Afghanistan News Highlights: NATO member states must be prepared to use force in Afghanistan if necessary, says Secretary-General Rasmussen

One of the founders of the Taliban and the chief enforcer of its harsh interpretation of Islamic law when they last ruled Afghanistan said the hard-line movement will once again carry out executions and amputations of hands, though perhaps not in public. Stay tuned for live updates.

International community cannot 'exonerate' itself from responsibilities towards Afghanistan: Pak PM

Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan has said the international community cannot "exonerate" itself from its responsibilities towards the Afghan people after 20 years of military intervention in the war-torn country and urged the same countries to stay engaged with Kabul, according to a media report on Friday.

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NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has said that NATO member states must be prepared to use force in Afghanistan if necessary or in the event of an attack. He said in an interview with Foreign Policy that Afghanistan should have been prepared to use force, but that it was easier to start a war than to end it. (Kabul News)

20 years after return to power, Taliban's younger members dance to a different tune

As the setting sun turns the Arghandab river violet, seven young Taliban turn in a circle on the bank, singing and dancing in traditional Afghan style.

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Afghan Taliban defence minister Yaqoob orders crackdown on abuses

The Taliban's new defence minister has issued a rebuke over misconduct by some commanders and fighters following the movement's victory over the Western-backed government in Afghanistan last month, saying abuses would not be tolerated.

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Afghan Taliban defence minister orders crackdown on abuses

The Taliban's new defence minister has issued a rebuke over misconduct by some commanders and fighters following the movement's victory over the Western-backed government inAfghanistanlast month, saying abuses would not be tolerated.

Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob said in an audio message that some "miscreants and notorious former soldiers" had been allowed to join Taliban units where they had committed a range of sometimes violent abuses.

"We direct you keep them out of your ranks, otherwise strict action will be taken against you," he stated. "We don't want such people in our ranks."

The message from one of the Taliban's most senior ministers underlines the problemsAfghanistan's new rulers have sometimes had in controlling fighting forces as they transition from an insurgency to a peacetime administration. (Reuters)

Blinken sees unity on Taliban after talks with Pakistan, China

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Thursday he believed the world was united on pressing the Taliban after speaking with Pakistan, China and Russia, key players with Afghanistan's new rulers.

Blinken met Thursday on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly with his counterpart from Pakistan, the chief ally of the Taliban regime that was toppled by US troops in 2001, and held talks with ministers of the four other veto-wielding Security Council members including China and Russia on Wednesday evening. (AFP)

World in dilemma over recognising Taliban

The international community faces a growing dilemma over whether to recognise the Taliban as the rulers of Afghanistan, weighing distaste on the vision of the Islamist group with the need for stability.

Since the August 15 takeover of Kabul by the Taliban, which dislodged the pro-Western government, world powers have opened up channels of communication with the group but made clear this does not mean recognition.

The Taliban themselves have begun to indicate impatience on the issue of recognition, which would allow its officials to represent the country in international organisations, funds to be unblocked for the cash-starved economy.

Islamic State uses Taliban's own tactics to attack Afghanistan's new rulers

A little more than a month after toppling the Western-backed government in Kabul, Afghanistan's new Taliban rulers are facing internal enemies who have adopted many of the tactics of urban warfare that marked their own successful guerrilla campaign.

A deadly attack on Kabul airport last month and a series of bomb blasts in the eastern city of Jalalabad, all claimed by the local affiliate of Islamic State, have underlined the threat to stability from violent militant groups who remain unreconciled to the Taliban. (Reuters)

Taliban's relationship with global community going to be defined by actions it takes, it's not a favour: Sec Blinken

The Taliban’s relationship with the international community is going to be defined by the actions the group takes, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, asserting that “this is not a favour” to the world but a basic requirement for a stable and secure Afghanistan.

The Taliban swept across Afghanistan last month, seizing control of almost all key towns and cities in the backdrop of withdrawal of the US forces that began on May 1. On August 15, the capital city of Kabul fell to the insurgents.

The hardline Islamist insurgents claimed victory over opposition forces in the last holdout province of Panjshir on September 6, completing their takeover of Afghanistan three weeks after capturing Kabul. (PTI)

Afghan women taekwondo fighters feel defeated by Taliban

The Taliban's all-male government has shut down the ministry of women's affairs and replaced it with one that earned notoriety for enforcing religious doctrine during the hardliners' 1996-2001 stint in power.

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Thriving Afghan music goes quiet under Taliban

The last time the militant group ruled the country, in the late 1990s, it outright banned music. So far this time, the government set up by the Taliban hasn't taken that step officially. But already, musicians are afraid a ban will come, and some Taliban fighters on the ground have started enforcing rules on their own, harassing musicians and music venues.

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Strict punishment, executions will return: Taliban

One of the founders of the Taliban and the chief enforcer of its harsh interpretation of Islamic law when they last ruled Afghanistan said the hard-line movement will once again carry out executions and amputations of hands, though perhaps not in public.

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