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Post by Admin on Aug 20, 2021 20:26:15 GMT
Clarissa Ward presses Taliban fighter on treatment of women
CNN's Clarissa Ward is in Afghanistan after the government collapsed and the Taliban took over the country.
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Post by Admin on Aug 20, 2021 21:48:49 GMT
Reporter Hollie McKay was escorted out of Mazar-i-Sharif by two Taliban commanders. Under the full tilt of the afternoon sunshine, two Taliban commanders with weathered, expressionless faces beckoned me into their tiny car – their eyes dropping to the floor so as not to make contact with a woman. Before we had even begun to weave through the city of Mazar-i-Sharif – once an ultimate bulwark of resistance against the insurgent group and now under Taliban control – the region’s security chief, who can only be identified as Malawi, wants it to be known that the Taliban of 2021 is far different to the Taliban of 2001. “All the things the media says about us are not true. They are saying that we don’t know the international rules and laws,” he says. “But we respect rights. We respect all rules and human rights.” “We are not the Taliban of twenty years ago when the Taliban entered the city and destroyed everything,” he presses on. Malawi refers to the bloodbath that descended upon Mazar in August 1998 when the Taliban seized the city and set up massacring the Shia population. Indeed, it is a charm offensive that is hard to believe. Their takeover of the city might have been bloodless this time around, but if history is anything to go by, the Taliban rules with an iron fist. “Before, people didn’t understand the Islamic Rules; we want people to understand them,” he continued, as if to simply justify their thoughts and actions. Fellow Taliban member Hafizullah — who swerves the car through blockades and flies by open-air stands stuffed with spices, fruit and swinging meat on hooks at the transformed city slowly comes back to life — offers up some examples.
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Post by Admin on Aug 22, 2021 19:28:42 GMT
The US withdrawal from Afghanistan was wrong and based on an "imbecilic" slogan, former PM Tony Blair has said. He described the decision to withdraw troops from the country as "tragic, dangerous and unnecessary". Mr Blair, who sent troops into Afghanistan 20 years ago, said UK involvement in Afghanistan was not a "hopeless endeavour" despite the Taliban takeover. And the sacrifice made by British troops "was not in vain", he added. Mr Blair said achievements in the country over the past 20 years - including a generation growing up without Taliban rule - was a "good cause" that "matters today". Speaking to broadcasters, the former Labour leader shared concerns, not only for the Afghan people who he said stood to lose out, but also for the security of Western countries. He said the Taliban "will give protection and succour to Al Qaeda - you've got Isis trying to operate in the country at the same time". "You look round the world and the only people really cheering this decision are the people hostile to Western interests," he added. In his online article, his first statement since Kabul fell to the Taliban last week, Mr Blair said the decision to withdraw was made "in obedience to an imbecilic political slogan about ending 'the forever wars'". Mr Blair said Britain had a "moral obligation" to stay in Afghanistan until "all those who need to be are evacuated". He wrote on his website: "We must evacuate and give sanctuary to those to whom we have responsibility - those Afghans who helped us and stood by us and have a right to demand we stand by them." This should not be done "grudgingly but out of a deep sense of humanity and responsibility", he added. On Sunday the Ministry of Defence said seven Afghan civilians had died in the chaotic crowds outside the city's international airport. The US has a planned deadline of 31 August for withdrawal - but President Biden has said troops may stay past this date to help with evacuations.
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Post by Admin on Aug 22, 2021 20:04:29 GMT
President Biden provides an update on the response to Hurricane Henri, as well as an update on the evacuation of American citizens, SIV applicants and their families, and vulnerable Afghans. --------------- Under the leadership of the President and Secretary of State, the U.S. Department of State leads America’s foreign policy through diplomacy, advocacy, and assistance by advancing the interests of the American people, their safety and economic prosperity. On behalf of the American people we promote and demonstrate democratic values and advance a free, peaceful, and prosperous world.
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Post by Admin on Aug 24, 2021 20:14:01 GMT
U.S. President Joe Biden sent CIA Director William Burns to meet Taliban leader Abdul Ghani Baradar in Kabul on Monday in the highest level official encounter since the militant group took over the Afghan capital, a U.S. official and a source familiar with government activity told Reuters on Tuesday.
A congressional source said Burns and Baradar had discussed the Aug. 31 deadline for a U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan. Burns was due to discuss his meeting with select members of Congress, including those on intelligence committees, later on Tuesday.
The Biden administration has been evacuating U.S. citizens and other allies amid chaos at Kabul airport ahead of the deadline.
A Taliban spokesman said he was not aware if Baradar met the CIA chief. The White House and a CIA representative declined to comment on the meeting, first reported by the Washington Post.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said on Tuesday the group had not agreed to extend the deadline for evacuation and they wanted all foreign evacuations to be completed by Aug. 31.
Biden last week said U.S. troops may stay in Afghanistan past his Aug. 31 deadline in order to evacuate Americans. On Tuesday, an administration official told Reuters the U.S. president has accepted a Pentagon recommendation to stick to the deadline for removing American troops.
(Reporting by Idrees Ali and Mark Hosenball; Additional reporting by Trevor Hunnicut; Editing by Howard Goller)
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