Taliban

Middle East 09/17/21, 03:57

U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa, a San Diego Republican, said in a statement Wednesday, Sept. 15, that he has helped a San Diego area couple in their 80s who are both U.S. citizens return to San Diego after weeks of being harassed and frightened by the Taliban while attempting to reach ...

Middle East 09/15/21, 19:23

The Taliban killed a UK-trained Afghan sniper in front of his family on Monday, a former British army colonel on operations alongside the slain man told The Times of London.   The victim, who belonged to an elite UK-trained unit, was 28 years old and hiding in Kabul, hoping not to be found by ...

D.C. 09/15/21, 17:18

A group of Republicans led by Florida Senator Marco Rubio will introduce legislation designating the Taliban as a foreign terrorist organization and recognizing their government as a de facto terrorism-promoting administration. According to Fox News, Rubio is expected to introduce the legislation on Wednesday, Sept. 15, intending to prohibit federal departments and ...

U.S. 09/14/21, 23:57

A ranking Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee chose a former broadcast journalist to probe Joe Biden's withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan on Sept. 14. Rep. Michael McCaul (Texas) recently selected former CNN national security reporter Ryan Browne to investigate the Joe Biden administration's "disastrous" withdrawal from Kabul. "I look ...

Middle East 09/14/21, 21:36

Taliban fighters have been appointed to run the same prison complex that once held them on Sept. 13. Pul-e Charkhi is under new management, and will be run by ex-convicts who once inhabited the very cell blocks they now administrate about 20 kilometers (13 miles) east of downtown Kabul. BL understands this ...

D.C. 09/13/21, 22:46

Joe Biden's top foreign policy adviser will testify about the U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan. Antony Blinken is widely expected to be strongly criticized when he appears before the House of Representatives and U.S. Senate on Sept. 14 and 15. Republicans will seize on their opportunity to grill the secretary of state ...

Middle East 09/13/21, 19:59

A militant Sunni Islamist chief, who many thought was dead, made a video appearance on Sept. 11. Ayman al-Zawahri's video message on the 20th anniversary of 9/11 caught some observers off-guard. The al-Qaeda leader, who was previously rumored to have died several month ago, praised the terrorist group's January attacks on Russian ...

U.S. 09/13/21, 18:04

A structure dedicated to thousands of lives lost in the nation's deadliest terrorist attack was defaced on Sept. 11. Mourning South Carolinians were shocked to find the Greenville 9/11 memorial covered in graffiti. The words "Taliban" were spray painted on a pair of granite slabs, resembling the World Trade Center's Twin ...

Middle East 09/11/21, 19:22

The Taliban killed one of the prominent leaders of the sole resistance force in Afghanistan on Friday, Sept. 11.  The leader, Rohullah Azizi, and his driver were shot to death in their car at a checkpoint north of Panjshir valley, the Associated Press reported. It was unclear where he was heading ...

Middle East 09/09/21, 20:15

A U.S. official on Thursday, Sept. 9, said that the new Afghanistan government had allowed some foreign citizens to leave the country, days after reports they held back several flights emerged. According to Reuters, the Taliban had allowed two hundred internationals to leave on charter flights from Kabul, some of which ...

Middle East 09/08/21, 16:22

During an interview on Tuesday night, Sept. 7, former President Donald Trump spared no criticism of the Biden administration, focusing his comments on the "disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan" and expressing concern that they had empowered the Taliban who seized power with military hardware. During an interview with NewsMax in the context ...

Middle East 09/08/21, 02:44

A majority of likely U.S. voters approve deploying military force to rescue the Americans left behind in Afghanistan by the United States.According to a Rasmussen poll issued on Monday, Sept. 6, 69 percent of likely U.S. voters believe the U.S. should use military force if necessary to rescue Americans left ...

Middle East 09/08/21, 02:33

The Taliban announced its new all-male caretaker government on Tuesday, Sept. 7, and the top positions were granted to members with concerning profiles. Despite promises to be inclusive, the new leadership was emptied of elites from the ousted government, including women, per Reuters. The newly named prime minister, Mullah Hasan Akhund was ...

Middle East 09/07/21, 18:04

Joe Biden's administration was in no hurry to acknowledge a militant group's new leadership in Afghanistan on Sept. 7. The White House refused to state its position on the Taliban's interim government, led by Mullah Mohammad Hassan Akhund. "There is no rush to recognition [and] it is really going to be dependent ...

Middle East 09/07/21, 16:53

Secretary of State Antony Blinken dismissed rumors that charter flights carrying American citizens were prevented from departing Afghanistan on Sept. 7. Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) had accused the Taliban if delayed at least six flights departing from Mazar-i-Sharif airport in the Middle Eastern country's northern region. He slammed the restriction of ...

Middle East 09/06/21, 22:34

A group of rebels will stay loyal to the previous Afghan government, and refuse to let a militant group seize control of the Middle Eastern country despite a major setback on Sept. 6. National Resistance Front (NRF) refused to surrender after Taliban forces declared victory in the last standing region, Panjshir ...

Middle East 09/06/21, 16:10

A female Afghan police officer, who was eight months pregnant, is believed to have been killed by Taliban fighters this week.  The BBC, which first reported the incident, said from three sources that the Taliban assaulted the policewoman, Banu Negar, in front of her family on Saturday.  Allegedly, three Arabic-speaking armed men ...

Middle East 09/06/21, 01:54

Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) on Sunday, Sept. 5, painted a disturbing picture for Americans in Afghanistan—the Taliban will not let them leave without certain conditions being met.  McCaul, the top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, revealed up to six airplanes carrying U.S. citizens and Afghan evacuees at the Mazar-i-Sharif ...

Middle East 09/05/21, 16:46

Afghanistan is more likely to descend into civil war as confrontations between the Taliban and remaining Afghan forces continue in the Panjshir Valley, on Sept. 4. This is the dire outlook of a top U.S. official. "My military estimate is that the conditions are likely to develop into a civil war," ...

Middle East 09/05/21, 16:38

As the U.S. military and State Department hurried to evacuate American citizens and Afghan allies from Kabul’s airport, Taliban checkpoints shut many individuals off from freedom and safety—and reports on the ground suggest the terrorists are summarily murdering civilians.Nasria, a pregnant California resident, arrived in Afghanistan in June to ...