International

19-08-2021 By SJA Jafri (Courtesy Al Jazeera) CANBERRA/ BRISBANE/ ISLAMABAD: Two refugees are taking the Australian government to court, arguing that their detention offshore was fundamentally illegal because they were children at the time. Cousins Mehdi and Adnan, who by chance travelled on the same boat from Jakarta to Australia, …

18-08-2021 By SJA Jafri + BBC KABUL/ NEW DELHI/ ISLAMABAD: The Taliban’s blisteringly fast takeover of Afghanistan has stunned security and diplomacy experts worldwide. Days after the fall of Kabul, nations are hurriedly evacuating their diplomats and citizens, leaving behind two decades of work and investments. The Taliban’s rout is …

18-08-2021 JALALABAD/ KABUL: The first pushback against the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan appeared to draw a violent response from the country’s new rulers. Reports from the local media suggested injuries, possibly even deaths as the Taliban opened fire on a protest where the national flag was unfurled. The firing comes …

18-08-2021 WASHINGTON: The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) Tuesday released a report on failures in the United States’ Afghanistan mission after the Taliban takeover of Kabul. The SIGAR report accuses US leaders of not fully comprehending Afghanistan’s political dynamics and said their priorities were influenced by their own …

18-08-2021 KABUL: The Taliban criticized Facebook for blocking freedom of speech in Afghanistan as a result of the crackdown by the US firm. A Taliban spokesman was responding to social media giant Facebook’s measure to block the Taliban and their content from its platforms, including the messaging app, WhatsApp. On …

Burqa not mandatory for women Mullah Baradar back in Afghanistan UK plans to resettle 20,000 Afghans Thousands Afghanis enter Pakistan 18-08-2021 By SJA Jafri KARACHI/ QUETTA/ ISLAMABAD/ KABUL/ WASHINGTON/ LONDON/ PARIS/ CANBERRA: Finally, after taking the control of Kabul by Taliban on 15th August 2021, the global hypocrisy, fraud and …

17-08-2021 KABUL: Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid on Tuesday said that the insurgent group does not wish to “repeat any conflict, any war”. “We want to do away with the factors for conflict. Therefore, the Islamic Emirate does not have any kind of any kind of hostility or animosity towards anybody,” he …

17-08-2021 By SJA Jafri + Bureau Report + Agencies KABUL/ ISLAMABAD/ WASHINGTON/ RIYADH/ AMMAN/ DUBAI: The Taliban have declared an “amnesty” across Afghanistan and urged women to join its government, trying to calm nerves across a tense capital city that only the day before saw chaos at its airport as …

17-08-2021 TEHRAN: Iran welcomes a peaceful transition of power in Afghanistan through a coordination council consisting of the major Afghan leaders, the spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry said, expressing hope that the problems in the neighboring country would be resolved with dialogue. Speaking at a press conference on Monday, …

17-08-2021 WASHINGTON/ TEHRAN: Iran has made progress in its work on enriched uranium metal, the UN nuclear watchdog said in a report to member states, despite Western warnings that such work threatens talks on reviving the Iran nuclear deal. The United States responded to the report by demanding that Tehran …