Category Archives: Afghanistan

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

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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.”

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

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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.

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

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

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Biden in an impossible bind as Afghanistan blame game begins

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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.”

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

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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.

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

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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.

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

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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.”

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Taliban seize four more provincial capitals in Afghanistan

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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.

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

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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.

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

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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.

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US deserves big share of blame for Afghanistan military disaster

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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.”

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

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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.”

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Taliban take strategic Ghazni city as Afghan army chief is replaced

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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.

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‘I worry my daughters will never know peace’: women flee the Taliban – again

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Families fearful of what will happen to girls and young women as the Islamist militants gain ground are joining the tens of thousands of displaced Afghans

It was an exceptionally hot summer morning, on 13 July, when people in Malistan district, in the southern Afghan province of Ghazni, woke up to find that the conflict that had swirled around them for weeks had reached their small town and Taliban fighters were closing in.

By noon that day, 22-year-old Fatima, seven months pregnant, was seeking shelter from bullets raining down on her home in the village of Qol-e Adam, which was caught in the vicious crossfire between Taliban militants and government forces.

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‘Sometimes I have to pick up a gun’: the female Afghan governor resisting the Taliban

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Salima Mazari, one of only three female district governors in Afghanistan, tells of her motivation to fight the militants

It is early morning in Charkint, in the northern Balkh province of Afghanistan, but a meeting with the governor is already well under way to urgently assess the safety of the 30,000 people she represents. Salima Mazari has been in the job for just over three years, and for her, fighting the Taliban is nothing new, but since July she has been meeting with the commanders of her security forces every day as the Islamist militants’ attacks across the country increase.

As one of only three female district governors in Afghanistan, Mazari has attracted attention simply by being a woman in charge. What sets the 40-year-old apart, particularly amid the recent wave of Taliban violence, is her hands-on military leadership. “Sometimes I’m in the office in Charkint, and other times I have to pick up a gun and join the battle,” she says.

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Australia urged to help Afghan allies under threat from Taliban – video

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After 20 years on the ground, Australian and allied forces have rapidly exited Afghanistan – ending Australia’s longest war. The Taliban has launched a nationwide offensive and violently acquired territory from the Afghan government, leaving local workers who once assisted the Australian defence force fearing for their lives. In this  extract from Guardian Australia's Full Story podcast, Laura Murphy-Oates speaks to Afghan interpreter Naser Ahmadi about how aiding Australian forces put him and his family in danger, and reporter Ben Doherty explores the situation in Afghanistan and why some Afghan workers have been left behind

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Taliban fighters capture Afghan city at strategic junction north of Kabul

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Officials in Pul-e-Khumri say government forces abandoned compounds during heady fighting

The Taliban have captured the key Afghan city of Pul-e-Khumri, 140 miles north of the capital Kabul, giving the insurgents control of a strategic road junction linking Kabul to the north and west, according to insurgents and local officials.

Two officials in the city told the Guardian it fell to Taliban after heavy fighting on Tuesday, with officials and security forces abandoning their compounds.

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‘Please pray for me’: female reporter being hunted by the Taliban tells her story

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A young female journalist describes the panic and fear of being forced into hiding as cities across Afghanistan fall

Two days ago I had to flee my home and life in the north of Afghanistan after the Taliban took my city. I am still on the run and there is no safe place for me to go.

Last week I was a news journalist. Today I can’t write under my own name or say where I am from or where I am. My whole life has been obliterated in just a few days.

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US says Afghans must defend their country as Taliban takes more ground

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Comments distancing the US from the conflict come as militants capture more cities and violence escalates

The US has said it is up to Afghan security forces to defend the country after Taliban militants captured a sixth provincial capital, along with border towns and trade routes.

Fighting in Afghanistan’s long-running conflict has escalated dramatically since May, when the US-led military coalition began the final stage of a withdrawal set to be completed before the end of the month.

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Taliban capture sixth provincial capital in northern Afghanistan

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Fighters overrun Aibak without meeting resistance, leaving pro-government forces in region cut off

The Taliban captured another provincial capital on Monday and were pressing on the biggest city in the region, Mazar-i-Sharif, following a stunning weekend offensive in which the insurgents have overrun a series of urban centres across northern Afghanistan.

Armed fighters swept into the city of Aibak without meeting any resistance. The deputy chief of Samangan province confirmed that the local governor had withdrawn his soldiers in order to protect the civilian population. The Taliban were in “full control”, Sefatullah Samangani said.

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