Following the seize of energy by the Taliban in now war-torn Afghanistan, the Group of Seven (G7) leaders from the UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the USA are set to conduct an emergency assembly to proceed to face by the Afghan folks and step up help for refugees and humanitarian support.
Listed here are the newest developments:
LONDON
Taliban will likely be judged by deeds, not phrases, says Boris Johnson forward of G7 meet
The Taliban will likely be judged by its deeds slightly than phrases, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has mentioned forward of chairing an emergency G7 digital meet to coordinate worldwide response to the Afghan disaster.
Downing Avenue mentioned that through the assembly Tuesday, the UK PM will name on Group of Seven (G7) leaders from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the USA to proceed to face by the Afghan folks and step up help for refugees and humanitarian support.
In line with a Downing Avenue communique, the G7 is predicted to reiterate its dedication to safeguarding the beneficial properties made in Afghanistan over the past 20 years – particularly on ladies’ training and the rights of girls and minorities.
The assembly will happen by video convention and the NATO and UN Secretaries-Normal have additionally been invited to hitch the dialogue.
It comes because the Taliban issued a stark warning that it could not entertain any suggestion of an extension to the August 31 deadline for the US-led NATO troops to exit Kabul. – PTI
GENEVA
UN rights chief warns of abuses amid Taliban’s Afghan blitz
The UN human rights chief warned Tuesday that she had acquired credible reviews of extreme abuses in areas underneath Taliban management in Afghanistan, together with “abstract executions” of civilians and safety forces who had laid down their arms and restrictions on girls.
Michelle Bachelet urged the Human Rights Council to take “daring and vigorous motion” to watch the rights scenario in Afghanistan, the place the Taliban’s gorgeous takeover raised fears that they are going to return the nation to the brutal rule they imposed after they had been final in energy.
Amid scattered reviews, it has been troublesome to find out how widespread abuses could be, whether or not they mirror that Taliban leaders are saying one factor and doing one other, or if fighters on the bottom are taking issues into their very own palms. – PTI
AFGHANISTAN
Taliban appoint Finance Minister, Intelligence Chief in Afghanistan: report
The Taliban have appointed a brand new Finance Minister, an Intelligence Chief, and an performing Inside Minister in Afghanistan, the Pajhwok information company reported on Tuesday.
It mentioned Gul Agha can be the Finance Minister and Sadr Ibrahim can be the performing Inside Minister. Najibullah can be Intelligence Chief, whereas Mullah Shirin can be Kabul Governor and Hamdullah Nomani the Mayor of the capital metropolis, Kabul. – REUTERS
INTERNATIONAL
China says U.S. military have to be held accountable for Afghanistan actions
China’s envoy to the U.N. in Geneva mentioned on Tuesday that the U.S. military and the militaries of different coalition companions must be held accountable for alleged rights violations they dedicated in Afghanistan.
“The US, UK, Australia and different international locations have to be held accountable for the violation of human rights dedicated by their army in Afghanistan and the evolution of this present session ought to cowl this subject,” China’s ambassador Chen Xu advised an emergency session of the Human Rights Council on Afghanistan.
“Below the banner of democracy and human rights the US and different international locations perform army interventions in different sovereign states and impose their very own mannequin on international locations with vastly completely different historical past and tradition,” he mentioned, saying this introduced “nice struggling”. – REUTERS
PAKISTAN
Pakistan urges ‘inclusive’ cope with Taliban
Pakistan’s Overseas Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi mentioned on Tuesday that an inclusive political settlement is one of the best ways ahead for peace and stability in Afghanistan following the Taliban takeover. Pakistan absolutely helps efforts in that path, he added.
In line with a overseas ministry assertion, Mr. Qureshi made the remarks in a telephone name along with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, concerning the scenario in Afghanistan.
Pakistan’s Overseas Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi. File
| Photograph Credit score: AP
The assertion says Mr. Qureshi advised Mr. Lavrov {that a} peaceable and secure Afghanistan was of important significance for Pakistan and the area. It mentioned that Mr. Qureshi knowledgeable Mr. Lavrov about Pakistan’s outreach to regional international locations for consultations on the challenges arising out of developments in Afghanistan.
Mr. Qureshi is predicted to depart for Uzbekistan on August 24. He’s set to journey to Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Iran to debate Afghan developments. – PTI
INDIA
India’s evacuation mission from Afghanistan named “Operation Devi Shakti”
India’s advanced mission to evacuate its residents and Afghan companions from Kabul after its swift takeover by the Taliban final week has been named “Operation Devi Shakti”.
The title of the operation was identified when Exterior Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar talked about it in a tweet on Tuesday whereas referring to the arrival of a recent batch of 78 evacuees in Delhi.
India started the advanced evacuation mission by airlifting 40 Indians from Kabul to Delhi on August 16, a day after the Taliban seized management of the Afghan capital metropolis.
To this point, India has evacuated over 800 folks amid a deteriorating safety scenario in Kabul.- PTI
INTERNATIONAL
India evacuates 77 individuals from Afghanistan, extra flights anticipated
A particular flight of Air India arrived right here on Tuesday morning carrying 77 stranded persons from Kabul, together with 46 Afghan Sikhs and Hindus. The passengers introduced three Shri Guru Granth Sahib from numerous Gurudwaras in Afghanistan. The travellers had been evacuated on Monday from Kabul in an Indian Air Drive flight and spent the evening at Dushanbe earlier than being airlifted in a particular Air India flight.
Minister of State for Exterior Affairs V. Muraleedharan and the Union Minister for Housing and City Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri acquired the Sikh holy books on the Delhi airport.
India is prone to function a couple of extra flights to evacuate Afghan and stranded Indian residents within the coming days, mentioned Mr. Chandhoke. Kabul continued to stay tense with tons of of individuals pouring in from numerous components of Afghanistan on the airport which stays underneath the management of the U.S. forces.
India has maintained concentrate on evacuating Sikhs and Hindus whereas additionally serving to a number of the lawmakers and officers related to the federal government of President Ashraf Ghani. – Kallol Bhattacherjee
AI 1956, A particular flight of Air India, enroute to Delhi from Dushanbe carrying 78 passengers, together with 25 Indian nationals.
| Photograph Credit score: Twitter-Arindam Bagchi@MEAIndia
India evacuates 77 persons from Afghanistan, more flights expected
JAKARTA
Afghan refugees in Indonesia name for expedited resettlement
Tons of of Afghan refugees protested in Indonesia on Tuesday towards a chronic resettlement course of, saying they wanted to be provided new properties now that repatriation was out of the query with the return of the Taliban.
1000’s of refugees from Afghanistan, most of them from the Hazara ethnic minority, who’ve lengthy been persecuted by the Taliban, have lived in Indonesia for years as they await resettlement in third international locations resembling Canada or Australia.
“Up to now 12 months the UNHCR has been telling us there is just one % probability of resettlement,” refugee Hakmat Ziraki mentioned.
“Right this moment we come right here to ask ‘what’s your reply now? Are you continue to encouraging voluntary repatriation’?” “Our individuals are dying day-after-day,” he mentioned. “We want some justice, we want resettlement.”
Indonesia shouldn’t be a signatory to the 1951 U.N. Conference on Refugees and is predominately seen as a transit nation for these searching for asylum to a 3rd nation. – REUTERS
INTERNATIONAL
Contemplating Afghanistan gamers’ psychological well being, collection towards Pakistan postponed
Afghanistan’s three-match ODI collection towards Pakistan has been postponed indefinitely attributable to logistical points and protecting in thoughts the psychological well being of the gamers following Taliban’s takeover of the strife-torn nation.
Afghanistan’s three-match ODI collection towards Pakistan has been postponed indefinitely attributable to logistical points and protecting in thoughts the psychological well being of the gamers following Taliban’s takeover of the strife-torn nation. File
| Photograph Credit score: AP
Afghanistan was imagined to host Pakistan in Sri Lanka from September 3 however on Monday, each the ACB and PCB mutually agreed to host the collection in Pakistan.
Nevertheless, later within the day, ACB got here to the conclusion that it was finest to place the collection on maintain with its gamers not getting sufficient time to organize as a result of regime change within the nation. The flight operations have additionally been suspended at Kabul airport.
“Because of the general circumstances together with psychological well being of the gamers, we needed to postpone the collection,” mentioned ACB CEO Hamid Shinwari.
Mr. Shinwari had earlier mentioned that he doesn’t anticipate cricket to face any points underneath Taliban rule because it has “all the time supported the sport”.
Each the boards will attempt to reschedule the collection in 2022. – PTI
LONDON
Britain ‘not going to get’ everybody out of Kabul
Britain says it has evacuated 8,600 U.Ok. residents and Afghans from Kabul in current days, 2,000 of them within the final 24 hours.
However Protection Secretary Ben Wallace conceded that “we’re not going to get all people in a foreign country” earlier than the U.S.-led mission ends on August 31.
Britain and different allies are urgent President Joe Biden to increase the evacuation previous the date agreed with the Taliban. However Wallace advised it’s unlikely Biden will agree. – AP
WASHINGTON
US says it’s targeted on finishing evacuation from Afghanistan by Aug 31
The Biden Administration on Monday mentioned it’s now targeted on finishing its evacuation mission from Afghanistan by August 31, the deadline for eradicating all American troops from the nation.
Nevertheless, a ultimate resolution to increase the evacuation mission from the Kabul airport can be taken by President Joe Biden, in keeping with officers from the White Home, the State Division and the Pentagon.
The US at the moment has 5,800 troops on the Kabul airport, who’re primarily engaged in evacuating its residents and all these Afghans who helped the USA throughout its keep within the nation for the final 20 years. – PTI
AFGHANISTAN
Taliban takeover prompts fears of a resurgent Al-Qaida
The lightning-fast adjustments in Afghanistan are forcing the Biden administration to confront the prospect of a resurgent Al-Qaida, the group that attacked America on September 11, 2001, on the identical time the US is making an attempt to watch violent extremism at dwelling and cyber assaults from Russia and China.
With the fast withdrawal of US forces and rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan, “I feel Al-Qaida has a chance, and they will benefit from that chance,” says Chris Costa, who was senior director for counter-terrorism within the Trump administration. – PTI
LONDON
Evacuation window at Kabul airport unlikely to be prolonged, says UK Defence Minister
Western governments are unlikely to increase the evacuation window to permit their residents and Afghans extra time to fly out of Kabul airport, Britain’s defence minister Ben Wallace mentioned.
Mr. Wallace advised he was uncertain there can be an extension “not solely due to what the Taliban has mentioned but in addition in case you have a look at the general public statements of President Biden, I feel it’s unlikely.”
“It’s undoubtedly value us all making an attempt and we are going to,” he added. – REUTERS
LONDON
Different G7 leaders to press Biden to increase Kabul evacuation deadline
U.S. President Joe Biden will face stress to increase an August 31 deadline to evacuate hundreds searching for to flee the Taliban in Afghanistan when he meets Group of Seven (G7) leaders at a digital assembly on Tuesday.
Western nations are struggling to convey dwelling their very own residents and determined Afghans massing at Kabul airport are searching for to flee the nation fearing reprisals after Taliban militants seized management simply over every week in the past.
It has led to chaotic scenes on the airport, with some 20 folks killed in stampedes and shootings, amid a panic to catch flights in a foreign country earlier than the USA and its allies pull out their troops.
The style of the withdrawal, 20 years after the U.S.-led invasion to oust the Taliban following the September 11, 2001, assaults, has strained tensions between Washington and different Western capitals, the place there was dismay at its timing and the way it has been carried out. – REUTERS
WASHINGTON
Taliban rule presents support businesses with ethical, fiscal dilemma
As overseas governments, support establishments and firms scramble to evacuate employees from Afghanistan, a vital query is rising: ought to they interact with the ruling Taliban or abandon years of funding within the nation and 38 million Afghans?
For overseas support businesses the scenario presents “a paradox,” mentioned Robert Crews, a Stanford College historical past professor and creator of the 2015 ebook “Afghan Fashionable: The Historical past of a World Nation.”
“In case you are an support employee at a state hospital, you might be serving a regime whose legitimacy is within the steadiness,” he mentioned. “But when all people goes dwelling, will the state collapse?”
Afghanistan’s authorities price range is 70% to 80% funded by worldwide donors, together with the U.S. Company for Worldwide Growth (USAID), mentioned Michael McKinley, who served as ambassador to Afghanistan in 2015 and 2016.
The nation faces financial collapse with out that support.
Whereas overseas governments and support teams evacuate hundreds of individuals, they’re leaving billions of {dollars} in initiatives hanging within the steadiness, a lot of it by way of the Afghanistan Reconstruction Belief Fund. – REUTERS
