Afghanistan

What is life like for those left behind when the last foreign troops flew out of Afghanistan? Four people from cities and provinces around the country told the BBC they had lost basic freedoms and were struggling to survive.

Oh. So it’s sorta like a Covid lockdown.

In the aftermath of the American withdrawal from Afghanistan, there’s going to be a refugee crisis. The Taliban’s reign will be brutal, but that’s only the start of Afghanistan’s problems. As Andrew Stuttaford explained on August 24, the Afghan economy is going to collapse, and it threatens to undo all of the gains in the standard of living the country made over the past 20 years.

Many who oppose allowing Afghan refugees to resettle in the United States wonder why they don’t go live in other Muslim countries instead. After all, they argue, refugees would be able to assimilate better in countries more similar to the one they are leaving, and the U.S. wouldn’t have to support any new people as they adjust to a completely different culture — win-win.

ROME, Italy — Pope Francis launched an appeal for Afghan refugees Sunday, calling for prayers and generous reception of those seeking asylum.

“In these agitated moments that see Afghans seeking refuge, I pray for the most vulnerable among them,” the pope told the crowds gathered in Saint Peter’s Square for his weekly Angelus address.

“I pray that many countries will welcome and protect those who seek a new life,” the pontiff continued. “I also pray for internally displaced people to have the necessary assistance and protection.”

As the world tries to absorb the shock of Taliban’s return to Kabul, officials in Western democracies are launching a debate on how to deal with the new masters of Afghanistan.

So far the main theme in this debate seems to be a desire to recognize the gun-toting “religious students” as the legitimate government of that long-suffering land. However, to ward off charges of appeasing a terrorist group, Western officials set a number of conditions before the implied recognition is granted. French President Emmanuel Macron, on a visit to Baghdad, has set four conditions while British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has unveiled four conditions of his own.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said Friday that his department has flagged some Afghan evacuees as potential security risks and blocked them from reaching the U.S., and he vowed to make America’s safety the core of the airlift.

Mr. Mayorkas, in his first briefing on the airlift, said those who reach the U.S. will be resettled in the country, and said it’s a commitment the U.S. owes to those who helped the American effort or who face dangers from the Taliban takeover of their home country.

OTTAWA — With the United States and its allies, Canada included, having left Afghanistan firmly in the hands of the Taliban, another world power is stepping into the void to exert its influence on the troubled country — China.

Analysts predict that could transform the recent political foe into an unexpected Western ally on a shared priority: fighting terrorist groups within Afghanistan and preventing them from threatening neighbouring countries.

Sounds a tad optimistic. But then Justin is a miracle worker.

A pregnant woman from California who is stranded in Afghanistan said the Taliban is “hunting” Americans now that the US military has withdrawn from the country​.​

The woman, identified by her first name, Nasria, to protect her from reprisals, is among the up to 200 Americans still trapped in Afghanistan.

“There’s been days, you know, where I think to myself, ‘Am I going to make it home? Am I going to end up living here? Am I going to end up dying here?​’​” Nasria ​told Voice of America in an interview recorded on Friday. ​

More … Top Republican says Taliban holding Americans

WASHINGTON — The top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee says some Americans who have been trying to get out of Afghanistan since the U.S. military left are sitting in airplanes at an airport ready to leave but the Taliban are not letting them take off.

Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas says there are six airplanes at the Mazar-e-Sharif airport with American citizens on board, along with their Afghan interpreters, and the Taliban are “holding them hostage” right now.

I bet all the right people are shocked at this development.

Taliban militants in Afghanistan have shot dead a policewoman in a provincial city, relatives have told the BBC.

The woman, named in local media as Banu Negar, was killed at the family home in front of relatives in Firozkoh, the capital of central Ghor province.

The killing comes amid increasing reports of escalating repression of women in Afghanistan.

The BBC has asked Taliban authorities for comment. The local Taliban promised to investigate, the family says.

In the words of SIGAR Special Inspector John Sopko, the West “poured in too much money, too quickly and above all with too little control”, which allowed warlords and local bosses to become extremely rich.

The Taliban takeover that followed the ignominious US-led retreat; the ouster of the West-backed government has spurred a re-evaluation of overseas aid to Afghanistan, its extent and placement.

Several experts have argued that the lack of control over aid to Afghanistan may have actually exacerbated the situation in the war-torn country.

The Biden administration has pulled off a military-political defeat that gets worse the more you look at it

It was quite the handover at Kabul airport this week. The last American troops to exit Afghanistan reportedly left facing an ‘elite unit’ of the Taliban. In a season finale that the most dystopian screenwriter would have struggled to invent, the elite Taliban unit was itself bedecked in US military kit. That is, they were not only wearing uniforms and protective kit provided by the fleeing US army, but were parading the airport with US-provided guns in US-provided vehicles.