Celebratory gunfire erupted in Kabul on Friday night as rumours circulated that the Taliban had captured the Panjshir Valley, a last holdout against the Taliban sweep. Heavy clashes have been reported in recent days between the Taliban and the Panjshir Valley-based National Resistance Forces (NRF), headed by former vice president …

A close senior aide to Al Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden has returned to Nangarhar province in eastern Afghanistan two weeks after the Taliban seized control of the country. A video verified by the The National shows Amin ul-Haq being driven through a checkpoint in the passenger seat of a …

The calamitous scenes at Kabul’s airport, where thousands of people are scrambling to escape the Taliban before an August 31 deadline, prove the US is not concerned with the fate of ordinary Afghans, Islamist leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar told The National. With days before the US ends its 20-year presence in …

Clashes erupted between the Taliban and the resistance movement on Thursday in Gulbahar, the entrance gate of Panjshir province, and both sides used heavy and light weapons. Both sides accused each other of initiating the clash. The resistance movement said the Taliban started the clashes. “The enemy attacked Panjshir province …

Taliban co-founder Mullah Baradar will lead a new Afghan government set to be announced shortly, Reuters reported on Friday citing sources in the Taliban. According to the report Baradar, who heads the Taliban’s political office, will be joined by Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob, the son of late Taliban co-founder Mullah Omar, …

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that there would be no political force to talk to directly if Afghanistan breaks up as a country and called for joint efforts to decide about “legalizing” a political force in the country. Putin made the comment at a forum in Vladivostok where …

I was a college student on 9/11. The ensuing “War on Terror,” anchored by the bombing and U.S. occupation of Afghanistan, has been with us ever since — virtually my entire adult life. President Biden was right to end the war in Afghanistan and follow through on a deal that …

Afghanistan In rapid takeover, Taliban regained control over country, prompting fall of govt and ending 20-year U.S. occupation; uncertainty over new political order fuelled domestic and international security concerns. In dramatic shift, govt 15 Aug collapsed and Taliban gained control of most territory, including all border crossings and major urban …

Enquanto o mundo assiste à saída inglória dos Estados Unidos do Afeganistão, e ao regresso dos talibãs, a República Popular da China (RPC) reconfigura as suas relações políticas com este país vizinho. Alteraram-se as peças do jogo, abre-se um novo programa diplomático, tanto motivado por questões estratégicas, de contenção de …

In a Financial Times op-ed, “Investors in Xi’s China face a rude awakening” (August 30, 2021), George Soros writes that Xi’s “crackdown on private enterprise shows he does not understand the market economy. … Xi Jinping, China’s leader, has collided with economic reality. His crackdown on private enterprise has been …