Radio Mashaal / RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi July 23, 2021 CHAMAN, Pakistan — Despite allegations of a massacre near a border crossing between southern Afghanistan and Pakistan, foot traffic is resuming across this normally bustling trade and travel crossroads in South Asia. The partial reopening at a key point of the Afghan-Pakistani border follows a purported
Liam Scott, Nike Ching, Jeff Seldin VOA News July 22, 2021 WASHINGTON – A coalition of more than two dozen U.S. news outlets and press freedom organizations is calling on the U.S. government to help protect Afghans who worked with foreign media and may face risks from the Taliban as a result. Letters to President Joe Biden and
The Conversation: During the Taliban’s five-year rule – which was almost universally shunned by other governments but supported militarily and politically by Pakistan – women were prohibited from working, attending school or leaving home without a male relative. Men were forced to grow beards and wear a cap or turban. Music and other entertainment was
Ariana: The Taliban appear to have “strategic momentum” in the fight for control of Afghanistan as they put increasing pressure on key cities, setting the stage for a decisive period in coming weeks, the top U.S. military officer General Mark Milley said Wednesday. “This is going to be a test now of the will and
US News: As President Joe Biden nears the August deadline he set to withdraw troops from Afghanistan, one critical feature of the drawdown has become clear: he now owns the precarious situation there, and there’s no turning back. Click here to read more (external link). Related Obama Pentagon official: Afghanistan troop withdrawal ‘is not going
Press TV July 18, 2021 Former US commander in Afghanistan and CIA director Gen. David Petraeus has said Afghanistan is falling apart as the United States is withdrawing troops from the country after 20 years of war in the country. In an interview with CNN on Sunday, the retired US general said, “The situation on
Michael Hughes: U.S. Defense Department Secretary Lloyd Austin believes the United States mission is not over in Afghanistan – a declaration that comes with nearly all American troops gone, the Taliban on a rampage, and the U.N. sounding alarms over human rights abuses. The insurgents over the past few days, with near impunity, have been
The Week: The war itself created the moral hazard Bush now decries. If we could not change the facts on the ground in Afghanistan with the world’s most powerful military there for 20 years and without any plans to do so in the next 20 years, the war cannot go on forever. Click here to
Ken Bredemeier VOA News July 14, 2021 WASHINGTON – Former U.S. President George W. Bush, who sent U.S. troops to Afghanistan in 2001 to wipe out training grounds for al-Qaida terrorists after the September 11th attacks, says he thinks it is a mistake for U.S. troops to be pulled out now as Taliban insurgents take
Ayaz Gul VOA News July 13, 2021 ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN – The Taliban warned Tuesday that if Turkey extends its military presence in Afghanistan the Islamist group will view Turkish troops as “occupiers” and wage “jihad” against them. The warning came amid fresh battlefield moves that critics say show the Taliban are planning a military takeover