Italy "strongly condemns" Thursday's bomb attacks at the airport in Afghanistan's capital Kabul, Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio wrote on Twitter.
"No Italian was harmed in the attacks in Kabul... I express my condolences to those who lost their lives and my solidarity with the wounded. Italy strongly condemns the attacks," Di Maio wrote, as the country continues to evacuate some Afghans by air. - AFP.
The US ambassador in Kabul has told staff that four US Marines were killed in the explosion at the airport and three were wounded, a US official in the know told WSJ.
Britain has issued a notice to airlines to avoid flying below 25,000 feet (7,620 metres) over Afghanistan after an attack near Kabul airport on Thursday.
Initial reports say, 13 persons have been killed and 52 wounded. We strongly condemn this gruesome incident and will take every step to bring the culprits to justice, says Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen.
I strongly condemn the terrorist attack at Kabul Airport which killed and wounded a large number of the civilians. My thought and prayers are with the victims and their families at this difficult time, says Dr Abdullah Abdullah
A US official says the complex attack outside Kabul airport is "definitely believed" to have been carried out by the Islamic State group. The official says members of the US military were wounded in Thursday's attack, which involved two suicide bombers and gunmen.
6 others already dead on arrival. We have activated all mass casualty protocols, says Emergency Hospital near Kabul airport.
An explosion outsideKabulairportkilled at least 13 people, including children, and wounded many Taliban guards, a Taliban official told Reuters.
With the clock running down on the chance to escape life under the newly returned Taliban, thousands of Afghans were still besieging Kabul airport Thursday, hoping against hope that they could slip onto one of the last flights out.
Not even the threat of a suicide bomb attack deterred the throngs gathered at a roundabout on the main airport road -- the chance of a new life abroad made the risk worthwhile.
The family of a 15-year-old boy, who 10 days ago went to Kabul Airport to flee to another country is still missing, according to a report by Pajhwok news agency.
The Kremin says that Russia will closely follow the developments in Afghanistan before making a decision on whether to recognise the Taliban's rule.
Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Thursday that Moscow will watch the Taliban's “future steps to ensure order and security of the country's citizens and provide security for the Russian diplomats.”
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday called for the formation of an inclusive government in Afghanistan and asked the international community for positive engagement with Kabul as a way forward to avert any humanitarian crisis and ensure peace and stability in the war-ravaged country.
Khan made the comments during his meeting with Executive Director of United Nations World Food Program (WFP) David Beasley here. During the meeting, they discussed ways of facilitating the continued provision of humanitarian assistance to the Afghan people.
Reports of Taliban fighters beating a journalist with guns, and warning women to stay home because their fighters cannot be trusted. Ominous signals indeed that senior Taliban tolerating abuse by their fighters, starkly belying press conference promises, says Human Rights Watch.
Qatar is offering Covid-19 vaccines to evacuees from Afghanistan who are temporarily staying in the Gulf Arab state, which has been facilitating global evacuation efforts since the Taliban seized Kabul, the foreign ministry said on Thursday.
Qatar, which hosts the largest US military base in the region, has so far helped evacuate more than 40,000 people to Doha and will continue to facilitate international efforts in "the coming days", the ministry said in a statement.
An adolescent girl with green eyes, wearing a torn red headscarf looking intensely at the camera was an iconic image taken by photojournalist Steve McCurry for the June 1985 cover of the National Geographic. That timeless image of an Afghan refugee girl with striking eyes inspired millions of people worldwide to recognise the anguish and plight of one of the initial waves of refugees from Afghanistan. Read more
As per evacuation data shared by EAM S Jaishankar- 175 Embassy Personnel evacuated, 263 other Indian Nationals, 112 Afghan Nationals including Hindus and Sikhs, 15 Third Country Nationals - a total of 565 persons have been evacuated.
E-visa system has been started for Afghan nationals. Special Afghan Cell was set up on August 16 to coordinate repatriation and other requests from Afghanistan in a streamlined manner. The cell, operational 24X7, responds to requests over calls, emails, and Whatsapp messages.
The Dutch government said it would stop evacuation flights from Kabul on Thursday in what it acknowledged was a "painful moment" that would leave some people behind in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan. The Netherlands said it had been ordered by US forces to leave ahead of the withdrawal of American troops on August 31, and advised people to avoid the airport for security reasons.(AFP)
Uttar Pradesh minister Baldev Singh Aulakh has written to Union Home Minister Amit Shah urging him to resettle Hindus and Sikhs displaced from Afghanistan in Rampur district of the state. Read more
Italy's Prime Minister Mario Draghi said on Thursday the Group of 20 major economies must be committed to making sure women preserve fundamental freedoms and basic rights in the Taliban-ruled Afghanistan.
"The G20 must do all it can to ensure that Afghan women preserve their fundamental freedoms and basic rights, especially the right to education. Progress made over the past twenty years must be preserved," Draghi said in opening remarks at the G20 Conference on Women's Empowerment. (Reuters)
The British government says large numbers of people hoping to leave Afghanistan remain outside Kabul airport, despite warnings to leave because of the risk of a suicide bombing. The United States, Australia and Britain have told their citizens to leave the area immediately. It comes after President Joe Biden warned of the threat of attacks from militants linked to the Islamic State group. (AP)
French President Emmanuel Macron discussed the crisis in Afghanistan with Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon, and Macron will host Rakhmon at a meeting in France on October13, a statement from Macron's office said.
Tajikistan will not recognise an Afghan government that is not inclusive and representative of all its ethnic groups, Rakhmon said on Wednesday, accusing the Taliban of failing to fulfil their promise of inclusivity.(Reuters)
TOLO news reporter Ziar Khan Yaad clarifies over his death reports saying "I was beaten by the Taliban in Kabul's New City while reporting. Some people have spread the news of my death which is false."
Earlier,TOLO news tweeted saying that he was killed by the Taliban.
France will no longer be able to evacuate people from Afghanistan from Friday evening onwards, French Prime Minister Jean Castex told RTL radio. "We are going to continue until tomorrow evening," said Castex on Thursday.(Reuters)
Huge crowds continued to throng the gates of Kabul airport despite warnings by the United States and its allies of possible attacks by Islamic State militants, a Western diplomat at the airport said on Thursday.(Reuters)
The Taliban has been showing off its own "special forces" on social media with "soldiers" in new uniforms equipped with looted American equipment who contrasts sharply with the image of the usual Afghan insurgent. Here are some pictures of Taliban fighters in a new avatar:
The United States and allies urged people to move away from Kabul airport on Thursday due to the threat of an Islamic State terror attack as Western troops hurry to evacuate as many Afghans as possible before an Aug. 31 deadline. Read more
As desperate Afghans crowd Kabul airport trying to get on any evacuation flights to flee the Taliban, officials have warned of another jihadist threat: the Islamic State group.President Joe Biden said there is "an acute and growing risk" of an attack at the airport by the group's regional chapter, called Islamic State-Khorasan or ISIS-K. Read more
As the Taliban settle into their second stint as Afghanistan’s rulers, any hope of avoiding a reprise of their first period of rule may rest on a competition for influence in Kabul between Pakistan and Qatar. The outcome will determine what role the wider world, and especially the West, can play in the country after the withdrawal of American forces. Read more
The United States warned crowds trying to access Kabul airport to leave the area, as Britain and Australia cited the "high threat" of a terrorist attack. A flurry of near-identical travel warnings from London, Canberra and Washington late Wednesday urged people gathered in the area to vacate and move to a safe location. (AFP)
Media reports said that at the behest of Pakistan, ISI raided a travel agent and stole several passports with Indian visas. Security agencies are apprehensive that the security of the country may be threatened as terrorists present in Afghanistan may enter India using such stolen passports. Read more
This handout photo courtesy ot the US Air Force shows Afghan evacuees stand in line outside the passenger terminal to get on buses at Ali Al Salem Air Base, Kuwait, August 24, 2021. - Afghans on August 25, hurried to escape Taliban rule, but Western officials said the group had made assurances that some evacuations would be permitted after next week's US withdrawal deadline. Over 80,000 people have been evacuated since August 14, but huge crowds remain outside Kabul airport hoping to flee the threat of reprisals and repression in Taliban-led Afghanistan. Credit: AFP Photo
Twenty years ago, US president George W. Bush declared a "war on terror". Today, its failure is undeniable, with jihadist groups both more numerous and scattered more widely across the world. Read more
Britain's Foreign Office on Wednesday advised against all travel to Afghanistan, adding the security situation in the country remained volatile, with a "high threat of a terrorist attack".
The US has so far evacuated over 82,000 people from Kabul, with about 19,000 in the last 24 hours alone, in "one of the largest" airlifts in the world history, Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said.
Germany said Wednesday it has received assurance from a Taliban negotiator that Afghans who have the right documents will still be allowed to leave Afghanistan after the United States' withdrawal deadline on August 31.
An Afghan baby girl born on a C-17 military aircraft during an evacuation flight from Afghanistan will forever carry that experience with her.
Her parents have named her after the plane's call sign - Reach.
The Taliban have strengthened their measures of access and control around the Kabul airport, the Pentagon has said.
“The Taliban have bolstered their own security at their checkpoints and have gotten involved in crowd control...every day is a different day, and yesterday we estimated that crowds were about half the size they had been the previous days,” Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby told reporters at a press conference on Wednesday.
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