Category Archives: Afghanistan

Afghanistan live news: UK defence secretary says it is ‘unlikely’ evacuation of Kabul will be extended

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Extension to Kabul evacuation deadline ‘unlikely’ says UK defence secretary; Biden decision expected soon to give Pentagon time to prepare; Taliban warn of ‘consequences’ if deadline extended

Ahead of this afternoon’s emergency G7 meeting, the Guardian’s diplomatic editor Patrick Wintour has this analysis on the concerns each country is likely to bring to the table.

Related: Afghanistan: what does each nation hope to get out of the G7 meeting?

CIA director William Burns held a secret meeting with Taliban leader Abdul Ghani Baradar in Kabul on Monday, according to a report in the Washington Post which cites anonymous US officials.

This is the highest level diplomatic encounter since the Taliban seized control of Kabul, and comes ahead of G7 discussions over whether to recognise the militant group, as well as pressure on the US to extend its withdrawal deadline.

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Ukraine denies minister’s claims of hijacked Afghanistan evacuation flight

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Deputy foreign minster Yevhen Yenin said plane was diverted to Iran by armed attackers, which Iran has also denied

A Ukrainian minister has claimed a passenger jet meant to evacuate people fleeing Afghanistan to Ukraine was hijacked at gunpoint and flown instead to Iran, in an unconfirmed incident that was later denied by his own government.

Ukraine’s deputy minister for foreign affairs, Yevhen Yenin, said armed hijackers seized the plane at Kabul’s Hamid Karzai international airport, where a multinational evacuation is under way ahead of a 31 August deadline for foreign militaries to leave the country set by the Taliban.

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Biden hails ‘key milestone’ in fight against Covid as FDA approves Pfizer vaccine – live

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Joe Biden had a conversation with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson today, as the US and its allies continue evacuations from Kabul.

“They discussed the ongoing efforts by our diplomatic and military personnel to evacuate their citizens, local staff, and other vulnerable Afghans,” the White House said in a readout of the call.

Joe Biden urged more private businesses to require coronavirus vaccinations for their employees, now that the Food and Drug Administration has granted full approval to the Pfizer vaccine.

“Today, I’m calling on more companies ... in the private sector to step up with vaccine requirements that will reach millions more people,” Biden said.

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Afghanistan could start to run out of food by September, UN warns

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World Food Programme calls for urgent aid as chaos of Taliban takeover and second drought in three years create dire humanitarian situation

UN agencies have warned of food shortages to Afghanistan as early as September without urgent aid funding, as it emerged first aid supplies, including surgical equipment and severe malnutrition kits, were stuck due to restrictions at Kabul airport.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday the closure of the airport to commercial flights has held up key deliveries.

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Afghanistan: what does each nation hope to get out of the G7 meeting?

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Analysis: Tuesday’s meeting called by Boris Johnson may include postmortem on Joe Biden’s handling of crisis

The emergency meeting of G7 nations on Tuesday – called by Boris Johnson as this year’s chair of the G7 – is in essence a gathering of the vanquished but faces a threefold agenda: how to ensure as many Afghans as possible can leave Kabul, and whether the US is prepared to stay beyond the original 31 August deadline for the withdrawal of all US forces; how a resettlement programme can be coordinated for the medium term; and finally, how to encourage the Taliban to form an inclusive government, including by threatening sanctions or withholding recognition.

But each country will bring its own concerns and an ugly postmortem on Joe Biden’s handling of the crisis cannot be ruled out.

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UK scrambles to complete Kabul airlift as envoy flags risk of provoking Taliban

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Exclusive: Britain’s ambassador to Afghanistan says continuing evacuations after 31 August could spark reaction from militants

Britain has begun a last-ditch scramble to get people out of Kabul amid warnings from the senior diplomat on the ground that staying past the current 31 August deadline may not be realistic and risks provoking the Taliban.

Speaking to MPs from Kabul, Sir Laurie Bristow, Britain’s ambassador to Afghanistan, said trying to hold Kabul’s airport any longer would be fraught with risk. He was speaking before Tuesday’s G7 meeting, which is expected to discuss a request from the prime minister, Boris Johnson, to the US president, Joe Biden, to stay longer.

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Taliban says US troops staying beyond deadline ‘will provoke reaction’ – video

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Staying beyond the agreed deadline of 31 August would be 'extending occupation', Taliban spokesperson Suhail Shaheen said on Monday, and this would 'provoke a reaction'.

The comments were made after a firefight between unidentified gunmen and US, German and Afghan guards at the airport left one Afghan guard dead and three wounded. Thousands of soldiers have returned to the country to manage the airlifting of foreigners and Afghans who worked with western nations out of the Taliban-controlled country

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‘Devastating’: how UK’s foreign aid cuts could hurt the world’s poorest

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Data analysis highlights the human cost if thousands of overseas projects lose funding

Experts have warned of “devastating” consequences of the UK’s foreign aid cuts after Guardian analysis revealed the UK is cutting funding at a time when major recipient countries are at risk of becoming more politically unstable.

Thousands of activities providing life-saving support are being cut due to the government’s decision to reduce aid spending to 0.5% of gross national income.

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‘I cry all the time’: the plight of Afghan refugees in Calais

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More Afghans are arriving in norther France hoping to make it across the Channel to claim asylum in the UK

Salaam Khan had not long ago woken up after another fruitless night attempting to cross the Channel from Calais and was on alert for the arrival of the French police. They come most mornings to confiscate the tents of the hundreds of migrants and refugees sleeping on the city’s outskirts.

“It’s a new day and the same shit,” he said.

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Joe Biden: withdrawal from Afghanistan would always be ‘hard and painful’ – video

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The evacuation of thousands of Americans and their Afghan allies from Kabul would have been 'hard and painful no matter when it started or when we began', Joe Biden said on Sunday, amid fierce criticism of his administration’s handling of the US withdrawal.

Answering questions, he said it was possible that his deadline for the completion of the evacuation, 31 August, would be extended

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Biden: Afghanistan evacuations would always have been ‘hard and painful’

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President defends US exit but makes changes to airlift effort at Kabul airport after criticism over deaths and chaotic scenes

The evacuation of thousands of Americans and their Afghan allies from Kabul would have been “hard and painful no matter when it started or when we began”, Joe Biden insisted on Sunday, amid fierce criticism of his administration’s handling of the US withdrawal.

Related: Pentagon orders commercial airlines to help in Afghanistan evacuations

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Nosedive in UK-US relations is another casualty of Afghanistan’s fall

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Ministers are becoming openly critical of Joe Biden after being left in the dark about major decisions

So much for the special relationship. As the Afghanistan crisis has unfolded, it has precipitated a high-speed deterioration in Anglo-American relations.

What began as a muted disagreement on whether it was right for the US to withdraw militarily has reached the point where UK government sources are openly briefing against President Joe Biden as the situation in Kabul worsens.

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‘We lost everything’: Afghan wheelchair basketball team captain speaks out

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Nilofar Bayat begins rebuilding her life in Spain after days of fear for her life under Taliban rule

When the Taliban entered Kabul, Nilofar Bayat, the captain of Afghanistan’s female national wheelchair basketball team, knew she had to get out.

“There were so many videos of me playing basketball. I had been active in calling for women’s rights and the rights of women with disabilities,” she said. “If the Taliban found out all of this about me, I knew they would kill me.”

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Afghan civil war ‘unavoidable’ if Taliban refuse talks, says opposition leader

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Ahmad Massoud issues warning as militant group seeks to assert control around Kabul airport

One of the main figures still leading Afghan opposition to the Taliban’s takeover of the country, Ahmad Massoud, has warned that a new civil war is inevitable without a comprehensive power-sharing agreement.

The son of Ahmad Shah Massoud, who opposed the Taliban in the 1990s and was assassinated two days before 9/11 in 2001, Massoud told the Dubai-based Al Arabiya television channel that war was “unavoidable” if the Taliban refused dialogue.

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Taliban claim they have changed … but all the signs suggest it’s only for show

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As regime talks of tolerance, reports emerge of beatings, house searches and attacks on women

The first time the Taliban took Kabul, 25 years ago they tortured and killed former President Mohammad Najibullah, dragged his body behind a truck through the streets, then hung it from a lamp-post.

Last week, with Kabul surrounded and a second victory almost inevitable, the Taliban ordered their troops to hold back from entering the city, to ensure a peaceful transfer of power. When they did march in, it was to a soundtrack of their commanders offering an “amnesty” for anyone who had opposed them over the last two decades.

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Ghani’s hasty departure leaves anger and bitterness in its wake

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The chaos that followed the president’s exit has created its own suffering – and may leave a much longer legacy of pain

By the middle of last week, Kabul’s capitulation to the Taliban was perhaps inevitable – but the horror and chaos of the last few days were not.

As the militants swept across Afghanistan, seizing towns then major cities, their negotiators in Qatar offered a deal that would have ushered in a pause in fighting, with a two-week transition period to a new government, the Wall Street Journal reported.

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Greek minister defends wall on border with Turkey during Afghan crisis – video

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After Greece finished building a 40km fence along its natural border with Turkey, the minister for citizen protection, Michalis Chrisochoidis, defended the move, saying the country could not wait for EU decisions. 

Amid concerns that the Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan could lead to increased refugee flows to Europe, the EU border agency, Frontex, is helping Greece to secure its land and sea borders as well as using new detecting technology

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Biden to ‘mobilize every resource’ to get Americans home from Afghanistan

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  • Embattled president promises: ‘We will get you home’
  • Biden endeavors to evacuate Afghans who supported US

Joe Biden, under mounting pressure to evacuate American citizens from Afghanistan, has said the US is considering “every means” to get people to Kabul airport, promising: “We will get you home.”

Related: ‘We will get you home,’ Biden tells Americans in Afghanistan – live

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Joe Biden gives update on situation in Afghanistan – video

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President Joe Biden, rejecting criticism of his handling of the chaotic US pullout from Afghanistan, has warned that the operation to evacuate thousands through Kabul airport carries risks, but promised Americans in the country that 'we will get you home'.

'Make no mistake, this evacuation mission is dangerous. It involves risks to our armed forces and it's being conducted under difficult circumstances. I cannot promise what the final outcome will be or that it will be without risk of loss. But as commander in chief, I can assure you that I will mobilise every resource necessary,' Biden said.

The United States is desperately trying to evacuate thousands of people from Afghanistan by a 31 August deadline, although Biden said this week that US troops at Kabul airport providing security for the evacuation could stay longer if necessary.

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Gauntlet to reach Kabul airport taking evacuees 24 to 48 hours

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Fear of Taliban roadblocks slows flow of people trying to flee Afghanistan on fifth day of RAF airlift operation

People fleeing the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan for safety in Britain are taking 24 to 48 hours to make it safely across Kabul for evacuation – and many have turned back home, scared to travel, defence sources have acknowledged.

Difficulties in getting the remaining Britons, Afghans and others to the airport became the most significant hurdle on the fifth day of the RAF airlift amid renewed speculation over whether it will last to the end of the month as planned.

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