Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty July 5, 2021 Tajikistan will reinforce its border with an additional 20,000 troops in response to a Taliban offensive capturing large swaths of territory in northern Afghanistan as U.S. troops exit the country. Underscoring the rapid collapse of Afghan security forces, more than 1,000 Afghan troops fled into Tajikistan overnight, Tajik
Tolo News: Dozens of women took up arms – some of them heavy weapons – and marched in the capital city of Feroz Koh to pledge their support the Republic and the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces. The women said that the historical record of the five years of the Taliban regime proved that
Ken Bredemeier VOA News July 4, 2021 WASHINGTON – As the last U.S. forces are withdrawn from Afghanistan after nearly 20 years of fighting, the American commander says he is worried about the territorial advance of Taliban insurgents attempting to take back control of the country. U.S. Army Gen. Scott Miller, in an interview broadcast
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty July 3, 2021 The Pentagon says the turnover of Bagram Airfield to Afghan security forces was a “key milestone” in the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan, but insisted the U.S. military still has the authority to protect Afghan forces. The comments from Defense Department spokesman John Kirby on July 2
Radio Mashaal: Pakistan’s top military leadership has warned members of parliament that an army crackdown against militants of the Afghan Taliban group inside Pakistan could result in blowback, lawmakers say. Click here to read more (external link).
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
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