Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty July 2, 2021 U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with the top diplomats of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan on July 1, with Afghanistan high on the agenda as U.S. forces prepare to exit the war-torn country and Washington seeks Central Asian partners. The meetings in Washington come as the Taliban has
Carla Babb VOA News July 2, 2021 U.S. forces have left Bagram Airfield, the main American base in Afghanistan, and handed control over to Afghan National Security Forces, a U.S. defense official confirmed to VOA. For nearly two decades the base, 60 kilometers north of Kabul, served as the center of the U.S. fight to
Ariana: Civil society activists in the northeastern province of Takhar said on Thursday that the Taliban have issued new laws and regulations in recently captured districts in the province. The activists said the Taliban have ordered men to grow their beards, banned women from leaving home alone, and have set dowry regulations for girls. “They
Tolo News: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Friday said that Daesh militants are building up their forces in northern Afghanistan as US and NATO troops are leaving the country, calling it a worry for Moscow. Quoted in a report by Reuters, Lavrov said Daesh was actively gaining territory in Afghanistan amid the withdrawal and
Tolo News: The Ministry of Public Health on Friday reported 1,309 new positive cases of COVID-19 out of 3,839 samples tested in the last 24 hours. The number of total recorded cases is 123,463, total deaths is 5,107 and total recoveries is 72,700, according to figures by the Public Health Ministry. Click here to read
Michael Hughes: On the very same day then-President George W. Bush delivered his “Mission-Accomplished-in-Iraq” speech, his Defense Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, declared that major U.S. combat operations in Afghanistan had “clearly” moved into stabilization mode. “The bulk of this country today is permissive, it’s secure,” Rumsfeld told reporters during a visit to Kabul on May 1,
The Guardian (UK): Haji Ghoulam Farouq Siawshani watched the Taliban rampage across northern Afghanistan this month, weighing up the threat from militants on his doorstep. Then, 10 days ago, the former oil trader turned militia commander issued a call to arms. “Where the Taliban go, they bring destruction, and they are one kilometre away from
The Hill: Chinese-speaking hackers recently targeted the top tiers of the Afghan government, along with the governments of other nearby nations, research published Thursday found. According to findings from cybersecurity group Check Point Research, a hacking group known as “IndigoZebra” is involved in an ongoing espionage effort against the Afghan government through the use of