Tag: Afghanistan

Attack on Sikh Temple in Afghanistan’s Capital of Kabul Kills Two

KABUL—An attack on a Sikh temple in the Afghan capital of Kabul killed at least two people and injured seven on Saturday, following a blast in a car loaded with explosives, officials said, but there was no immediate claim of responsibility. Grey smoke billowed over the area in images aired by domestic broadcaster Tolo. A…


Australians Honoured for Kabul Evacuations in Queens Birthday List

When Afghanistan’s capital city fell back under the control of the Taliban in 2021, Australian forces were among those called on to urgently evacuate its citizens and approve the departure of foreign nationals from the Kabul airport. Airlifts needed to be coordinated in what was now a hostile territory, and bus convoys were required to…


Australians Woman Sentenced for Recruiting Terrorist

Hadashah Sa’adat Khan was an isolated and withdrawn teen when she began seeking out online relationships with people who support the terrorist organisation Islamic State. The Melbourne woman, who was 18 at the time, was trying to “impress” another teenager in the U.S. when she helped arrange for him to join Islamic State in Syria,…


Afghan Watchdog Can’t Trace at Least $70 Million in Missing Cash

The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) said he can’t account for an untold amount of cash handled by the now-defunct Afghan government, though he did cast doubts on Russian reports that the country’s former president fled with $169 million as his U.S.-backed regime collapsed last August. SIGAR head John Sopko revealed this information…


Banks Ask Judge to Dismiss Terrorism Financing Lawsuit

Five international banks asked a judge on June 1 to dismiss a class-action lawsuit accusing them of aiding and abetting terrorist organizations in Afghanistan, receiving an immediate response from plaintiffs seeking to have the banks’ motions denied. U.S. terrorism victims and their family members sued the banks—Deutsche Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, Danske Bank, Placid Express,…


State Department Unable to Follow Court Order Amid Growing Afghan Visa Backlog

The State Department asked a federal judge to vacate a court order to streamline its special immigrant visa (SIV) application process, citing chaos in Afghanistan as the reason for being unable to process a growing backlog of applicants. The State Department’s request on May 24 comes in a dispute against a group called Afghan and Iraqi Allies,…


Blast Tears Through Kabul Mosque, Killing at Least 5

KABUL—A blast tore through a mosque in Afghanistan’s capital on Wednesday evening, killing at least five people, authorities and hospitals said, the same day deadly explosions hit passenger vehicles in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif. A spokesman for the capital’s commander said at least two people were injured in the blast on a mosque in…


UK Lawmakers Slam Government Role in Afghan Withdrawal ‘Disaster’

Britain’s withdrawal from Afghanistan last year was a “disaster” in which British soldiers and their Afghan allies were “utterly let down by deep failures of leadership” in the UK government, a Parliamentary committee has said. In a damning report (pdf) published on May 24, the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Commons said the…


Taliban Enforcing Face-Cover Order for Female TV Anchors

ISLAMABAD—Afghanistan’s Taliban terrorist group on Sunday began enforcing an order requiring all female TV news anchors in the country to cover their faces while on-air. The move is part of a hard-line shift drawing condemnation from rights activists. After the order was announced Thursday, only a handful of news outlets complied. But on Sunday, most…


US Takes Control of Afghan Embassy, Consulates in New York, California

WASHINGTON—The United States has taken control of Afghanistan’s embassy in Washington and the country’s consulates in New York and Beverly Hills, California, the State Department said Tuesday. The State Department said that it had assumed “sole responsibility” for the security and maintenance of the diplomatic missions effective on Monday and would bar anyone from entering…