President Ashraf Ghani flees Afghanistan as Taliban enter Kabul

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A US military helicopter is pictured flying above of US embassy in Kabul on August 15, 2021. (AFP)
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Taliban fighters pose on the back of a vehicle in the city of Herat, west of Kabul, Afghanistan, on Aug. 14, 2021. On Sunday, they seized the key city of Jalalabad. (AP Photo/Hamed Sarfarazi)
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Updated 15 August 2021
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President Ashraf Ghani flees Afghanistan as Taliban enter Kabul

  • Embassies rush to evacuate staff as helicopters buzz through the Afghan capital's skies
  • Talks on formation of a transitional government ongoing

KABUL: The president of Afghanistan, Ashraf Ghani, fled Kabul on Sunday as Afghans and foreign embassy staff rushed to leave the capital after the Taliban said it would enter the city.

Taliban fighters made dramatic gains on Sunday, entering the outskirts of the capital, Kabul, as the US deployed troops to evacuate thousands of people, government officials said.

Abdullah Abdullah, the head of the Afghan National Reconciliation Council, said Ghani had left and blamed him for the country’s situation.

 

 

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken rejected comparisons to the America’s withdrawal from Vietnam as helicopters flew in and out of the US compound in Kabul. He said embassy staff in Kabul were leaving the compound and heading to the airport.

Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, said the militants had ordered its fighters to enter the Afghan capital Kabul to prevent looting after local police deserted their posts.

Earlier, Mujahid said the Taliban had no intention of “entering Kabul by force or war, but is holding talks with the other side for a peaceful entrance to Kabul.”

He did not explain who the “other side was” but assured Afghans that “life, honor and property of people will be protected”, before ordering the Taliban to “remain at the gates of Kabul and avoid revenge.”

Acting interior minister Abdul Sattar Mirzakawal, in a video message confirmed talks on formation of a transitional government, said: “The people of Kabul should not worry, the city is secure. Whoever causes disorder will be dealt with decisively.

The security of the city is guaranteed, the city will not be attacked.... and the deal is to transfer power peacefully to the leadership of a transitional administration inshallah... Kabul is safe, be assured,” he said in a recorded speech.

An Afghan official said forces at Bagram air base, home to a prison housing 5,000 inmates, have surrendered to the Taliban.

Bagram district chief Darwaish Raufi said Sunday that the surrender handed the one-time American base over to the insurgents.

The prison housed both Taliban and Daesh fighters.

The last pockets of resistance in the major city of Mazar-i-Sharif fell to the Taliban overnight. By Sunday, the group had seized the key city of Jalalabad in the east and the adjacent areas of Laghman and Maidan Wardak some 20 kilometers to the west of Kabul, they said.

 

 

With the latest victories, since a surge in attacks over a week ago, the Taliban controls all key border crossings with neighboring countries. Besides Kabul, they have seized all major cities and several airports in Afghanistan.

The conquests appear to have delivered a final blow to President Ghani’s diminishing powers as the remaining US-led foreign troops aimed to withdraw by Aug. 31.

In the face of the Taliban’s gains and fear of deteriorating security, US troops on Saturday evening arrived in Kabul to evacuate thousands of people, including embassy staff, Afghan employees and their families, according to media reports.

 

 

“The government is now confined only to Kabul, and few other provinces which are vulnerable to Taliban attacks or authorities there too may surrender to the Taliban like some other provinces,” Taj Mohammad, a Kabul based analyst, told Arab News.

“The fall of towns and cities happen in a very dramatic way, and who knows how soon other areas, including Kabul, will fall,” he added.

Besides Mazar-i-Sharif, several provincial capitals fell to the insurgent group without much resistance.

The head of government-appointed public uprising forces, Ustad Atta Mohammad, said that the city, close to the border with Uzbekistan, was taken over through “a plot”, but he did not say who was behind it.

Atta and other regional commanders, including Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum, are believed to have fled to Uzbekistan, like the 1998 take of Mazar by the Taliban.

Authorities have refused to explain the Taliban’s sweeping gains since US-led troops began their departure on May 1.

In a televised address to the nation on Saturday, Ghani said he was “aware of public’s concern about their future” and vowed to focus on preventing “further violence and instability” without elaborating on details.

The president, who had been under fire to quit power, said his top priority would be “remobilizing security and defense forces” after consultation with national leaders and the international community.

“In the speech, Ghani opened the door to another speech where the real news will be announced. So, stayed tuned for Kabul President’s next speech,” Torek Farhadi, an adviser for the former government, told a local TV channel.

Since last week, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has discussed the security situation twice with Ghani.

US officials said Blinken’s latest phone call focused on discussions over “the current security situation as well as our urgent diplomatic and political efforts to reduce violence.”

While the Taliban gains ground, the US has not stopped its efforts to broker a deal in Doha, Qatar, between Taliban and government-appointed negotiators.

Major powers such as the US and Britain have warned the Taliban against a military takeover but argue a complete Taliban takeover was not “inevitable.”

UN Secretary-General António Guterres has said he is “deeply disturbed” by accounts of poor treatment of women in areas seized by the Taliban, who imposed an ultra-austere brand of Islam on Afghanistan during their rule from 1996 to 2001.

“It is particularly horrifying and heartbreaking to see reports of the hard-won rights of Afghan girls and women being ripped away,” Guterres said.

The scale and speed of the Taliban’s advances have shocked Afghans and the US-led alliance that poured billions into the country after toppling the Taliban in the wake of the September 11 attacks nearly 20 years ago.

“People think like other parts of the country, the Taliban will take Kabul too because morale is low among troops, people are tired of war and the soldiers not willing to sacrifice their lives for the corrupt leaders of Kabul,” retired colonel Mohammad Hassan, who serves as a security analyst, told Arab News.

– With agencies


Zelensky says Ukraine war will end ‘sooner’ with Trump in office

Updated 5 sec ago
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Zelensky says Ukraine war will end ‘sooner’ with Trump in office

KYIV: Ukrainian President Voldymyr Zelensky said Friday that Russia’s war against his country will “end sooner” than it otherwise would have done once Donald Trump becomes US president next year.
“It is certain that the war will end sooner with the policies of the team that will now lead the White House. This is their approach, their promise to their citizens,” Zelensky said in an interview with Ukrainian media outlet Suspilne.

Russian air defenses down Ukrainian drones in different regions

Updated 4 min 1 sec ago
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Russian air defenses down Ukrainian drones in different regions

Russian air defense units intercepted a series of Ukrainian drones in several Russian regions, officials said, many of them in Kursk region, where Ukrainian troops launched a major incursion in August.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said air defenses downed 15 drones in Kursk region on the Ukrainian border. It said units downed one drone each in Bryansk region, also on the border, and in Lipetsk region, further north.
The ministry said one drone was downed in central Oryol region.
And the governor of Belgorod region, a frequent target on the Ukrainian border, said a series of attacks had smashed windows in an apartment building and caused other damage, but no casualties were reported.


The daughters of Malcolm X sue the CIA, FBI and NYPD over the civil rights leader’s assassination

Updated 34 min 8 sec ago
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The daughters of Malcolm X sue the CIA, FBI and NYPD over the civil rights leader’s assassination

  • The NYPD and CIA did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Nicholas Biase, a spokesperson for the Department of Justice, which was also sued, declined comment

NEW YORK: Three daughters of Malcolm X have accused the CIA, FBI, the New York Police Department and others in a $100 million lawsuit Friday of playing roles in the 1965 assassination of the civil rights leader.
In the lawsuit filed in Manhattan federal court, the daughters — along with the Malcolm X estate — claimed that the agencies were aware of and were involved in the assassination plot and failed to stop the killing.
At a morning news conference, attorney Ben Crump stood with family members as he described the lawsuit, saying he hoped federal and city officials would read it “and learn all the dastardly deeds that were done by their predecessors and try to right these historic wrongs.”
The NYPD and CIA did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Nicholas Biase, a spokesperson for the Department of Justice, which was also sued, declined comment. The FBI said in an email that it was its “standard practice” not to comment on litigation.
For decades, more questions than answers have arisen over who was to blame for the death of Malcolm X, who was 39 years old when he was slain on Feb. 21, 1965, at the Audubon Ballroom on West 165th Street in Manhattan as he spoke to several hundred people. Born Malcolm Little in Omaha, Nebraska, Malcolm X later changed his name to El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz.
Three men were convicted of crimes in the death but two of them were exonerated in 2021 after investigators took a fresh look at the case and concluded some evidence was shaky and authorities had held back some information.
In the lawsuit, the family said the prosecution team suppressed the government’s role in the assassination.
The lawsuit alleges that there was a “corrupt, unlawful, and unconstitutional” relationship between law enforcement and “ruthless killers that went unchecked for many years and was actively concealed, condoned, protected, and facilitated by government agents,” leading up to the murder of Malcolm X.
According to the lawsuit, the NYPD, coordinating with federal law enforcement agencies, arrested the activist’s security detail days before the assassination and intentionally removed their officers from inside the ballroom where Malcolm X was killed. Meanwhile, it adds, federal agencies had personnel, including undercover agents, in the ballroom but failed to protect him.
The lawsuit was not brought sooner because the defendants withheld information from the family, including the identities of undercover “informants, agents and provocateurs” and what they knew about the planning that preceded the attack.
Malcolm X’s wife, Betty Shabazz, the plaintiffs, “and their entire family have suffered the pain of the unknown” for decades, the lawsuit states.
“They did not know who murdered Malcolm X, why he was murdered, the level of NYPD, FBI and CIA orchestration, the identity of the governmental agents who conspired to ensure his demise, or who fraudulently covered-up their role,” it states. “The damage caused to the Shabazz family is unimaginable, immense, and irreparable.”
The family announced its intention to sue the law enforcement agencies early last year.

 


Japan marks modern-day adventurer’s final stop on 46,000 km trek across Asia

Updated 23 min 7 sec ago
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Japan marks modern-day adventurer’s final stop on 46,000 km trek across Asia

  • Omar Nok traveled the farthest he could in Asia without getting on a plane

TOKYO: Japan is seeing a record boom in tourism, but one recent visitor traveled more than the circumference of the earth to get there, using boats, trains, camels, and even hitchhiking.
Modern-day adventurer Omar Nok became a social media celebrity, attracting more than 750,000 Instagram followers, as he documented his circuitous 46,239 kilometer (28,732 miles) route from Egypt across a dozen countries without once boarding a plane.
“From when I was a little kid, before realizing what travel is, I already wanted to come to Japan,” Cairo native Nok, 30, said in an interview in Tokyo. “But for me, I don’t want to miss anything in between...so that’s the motivation to just go without flying to see as much as I can.”
The sharp weakening of the yen has made Japan a bargain travel destination, attracting nearly 27 million visitors in the nine months to September. It’s been an economic boon as well, with tourists spending 5.86 trillion yen ($37.58 billion) so far, a record.
For Nok, the country represented the furthest he could travel in Asia without getting a plane. He arrived by ferry in the southwestern city of Fukuoka last month and then meandered his way to Tokyo on Nov. 7, 274 days after leaving home. By comparison, a direct flight from Cairo to Tokyo takes about 12 hours.
The veteran traveler previously logged lengthy trips through Europe and the Americas, but nothing like this. The first day was the hardest, Nok said, when his father dropped him off at Red Sea port of Safaga to board a cargo boat for Saudi Arabia.
He was nervous about stepping into the unknown, venturing into central Asian countries where he didn’t speak the language and where few tourists tread. But armed with words of encouragement from his father, he stepped onto the ship, and his nerves melted away.
On his trek, he hitchhiked to Islam’s holy city of Makkah, sandboarded the dunes of Iran, broke down in the Tajikistan mountains in a purple Dodge Challenger driven by another adventurer, and crossed parts of Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan riding horses and camels.
Previously a financial analyst for Amazon in Germany and Luxembourg, Nok funded his journey through savings and extremely frugal spending. His daily expenses came to about $25, although his entire two-week run through Afghanistan cost just $88, he said.
Throughout it all, Nok said he never felt in danger because generous strangers looked out for him wherever he found himself. That message resounded among his online fans as a welcome spark of hope at a time of war and political strife in much of the world.
“I’m always just moving around like locals would, and being in situations where locals would step in to help,” Nok said. “I think people wanted to see that positive side to all the countries that they only hear negative things about.”


At summit under Trump shadow, Xi and Biden signal turbulence ahead

Updated 2 min 43 sec ago
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At summit under Trump shadow, Xi and Biden signal turbulence ahead

  • Xi Jinping raises concerns about “spreading unilateralism and protectionism”
  • Biden says world had “reached a moment of significant political change”

LIMA: US President Joe Biden and Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on Friday warned of turbulent times ahead, in remarks at an Asia-Pacific economic summit in Lima overshadowed by Donald Trump’s impending return to the White House.
The men, who will hold their last, official face-to-face Saturday, warned separately of choppy waters as the world braces for the prospect of fresh trade wars after Trump assumes the presidency in January.
Xi raised concerns about “spreading unilateralism and protectionism,” China’s state news agency Xinhua reported.
He also cautioned against “fragmentation of the world economy” in a written speech prepared for a meeting of CEOs on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, Xinhua said.
Biden, for his part, said the world had “reached a moment of significant political change,” as he met the leaders of Japan and South Korea — key US allies in Asia.
The trilateral partnership, Biden said, was “built to last. That’s my hope and expectation.”
Xi and Biden are in the Peruvian capital for a two-day meeting of heads of state of the 21-member APEC group.
They separately met Friday with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, who called for cooperation for the sake of “stability and peace in the region,” according to the Yonhap news agency.
China is an ally of North Korea, with which Seoul remains technically at war and whose leader Kim Jong Un has engaged in escalatory rhetoric and military posturing this year.
Biden, for his part, warned of North Korea’s “dangerous and destabilizing cooperation with Russia” amid growing concerns about nuclear-armed Pyongyang sending troops to fight in Ukraine.

APEC, created in 1989 with the goal of regional trade liberalization, represents about 60 percent of world GDP and more than 40 percent of global commerce.
The 2024 summit program was to focus on trade and investment for what proponents dubbed inclusive growth.
But uncertainty over Trump’s next moves clouds the agenda — as it does for the COP29 climate talks underway in Azerbaijan, and a G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro next week.
The Republican president-elect has signaled a confrontational approach to Beijing for his second term, threatening to impose tariffs of up to 60 percent on imports of Chinese goods to even out what he says is a trade imbalance.
Xi was not present for Friday’s summit opening, but Biden attended with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken — whom Trump has said he will seek to replace with Senator Marco Rubio, a China hawk.
US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said Saturday’s Xi-Biden meeting will be an opportunity to “mark the progress that we’ve made in the relationship and also to manage it through this delicate period of transition.”
Competition with China, he told reporters on Air Force One Thursday, must be managed “so it doesn’t veer into conflict.”

Trump’s “America First” agenda is based on protectionist trade policies, increased domestic fossil fuel extraction and avoiding foreign conflicts.
It threatens alliances Biden has built on issues ranging from the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East to climate change and trade.
Economists say Trump’s threat of punitive tariffs would harm not only China’s economy but also that of the United States and its trading partners.
It could also threaten geopolitical stability.
China is building up its military capacity while ramping up pressure on self-governed Taiwan, which it claims as part of its territory.
China isn’t the only APEC economy in Trump’s crosshairs.
The incoming US leader has threatened tariffs of 25 percent or more on goods coming from Mexico unless it stops an “onslaught of criminals and drugs” crossing the border.
The APEC summit is also attended by Chile, Canada, Australia and Indonesia, among others.
Russia is additionally part of APEC but President Vladimir Putin was absent.