Tag: Taliban

Mysterious Audio Recording Threatens Afghans Who Aided US

In an audio recording, Tarana music blares in the background while a man speaking Pashto asks his superior for permission to “hunt down everyone” on lists of Afghans who helped the United States. The unnamed speaker—who sources believe is a Taliban combatant—asks whether those captured should be killed, suggesting methods of execution. The recording, obtained…


WH National Security Adviser Declines to Call Taliban an Enemy: ‘It’s Hard to Put a Label on It’

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan refused to brand the Taliban an enemy of the United States during an appearance on MSNBC on Aug.31. Sullivan appeared on the show just days after the final withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan, which has seen the Taliban take control of the capital after the leader of the U.S.-backed…


White House National Security Adviser Declines to Call Taliban an Enemy: ‘It’s Hard to Put a Label on It’

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan refused to brand the Taliban an enemy of the United States during an appearance on MSNBC on Aug.31. Sullivan appeared on the show just days after the final withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan, which has seen the Taliban take control of the capital after the leader of the U.S.-backed…


Taliban Wants Stronger China Relations

America’s longest war is over. But why did the United States pull its troops out of Afghanistan? President Joe Biden says it’s to shift priorities to meet the China challenge. The Taliban describes the Chinese Communist Party as an old friend and says it hopes to foster even stronger relations. Another of China’s friendly relationships…


Taliban Suffer Casualties Fighting Afghan Militia Groups in Holdout Valley: Official

Taliban forces and anti-Taliban militia fighters clashed in the Panjshir Valley north of the Afghan capital Kabul on Monday, with a militia spokesman saying that seven or eight Taliban members died. Fahim Dashty, with the so-called National Resistance Front in Panjshir, said that the Taliban attacked the entrance of the Panjshir Valley. The National Resistance Front…


Cui Bono? Who Benefits From the Afghanistan Withdrawal?

Commentary How does a leader decide what to do? The most logical response is: “Cui bono?”—”Who benefits?”—from the decision. If some policy benefits your country most, you should, within moral bounds, pursue it. If your enemies benefit most, you should avoid it. I’d be curious to learn what answer proponents of America leaving Afghanistan—conservative or…


White House Corrects Biden on Number of US Citizens Remaining in Afghanistan

The White House on Tuesday corrected President Joe Biden after he said 90 percent of the Americans who were in Afghanistan and wanted to leave were evacuated before U.S. troops left the country on Aug. 30. Biden, speaking for the first time since the withdrawal, said in remarks from the White House that “The bottom…


Evacuee Says Taliban Gaining Control of Kabul Through Threats, Coercion

The Taliban is gaining control over Kabul through threats and coercion, according to an Afghan citizen who has managed to flee his homeland before the terrorist group tracked down his address and paid a visit in search for him. Just days after fleeing Afghanistan with his son and his wife on Aug. 24, Fawad, a PhD…


Resettled Afghans Who Worked for Britain Will Get Indefinite Leave to Remain in the UK

Afghans who worked for the British military and government and their families will be permitted to remain in the UK indefinitely as soon as they arrive, the government said on Wednesday. The new policy applies to those who resettle in the UK under the Afghanistan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP), which was designed to protect the…


UK in Talks With Taliban Over Further Evacuations From Afghanistan

The UK government is having talks with the Taliban in Qatar in a bid to secure “safe passage” out of Afghanistan for British nationals and Afghans who have worked with the UK, Downing Street has confirmed. “The prime minister’s special representative for Afghan transition, Simon Gass, has travelled to Doha and is meeting with senior…