Category Archives: South and Central Asia

Taliban’s Abdul Ghani Baradar is undisputed victor of a 20-year war

Posted on by

Return to power of movement’s co-founder embodies Afghanistan’s inability to escape history of conflict

Abdul Ghani Baradar, the Taliban leader freed from a Pakistani jail on the request of the US less than three years ago, has emerged as an undisputed victor of the 20-year war.

While Haibatullah Akhundzada is the Taliban’s overall leader, Baradar is its political chief and its most public face. He was said to be on his way from his office in Doha to Kabul on Sunday evening. In a televised statement on the fall of Kabul, he said the Taliban’s real test was only just beginning and that they had to serve the nation.

Continue reading...

Defeat amid anxious bureaucracy of western evacuation from Afghanistan

Posted on by

Analysis: The speed of the fall of the country to the Taliban leaves many questions unanswered

This is what defeat looks like. Embassy burn bins blazing through day and night. The president fleeing. Helicopters and armoured SUVs shuttling foreigners to the airport, amid the anxious bureaucracy of evacuation with its queues and “go” bags at the airport, the few items that you keep packed for when you have to flee.

The speed of the fall of Afghanistan leaves many questions unanswered, not least whether the devastating humiliation for the Afghan government, its military forces and its western backers was in any way avoidable.

Continue reading...

A tale of two armies: why Afghan forces proved no match for the Taliban

Posted on by

Poorly led and riddled with corruption, the Afghan army was overrun in a matter of weeks

The Taliban have 80,000 troops in comparison with a nominal 300,699 serving the Afghan government, yet the whole country has been effectively overrun in a matter of weeks as military commanders surrendered without a fight in a matter of hours.

It is a tale of two armies, one poorly equipped but highly motivated ideologically, and the other nominally well-equipped, but dependent on Nato support, poorly led and riddled with corruption.

Continue reading...

What does the Taliban’s return mean for al-Qaida in Afghanistan?

Posted on by

UK defence secretary is worried that ‘al-Qaida will probably come back’ – but it is already there

As the Taliban prepare to rule Afghanistan after sweeping across the country in less than a week, an obvious question is what does this mean for the future of al-Qaida and other extremist Islamist groups committed to waging a global jihad.

There is no doubt that the astonishing rapidity of the Taliban’s victory will deliver a tremendous boost to Islamist extremists everywhere – whether al-Qaida, Islamic State, fighters in Mozambique or Syria, or jihadi fanboys in bedsits in Birmingham or Manila.

Continue reading...

Afghan women’s defiance and despair: ‘I never thought I’d have to wear a burqa. My identity will be lost’

Posted on by

As city after city falls to the Taliban, women fear that the freedoms won since 2001 will be crushed

In a market in Kabul, Aref is doing a booming trade. At first glance, the walls of his shop seem to be curtained in folds of blue fabric. On closer inspection, dozens and dozens of blue burqas hang like spectres from hooks on the wall.

As the Taliban close in on Kabul, women inside the city are getting ready for what may be coming. “Before, most of our customers were from the provinces,” says Aref. “Now it is city women who are buying them.”

Continue reading...

Afghanistan: Taliban close in on Kabul as last government stronghold in north falls – live updates

Posted on by

Capital hit by blackout as insurgent fighters reach outskirts and western nations race to evacuate citizens

We’ll have more from Jalalabad shortly. Reuters is reporting that the Taliban’s taking of the city has been confirmed by an official source.

US secretary of state Anthony Blinken has just tweeted that he has had a “wery productive conversation” with Canada’s foreign minister:

Very productive conversation with Canadian Foreign Minister @MarcGarneau about our efforts to reach a diplomatic solution in Afghanistan. I am grateful for Canada’s shared commitment to bring vulnerable Afghans to safety.

Continue reading...

Belarus repression and the Taliban advance: human rights this fortnight – in pictures

Posted on by

A round-up of the coverage of the struggle for human rights and freedoms, from Thailand to Mexico

Continue reading...

Bollywood’s Kareena Kapoor subject to online abuse over baby’s name

Posted on by

Supporters say attacks over choice of name similar to 17th-century Muslim Mughal emperor rooted in prejudice against inter-faith marriage

Bollywood star Kareena Kapoor has received abuse online from extremists over her new baby’s name.

Kapoor has been attacked on social media for calling her second son Jehangir, the imperial name of the 17th-century Mughal emperor, which means “conqueror of the world”. Kapoor, a Hindu, and her husband, Saif Ali Khan, a Muslim and also a Bollywood star, have faced abuse for their marriage.

Continue reading...

Biden in an impossible bind as Afghanistan blame game begins

Posted on by

The president has been condemned by Republicans as the Taliban advance – but the roots of the crisis date back years

The words of political leaders can come back to haunt them. “None whatsoever, zero,” Joe Biden said last month when asked if he saw any parallels between the US withdrawals from Vietnam and Afghanistan.

“The Taliban is not the North Vietnamese army. They’re not remotely comparable in terms of capability. There’s going to be no circumstance where you see people being lifted off the roof of the embassy of the United States from Afghanistan. It is not at all comparable.”

Continue reading...

US troops start to arrive for Afghanistan evacuation as Taliban close in on Kabul

Posted on by

Thousands of western nationals and vulnerable Afghans to be airlifted out of Kabul as Taliban launch major assault on northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif

US troops have begun arriving in Afghanistan to help evacuate thousands of people, including embassy staff, and Afghans and their families who worked for them as a sweeping Taliban offensive draws ever nearer to Kabul.

Diplomats and nationals from a host of western countries are scrambling to leave the capital, with insurgent fighters now camped just 50km (30 miles) away after a campaign that has seen provincial capitals swiftly fall.

Continue reading...

‘Maestro of humanity’: Italian surgeon Gino Strada dies at 73

Posted on by

Tributes paid to doctor whose NGO set up world-class hospitals in war zones such as Iraq, Yemen and Sudan

Tributes have been paid to Gino Strada, the Italian surgeon and “maestro of humanity” known for setting up world-class hospitals for the victims of war, who has died aged 73.

The medic, who in 1994 co-founded the humanitarian organisation Emergency to provide free, quality healthcare for those injured in conflict, died on Friday in France, reports said.

Continue reading...

Seven days that shook Afghanistan: how city after city fell to the Taliban

Posted on by

Rout of government forces beginning in city of Zaranj has left country in chaos and western leaders looking on in dismay

The end for Afghan forces in the south-western provincial capital of Zaranj, a trading hub close to the Iranian border, was announced by a Taliban commander. Except that he framed it as a start, and an ominous one.

“This is the beginning,” he declared in a statement. “See how other provinces fall in our hands very soon.”

Continue reading...

Taliban seize four more provincial capitals in Afghanistan

Posted on by

Insurgents’ seemingly unstoppable advance continues as they close in on Kabul

The Taliban’s seemingly unstoppable advance across Afghanistan continued on Friday, as insurgents took control of four more provincial capitals after their seizure on Thursday of Kandahar and Herat, the country’s second and third biggest cities.

With Afghan government forces in disarray, and amid reports that the country’s vice-president has fled, the Taliban are heading inexorably towards Kabul. They control more than two-thirds of the country, just as the US plans to pull out its last remaining troops.

Continue reading...

‘Nowhere to go’: divorced Afghan women in peril as the Taliban close in

Posted on by

As horror stories emerge from areas that have fallen to the Islamist militants, women living alone fear they have no route of escape

There’s an old saying in Afghanistan that encapsulates the country’s views on divorce: “A woman only leaves her father’s house in the white bridal clothes, and she can only return in the white shrouds.”

In this deeply conservative and patriarchal society, women who defy convention and seek divorce are often disowned by their families and shunned by Afghan society. Left alone, they have to fight for basic rights, such as renting an apartment, which require the involvement or guarantees of male relatives.

Continue reading...

UK and US send troops to aid evacuation from Afghanistan as Taliban advance

Posted on by

Pentagon aims to send in 3,000 soldiers to ‘aid reduction’ of nationals and Afghans with visas

The US and UK have scrambled reinforcements to Kabul to help evacuate their diplomats, soldiers and citizens as well as thousands of Afghans who have worked with them, as the Taliban advance towards the capital.

The Pentagon announced it would send three battalions, about 3,000 soldiers, to Kabul’s international airport within 24 to 48 hours of the announcement on Thursday. The defence department spokesman, John Kirby, said the reinforcements would help the “safe and orderly reduction” of US nationals and Afghans who worked with the Americans and consequently had been granted special immigrant visas.

Continue reading...

US deserves big share of blame for Afghanistan military disaster

Posted on by

Analysis: White House accused of unfairly pointing finger at Afghan military after decades of mismanaging war effort

As one provincial capital after another has fallen to the Taliban, the message from Washington to the Afghans facing the onslaught has been that their survival is in their own hands.

“They’ve got to fight for themselves, fight for their nation,” Joe Biden said. Jen Psaki, the White House spokeswoman, added: “They have what they need. What they need to determine is whether they have the political will to fight back.”

Continue reading...

‘For as long as we can’: reporting as an Afghan woman as the Taliban advance

Posted on by

A collective of female journalists are battling to make women’s voices heard as the Islamist militants tighten their grip on the country

Despite years of development, investment and progress in the Afghan media industry, 28-year-old Zahra Joya often found she was the only woman in a newsroom. “It was a lonely space, dominated by men who made the decisions about which stories were important, and which were not,” she says.

Joya, who is from the persecuted Hazara community, felt she faced discrimination because of her ethnicity and sex. “There were so few women journalists in Kabul,” she says. “There would hardly be women reporters covering political events or press conferences even though these stories affect us greatly.”

Continue reading...

Pakistan police drop blasphemy charges against eight-year-old

Posted on by

Hindu boy, accused of urinating in madrassa library, was youngest Pakistani to be charged for the crime

Police in Pakistan have dropped blasphemy charges against an eight-year-old Hindu boy after media and government pressure over his arrest.

The boy, the youngest Pakistani ever to be charged with the crime, was accused of intentionally urinating on a carpet in the library of a madrassa, where religious books were kept, in July.

Continue reading...

Taliban take strategic Ghazni city as Afghan army chief is replaced

Posted on by

Insurgents capture city 95 miles south of Kabul, the 10th provincial capital to fall in less than a week

The Taliban have captured the strategic city of Ghazni, 95 miles (150km) south of Kabul, as they continued to tighten their grip on the Afghan capital and the country’s president replaced his army chief.

The insurgent group had control of the entire city on Thursday morning and had broken into a prison and released about 400 inmates, a senior local official confirmed to the Guardian.

Continue reading...

‘I’m scared of being killed’: sex worker activists speak out

Posted on by

Rights defenders describe threats and abuse while working to protect their communities

A report has found that sex worker activists are among the most at risk human rights defenders in the world. Published on Thursday by Front Line Defenders following a four-year investigation, it found activists face multiple threats and violent attacks. Their visibility within their communities makes them more vulnerable to abuse, the report said.

Here, sex worker activists from Tanzania, Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar and El Salvador share their experiences.

Continue reading...