Afghanistan crisis: Taliban go door-to-door telling fearful Afghans to work

Former US President Donald Trump has blamed his successor Joe Biden for the Afghanistan mess. He is not alone, as many have questioned US's strategy after horrific scenes of chaos emerged from Kabul as Taliban took over. Meanwhile, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said his government has no plans to recognise the Taliban as the legitimate government of Afghanistan.

PTI photo

Kabul/Washington: Donald Trump has hit out at Joe Biden, squarely blaming him for the mess that Afghanistan is in. And Biden has been facing criticsim from several corners in the last few days.

Also unlike what President Biden was trying to assure the public, the US intelligence reportedly had predicted Taliban takeover of Afghanistan.The evacuation of foreigners from Afghanistan continues after a Taliban takeover of the country. US military evacuated about 1,100 Americans, permanent residents of the United States, and their families from Afghanistan on Tuesday (August 17), a White House official said. But the total chaos that Kabul descended into as US started withdrawing troops has led many members of the US Congress, including many of President Joe Biden's fellow Democrats, to admit that they are increasingly frustrated with events in Afghanistan, vowing to investigate what went wrong.

Meanwhile, countries across the globe are going to the drawingboards to prepare refuge plans for millions of Afghans, desperate too flee home. Britain has announced plans to welcome up to 5,000 Afghans fleeing the Taliban during the first year of a new resettlement programme that will prioritise women, girls and religious and other minorities.

The Talibans, meanwhile, have promised that no country will face threat from them, even as a sceptical world worry about terrorism. They have announced that they want peaceful relations with other countries and would respect the rights of women within the framework of Islamic law, as they held their first official news briefing since their lightning seizure of Kabul.

Thank you for staying with www.zeenews.com for all the latest updates on the deepening Afghanistan crisis.

18 August 2021

22:35 IST

Afghan national had narrow escape from Afghanistan

Ahmed Abdul Ghani, 30, an Afghan resident, had a narrow escape as he came to India on August 14, a day before the Talibanis captured the ARG Presidential Palace. Ahmed, who works as a businessman in the pharma industry in Lajpat Nagar, came to India for the first time in 2012. The journey of Ahmed has been a rollercoaster ride. Ahmed, a former officer in the US Army, was the head manager for 4,500 interpreters in International Security Assistant Force (ISAF), which is a NATO-led military mission, for five years until 2012. Then tragedy struck him. His father, Abdul Ghani, was shot dead by the Talibanis. The reason: Ahmed did not cooperate with the insurgents in providing details of the number of interpreters working in the ISAF.

22:34 IST

India 'very carefully' following developments in Afghanistan: EAM Jaishankar

With the Taliban now in control in Kabul, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said New Delhi is 'very carefully' following the developments in Afghanistan and India's focus is on ensuring the security and safe return of Indian nationals still in the war-torn country. Jaishankar, addressing reporters at the UN Security Council stakeout after chairing an open-debate on peacekeeping under India's current UNSC Presidency, said that (situation in Afghanistan) is really what has been very much the focus of my own engagements here, talking to the UN Secretary General and other colleagues who are here as well as the US Secretary of State.