Afghanistan
500,000 Afghans may leave in next 4 months: UNHCR
In a statement issued on Saturday, UNHCR said that the political uncertainty following the collapse of the former government to the Taliban in mid-August will force people to start a mass migration, TOLO News reported. "While we have not seen large outflows of Afghans at this point, the situation inside Afghanistan has evolved more rapidly than anyone expected," said Kelly T. Clements, deputy high commissioner.
Terror attack against Kabul airport highly likely in 36 hrs: Joe Biden
"The situation on the ground continues to be extremely dangerous, and the threat of terrorist attacks on the airport remains high. Our commanders informed me that an attack is highly likely in the next 24-36 hours," Biden said in a statement on Saturday after meeting with his national security team.
Pentagon says US drone strike kills 2 ISIS-K targets
"Two high-profile ISIS targets were killed, one was wounded, and we know of zero civilian casualties," US Army Major General Hank Taylor told reporters in a Pentagon briefing, the Xinhua news agency reported. US Central Command initially assessed on Friday that the drone strike, which occurred in Nangarhar province of eastern Afghanistan, killed one ISIS-K planner.
Pakistan intends to run Taliban govt in Afghanistan through Haqqani network: Experts
Leaders such as Khalil-ul-Rehman Haqqani has been appointed as the new security chief of Kabul, while the son of Haqqani network founder Jalaluddin Haqqani, Abdul Aziz Abbasin, has been given the charge of managing the supplies of arms and ammunition to Taliban troopers who have been trying to get control of the Panjshir valley.
Tajikistan in global limelight as Afghanistan explodes
As events unfolded, his words have been prescient. While former president Ashraf Ghani fled - there are rumours that he did so with a helicopter full of money - his vice president Amrullah Saleh, it was rumoured, had also fled. Some accounts said he was in neighbouring Tajikistan.
After Taliban takeover, Qureshi visits Turkmenistan, tries to revive TAPI gas pipeline project
During his visit to Ashgabat, Turkmenistan's capital, on Thursday, Pakistan's foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi sought revival of the dormant project. Qureshi said that TAPI was beneficial for the entire region and Afghanistan alone would get $1 billion in transit fee and royalty after completion of the project, Paksitani daily Dawn reported.
ISI-linked Pakistani Aslam Farooqui is the mastermind behind Kabul airport attack
Aslam is the mastermind of many attacks in Kabul including the massacres at a Sikh Gurudwara and a hospital last year. The ISKP had cited "revenge" for the Muslims of Kashmir' as their motive while claiming responsibility for the 25 March Kabul Gurdwara attack in which several Afghan Sikhs and one Indian national were killed.
Italy pushing for special G20 meeting on Afghanistan
Italy's last airlift flight, carried out by a military C-130 plane, is expected to land in Rome on Saturday, bringing back "all the Italians who asked to be repatriated", Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio said on Friday. He confirmed that some 4,900 Afghan nationals who wanted to leave following the Taliban takeover of the war-ton nation have been evacuated by Italian forces during the operation, reports Xinhua news agency.
US says drone strike kills IS-K planner
"The US military forces conducted an over-the-horizon counterterrorism operation today against an IS-K planner," US Central Command spokesman Bill Urban said in a statement on Friday night. "The unmanned airstrike occurred in the Nangahar Province of Afghanistan. Initial indications are that we killed the target. We know of no civilian casualties," the statement added. Urban described the drone attack as an "over-the-horizon counterterrorism operation", the BBC reported.
Guns fall silent for now in Panjshir as talks with Taliban begin
According to news emerging from Panjshir, both the groups had their first direct talks on Wednesday and Thursday, which, so far, have remained inconclusive. The dialogue was held in Charikar, the capital of Parwan province, neighbouring Panjshir.
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