Afghanistan News highlights: US recognising Taliban govt will depend entirely on what the latter does, says Antony Blinken

The Taliban has announced the top members of their government in Afghanistan. Chief spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told a press conference that the new government would be an interim one, and that Taliban veteran Mullah Mohammad Hassan Akhund would serve as its new acting prime minister. The Taliban's secretive supreme leader told the newly appointed government to uphold sharia law. Stay tuned for updates.

From New Delhi to New York, Afghan diplomats reject Taliban’s Emirate, keep tricolour flying high

Afghan diplomats from New Delhi to New York have refused to pledge allegiance to the government the Taliban announced in Kabul.

A day after the Taliban announced its government in Kabul, the red-green-black national flag of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan continued to flutter high at its embassy in Chanakyapuri New Delhi as the diplomats of the war-torn nation refused to pledge allegiance to the emirate the militants sought to reinstate.

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Taliban legitimacy will have to be 'earned': US Secretary of State Antony Blinken

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday the Taliban will have to earn legitimacy from the world after naming a government with figures wanted by US law enforcement.

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Afghanistan's last Jew leaves after Taliban takeover

The last member of Afghanistan's Jewish community has left the country.

Zebulon Simentov, who lived in a dilapidated synagogue in Kabul, kept kosher and prayed in Hebrew, endured decades of war as the country's centuries-old Jewish community rapidly dwindled. But the Taliban takeover last month seems to have been the last straw.

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US recognising Taliban govt will depend entirely on what the latter does, says Antony Blinken in an interview with Afghan media house TOLOnews.

Ex-Afghan president Ashraf Ghani apologises, regrets 'how it ended'

Afghanistan on BRICS agenda

On September 9, as the Chair of BRICS, India will host the 13th summit meet of leaders virtually, a new norm during the global health pandemic.

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At least 14 members of Taliban's government, including acting PM Akhund, on UNSC's terrorism blacklist

At least 14 members of the Taliban's hardline interim government in Kabul are on the UN Security Council's terrorism blacklist, including acting Prime Minister Mullah Mohammad Hasan Akhund and his both deputies, raising concern of the international community over the composition of the new Cabinet in Afghanistan.

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Sirajuddin Haqqani, the new interior minister, is the son of the founder of the Haqqani network, classified as a terrorist group by Washington. He is one of the FBI's most wanted men due to his involvement in suicide attacks and ties with Al Qaeda. (Reuters)

Anti-Taliban force vows resistance to 'pariah' government

Afghanistan's last resistance group denounced on Wednesday the Taliban's new interim government as "illegitimate" and destined for "pariah" status, after its leader Ahmad Massoud called for a nationwide uprising against the country's Islamist rulers.

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EU warns Taliban govt not 'inclusive and representative'

The European Union on Wednesday said the "caretaker" government unveiled by the Taliban in Afghanistan failed to honour vows from the new rulers to include different groups.

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Taliban's interim govt has put an end to 'anarchy', a 'necessary step' to restore order in Afghanistan: China

China on Wednesday said the new interim administration announced by the Taliban has put an end to "anarchy" in Afghanistan, terming it as a “necessary step” to restore order, even as it reiterated its stand that the Afghan militant group should form a broad-based political structure and follow moderate and prudent domestic and foreign policies.

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Five journalists from Etilaatroz, a daily newspaper in Kabul, have been arrested by the Taliban: TOLO News

(ANI)

Farooq Abdullah hopes Taliban run 'good govt' in Afghanistan

While advising the Taliban to respect human rights and carry out justice, regional National Conference president and former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir Farooq Abdullah Wednesday hoped that they would run a good government in Afghanistan.

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Farooq Abdullah hopes Taliban run 'good govt' in Afghanistan

While advising the Taliban to respect human rights and carry out justice, regional National Conference president and former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir Farooq Abdullah Wednesday hoped that they would run a good government in Afghanistan.

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Afghan board waits to hear from Taliban on fate of women's game

Afghanistan cricket chiefs are still awaiting instructions from the country's new Taliban government on the future of the women's game and are not anticipating a decision any time soon, a top cricket official told Reuters.

The Taliban named a new government on Tuesday, three weeks after sweeping to power when the Western-backed government collapsed in the wake of the withdrawal of US-led foreign forces.

(Reuters)

Pakistan set to host meeting of Afghanistan neighbours

Pakistan will host a virtual meeting of foreign ministers of Afghanistan's neighbours on Wednesday to discuss the latest situation in the war-torn country.

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi will chair the meeting to be attended by China, Iran, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, according to Foreign Office.

The Taliban seized control of war-torn Afghanistan in mid-August, ousting the previous elected leadership which was backed by the West.

The Foreign Ministers’ meeting on the Afghan issue is taking place at the invitation of Pakistan.

(PTI)

Pakistan deports over 200 Afghan nationals

Pakistan has deported over 200 Afghan nationals, including women and children, after the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, according to a media report on Wednesday.

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Qatar says Taliban show 'pragmatism', should be judged by actions

Qatar said the Taliban have demonstrated "pragmatism" and should be judged on their actions as the undisputed rulers of Afghanistan, but stopped short of announcing formal recognition of the Islamists.

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A delegation-level talk of National Security Advisors (NSA) between India & Russia underway

(ANI)

Who is Mullah Hasan Akhund? What does the Taliban’s choice of interim prime minister mean for Afghanistan?

The Taliban announced on September 7, 2021, that Mullah Hasan Akhund has been appointed interim prime minister of Afghanistan.

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Blinken to consult partners as Taliban form Afghan government

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will hold talks in Germany on Wednesday with nations shaken by the Afghanistan withdrawal as the Taliban announced a hardline new government.

The top US diplomat flew out of Qatar, the largest transit hub in a massive airlift from Afghanistan, to tour another processing hub for thousands of evacuees at the US airbase in Ramstein, Germany.

Blinken will meet in Ramstein with German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas before they lead a 20-nation virtual meeting of ministers on the way forward in Afghanistan.

(AFP)

Taliban govt is anything but inclusive: Afghan envoy to UN

The government announced by the Taliban in Afghanistan is “anything but inclusive” and the Afghan people will not accept a governing structure that excludes women and minorities, the country’s envoy to the UN has said, calling on the world organisation to reject the reinstatement of the Islamic Emirate.

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India, Russia to discuss Afghanistan crisis at NSA level meeting

India and Russia are set to discuss the Afghan crisis following the takeover of the war-torn nation by Taliban forces.

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Top US lawmakers assail Taliban over announcement of interim govt

Top American lawmakers from the opposition Republican Party on Tuesday hit out at the Taliban over their announcement of an interim government in Afghanistan that includes a specially designated global terrorist.

"Don't be fooled. There is nothing more moderate about the revived Taliban government. This is a government of terrorists, by the terrorists, and for the terrorists," said the Republican Study Committee, which is the largest conservative caucus in the House of Representatives and chaired by Congressman Jim Banks.

(PTI)

China, Pak and Russia trying to figure out what to do with Taliban: Biden

China, Pakistan, Russia and Iran are trying to figure out what do they do now with the Taliban, US President Joe Biden said on Tuesday.

Hours after the Taliban announced the details of its interim government, Biden told reporters that China has a "real problem" with the Taliban.

"China has a real problem with the Taliban. They try to work out some of that with the Taliban, I am sure. As does Pakistan, as does Russia, as does Iran," Biden told reporters at the White House.

(PTI)

A Taliban fighter stands guard as Afghan women shout slogans during an anti-Pakistan protest rally, near the Pakistan embassy in Kabul on September 7, 2021.

Credit: AFP Photo

Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar: The quiet Taliban deal maker holds key role for Afghan future

He co-founded the Taliban, helped it rebuild during two decades of war with the US and then brokered a deal to get American troops out. Now, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar’s job is about to get even harder.

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OPINION | The Taliban can’t print cash and other Afghan business challenges

There are optimistic suggestions that the hard-won integration of Afghanistan into the global economy will remain despite the ascendancy of the Taliban and the withdrawal of the US. A number of commentators have suggested that China — which the Taliban have declared their strongest ally — could become Afghanistan’s primary economic supporter and help the country stay part of the global system. That analysis is unrealistic.

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Biden says he is sure China will try to work out arrangement with Taliban

US President Joe Biden said on Tuesday he was certain China would try to work out an arrangement with the Taliban after the Islamic insurgents seized power in Afghanistan on Aug. 15.

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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (L) and Qatar’s assistant Foreign Minister Lolwah al-Khater (3rd L) meet with Afghan all-female robotics team members at Qatar's Education City Club House in Doha on September 7, 2021.

Credit: AFP Photo

US-built databases a potential tool of Taliban repression

Over two decades, the United States and its allies spent hundreds of millions of dollars building databases for the Afghan people. The nobly stated goal: Promote law and order and government accountability and modernize a war-ravaged land.

But in the Taliban's lightning seizure of power, most of that digital apparatus — including biometrics for verifying identities — apparently fell into Taliban hands. Built with few data-protection safeguards, it risks becoming the high-tech jackboots of a surveillance state. (AP)

Taliban supreme leader congratulates country on liberation from foreign rule

Taliban supreme leader Haibatullah Akhundzada on Tuesday congratulated Afghans on the country's liberation from foreign rule, in the first statement released by him since the Islamist group took over the country last month.

"In the future, all matters of governance and life in Afghanistan will be regulated by the laws of the Holy Sharia," he said in a statement, adding the new government announced earlier on Tuesday will start functioning "at the earliest". (Reuters)

UN hopes to soon deliver aid to Afghanistan by land

The United Nations hopes to deliver aid to Afghanistan by land soon, a senior UN official said Tuesday, adding that a new representative of the global body was en route to the country.

"We would like to see the beginning of road travel in from other countries for supplies," said Martin Griffiths, the undersecretary general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator.

Griffiths, speaking via videoconference, met the war-wary nation's new Taliban leadership in Kabul on Sunday and Monday. (AFP)