Afghanistan News highlights: Mullah Mohammad Fazil Mazloom appointed as deputy defense minister in the new government

The Taliban announced Mullah Mohammad Hasan Akhund as the leader of their new government in Afghanistan on Tuesday. Chief spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid also told a press conference that Taliban co-founder Abdul Ghani Baradar will be the deputy leader. The Taliban on Monday claimed total control over Afghanistan, saying they had won the key battle for the Panjshir Valley.

In Pic | Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid speaks during a press conference in Kabul, Afghanistan. Credit: AP Photo

Mullah Mohammad Fazil Mazloom appointed as deputy defense minister in the new government: Taliban.

In Pic | A Taliban fighter stands guard as Afghan women shout slogans during an anti-Pakistan protest rally, near the Pakistan embassy in Kabul. Credit: AFP Photo

Mullah Mohammad Hasan Akhund to lead new Taliban govt in Afghanistan

The Taliban announced Mullah Mohammad Hasan Akhund as the leader of their new government in Afghanistan on Tuesday.

Chief spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid also told a press conference that Taliban co-founder Abdul Ghani Baradar will be the deputy leader. (AFP)

Abdul Ghani Baradar to be first deputy leader, Mawlavi Hannafi to be second deputy leader, Mullah Yaquoub to be acting minister of defence, & Serajuddin Haqqani to be acting minister of interior in the new Taliban Govt in Afghanistan: TOLO news quoting Taliban spokesperson

(ANI)

Taliban co-founder Abdul Ghani Baradar to be deputy Afghan leader, reports AFP citing the group's spokesperson

Mohammad Hasan to lead new Taliban govt in Afghanistan

The Taliban announced Mullah Mohammad Hasan Akhund as the leader of their new government in Afghanistan on Tuesday.

Chief spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid also told a press conference that Taliban co-founder Abdul Ghani Baradar will be the deputy leader.

(AFP)

Taliban to announce first members of new govt Tuesday night: Official

TheTalibanwas set to announce the first members of its new government on Tuesday night, an official said.

"It was agreed that we would announce a new government before a formal ceremony could be held," Ahmadullah Wasiq said, adding "some members" of the cabinet would be announced at a press conference. (AFP)

In Pic | A family arriving from Afghanistan cross into Pakistan at the 'Friendship Gate' crossing point, in the Pakistan-Afghanistan border town of Chaman. Credit: Reuters Photo

Afghans with valid visas, passports can take evacuation flights: Taliban

Afghans with valid visas and passports stranded in the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif and waiting to take chartered evacuation flights out of the country will be allowed to leave, a Taliban official at the city's international airport said Tuesday.

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Blinken says Taliban renew vow to let Afghans 'freely depart'

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday that the Taliban had reiterated a pledge to allow Afghans to freely depart Afghanistan following his meeting with Qatari officials on accelerating evacuations.

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Protesting airstrikes in Panjshir, people throng Kabul streets chanting 'death to Pakistan'

Chanting "death to Pakistan", Afghan protesters, including women, took to the streets of Kabul on Tuesday, as they claimed that Pakistani jets conducted airstrikes in Panjshir province, according to a media report.

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UN ramps up Afghanistan aid appeal as 'catastrophe' looms

The United Nations appealed for almost $200 million in extra funding for life-saving aid in Afghanistan after the Taliban's takeover sparked a host of new issues.

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Exhausted and abandoned: Why Afghanistan's army collapsed

When the Taliban swept into Kabul last month, capturing Afghanistan's capital without a fight, the sheer speed of the collapse of the Western-backed and trained army stunned the world. Read more

Afghanistan is facing the collapse of basic services and food and other aid is starting to run out, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Tuesday.

US working to enable Afghanistan charter flights, Blinken says

USSecretary of State Antony Blinken said on Tuesday the United States is working to ensure charter flights carrying UScitizens and at-risk Afghans can leave Afghanistan safely.

Blinken said the United States had been conducting diplomacy with the Taliban group, which seized power in Afghanistan last month, and that Taliban officials had told Washington they will let people with travel documents freely depart Afghanistan. (Reuters)

Taliban fire shots to disperse anti-Pakistan rally: Report

The Taliban fired shots in the air Tuesday to disperse dozens of people protesting in Kabul against Pakistan's involvement in Afghan affairs, AFP staff at the scene reported.

Around 70 people, mostly women, rallied outside the Pakistani embassy, holding banners and chanting against what they said was meddling by Islamabad. (AFP)

Pakistan not setting up new camps for Afghan refugees: Interior Minister

Pakistan is not setting up any new camp to accommodate Afghan refugees trying to flee the war-ravaged neighbouring country after the Taliban seized power in Kabul, Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad has said.

Rashid said that there are no Afghan refugees at the border and the government has not established any camp in the area, the Business Recorder newspaper reported.

Afghanistan: The warlords who will decide whether civil war is likely ​​​​​​​

Unsurprisingly, the Taliban’s rapid takeover of power across Afghanistan has prompted headlines about a renewed “civil war”. This is misleading, however.

“Civil war” implies a situation where an insurgent movement is taking on a ruling government. But in 2001, it was not just the US-backed Northern Alliance that removed the Taliban from Kabul – other local commanders and political leaders were challenging their authority too.

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Seventy-eight Afghanistan evacuees released from ITBP quarantine centre

Seventy-eight people including Afghan nationals, who were evacuated from Afghanistan after Kabul fell to Taliban last month, were on Tuesday discharged from an ITBP facility here after they completed a 14-day quarantine rule in place to check the spread of coronavirus infection.

The group includes 53 people from Afghanistan (34 men, nine women and 10 children), and 25 Indians (18 men, five women and 12 children), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) spokesperson Vivek Kumar Pandey said.(PTI)

Massoud calls for Afghan resurrection against Taliban

One of the leaders of the resistance forces in Panjshir province, Ahmad Massoud, has called on the people of Afghanistan to resurrect against the Taliban.

Massoud said that people from all the classes should get together and stand for their country against the Taliban, Khaama News reported. Read more

What is Pakistan up to in Kabul?

Pakistan is campaigning passionately for an "inclusive" government in Afghanistan. From Prime Minister Imran Khan to the garrulous Foreign Minister Shah Muhammad Qureshi and the ever-reticent Army Chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa, every Pakistani leader of some consequence is making the pitch for a broad-based government under the aegis of Taliban, which has taken over the war-ravaged country in what was no more than a bloodless fight. Read more

Afghan art activist defiant as Taliban erase Kabul murals

Afghan activist Omaid Sharifi's art collective spent seven years transforming stretches of Kabul's labyrinthine concrete blast walls with colourful murals -- then the Taliban marched in.

Within weeks of the Islamists taking the capital, many of the street art pieces have been painted over, replaced by drab propaganda slogans as the Taliban reimpose their austere vision on Afghanistan.(AFP)

'We live in fear': Once embracing, Turkey turns on migrants

Ghawsuddin Mubariz was already spending restless nights worrying about being sent back to Afghanistan when a stadium full of Turkish football supporters broke into a chant calling for migrants to go home.

The 20-year-old had felt welcomed when he fled the northeastern Afghan city of Kunduz and crossed into Turkey after a three-week trek across Pakistan and Iran nearly two years ago.(AFP)

Afghan universities deserted as Taliban impose new rules

Universities in Kabul were almost empty on the first day of the Afghan school year, as professors and students wrestled with the Taliban's restrictive new rules for the classroom.

The Taliban have promised a softer rule than during their first stint in power from 1996-2001, when women's freedoms in Afghanistan were sharply curtailed and they were banned from higher education.(AFP)

Afghanistan: The way forward for India

The internationally-recognised Afghan government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (IRA), led by President Ashraf Ghani, collapsed with the capitulation of the Afghan armed forces against a marauding Taliban militia. The armed forces and a government built over 20 years withered away ahead of the scheduled withdrawal of the US-led forces. Read more

Khalsa Aid India provides help to Afghan students

Khalsa Aid India, an NGO for providing aid to needy people, Monday said it is providing ration kits and other items to Afghan students studying in Punjab

"We have been receiving emergency calls, mails, request calls from students from Afghanistan seeking immediate relief in their food and other needs. Our teams across Punjab respond to these calls immediately and we will continue assisting these students till it is required as they deserve a dignified stay in our country," Japneet Singh, trustee of the Khalsa Aid India, said in a statement. (PTI)

International community should enhance engagements with Afghanistan: Pak Foreign Minister

Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Monday urged the international community to enhance engagements with Afghanistan with positive messaging and through constructive actions.

He was talking to Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio, who was in Islamabad on a two-day visit to discuss the latest developments in Afghanistan as well as bilateral relations with Pakistan, according to a statement by the Foreign Office. (PTI)