Afghanistan News Highlights: Hijab, turban prices soar as demand rises after Taliban takeover

India on Sunday evacuated 168 people including 107 Indians from Kabul in a military transport aircraft of the IAF amid the deteriorating security situation in the Afghan capital city following its takeover by the Taliban a week back. Stay tuned for updates.

Ashraf Ghani can return to Afghanistan: Taliban leader Khalil Haqqani

The Taliban have extended their amnesty to deposed Afghan President and Vice President Ashraf Ghani and Amrullah Saleh, respectively, allowing the two to return to Afghanistan if they so wished.

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Sikh Afghan lawmaker Narender Khalsa among evacuees

Narender Singh Khalsa won a seat in Wolesi Jirga or the lower House of Parliament in Afghanistan in January 2019 – just six months after his father Awtar Singh Khalsa and 10 other Afghan Sikhs had been killed in a terror attack. His win in parliamentary elections was hailed as one of the many small steps democracy took in Afghanistan over the past 20 years.

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Situation at Kabul airport ‘incredibly volatile’: Blinken

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday described as “incredibly volatile” the situation at the overcrowded Kabul airport where many people have died as thousands of foreign nationals and Afghans try to flee the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan.

The Taliban seized power in Afghanistan on Sunday, two weeks before the US was set to complete its troop withdrawal after a costly two-decade war.

Taliban fighters travel on a vehicle mounted with the Taliban flag in the Karte Mamorin area of Kabul city. Credit: AFP Photo

New government will be announced soon, say Taliban

Hijab and turban prices soar after Taliban takeover as demand rises

Prices of turbans and hijabs have gone up upto 10 times, according to local media reports.

“I could sell six or seven turbans a day in the past, but now I sell around 30 of them,” a vendor told Pajhwok news.

India should not use Afghan soil against Pakistan, says former Afghan PM Hekmatayar

"India should refrain from using Afghan soil against Pakistan to take revenge for Kashmiris' struggle in the Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir," Hezb-e-Islami Chief and former Afghan PM Gulbuddin Hekmatyar told Radio Pakistan in an interview.

He also said, "India should focus on internal issues instead of issuing statements regarding the future of Afghanistan."

Seven Karnataka residents return from Afghanistan

Seven people have safely returned to Karnataka from Afghanistan, after the Taliban takeover of that country, authorities said on Sunday. According to officials, of the seven people who returned, five are from Mangaluru and one each from Ballari and Bengaluru. Two people are still stranded in Kabul airport, they added.

(PTI)

Three-member committee has been set up in Kabul to reassure media, says Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen

"A member of the Cultural Commission, a member of the Union of Journalists and media outlets and a member of the Kabul Police Dept will participate as members. They will address media problems in Kabul," he added.

Biden to meet with G7 on Tuesday about Afghanistan: White House

US President Joe Biden will meet virtually with the leaders of the G7 on Tuesday to discuss the ongoing situation in Afghanistan, including humanitarian assistance for Afghan refugees, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in a statement on Sunday.

US orders American airlines to aid Afghan evacuation

The United States on Sunday enlisted several major airlines in its frantic evacuation of tens of thousands of Afghans, Americans and other foreigners from Kabul following its fall to Taliban extremists.

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin activated the rarely-used Civil Reserve Air Fleet (CRAF) to aid the onward movement of people arriving at US bases in the Middle East, the Pentagon said.

People attend a rally against the Taliban and in solidarity with the people of Afghanistan, on the Place de la Republique square in Paris, France. Credit: Reuters Photo

Britain calls G7 meeting on Tuesday to discuss Afghan crisis

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he had called a G7 leaders’ meeting on Tuesday to discuss the crisis in Afghanistan and urged the international community to find ways to prevent it from escalating.

Taliban to hold grand gathering on new government in Kabul

A grand gathering is supposedly planned to be held in Kabul by Taliban leaders and Kabul-based officials, according to reports.

We don't want Afghan militants in Russia under the cover of refugees: Putin

President Vladimir Putin on Sunday rejected the idea of sending people evacuation from Afghanistan to countries near Russia, saying he did not want "militants showing up here under cover of refugees", Russian news agencies reported.

Putin criticised an idea of some Western countries to relocate refugees from Afghanistan to neighbouring Central Asian countries while their visas to the United States and Europe are being processed.

"Does that mean that they can be sent without visas to those countries, to our neighbours, while they themselves (the West) don't want to take them without visas?" TASS news agency quoted Putin as telling leaders of the ruling United Russia party.

(Reuters)

Merkel says Afghan army collapsed at 'breathtaking pace'

German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Saturday conceded that the Afghan army's resistance against Taliban militants had been misjudged.

"The army collapsed at a breathtaking pace," Merkel said at an election event. "We had expected the resistance to be stronger."

Merkel said the focus now was on rescuing people from Afghanistan, but later there would need to be a discussion on what had or had not been achieved.

The Taliban took over the Afghan capital, Kabul, on Sunday after a lightning advance across the country which took the West by surprise.

(Reuters)

The Taliban have appointed Mullah Shirin at Governor of Kabul, according to reports quoting sources.

Afghanistan’s biggest airline Kam Air operates its first flight after the end of Ghani government and the start of the Taliban rule.

Here are the countries accepting Afghan refugees

In the six days since the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan, Afghans have negotiated a terrifying new reality after enduring 20 years of war and suicide bombings. Their world has been upended, and something as prosaic as a trip to the airport now inspires terror. Just stepping outside the front door can be jarring and disorienting.

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"It is a fact that the whole country, which is the responsibility of Taliban, is safe and secure, but evacuation at Kabul Airport, which is the responsibility of the US, is in disarray," a Taliban spokesperson said.

At least 20 deaths in last week during Kabul airport evacuation effort: NATO official

At least 20 people have died in the past seven days in and around the Kabul airport during the evacuation effort after Taliban insurgents took over the Afghan capital last week, a NATO official said on Sunday.

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'Please let us on the bus': Heartbreak on Kabul airport convoy

Afghans aboard a convoy of buses that was given a Taliban escort to Kabul's airport spoke Sunday of the heartbreak of driving past huge crowds desperate to join them.

Tens of thousands of people are gathered around the airport north of the capital in the hope of getting a flight out of the country as an evacuation run by the US military continues in chaos.

People have been crushed to death in the melee, while images of a family handing a child over a wall to a soldier -- and of young men clinging to the side of a military plane as it rolled down the runway for takeoff -- have shocked the world.

Thousands of Taliban fighters are pouring into Baghlan and pushing towards the northern town of Panjshir

Taliban has taken back all areas including Deh Salah and a convoy of vehicles are headed towards Panjshir, according to local reports. Andarabi milita forces are fleeing to the town which houses former VP Amrullah Saleh.

Azizullah Fazli appointed as acting chairman of Afghanistan Cricket Board, according to reports by local media

The Taliban on Sunday blamed the US for the chaotic evacuation of tens of thousands of Afghans and foreigners from the capital Kabul.

Afghan mother delivers baby on landing at US Air Force base

Medical support personnel from the 86th Medical Group help an Afghan mother and family off a US Air Force C-17, call sign Reach 828, moments after she delivered a child aboard the aircraft upon landing at Ramstein Air Base.

Former Afghan government forces forming a resistance movement in a fortified valley are preparing for "long-term conflict", but are also seeking to negotiate with the Taliban, their spokesman told AFP in an interview.

Since the Taliban took control of the country following a lightning charge into the capital Kabul, thousands of people have made their way to Panjshir to both join the fight and find a safe haven to continue their lives, Ali Maisam Nazary said.

There, Ahmad Massoud, the son of legendary Mujahideen commander Ahmad Shah Massoud who was assassinated by Al-Qaeda two days before the September 11, 2001 attacks, has assembled a fighting force of around 9,000 people, Nazary added.

Seven people die in chaos near Kabul airport: UK

Seven Afghan civilians have died in the chaos near Kabul airport, the British defence ministry said Sunday.

"Our sincere thoughts are with the families of the seven Afghan civilians who have sadly died in crowds in Kabul," a ministry spokesperson said. (AFP)

Afghan returnees to be vaccinated against polio in India

India has decided to vaccinate Afghanistan returnees against polio for free as a preventive measure against the wild polio virus, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said on Sunday.

The minister also shared a photo where returnees could be seen getting jabs at the Delhi international airport.

Afghanistan and Pakistan are the only two countries in the world where polio is still endemic. (PTI)

China both worries and hopes as US departs Afghanistan

In the US departure from Afghanistan, China has seen the realisation of long-held hopes for a reduction of the influence of a geopolitical rival in what it considers its backyard.

Yet, it is also deeply concerned that the very withdrawal could bring risk and instability to that backyard — Central Asia — and possibly even spill over their narrow, remote border into China itself and the heavily Muslim northwestern region of Xinjiang. (AP)

Afghans face 'impossible' race against time to flee Kabul

Tens of thousands of Afghans were racing Sunday to flee their country as the United States warned of security threats at Kabul's chaotic airport and the European Union said it was "impossible" to evacuate everyone at risk from the Taliban.

In the week since the hardline Islamist militants took back power in Afghanistan, the Taliban have vowed a softer version of their brutal rule from 1996-2001, and taken steps towards forming a government. (AFP)

Austria's Kurz says he opposes taking in any more Afghans

Austria's conservative Chancellor Sebastian Kurz opposes taking in any more people fleeing Afghanistan now that the Taliban have seized power, he said in remarks published on Sunday.

Austria took in more than one percent of its population in asylum seekers during Europe's migration crisis in 2015 and 2016, and Kurz has built his career on taking a hard line on immigration, winning every parliamentary election since 2017. (Reuters)

US VP Harris begins Asia trip amid Afghan debacle

Vice President Kamala Harris began a trip to Asia Sunday where she will offer reassurances of Washington's commitment to the region after the chaotic US pullout from Afghanistan and Taliban takeover.

The hardline Islamists' swift return to power a week ago, and desperate scenes of thousands trying to flee, have cast another shadow over the United States' status as a global superpower. (AFP)

Taliban impose some order around Kabul airport: Witnesses

Afghanistan's new Taliban rulers imposed some order around chaotic Kabul airport on Sunday, making sure people formed orderly queues outside the main gates and not allowing crowds to gather at the perimeter, witnesses said.

There was no violence or confusion at the airport as dawn broke on Sunday, said the witnesses. Although it was early, there were long lines forming, they said. (Reuters)

Trump assails Biden for Afghanistan 'humiliation'

Former President Donald Trump launched on Saturday a sustained attack on President Joe Biden's handling of the retreat of USforces from Afghanistan, which he called "the greatest foreign policy humiliation" in UShistory.

Trump, a Republican who has dangled the possibility of running again for president in 2024, has repeatedly blamed Biden, a Democrat, for Afghanistan's fall to the Islamist militant Taliban, even though the USwithdrawal that triggered the collapse was negotiated by his own administration. (Reuters)

Biden to speak Sunday on Afghanistan, Hurricane Henri response

USPresident Joe Biden on Sunday will provide an update on the administration's response to Hurricane Henri and the evacuation of American citizens and refugees from Afghanistan, the White House said on Saturday.

The president is slated to speak at 4 pmEDT (2000 GMT), after meeting with his national security team to hear intelligence, security and diplomatic updates on the evolving situation in Afghanistan, the White House said. (Reuters)

Taliban inherit untapped $1 trillion trove of minerals

The Taliban now hold the keys to an untouched trillion-dollar trove of minerals including some that could power the world's transition to renewable energies, but Afghanistan has long struggled to tap its vast deposits.

The Taliban are already in a financial bind since they returned to power 20 years after their ouster, as major aid donors halted their support for Afghanistan. (AFP)

Evacuation from Afghanistan: Around 300 Indians likely to be brought back by August 22

Around 300 Indian nationals are expected to be brought back home from Afghanistan on Sunday as part of India's evacuation mission in view of the deteriorating security situation in Afghan capital Kabul, people familiar with the development said.

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Afghan refugees in Qatar limbo yearn for new lives abroad

The Taliban's lightning takeover of Afghanistan forced Hariss to bring forward his escape plan, only to find himself stranded on a Qatari airbase packed with evacuees yearning for new lives in the US.

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Ex-UK PM Blair blasts Western 'abandonment' of Afghanistan

Former UK prime minister Tony Blair, who in 2001 took Britain into war in Afghanistan alongside the United States, on Saturday condemned their "abandonment" of the country as "dangerous" and "unnecessary".

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'Impossible' to evacuate all allied Afghans by Aug 31: EU

"It's mathematically impossible" for the US and its allies to evacuate tens of thousands of their Afghan personnel and families by August 31, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell warned Saturday.

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