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Deadly Collision Claims 67 Lives in U.S. Air Disaster | At Least 30 Dead and Many Injured in Stampede at Maha Kumbh Mela in India | Chinese President Xi Jinping Affirms Cambodia's Role as a Key Partner in China’s Diplomatic Strategy | Xi Jinping Concludes State Visit to Cambodia, Strengthening Bilateral Ties | Chinese President Xi Jinping Concludes Successful State Visit to Cambodia | Chinese Ambassador: US-China Trade Tensions Harm Developing Nations; President Xi Urges Investment in Cambodia and Expanded Market Access | Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force Ships Bungo and Etazima Dock at Ream Sea Base for Four-Day Visit | Prime Minister Hun Manet Expresses Displeasure Over Criticism of Chinese Investments During Kampot International Tourist Port Inauguration | Asian Development Bank Collaborates with Cambodia on New Development Projects Worth Over $1 Billion |

BREAKING: Full-Scale Diplomatic Evacuation of Afghan Capital Underway

  • Posted Aug 15, 2021 09:00 by Andrew Barnes-Roberts
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INTERNATIONAL: Foreign governments are evacuating their personnel from the Afghan capital of Kabul. The city is expected to fall to the Taliban within the next 72 hours. Previous estimates put that time-frame at 90 days but the Taliban captured major cities on Friday evening and Saturday, putting them within striking distance of Afghanistan’s capital city.

The key cities of Kandahar and Mazar-e-Shariff are now under Taliban control. Governments around the world are calling on their citizens to flee the country and not wait for formal evacuation. That does not include embassy staff who are being evacuated from Kabul International Airport on Sunday. This includes the US Embassy. US President Joe Biden has dispatched a further 600 troops to the country to assist in the evacuation of personnel, including Afghans who worked alongside the US government.

Early on Sunday morning, Reuters reported that Afghan government forces were seen crossing the border into Iran.

Washington announced a full troop withdrawal from the country several weeks ago after a 20-year military presence. A US-led coalition went into the country in 2001 in pursuit of Osama bin Laden, the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, who was being harboured in Afghanistan by the Taliban. Bin Laden eventually fled Afghanistan and was killed by US troops in Pakistan in 2011.

The US troop withdrawal prompted the Taliban to launch a lightning offensive late last month, taking just a little over three weeks to recapture over two-thirds of the country. It is already in control of most border crossings in northern, eastern and southern Afghanistan, prompting major security concerns in the region. A high-level security conference was hosted by Qatar on Thursday.

The Taliban, which looks set to take full control of the country within day, is reimposing an extremely conservative interpretation of Islamic law which bans women from work and girls from education. Reports from the cities it has already captured confirm that it has also returned to one of its most infamous practices, public executions of anyone deemed to be against it.


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