Afghanistan

Boris Johnson has paid tribute to what he described as the biggest and fastest emergency evacuation in recent history. But he admitted more than 300 Afghans eligible for the UK’s resettlement scheme remain stranded in Afghanistan.

We spoke to the man who has become the public face of the Taliban in Kabul, spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid. We asked him why, in the light of all these urgent problems, three weeks after entering Kabul, they still haven’t formed a government?

The Taliban came into Kabul three weeks ago, but there is still no government. The economy has juddered to a halt, nobody is getting salaries and many things have closed. People are just desperate for money and work. There is drought, hunger, Covid and poverty, as well as all the issues with women’s rights and…

While the government  has pledged to welcome up to 20,000 Afghans who’ve fled the Taliban over the next five years, some 3,000 people from Afghanistan have been stuck in the UK’s asylum system for years.

The Afghan opposition leader Ahmad Massoud says he is ready to talk with the Taliban and negotiate a settlement to end fighting in the Panjshir Valley, north of Kabul.

Heavy fighting has been taking place in Afghanistan’s Panjshir Valley where militia fighters claim they’re holding out against Taliban forces overnight, amid premature rumours that the Taliban had captured the territory.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has said there was widespread surprise at the speed of the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan, as he held talks on the crisis with officials in Pakistan. 

We spoke to Omar Samad, former senior adviser to Abdullah Abdullah, the former Chief Executive of Afghanistan.

“The Taliban must understand that if they want engagement with the West, the first priority for us is safe passage for those who want to leave.” The words of the prime minister today.

After imperial Britain and the Soviet Union, Afghanistan has now seen off America, supposedly the world’s mightiest military.

The decisions made by the British government as the Taliban took control of Afghanistan were scrutinised by the Commons foreign affairs committee this afternoon. 

The Afghan MP interviewed in Paraic O’Brien’s report was Maryam Koofi. Earlier today, we spoke to her sister, Fawzia Koofi, a former MP and women’s rights activist who was held under house arrest by the Taliban. She escaped and is in Doha. We asked her whether she was in touch with her colleagues who hadn’t…

After the rapid withdrawal from the forever war, now comes the resettlement of the people who fled. 

We spoke to Farkhunda Naderi, the former Afghan MP and advisor to President Ashraf Ghani, who is currently in Uzbekistan. 

The history books will record that the last American soldier to leave was Major General Chris Donahue.