Afghanistan news highlights: Pakistan will 'assist' Taliban to form inclusive Afghan government, says General Bajwa

The United States intends to send Afghan evacuees who fail to clear initial screenings to the nation of Kosovo, which has agreed to house them for up to a year, a USofficial told the Associated Press on Saturday.

The USplan for potentially long-term stays in a third country for Afghan evacuees whose cases require more processing is likely to face objections from refugee advocates. (AP)

. Taliban special forces in camouflage fired their weapons into the air Saturday, bringing an abrupt and frightening end to the latest protest march in the capital by Afghan women demanding equal rights from the new rulers.

Also on Saturday, the chief of Pakistan's powerful intelligence agency, which has an outsized influence on the Taliban, made a surprise visit to Kabul.

The women's march — the second in as many days in Kabul — began peacefully. Demonstrators laid a wreath outsideAfghanistan's Defense Ministry to honor Afghan soldiers who died fighting the Taliban before marching on to the presidential palace. (AP)

. Veteran-led rescue groups say the Biden administration's estimate that no more than 200 UScitizens were left behind inAfghanistanis too low and also overlooks hundreds of other people they consider to be equally American: permanent legal residents with green cards.

Some groups say they continue to be contacted by American citizens inAfghanistanwho did not register with the U.S. Embassy before it closed and by others not included in previous counts because they expressed misgivings about leaving loved ones behind. (AP)

. Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Saturday told British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab that Islamabad will "assist" the Taliban to form an inclusive administration in neighbouringAfghanistan.

Gen. Bajwa, in his meeting with Raab here, discussed issues of mutual interest, regional security and the current situation inAfghanistan. (PTI)

. A delegation of senior Pakistani officials led by Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Director General Lieutenant General Hameed arrived in Kabul to conduct discussions with the incoming Taliban government, the Pakistan Observer newspaper reported.

The ISI chief is expected to meet top Taliban leaders and commanders. "Issues relating to Pak-Afghan security, economy, and other matters will be taken up with the Taliban leadership,” the report said, quoting sources.

According to the Express Tribune, Hameed will also meet Pakistan's envoy in Kabul to discuss the matter of repatriation and transit through Pakistan of foreign nationals and Afghans fleeing Taliban rule. (PTI)

. BJP state president K Surendran on Saturday alleged that mainstream political parities in Kerala are vying to extend support to Taliban after the terrorist group took control overAfghanistan.

Both the ruling CPI(M)-led LDF and the Congress-headed UDF opposition were playing a different sort of politics after the militants were back in power in the neighbouring country, he charged. (PTI)

. The United States has moved most of the 57,000 people it evacuated fromAfghanistanto Qatar out of the Gulf state, with fewer than 1,400 still at the USmilitary base there, a USgeneral said on Saturday.

The USevacuated roughly 124,000 people from Kabul last month as part of a huge US-led airlift of its citizens, Afghans and other nationals as the Taliban took control of the country. (Reuters)

. People stand on a queue outside a bank to withdraw money at Shar-e-Naw neighborhood in Kabul. Credit: AFP Photo

. The Taliban have postponed the formation of a new government in Afghanistan for next week, their spokesman ZabiullahMujahidsaid on Saturday, as the insurgent group struggles to give shape to a broad-based and inclusive administration acceptable to the international community.

The insurgent group was expected to announce on Saturday the formation of the new government in Kabul, likely to be led by the outfit's co-founder Mulla Abdul Ghani Baradar. This is the second that the Taliban have delayed the formation of the new government in Kabul since they seized Kabul on August 15. (PTI)

. Qatar's ambassador to Afghanistan said a technical team was able to reopen Kabul airport to receive aid and that it would be prepared for civilian flights soon, Al Jazeera reported on Saturday.

. Google has temporarily locked down an unspecified number of Afghan government email accounts, according to a person familiar with the matter, as fears grow over the digital paper trail left by former officials and their international partners.

. As Taliban fighters entered Kabul on the evening of August 15, executives at Afghanistan's biggest independent TV network had a tough decision to make: stay on-air or go dark.

Tolo kept broadcasting, but like the rest of the country's TV and radio stations, it now faces a tough and uncertain future under the Taliban, whose return has sent fear coursing through the media.

The Islamist militant group killed and threatened journalists throughout its 20-year insurgency.

During their 1996-2001 regime, TV and most entertainment were banned, and there was no media to speak of.

The Taliban takeover "put us in a very, very difficult situation... to continue our work or not," Lotfullah Najafizada, the director of Tolo News, told AFP in a phone interview.

"As a 24/7 news operation, we didn't even have one hour to take a break and rethink."

. California's governor and legislative leaders on Friday requested USD 16.7 million in state money to help resettle Afghan refugees in the state.

The request to use general fund money to help those fleeing the Taliban takeover signals “that California stands ready to assist those in need," Governor Gavin Newsom said in a statement.

“As the nation's most diverse state, we don't simply tolerate diversity, we celebrate it."

. The situation in Afghanistan today has the global community concerned and anxious about developments in the region and the likely negative fall-out of the same.

. Days after the Biden administration finished evacuating about 1,24,000 people from Afghanistan, it’s coming to grips with the reality that it doesn’t know who many of those people are.

. India and the United States are closely watching Pakistan’s actions in Afghanistan, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said on Friday.

In the limited engagement that India has had with the Taliban, the new Afghan rulers have indicated that they would be reasonable in addressing New Delhi’s concerns, the foreign secretary added

. At least 50,000 Afghans are expected to be admitted into the United States following the fall of Kabul as part of an “enduring commitment" to help people who aided the American war effort and others who are particularly vulnerable under Taliban rule, the secretary of homeland security said on Friday.

Tens of thousands of Afghans have already made it through security vetting and arrived in the US to begin the process of resettlement. Exactly how many more will come and how long it will take remain open questions, DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said as he outlined the effort.

. Credit: AFP

. "America is back," goes President Joe Biden's catchphrase, but his unapologetic exit from Afghanistan shows America won't be back to business as usual.

Beyond the trauma of the Kabul evacuation, Biden is pitching a much broader retreat: a halt to using vast military resources to impose order and US values around the planet.

"This decision about Afghanistan is not just about Afghanistan," Biden said in what many see as a historic speech on Tuesday. "It's about ending an era of major military operations to remake other countries."

. On the last day of August, when President Joe Biden called the airlift of refugees from Kabul an “extraordinary success,” senior diplomats and military officers in Doha, Qatar, emailed out a daily situation report marked “sensitive but unclassified.”

. A spectator wearing a hat with an Afghanistan flag and Taliban ribbon watches the Twenty20 cricket trial match being played between two Afghan teams 'Peace Defenders' and 'Peace Heroes' at the Kabul International Cricket Stadium in Kabul on September 3, 2021. Credit: AFP Photo

. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will travel to Geneva to convene a high-level conference on aid for Afghanistan on September 13, his spokesman said Friday.

"The conference will advocate for a swift scale-up in funding so the lifesaving humanitarian operation can continue; and appeal for full and unimpeded humanitarian access to make sure Afghans continue to get the essential services they need," Stephane Dujarric said in a statement.

(AFP)

. The United States and the international community expects the Taliban to form an inclusive government with representations from different communities and interests, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Friday.

. Google has temporarily locked down an unspecified number of Afghan government email accounts, according to a person familiar with the matter, as fears grow over the digital paper trail left by former officials and their international partners.

Afghanistan news highlights: Pakistan will 'assist' Taliban to form inclusive Afghan government, says General Bajwa

US official says Kosovo to house some Afghans

Taliban special forces bring abrupt end to women's protest

US tally misses hundreds left in Afghanistan, says rescue group

Pakistan will 'assist' Taliban to form inclusive admin in Afghanistan: General Bajwa to UK’s Dominic Raab

ISI chief to discuss Afghan economy, security with Taliban leadership

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