Afghanistan

Globally, there is not a friend or foe who doesn’t see that America’s reliability as an ally has been demolished. Great Britain, which has troops in Afghanistan, was not even consulted. Thousands of Americans awaiting instructions and with no way to get to an airport whose access is now controlled …

The Turkish government is eyeing a more independent — and riskier — role in Afghanistan after the Taliban’s blitz takeover of Kabul sidelined the United States earlier than expected. Ankara was perhaps among those most taken aback by the Taliban’s whirlwind takeover of Kabul and the earlier-than-expected US departure from …

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said that the U.S. will continue to evacuate all the Americans “they can” from Afghanistan, although the U.S. is currently unable to “go out and collect large numbers of people” from outside the Kabul airport. “It’s obvious we’re not close to where we want to …

Former President Donald Trump described the recent events in Afghanistan as the worst humiliation in American history but defended the agreement his administration struck with the Taliban last year. “It’s a great thing that we’re getting out, but nobody has ever handled a withdrawal worse than Joe Biden,” the former …

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg on Tuesday (17 August) called on the Taliban to prevent Afghanistan from lapsing back into being a breeding ground for terrorism, and said the Western defence alliance has agreed to send additional evacuation planes to Kabul. Western powers are scrambling to respond to the fall-out from …

The Taliban has declared a general amnesty for former Afghan government officials, a statement by the Taliban said. “A general amnesty has been declared for all so you should have no doubt about resuming your normal activities,” the statement reads, TASS reported. Taliban members entered Afghanistan’s capital of Kabul on …

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu discussed the situation in Afghanistan on Wednesday and called on key players to ensure security there, Russia’s foreign ministry said in a statement. The Taliban said on Tuesday they wanted peaceful relations with other countries and would respect women’s …

Twenty years ago, the United States waged the Global War On Terrorism (GWOT) in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 (9/11) terrorist attacks. The US declared Afghanistan as the first front in this war with the intention to swiftly crush the Taliban forces for providing safe haven to Osama …

Air operations at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, continued through the night, getting between 700 and 800 people out of the country, said Army Maj. Gen. William D. “Hank” Taylor, the Joint Staff’s deputy director for regional operations. Taylor spoke alongside DOD Press Secretary John F. Kirby at …

It took a couple of days for US President Joe Biden to interrupt his vacation at Camp David and address his people and a world still in shock at the carnage in Afghanistan. In his 10-minute remarks, Biden defended his handling of the US withdrawal, while blaming his predecessor, former …