Afghanistan

Stories 141 - 160 | << Prev   Next >>

Female Afghan Mayor Who Feared for Her Life Escapes

Zarifa Ghafari says she hopes to return to Afghanistan someday

(Newser) - Zarifa Ghafari, one of Afghanistan's first female mayors who earlier this month said she was waiting for the Taliban to kill her , has made it to safety in Germany but is already imagining her return to her country. The 29-year-old former mayor of Maidan Shar describes the pain she...

Airport Attack Is Now One of the Deadliest in 20-Year War

Death toll jumps to 170 and is expected to grow

(Newser) - The death toll in Thursday's attack at the Kabul airport rose sharply Friday from 90 to 170, reports the BBC . As a result, the attack is now one of the deadliest in the entire 20-year history of the Afghan war, notes the New York Times . The number of US...

Group &#39;More Extreme&#39; Than the Taliban Struck in Kabul
Group 'More Extreme' Than
the Taliban Struck in Kabul
THE RUNDOWN
Aug 27, 2021 8:42 AM CDT

Group 'More Extreme' Than the Taliban Struck in Kabul

Here's what we know about ISIS-K

(Newser) - The group claiming responsibility for Thursday's bombings near Kabul's airport, which killed 13 US service members and at least 95 Afghans, is the Islamic State Khorasan, or ISIS-K. This is the affiliate of the Islamic State in Afghanistan and Pakistan. What we know:
  • How it formed: ISIS-K formed
...

Baby Born on Evacuation Plane Gets Fitting Name

Meet Reach, named for the C-17 aircraft with 'Reach 828' call sign

(Newser) - The name of a baby girl born last weekend aboard a military aircraft evacuating her mother out of Afghanistan has been revealed—and it's in honor of the plane that carried her family away from the Taliban-seized country. Gen. Tod Wolters, the head of the US European Command, told...

Evacuations Resume Day After Kabul Bombings
US Gave Taliban Names
of People to Evacuate
THE RUNDOWN
Aug 27, 2021 6:13 AM CDT

US Gave Taliban Names of People to Evacuate

Flights from Kabul airport resume as death toll from Thursday attacks rises

(Newser) - Heavily armed Taliban fighters were on patrol outside Kabul's airport Friday as evacuation flights resumed a day after Thursday's horrific scenes. The death toll from Thursday's twin suicide bombings has now risen to more than 100, including 13 US troops, the AP reports. Officials say at least...

Biden Tells Attackers: 'We Will Hunt You Down'

President suggests he might send more troops to Afghanistan

(Newser) - In addressing the nation on Thursday, President Biden expressed his resolve to not let the airport attack in Afghanistan stop evacuations even as US troops track down and punish the forces responsible. "To those who carried out this attack, as well as anyone who wishes America harm, know this:...

Pentagon Confirms Explosion Outside Kabul Airport
'It's a Hard Day Today:'
13 US Troops Killed
UPDATED
Aug 26, 2021 2:37 PM CDT

'It's a Hard Day Today:' 13 US Troops Killed

Twin suicide blasts outside Kabul airport also killed dozens of Afghans

(Newser) - Twin explosions outside the Kabul airport on Thursday resulted in dozens of civilian and military deaths. The Pentagon says 13 US troops were killed, reports CNN . "It's a hard day today," said Gen. Kenneth "Frank" McKenzie, head of the US Central Command, at a briefing. In...

Taliban Says US Has 'No Proof' bin Laden Is Behind 9/11

Comment raising skepticism about group's pledge to distance itself from al-Qaeda

(Newser) - Now that the Taliban is back in power, its spokesmen have a much larger voice. And in a new interview with NBC News , one of them makes a claim that will likely cause a lot of Americans to do a double take: There's "no proof" Osama bin Laden...

Lawmakers Say Trip to Kabul Changed Their Minds

Meijer, Moulton defend unauthorized trip

(Newser) - Two lawmakers who made an unannounced and unauthorized trip to Afghanistan to see the US evacuation effort for themselves have been strongly criticized —but they say the insights they gained were worth it. In an interview with the New York Times , Republican Rep. Pete Meijer and Democratic Rep. Seth...

'Imminent Attack' Feared at Kabul Airport

Massive airlift is entering final phase

(Newser) - European nations offered stark warnings Thursday about the waning days of a massive airlift to bring people out of Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, with a British official saying an "imminent attack" could target Kabul's international airport. As President Biden says he'll stick with his deadline of Aug. 31 to...

20 California Students Stranded in Afghanistan
20 California Students
Stranded in Afghanistan
THE RUNDOWN
Aug 26, 2021 12:51 AM CDT

20 California Students Stranded in Afghanistan

At least 20 children, plus their parents, can't get out

(Newser) - Among the 1,500 US citizens still in Afghanistan are at least 20 students and as many as 16 parents from a southern California school district. Six families from El Cajon, a San Diego suburb with a large immigrant and refugee population, had taken separate summer trips to Afghanistan to...

CIA Is Helping Extract Americans From Kabul

Blinken says 1.5K Americans are still in the country

(Newser) - There are still around 1,500 American citizens left in Afghanistan—not including the thousands of troops involved in the evacuation mission—and Secretary of State Anthony Blinken says the US is doing all it can to get them out. Blinken said Wednesday that diplomats are in direct contact with...

In Just 90 Minutes, Hope for NYT Journos in Afghanistan

The paper details the rapid help it got from Mexico

(Newser) - The New York Times on Wednesday reported that it managed to safely get a group of Afghans who worked for the paper and their relatives—24 families in all—out of Afghanistan in a "harrowing escape" that wasn't aided by the US government. Rather, the credit goes to...

Facing Death, Evacuation Race on for Afghan Women Judges

Tens of thousands could be left behind in Kabul as Taliban says no more Afghans can evacuate

(Newser) - A retired US judge working 20 hours a day to evacuate some 250 female judges and their families from Afghanistan says her network is quickly running out of time. President Biden said Tuesday that he would stick to the Aug. 31 deadline for removing Americans and endangered Afghans from the...

2 Congressmen Secretly Fly to Kabul
2 Congressmen 
Secretly Fly to Afghanistan
THE RUNDOWN
Aug 25, 2021 6:36 AM CDT

2 Congressmen Secretly Fly to Afghanistan

The move did not go over well

(Newser) - In a move that the AP says stunned and infuriated US military and State Department personnel Tuesday, two congressmen arrived unannounced at the airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, where they stayed for several hours. Reps. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., and Peter Meijer, R-Mich., both military veterans and members of the House Armed...

Biden: We're Sticking to Aug. 31 Afghanistan Deadline

He warns of terror attacks if evacuation mission extends past withdrawal date

(Newser) - President Biden declared Tuesday he is sticking to his Aug. 31 deadline for completing a risky airlift of Americans, endangered Afghans and others seeking to escape Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. The decision defies allied leaders who want to give the evacuation more time and opens Biden to criticism that he caved to...

One Landing Place for Afghan Refugees: Airbnb Homes

Hosts to lend a hand in 'one of the biggest humanitarian crises of our time'

(Newser) - Airbnb opened the doors of its properties to 20,000 Afghan refugees globally Tuesday and sought assistance from hosts who rent property through the home-sharing company for more free housing for those fleeing the crisis, per the AP . "The displacement and resettlement of Afghan refugees in the US and...

Taliban: We Won't Allow Afghans to Leave

Biden is expected to stick with the deadline of Aug. 31 rather than extend it

(Newser) - The deadline for the US to be out of Afghanistan is a week away, and President Biden is unlikely to extend it. The president spoke to G7 leaders Tuesday and will make public remarks later in the day, but the Pentagon has recommended sticking to the Aug. 31 withdrawal date...

CIA Chief Had Hush-Hush Meeting With Taliban Leader: Sources

Washington Post: William Burns sat down with Abdul Ghani Baradar in Kabul on Monday

(Newser) - Last week, William Burns had a full calendar in the Middle East, meeting with various officials from Israel, the Palestinian Authority, Lebanon, and Egypt, per Axios . This week, a more under-wraps gathering went down, this time in Kabul between the CIA chief and Abdul Ghani Baradar, the de facto leader...

Jen Psaki Not Happy With Reporter's 'Stranded' Comment

Says Americans are not stranded in Afghanistan

(Newser) - Peter Doocy, Fox News' White House reporter, had a question for Jen Psaki during Monday's White House press briefing that the press secretary did not appreciate. "Does the president have a sense that most of the criticism is not of leaving Afghanistan, it’s the way that he...

Stories 141 - 160 | << Prev   Next >>
Most Read on Newser