uzbek capital of Tashkent.As part of an airlift effort in coordination with the German government, further special flights from Tashkent, Doha or other neighbouring nations in the next few days will evacuate more people from Afghanistan.Germany, which had the second largest military contingent in Afghanistan after the United States, wants to airlift thousands of German-Afghan dual nationals, rights activists, lawyers and people who worked with foreign forces.After dramatic images of throngs at Kabul airport trying to flee after the Afghan capital fell to the Taliban, U.S. forces have secured the airport and started an airlift to fly out diplomats and civilians. – Reuters
Japan is in close contact with a "small number" of its nationals still in Afghanistan, seeking to ensure their safety after Taliban militants took over Kabul, the government's top spokesman said on Wednesday.Amid a deteriorating security situation in the Afghan capital after the Taliban took control without a fight on Sunday, Japan closed its embassy there and evacuated the last 12 personnel, officials said this week.Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato told a news conference that none of the Japanese still remaining in Afghanistan had been reported to have suffered injuries, but declined to give details, citing security concerns.Most of these were with international organisations, a Foreign Ministry official said, but also declined to give details, including estimates of how many there were. – Reuters
The Taliban have agreed to allow "safe passage" from Afghanistan for civilians struggling to join a US-directed airlift from the capital, President Joe Biden's national security adviser said on Tuesday, although a timetable for completing the evacuation of Americans, Afghan allies and others has yet to be worked out with the country's new rulers. - AP
After five frustrating years mired in bureaucratic delays, Bahaudin Mujtaba and wife Lisa had hoped to finally bring the 10-year-old Afghan boy they're adopting to their home in Florida this year for a chance at a different future. But with the collapse of the Afghan government, the couple is desperately trying to get the boy, Noman, on a flight out of Kabul -- going anywhere -- before the chance to leave disappears. In the chaos following the Taliban takeover, Noman and another family tried to get to the airport Tuesday through clogged streets, checkpoints and gunfire but were forced to turn back. Mujtaba, who spoke to the boy and the family early Tuesday, said they hope to try again to get to the airport Wednesday. - PTI
The US Air Force has said that its Office of Special Investigations is reviewing an incident at the Kabul airport on Monday in which multiple people were killed when hundreds of Afghan civilians desperate to leave the country swarmed a C-17 cargo plane as it was attempting to take off. The Air Force did not say how many people died. It said human remains were found in the plane's wheel well after it landed at al-Udeid Air Base in the Gulf state of Qatar. Videos of the incident, including images of people falling from the aircraft as it took off, were widely viewed on social media. The images captured the initial chaos of a US-directed evacuation that followed the Taliban's takeover of the country. The Air Force said the C-17 Globemaster III had landed at Kabul airport to deliver equipment for the evacuation effort. Before the crew could offload the cargo, the aircraft was surrounded by hundreds of Afghan civilians who had breached the security perimeter. Because the security situation was getting worse, the crew decided to take off. - AP
Pleas for help from Afghans have been filling up Caroline Clarin's phone for days as she works from her rural Minnesota home and tries to provide hope to those who ping heart-wrenching messages of desperation from a world away. Since 2017, Clarin, who ran a US Department of Agriculture program in Afghanistan, and her wife, Sheril Raymond, have helped get five Afghans and their families from her program into the US. Now they are trying to help more than a half dozen other Afghans and their families leave Afghanistan. ‘I've been getting messages about hopelessness, and waiting to be killed by the Taliban, and I said it's not over 'til it's over," Raymond said. "And as best as I can from sitting in my comfy chair in Minnesota where I'm safe, I am trying to say please do not give up hope, think of your children, and hold on." Across the US, Americans are scrambling to help Afghans fleeing their country after the Taliban's speedy takeover. Driven by compassion, those pitching in include everyone from volunteers at refugee resettlement agencies to people like Clarin and Raymond, who are helping on their own. - AP
US President Joe Biden has spoken with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson about the situation in Afghanistan, marking his first call with another world leader since the Taliban took control of the country Sunday. The White House said that during Monday's conversation Biden and Johnson ‘commended the bravery and professionalism of their military and civilian personnel’ who are working to evacuate their countries' citizens and allies from the country. The White House said the leaders agreed on the need for close coordination with allies about the future of aid and support to Afghanistan now that the Taliban is in charge. - AP
The US has so far evacuated more than 3,200 people from Kabul, including 1,100 on Tuesday alone, the White House said, after the Taliban insurgents seized power in Afghanistan. ‘Today, US military flights evacuated approximately 1,100 US citizens, US permanent residents, and their families on 13 flights, 12 with C-17 sorties and one with a C-130. Now that we have established the flow, we expect those numbers to escalate,’ a White House official said on Tuesday. ‘We have evacuated more than 3,200 people so far, including our personnel. In addition to these more than 3,200 total evacuated, we have relocated nearly 2,000 Afghan special immigrants to the United States,’ said the White House official. Earlier in the day, US National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan said the issue of evacuation is being resolved with each successive flight. - PTI
President Joe Biden does not believe that the country should be "fighting and dying" in a war for the purpose of sustaining American military boots near Tajikistan or Pakistan or Iran, his National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan has said, defending the president's decision to withdraw US troops from Afghanistan. President Biden in April announced that all American troops would be withdrawn from Afghanistan by September 11 this year, thus bringing to end the country's longest war, spanning across two decades. The US has already pulled back the majority of its forces and is looking to complete the drawdown by August 31. - PTI
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar discussed the situation in Afghanistan after the Taliban seized power in Kabul in his bilateral meetings here, including with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres. Jaishankar arrived in New York Monday as the UN 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 unravelling situation in the war-torn country. Following his meeting with Guterres in the UN headquarters on Tuesday, the minister tweeted, ‘Good to meet UN Secretary General @antonioguterres. Our discussions focused on Afghanistan, following upon the Security Council meeting yesterday.’ - PTI
A Western security official has told Reuters that there is no clarity on when will the civilian flights resume from Kabul Airport. According to the official, who has not been named, 2,200 foreign diplomats have been safely evacuated so far.
The Taliban said on Tuesday they wanted peaceful relations with other countries and would respect the rights of women within the framework of Islamic law, as they held their first official news briefing since their lightning seizure of Kabul.The Taliban announcements, short on details but suggesting a softer line than during their rule 20 years ago, came as the United States and Western allies resumed evacuating diplomats and civilians the day after scenes of chaos at Kabul airport. Reuters
President Joe Biden's pledge to evacuate thousands more at-risk Afghans who worked for the U.S. government will run into the cold reality of a fast-closing window of time, insecurity all over Afghanistan and major logistical hurdles.As one U.S. official told Reuters "too many things have to go 100 percent correctly" to execute the plan to move out those going through the Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) process. The Pentagon is aiming to evacuate up to 22,000 SIV applicants, their families and other at-risk people.But officials and refugee resettlement groups said that number, while admirable, will be much more difficult to reach now that the Taliban have seized the capital Kabul. – Reuters
Canada plans to resume military flights to Afghanistan to evacuate civilians as the United States regains control of the Kabul airport, the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) said late on Tuesday."CAF flights will support ongoing operations and will evacuate as many Afghans, who are at risk due to their close and enduring relationship with Canada, as possible," a CAF spokeswoman said in an emailed statement to Reuters.U.S. forces had to pause all evacuations after thousands of people desperate to flee Afghanistan thronged Kabul's airport on Monday, after the Taliban fighters streamed into the capital unopposed.The airport runway and tarmac are now clear of crowds and military flights evacuating diplomats and civilians from Afghanistan started taking off on Tuesday morning, a Western security official at Kabul airport told Reuters.Chartered flights carrying fleeing Afghans have arrived in Canada from Monday evening and additional flights will be sent starting Tuesday night, according to the statement. – Reuters
Australia flew 26 people out of Afghanistan in its first rescue flight, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Wednesday, after Australian troops arrived to help with the evacuation from Kabul airport that has been secured by U.S. and British colleagues.Australia said on Monday it would send 250 military personnel to Kabul to evacuate it citizens and an unspecified number of Afghans who had been given visas after working for Australia.Taliban fighters seized Kabul on the weekend after a lightning offensive across the country as U.S.-led Western forces have been withdrawing under a deal that included a Taliban promise not to attack them as they leave.U.S. forces running the airport had to stop flights on Monday after thousands of frightened Afghans swamped the facility looking for a flight out. The situation was under control on Tuesday and flights resumed. – Reuters