Category: Afghanistan

Blinken and Austin to Visit Gulf to Address Postwar Stresses

WASHINGTON—Top U.S. national security officials will see how the failed war in Afghanistan may be reshaping America’s relationships in the Middle East as they meet with key allies in the Persian Gulf and Europe this week. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin are traveling to the Gulf separately, leaving Sunday. They…


Taliban ‘Holding’ Americans ‘Hostage’ at Afghanistan Airport: Top Republican Lawmaker

The top-ranking Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee said that the Taliban terrorist group will not allow Americans to leave from an airport in the northern part of Afghanistan, while the White House chief of staff estimated that about 100 Americans still remain in the country. Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) said that six airplanes…


Anti-Taliban Forces Say They’ve Captured Hundreds of Taliban Amid Conflicting Reports

The Taliban said Sunday it has entered the final holdout region amid reports of heavy fighting, although anti-Taliban resistance groups denied their claims and said that numerous Taliban terrorists were captured. Opposition groups in the Panjshir valley, led by the son of a former anti-Soviet fighter, have been holding out since the fall of Kabul about…


Afghan Resistance Forces Say They’ve Captured Hundreds of Taliban Amid Conflicting Reports

The Taliban said Sunday it has entered the final holdout region amid reports of heavy fighting, although anti-Taliban resistance groups denied their claims and said that numerous Taliban terrorists were captured. Opposition groups in the Panjshir valley, led by the son of a former anti-Soviet fighter, have been holding out since the fall of Kabul about…


Milley: US Withdrawal From Afghanistan Will Lead to Civil War, Terrorism

The U.S. military pullout from Afghanistan will likely lead to civil war and the resurgence of terrorist groups like al-Qaeda, said Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mark Milley in an interview. “My military estimate is​ ​…​ ​that the conditions are likely to develop of a civil war,” Milley ​told Fox News during an interview at…


Suicide Bombing by Pakistani Taliban at Southwest Pakistan Checkpoint Kills 3

QUETTA, Pakistan—A suicide bomber detonated his explosives Sunday near a security checkpoint in restive southwestern Pakistan, killing at least three paramilitary troops and wounding 15 others, police said. Senior police officer Azhar Akram said the attacker had walked toward the checkpoint manned by the paramilitary Frontier Corps on Quetta-Mastung Road, some 25 kilometers (15 miles)…


Taliban Does Door-to-Door ‘Dissident’ Search; What Would China–Taliban Alliance Mean For US?

As we approach the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attack—the event that led to the War in Afghanistan—America projects a much-altered identity and faces a significantly altered geopolitical landscape. Communist China features with unprecedented prevalence in this reality. An opportunistic entity, the Chinese Communist Party appears readied, beyond all others, to ingratiate itself to the…


Tragic on a Human Level, Damaging on a Strategic Level: Stephen Yates on Afghanistan Withdrawal

In this special episode, we sat down with Stephen Yates, the former deputy national security adviser at the White House. He touches on Afghanistan, how the war started, the debates around how the withdrawal was conducted, and the geopolitical implications going forward. Yates said, “It’s hard to go back 20 years and try to remind…


US General Says Most of Those Evacuated From Afghanistan to Qatar Are Now in Europe, US

DOHA—The United States has moved most of the more than 57,000 people it evacuated from Afghanistan to Qatar out of the Gulf state, with some now in the United States while others are being processed in Europe, a U.S. general said on Saturday. Roughly 124,000 people were evacuated last month from Kabul in a massive…


Kabul Airport Reopens, Domestic Flights Operational Soon: Qatari Envoy

Qatar’s ambassador to Afghanistan announced on Saturday a technical team was able to reopen the airport in Kabul to receive aid and commercial airlines will also start operating again soon. The airport has been closed since the United States left the Middle Eastern nation at midnight local time on Aug. 31 after ending a large-scale…