Sayed Salahuddin

Mon, 2021-12-20 21:11

WATERLOO, Canada: As the last US troops departed Kabul on Aug. 31, drawing 20 years of war in Afghanistan to a dispiriting end, Taliban commanders were quick to declare victory. Little did they know, amid their jubilation, that a new and much more complex battle was about to begin.

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All clear: Kabul begins ambitious plan to remove maze of concrete barriers

rbksa — Mon, 23 Aug 2021 22:00:50 +0000

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Sayed Salahuddin

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1629756016829789400

Tue, 2021-08-24 00:59

KABUL: Afghan authorities have initiated a colossal plan to demolish blast walls across the capital, installed to shield political leaders, government officials, and foreign missions for a major part of the past 20 years, the city’s mayor told Arab News on Monday.
Also known as a Bremer or T-wall, the 12-foot-high, steel-reinforced and portable structures are a common sight across Kabul.

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Nightmare at Kabul airport as nations step up evacuations

romulo — Mon, 23 Aug 2021 00:38:49 +0000

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Mon, 2021-08-23 03:32

KABUL: It has been two days since Zarmina, her husband, and their two children tried to get through tight security at Kabul airport to flee Afghanistan following the Taliban’s dramatic takeover of the capital and the group’s return to power.

Zarmina’s voice choked as she recalled events from the past few days, when “bullets rained on the tarmac,” as the US struggles to control the thousands thronging to Hamid Karzai International Airport in the hope of being evacuated.

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‘US left with a bad name:’ Afghanistan’s last known Jew hails Taliban’s return

malawi — Sun, 22 Aug 2021 01:33:40 +0000

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Sun, 2021-08-22 04:22

KABUL: All his bags were packed, and Zabulon Simintov was ready to go.
But since the Taliban’s stunning takeover of Kabul last week, Simintov, Afghanistan’s last known Jew, has had a change of heart and plans, saying he does not wish to leave anymore.
It’s a stark contrast from his narrative a few months ago when Simintov, in his late 50s, told Arab News he “had had enough,” explaining how he was fearful of the Taliban’s return to power as the insurgents made rapid territorial gains and US-led foreign troops began withdrawing from Afghanistan in early May.

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Several killed as protests spread to Kabul; anti-Taliban opposition supports demos

romulo — Thu, 19 Aug 2021 22:55:22 +0000

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Fri, 2021-08-20 01:40

KABUL: Protests against the Taliban takeover spread to more Afghan cities on Thursday, including the capital Kabul.

Several people were killed when Taliban militants fired on a crowd in the eastern city of Asadabad, a witness said. Another witness reported gunshots near a rally in Kabul, but they appeared to be Taliban firing into the air.

On the day Afghanistan celebrates its independence from British control in 1919, a social media video showed a crowd of men and women in Kabul waving black, red and green national flags. “Our flag, our identity,” they shouted.

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Taliban leader, former Afghan president begin crucial talks on new government

sehrish_ghaffar — Thu, 19 Aug 2021 08:30:42 +0000

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Thu, 2021-08-19 11:08

KABUL: Former Afghan President Hamid Karzai met with Anas Haqqani, a key member of the Taliban, on Wednesday, as top Taliban leaders arrived in Afghanistan to begin crucial talks for the formation of a new government.
The Haqqani Network, which was branded a terrorist group by the US in 2012, is an important faction of the Taliban who captured the Afghan capital, Kabul, in a stunning takeover on Sunday, returning to power nearly 20 years after being toppled in a US-led invasion.

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Taliban leader, former Afghan president begin crucial talks on new government

rbksa — Wed, 18 Aug 2021 21:19:29 +0000

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Sayed Salahuddin

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1629321559160101200

Thu, 2021-08-19 00:18

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Three dead as Taliban open fire on protesters

georgi.azar — Wed, 18 Aug 2021 11:58:05 +0000

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Wed, 2021-08-18 14:53

KABUL: At least three people were shot dead and more than a dozen wounded on Wednesday when Taliban fighters in Jalalabad opened fire on protesters trying to raise the Afghan flag.

The shootings came as Ashraf Ghani, the deposed president who fled the country when the Taliban swept into Kabul on Sunday, emerged in Abu Dhabi. The UAE government said it had given him and his family refuge “as a humanitarian gesture.”

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Taliban chief takes charge as militants vow ‘no revenge, respect for women’

rbksa — Tue, 17 Aug 2021 16:08:50 +0000

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Reuters

ID:

1629216093782204300

Tue, 2021-08-17 19:06

KABUL: The Taliban’s co-founder and political leader made a triumphant return to Afghanistan on Tuesday as the militants pledged peaceful relations with other countries and respect for the rights of women.

Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, who has been widely tipped to be the country’s next president, flew from Qatar to Kandahar — the Taliban’s spiritual birthplace and Afghanistan’s capital when they ruled from 1996 to 2001.

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Zabihullah Mujahid

Islamic law

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7 dead in airport mayhem as thousands flee Taliban takeover

rbksa — Mon, 16 Aug 2021 14:12:46 +0000

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AFP

ID:

1629122519895972600

Mon, 2021-08-16 11:43

KABUL: At least seven people died amid scenes of mayhem at Kabul airport on Monday as thousands of civilians tried to flee Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover.

Among the dead were people who clung on to a US Air Force C-17 transport plane as it taxied across the runway, and who plunged to the ground after the aircraft took off.

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Taliban take control of Kabul, enter presidential palace

sehrish_ghaffar — Mon, 16 Aug 2021 04:14:35 +0000

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Mon, 2021-08-16 07:10

KABUL: Taliban insurgents entered Kabul and regained control of Afghanistan on Sunday, 20 years after the US-led invasion that ousted them.

In chaotic scenes reminiscent of the fall of Saigon in 1975 at the end of the Vietnam war, American diplomatic staff were airlifted by helicopter from the US Embassy in the fortified Wazir Akbar Khan district of the Afghan capital.

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Taliban take control of Kabul, storm presidential palace

jonathan.lessware — Sun, 15 Aug 2021 19:37:20 +0000

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Sun, 2021-08-15 22:20

KABUL: Taliban insurgents entered Kabul and regained control of Afghanistan on Sunday, 20 years after the US-led invasion that ousted them.

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President Ashraf Ghani flees Afghanistan as Taliban enter Kabul

romulo — Sun, 15 Aug 2021 03:17:46 +0000

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Sun, 2021-08-15 06:14

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.

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Taliban move closer to Kabul in sweeping territorial gains

rbksa — Fri, 13 Aug 2021 18:21:21 +0000

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Reuters

ID:

1628823425196040200

Fri, 2021-08-13 21:21

KABUL: Taliban fighters overran key areas of Logar province on Friday bringing them near to Kabul, security sources confirmed, a day after the militants took control of another key city west of the Afghan capital.

Logar lies 25 km south of Kabul and serves as an artery for the capital's security. On Thursday, Taliban guerrillas seized Ghazni, a strategic town 120 km from Kabul.

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