Category: Politics

Australia has officially ended its rescue mission in Afghanistan before the deadline. The evacuation mission ended amid the two bombings with the expectation of more terror attacks.

The Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne said that she is “unable to confirm” if any Australian had been affected by the terror attack. She will contact those for whom they have details and that is why it was important to register with DFAT. She further added that there is an ongoing and high threat of terrorist attacks in the coming weeks. Explosions have occurred in the vicinity of Kabul airport and asked its citizens to avoid travelling to the airport. She said even if you are in the vicinity, move to a safe location and provide contact details for consulate support if needed.

Marise Payne has expressed her deepest sympathies to all those who are in Afghanistan, suffering as they are now, suffering as they have for so long and particularly suffering as a result of the most recent attacks.

The Australian government has evacuated more than 4000 people from Kabul over the period of nine days. Payne said this “would not have been possible” without the US troops on the ground.

The United States has officially ended its two-decade-long military presence from Afghanistan. On Tuesday, America took its final flight out of Kabul after its September 11 terrorist attack.

The head of U.S. Central Command General Kenneth McKenzie said that he is here to announce the completion of their withdrawal from the nation and the end of the military mission to evacuate American citizens, third-country nationals, and vulnerable Afghans. He also said that the last manned aircraft is now clearing the airspace above Afghanistan.

This was the longest war of American troops which ended with a rushed withdrawal of more than 123,000 people since August 14. This followed the withdrawal with the killing of 13 U.S. service members in a suicide bombing outside the Kabul airport last week. Since the conflict began, the attack caused the loss of about 2,400 Americans and employees of American contractors and tens of thousands of Afghans. The government also faced the loss of $1 trillion in U.S. spending.

According to the departure date set by the American President Joe Biden said in a statement that it was the unanimous recommendation of the Joint Chiefs and of all of their airlifts mission as planned. Their view was to end the military mission was the best way to protect the lives of American troops which secured the prospect of civilian departures for those who wanted to leave Afghanistan in the coming future.

China’s use of trade as a weapons diplomatic dispute appears to be now targeted at Lithuania. After the Baltic nation agreed to exchange diplomatic offices with Taiwan, Beijing’s official halts their limited trade with Lithuania. It is seen as more of a sending warning to the rest of Europe.

The two nations, Lithuania and Taiwan have agreed to establish mutual representative offices as a sign of deepening their ties. In an aggressive response, Beijing recalled its ambassador from Vilnius and expelled Lithuania from Beijing. According to the Taiwan Foreign Affairs Ministry, it has suspended rail freight to Lithuania and reportedly halted export permits for the country’s producers which included agriculture, animal husbandry, and timber industry.

The food and veterinary service director of Lithuania Mantas Staskevicius said in an interview that the discussions with China about the export permit for some items had been getting more difficult since the beginning of the year. However, they had now just stopped the audit and certification process without explaining the act.

China’s ruling party had never governed Taiwan but they consider it to be a province of China and Beijing accuses the government of the separation.

Iran’s hard-liner-dominated Parliament has approved the majority of ministers proposed by newly elected President Ibrahim Raisi. 18 out of 19 ministers proposed by Raisi were voted in favor by the lawmakers after a five-day hearing and discussions.

Hossein Baghgoli was not approved to be nominated as education minister as his experience was disputed during the hearings. He could manage only 76 votes out of 286 by present lawmakers. The chamber had a total of 290 seats. Raisi had earlier requested the lawmakers to vote quickly to approve his nominees as he wanted the government to get to work at the earliest. He wants to deal with the pandemic and economic situation in the country that has been suffering for years due to sanctions by the United States.

Raisi wants to introduce those policies which will focus on engagement with all the nations and remove the sanctions. The New Foreign Minister who received 270 votes from the lawmakers Hossein Amirabdollahian said that his ministry “would not run away from the negotiating table”. They will do their best to remove all the sanctions against the nation.

Raisi later expressed his gratitude to parliamentarians for the quick votes response.

The Australian government has evacuated nearly 50 women footballers and athletes and their dependents from Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. The eviction was done for the players after an appeal came by the world bodies FIFA and Fifpro.

The international footballers federation Fifpro expressed its gratitude to Australia in a statement released by them. The women players went into hiding after the takeover of Afghanistan. The statement said that these young women both athletes and activists, had been in a position of danger and on behalf of their peers around the world they thanked the international community for coming to their aid. They even urged the international community to make sure that they receive all the help they need. According to them, there are many other athletes who are still at high risk in Afghanistan and every effort should be made to offer them support.

The evacuation was termed as “an important victory” by Afghanistan’s former football captain Khalida Popal which included members of the Afghanistan national women’s football team and their youth team. She said that the women footballers have been brave and strong in a moment of crisis and she hopes that everyone will have a better life outside Afghanistan.

The United States has warned the American nationalist to stay away from the Kabul airport due to security threats by the Taliban militants. The plea came a few hours after the United States Secretary Antony Blinken had urged the Taliban to ensure “safe passage” for people to seek to flee from the nation.

The security situation is deteriorating at the Kabul airport which raises concern for the US and the western officials trying to evacuate their civilians before the deadline which is on August 31. The danger of an attack by the terrorist group ISIS-K is highlighted by the officials. They urged the Americans to “leave immediately” who were already waiting for their evacuation at the three airport gates.

A similar warning came from the UK official who sighted the “ongoing and high threat” of a terror attack. Officials pleaded with Britishers to “move away to a safe location” and also advised them to avoid traveling to the airport for a few days.

Blinken said that the relationship with the Taliban-controlled Afghanistan will depend on the latter’s conduct and hinted that the administration may examine whether it should have taken a different approach to pulling out the troops from the nation

Indian Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan. The telephonic conversation came at a time when several countries are evacuating their citizens from Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.

After the conversation of the two political leaders, the Russian embassy in India said that they expressed the intention to enhance cooperation to counter the dissemination of “terrorist ideology” and the drug threat emanating from Afghanistan. They agreed to form a permanent bilateral channel for consultation on the issue. It also said that both nations noted the importance of coordinated efforts to “establish peace and stability” in Afghanistan and to ensure security in the region as a whole.

The Prime minister’s office said that it is important for the two strategic partners to work together and instruct their senior officials to remain in touch. They agreed to collaborate on bilateral and global issues particularly with the situation in Afghanistan.

Mr. Modi tweeted that he had a detailed and useful exchange of views with his friend President Putin on the recent developments in Afghanistan. He further added that they discussed issues on the bilateral agenda including India-Russia cooperation against COVID-19 and they agreed to continue close consultations on important issues.

On Monday, a secret meeting was conducted between the head of the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) William Burns with the leader of the Taliban Mullah Baradar. No confirmation for the same was given by both parties.

Baradar is among the four men who founded the Taliban in 1994. He was captured in a US-Pakistani operation in 2010 and had spent eight years in prison. He is currently the head of the Taliban political office in Qatar where he signed the Doha agreement in February 2020 of withdrawal of US and NATO troops.

Biden administration has set the deadline of 31 August for American forces to leave Afghanistan along with its allies the UK is eager for an extension. The sources have informed the US’s many news outlets about the CIA and Taliban meeting and gave few details. If this information is to be believed, this could be the highest-level contact between the US and the Taliban ever since the takeover of Afghanistan by the militants. A leading new agency said that the discussions are likely to have involved the deadline for the US military to conclude its airlift.

On Tuesday, the Taliban has stated that no Afghan would be allowed to leave the country and they will not extend the deadline for the US withdrawal.

The United Nations human rights chief Michelle Bachelet briefed that she had received sustainable reports of senior violations committed by the Taliban in Afghanistan. It includes the “summary executions” of civilians and Afghan security forces who have surrendered after the takeover of the nation. The council’s emergency session was conducted on the request of Pakistan and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).

In Michelle Bachelet’s speech to the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC), she did not give any details of the killing but urged the Geneva forum to set up a mechanism to closely monitor the Taliban’s actions. In her speech, she said that the Taliban group’s treatment of women and girls would be “a fundamental red line”. She also reported that Afghanistan’s diverse ethnic and religious minorities are also at a high risk of violence and repression. She said based on reports on the killing and targeted attacks in recent months.

Senior Afghan diplomat Nasir Ahmad Andisha from the deposed government called for accountability for Taliban actions and described the situation as “uncertain and dire” where millions of people fear for their lives. In a joint statement by the independent UN, human rights experts said that many people are hiding as “the Taliban continues to search homes door-to-door” to seize the property and reprisals are being reported.

The United States President Joe Biden is all set to hold a meeting with the G-7 leader to discuss the evacuation efforts in Afghanistan as the deadline comes to an end. This will be the first time where the president will be directly having a conversation with the American allies after the fall of Kabul.

The virtual gathering is the first forum of Biden to discuss the Taliban and the ongoing crisis in Afghanistan which has caused apprehension and anger amongst some of the allies. The G-7 meeting will be attended by the leaders from the US, the UK, Italy, France, Germany, Japan, and Canada. The United Kingdom’s Prime Minister Mr. Borris Johson will chair the meeting that will focus on the evacuation efforts in Afghanistan. He will discuss the long-term plans for the nation after the US withdraws its troops by August 31.

The discussion regarding safeguarding gains made in Afghanistan in the last 20 years will also be discussed by the leaders. The main focus will be on girl’s education and women’s rights in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. The discussion will also involve the economic sanction against the Taliban if they commit human rights abuses and whether to officially recognize the Taliban as the leader of the country.