Taliban leader says group’s fighters were ordered to allow safe passage to anyone looking to leave Kabul
The Taliban have begun entering Kabul, Afghanistan’s interior ministry and the armed group said, with Taliban Source confirming to the same.
The development on Sunday came just hours after the group seized control of the key eastern city of Jalalabad, securing critical roads connecting the country to Pakistan.
A Taliban leader in Doha, which has been the site of years-long peace negotiations between the Afghan government and the group, said fighters on Sunday were ordered to refrain from violence and offer safe passage to those wishing to leave Kabul.
In a nationwide offensive in the past week, the Taliban has defeated, co-opted, or sent Afghan security forces fleeing from wide swaths of the country [AFP]
It is unclear whether the government of President Ashraf Ghani will mount a counteroffensive or capitulate.
President Ghani still in Afghanistan: Source
A source close to President Ashraf Ghani has denied reports that he has fled the country, saying the president spent most of the morning in the garden of his residence in the ARG Presidential Palace with the the first lady.
Taliban fighters entered the outskirts of Kabul on Sunday as panicked workers fled government offices and helicopters began landing at the U.S. Embassy in the Afghan capital, further tightening the militants’ grip on the country. Three Afghan officials told The Associated Press that the fighters were in the districts of Kalakan, Qarabagh and Paghman in the capital. The militants themselves didn’t acknowledge the advance, though they earlier took Jalalabad, near a major border crossing with Pakistan, the last major city other than Kabul not under their control.
The insurgents took control of the key eastern city of Jalalabad on Sunday, just hours after the seizing the northern anti-Taliban bastion of Mazar-i-Sharif — furthering an astonishing rout of government forces and warlord militias achieved in just 10 days.
Taliban fighters on Saturday had captured the key northern Afghan city of Mazar-i-Sharif and closed in on Kabul, as US President Joe Biden sent more troops to evacuate American personnel and their allies. Just before residents confirmed the fall of Mazar-i-Sharif, once an anti-Taliban bastion, beleaguered Afghan President Ashraf Ghani addressed the nation, vowing to prevent further bloodshed, despite the rout suffered by Afghan forces over the last 10 days.
But Ghani — who went to Mazar-i-Sharif just days ago to rally his faltering troops — gave no hint in his speech that he would take responsibility for the calamitous military collapse or resign. Kabul has effectively become the besieged last stand for government forces, who have offered little or no resistance elsewhere.
News18 had earlier reported that Taliban have reached a district of Kabul, 10 kms away from the main city, with the United States and other countries scrambling to airlift their nationals to safety ahead of a feared all-out assault.
As a new wave of US military personnel landed to oversee the evacuation of embassy employees and thousands of Afghans who worked for US forces and now fear Taliban reprisals, Biden said more soldiers would follow.
“I have authorized the deployment of approximately 5,000 US troops” to oversee both the evacuations and the final withdrawal of US forces after 20 years on the ground, Biden said after meeting with his national security team. That represented an influx of 1,000 troops, from the roughly 1,000 already on the ground, and 3,000 soldiers ordered in a few days ago, a US defense official said.
In his first address to the nation since the Taliban launched their sweeping offensive, which was recorded, Ghani said he wanted to stop the violence. “I will not let the imposed war on people cause more deaths,” he said, appearing sombre and sitting before an Afghan flag.
Ghani said the armed forces could be “remobilized” and consultations were taking place to try to help end the fighting, but offered few specifics on what his administration was planning. The presidential palace later said “a delegation with authority should soon be appointed by the government and be ready for negotiation”. Further details were not immediately available.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Kashmir Today staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
Conflict in different parts of Afghanistan in the last week has driven tens of thousands of people away from their homes, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Wednesday.
The office said that they are part of the nearly 390,000 people displaced by hostilities this year, with a massive spike since May. Many of the displaced fled to Kabul and other large cities, the Xinhua news agency reported.
Most of the displaced in the capital city are staying with families and friends, with a growing number camping in the open, facing increased vulnerability, it said.
More than 5,800 internally displaced persons arriving in Kabul between July 1 and August 5 needed food, household items, water and sanitation support and other assistance.
Ten humanitarian teams on Wednesday assessed the needs of people staying outside in parks and other open spaces and identified an additional 4,522 displaced persons lacking shelter, food, sanitation and drinking water, OCHA said. A temporary health clinic and mobile health teams provided health services.
“Despite a worsening security situation, humanitarian agencies are staying and delivering to people in need, reaching 7.8 million people in the first six months of this year,” OCHA said. “Some 156 non-governmental organizations and UN agencies have delivered assistance throughout Afghanistan.”
While the humanitarians said they intend to stay despite increasing hostilities to deliver relief, it depends on staff safety, bureaucratic hurdles and raising additional funds.
The $1.3 billion Humanitarian Response Fund for Afghanistan is just 38 per cent funded, leaving an almost $800 million shortfall.
Over 90 Taliban and Al-Qaeda terrorists were killed; and 16 others suffered injuries in security operations conducted by Afghan forces in the past 24 hours in the city of Lashkar Gah, the Afghan Defence Ministry announced on Friday.
Last week, heavy fighting erupted between Taliban and Afghan forces in the capital of Helmand Province.
The ministry said the Taliban’s red unit commander for Helmand named Mawlawi Mubarak was among those killed in the recent operations.
“Taliban’s red unit commander for Helmand named Mawlawi Mubarak among 94 other terrorists including Taliban and AQIS members were killed & 16 others wounded in the past 24 hrs by Afghan Armed Forces in #Lashkargah,” Afghan Defence Ministry spokesperson Fawad Aman tweeted.
In the past few weeks, Afghanistan has witnessed a surge in violence as the Taliban has intensified their offensive against civilians and Afghan security forces with the complete pullback of foreign forces just a few weeks away.
The Taliban forces have also taken control over several districts of Kandahar and have detained hundreds of residents whom they accuse of association with the government.
The Taliban have reportedly killed some detainees, including relatives of provincial government officials and members of the police and army.
In another recent development, civilian casualties in Afghanistan in the first half of 2021 reached record levels with over 1,659 people killed and 3,254 others wounded.The rise is mainly due to a spike in violence in May that corresponded with the withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan.
Moreover, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said on Wednesday that they will continue their attacks on Afghan officials, after a car bomb attack on the country’s acting defence minister General Bismillah Mohammadi’s house.
Meanwhile, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) will be meeting on Friday, August 6, under Indian Presidency to discuss the surge in violence by the Taliban in Afghanistan post US drawdown.
Iran could acquire material to build nuclear warheads in 10 weeks
Israel ‘Ready to Attack Iran’ as Defense Minister of Israel Says ‘We Need to Take Military Action’
AFP | AP
Israel has warned that Iran could acquire material to build nuclear warheads in “about 10 weeks” as the Islamic Republic swore in its new hardline President Ebrahim Raisi.
Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz said his government is prepared for an escalation in tensions with Tehran following a series of incidents in the Gulf of Oman, including two attacks on Israeli-linked ships in the space of a week.
The attacks came after a series of suspected sabotages of Iranian facilities linked to its civilian nuclear program, which Israel has long claimed is a front for developing nuclear weapons.
A prominent Iranian scientist thought to have been a key figure in the program was also assassinated in November 2020. Mossad, the Israeli state spy agency, is thought to have been behind the raids.
The United States and the United Kingdom joined Israel on Sunday in alleging Iran carried out a fatal drone strike on an oil tanker off the coast of Oman in the Arabian Sea, putting further pressure on Tehran as it denied being involved in the assault.
Calling it a “unlawful and callous attack,” British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said his country and its allies planned a coordinated response over the strike Thursday night on the oil tanker Mercer Street. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken soon followed, saying there was “no justification for this attack, which follows a pattern of attacks and other belligerent behavior.”
Israel has warned that Iran could acquire material to build nuclear warheads in “about 10 weeks” as the Islamic Republic swore in its new hardline President Ebrahim Raisi. (File/AFP)
The strike on the Mercer Street marked the first-known fatal attack after years of assaults on commercial shipping in the region linked to tensions with Iran over its tattered nuclear deal.
While no one has claimed responsibility for the attack, Iran and its militia allies have used so-called “suicide” drones in attacks previously, which crash into targets and detonate their explosive payloads. However, Israel, the U.K. and the responding U.S. Navy have yet to show physical evidence from the strike or offer intelligence information on why they blame Tehran.
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett went further than Blinken and Raab in his remarks Sunday at a Cabinet meeting, making a point to stare directly into the camera and slowly warn: “We know, at any rate, know how to convey the message to Iran in our own way.”
The drone attack blasted a hole through the top of the oil tanker’s bridge, where the captain and crew command the vessel, a U.S. official said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity as an investigation into the attack still was ongoing. The blast killed two crew members from the United Kingdom and Romania.
The Navy said the American nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan and the guided missile destroyer USS Mitscher had escorted the Mercer Street as it headed to a safe port. On Sunday, satellite-tracking information from MarineTraffic.com showed the tanker stopped off the coast of Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates.
In his statement, Raab said it was “highly likely” Iran attacked the tanker with one or more drones.
“We believe this attack was deliberate, targeted and a clear violation of international law by Iran,” he said. “Iran must end such attacks, and vessels must be allowed to navigate freely in accordance with international law.”
Blinken similarly described the U.S. as “confident” Iran carried out the attack, using multiple drones.
“These actions threaten freedom of navigation through this crucial waterway, international shipping and commerce, and the lives of those on the vessels involved,” he said in a statement.
Earlier, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh described the allegation Iran carried out the attack as “baseless.”
“It’s not the first time that the Zionist regime occupying Jerusalem has made such empty accusations against the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Khatibzadeh said. “Wherever this regime has gone, it has taken instability, terror and violence with it.”
He added: “Whoever sows the wind shall reap the whirlwind.”
Khatibzadeh spoke around an hour after Iran’s outgoing president acknowledged that his government at times “did not tell part of the truth” to the public during his term.
From Jerusalem, Bennett offered condolences to both the United Kingdom and Romania for the killing of their citizens. He said Israeli intelligence had evidence linking Iran to the attack, but did not offer it.
“Iran is the one who carried out the attack against the ship,” he said. “Iran’s aggressive behavior is dangerous not only for Israel, but harms global interests in the freedom of navigation and international trade.”
Other Israel-linked ships have been targeted in recent months as well amid a shadow war between the two nations, with Israeli officials blaming the Islamic Republic for the assaults. Shipping in the region began being targeted in the summer of 2019, about a year after then-President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew America from Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers.
Israel meanwhile has been suspected of conducting a series of major attacks in Iran and on Iranian shipping. Also, Iran saw its largest warship recently sink under mysterious circumstances in the nearby Gulf of Oman.
The Mercer Street, owned by Japan’s Taihei Kaiun Co., is managed by London-based Zodiac Maritime, part of Israeli billionaire Eyal Ofer’s Zodiac Group. In early July, the Liberian-flagged container ship CSAV Tyndall, once tied to Zodiac Maritime, suffered an unexplained explosion on board while in the northern Indian Ocean, according to the U.S. Maritime Administration.
The attack marks the first major confrontation with Iran for Bennett, who took over as premier in June after a coalition deal unseated Israel’s long-serving Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Netanyahu is suspected of launching a series of attacks targeting Iran, including explosions at the country’s main enrichment site and the killing of a prominent military nuclear scientist.
However, Bennett as well has made hawkish comments in the past about needing to attack “the head of the octopus” in Tehran as opposed to Iran’s regional militias like Hezbollah in Lebanon. The attack on the Mercer Street marks the first during his time as prime minister and analysts suggest he could seek a major attack in retaliation.
“Israel may wish to deliver a resounding blow; that’s the spirit of political sources’ comments in Jerusalem,” wrote Amos Harel, a longtime military analyst for the Israeli newspaper Haaretz. “This blow will be aimed at ending things without a tit-for-tat that could escalate. But as usual, events also depend on the other side.”
Talks are underway in Vienna to resurrect the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), also known as the Iran nuclear deal, from which the US withdrew in 2018. Israel staunchly opposes the deal.
“The Iranian regime is threatening us and sparking a regional arms race,” Gantz said at a meeting of ambassadors from members of the UN Security Council.
“Iran has violated all of the guidelines set in the JCPOA, and is only around 10 weeks away from acquiring weapons-grade materials necessary for a nuclear weapon,” he added.
“Now is the time for deeds — words are not enough. It is time for diplomatic, economic, and even military deeds, otherwise the attacks will continue.”
Raisi told Iran’s Majlis (Parliament) that the nuclear program is “completely peaceful.” In reference to the JCPOA, he said he would “support any diplomatic plan” that leads to the easing of sanctions on Iran.
KABUL: A top-level Taliban delegation visiting China assured Beijing the group will not allow Afghanistan to be used as a base for plotting against another country, an insurgent spokesman said Wednesday.
The delegation is in China for talks with Beijing officials, spokesman Mohammad Naeem told AFP, as the insurgents continue a sweeping offensive across Afghanistan- including areas along their shared border.
Their frontier is just 76 kilometres long- and at a rugged high altitude without a road crossing- but Beijing fears Afghanistan could be used as a staging ground for Uyghur separatists in Xinjiang.
“The Islamic Emirate assured China that Afghanistan’s soil would not be used against any country’s security,” Naeem said.
“They (China) promised not to interfere in Afghanistan’s affairs, but instead help to solve problems and bring peace.”
Taliban officials have cranked up their international diplomacy in recent months, seeking global recognition for when they hope to return to power.
They have made sweeping advances across Afghanistan since May, when US-led foreign forces began the last stage of a withdrawal due to be completed next month.
Beijing hosted a Taliban delegation in 2019, but back-door links with the insurgents stretch back longer, through Pakistan.
Communist Party leaders in Beijing and the fundamentalist Taliban have little ideological common ground, but experts feel shared pragmatism could see mutual self-interest trump sensitive differences.
For Beijing, a stable and cooperative administration in Kabul would pave the way for an expansion of its Belt and Road Initiative into Afghanistan and through the Central Asian republics.
The Taliban, meanwhile, would consider China a crucial source of investment and economic support.
“China can deal with the Taliban… but they still find the Taliban’s religious agenda and motivations inherently discomforting,” Andrew Small, author of “The China-Pakistan Axis”, told AFP earlier this month.
“They have never been sure how willing or able the Taliban really are to enforce agreements on issues such as harbouring Uyghur militants.”
The Taliban’s campaign has so far seen them capture scores of districts, border crossings and encircle several provincial capitals.
Government forces have abandoned some rural districts without a fight, but are digging in to defend provincial capitals even as the insurgents tighten a noose around the cities.
Rights groups have accused the insurgents of committing atrocities in territories under their control, including in the border town of Spin Boldak, where Afghan officials accuse Taliban fighters of killing around 100 civilians.
The nine-member Taliban team in China is led by Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, co-founder of the hardline movement.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Kashmir Today staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
Saudi Arabia has announced a three-year travel ban and hefty penalties on citizens who visit countries on the kingdom’s COVID-19 red list, including India.
“Travelling to the banned countries is an obvious violation of COVID-19 related travel restrictions and the Kingdom’s updated instructions,” the Gulf News on Tuesday quoted a report by the state-run Saudi Press Agency (SPA) as saying.
The SPA report said an official at the Saudi Ministry of Interior has warned Saudi citizens against travelling to countries that have been put on the no-travel list recently as these nations are currently witnessing a surge in cases of COVID-19 and its variants.
The red-list countries include the United Arab Emirates, Libya, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, Iran, Turkey, Armenia, Ethiopia, Somalia, Congo, Afghanistan, Venezuela, Belarus, India and Vietnam.
The source, quoted by the SPA, said there are reports about citizens travelling to the banned countries in violation of the instructions issued by official authorities.
“Those who violate the travel ban will be held accountable and slapped with heavy penalties,” the source said, adding that those who are found to have violated the instructions would be banned from travelling abroad for three years.
The ministry called on citizens against travelling directly or indirectly to the red-list countries where the pandemic has not yet been controlled and there is a surge in cases of mutated strains of coronavirus.
It also urged citizens to exercise caution and stay away from areas where instability prevails or the virus is spreading, and take all precautionary measures regardless of their destination.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Kashmir Today staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
ISTANBUL: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday said they were planning talks with the Taliban over the refusal to let Ankara run Kabul airport following the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan.
Talking to journalists in Istanbul, Tayyip Erdogan said, “God willing, we will see what kind of talks we will have with the Taliban and see where these talks take us.”
Turkey has been negotiating with US defence officials over its offer to help secure and run Kabul airport, which is key to allowing countries to retain a diplomatic presence in the war-torn country after the troop withdrawal.
Erdogan and US President Joe Biden discussed the issue in their first face-to-face meeting on the margins of a NATO summit in June.
Turkey maintains hundreds of troops in Afghanistan, but a Turkish official told AFP that they were “not combat forces”.
Ankara and Washington have been discussing issues such as financial and logistical support for Turkey´s mission from the United States and NATO, officials said.
Last week, the Taliban called Turkey’s offer “reprehensible”.
“We consider the stay of foreign forces in our homeland by any country under whatever pretext as occupation,” the group said.
Erdogan said the Taliban was not adopting “the right approach”.
“In our view, the Taliban’s approach right now is not how a Muslim behaves to another Muslim,” he said, urging the insurgent group to stop its occupation.
“We call on the Taliban… to show the world as soon as possible that peace prevails in Afghanistan.”
Jerusalem: Over 100 worshipers performed Eid Al Adha prayer in Al Aqsa mosque on the first day of Eid Al Adha on Tuesday.
Thousands of worshipers chanted Takbirs of the first day of Eid. Dozens also performed the Eid prayer near Al Asbat gate after Israeli forces prevented them from entry into the holy mosque.
Palestinian factions, as well as Sheiks and several organizations, had called for performing Eid prayer at Al Aqsa mosque in order to protect it from Israeli settlers.
On the 8th of Dhul Hijjah and on Arafa Day, government-backed settlers raids swept the holy mosque. Meanwhile, Israeli forces attacked worshipers injuring several of them.—(QNN)
Istanbul: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday that the Taliban “need to end the occupation of their brothers’ soil and show the world that peace is prevailing in Afghanistan right away,” He said the Taliban’s approach was not the way that Muslims should deal with each other.
The Taliban ruled Afghanistan with an iron fist from 1996 to 2001 and have fought for 20 years to topple the Western-backed government in Kabul and reimpose Islamic rule. They are making a fresh push now to gain territory as foreign forces pull out.
Earlier Ankara, offered security to run and guard Kabul airport in the capital after NATO withdraws and has been in talks with the United States on financial, political and logistical support for the same.
Meanwhile Taliban warned Turkey against the plan to keep some of their troops in Afghanistan to run the airport, calling the strategy reprehensible and warned of consequences.
When asked about the Taliban’s comment, Erdogan said, In the statement made by the Taliban there is no phrase ‘We don’t want Turkey’
![In a nationwide offensive in the past week, the Taliban has defeated, co-opted, or sent Afghan security forces fleeing from wide swaths of the country [AFP]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/000_9L67WR.jpg?resize=770%2C513)
