The American public will not be in a forgiving mood if al-Qaida rises again following US withdrawal and the Taliban advanceWhat will it take for Joe Biden to admit he is disastrously wrong about Afghanistan? The US leader struck a defiant pose last wee…
The Observer view on the fall of Afghanistan | Observer editorial
The Taliban’s rapid advance is chilling but a united response can still avert catastropheThe fall of Afghanistan to fundamentalist Taliban forces is a disaster foretold. Although the capital, Kabul, remains in government hands, the scale and speed of t…
“We had no capacity or experience with some of our tasks”
How America Failed Afghanistan. “We checked the box when it came to saying that we had trained our partners, spun a rosy narrative of progress, and perhaps prioritized the safety and well-being of our troops over the mission of buttressing partner capa…
A new dark age in Afghanistan – cartoon
Chris Riddell on the resurgence of the Taliban• You can order your own copy of this cartoon Continue reading…
Afghan president in urgent talks as Taliban push closer to Kabul
Ashraf Ghani says focus is on preventing ‘further instability, violence and displacement’Afghanistan’s president, Ashraf Ghani, held urgent talks with local leaders and international partners on Saturday as Taliban rebels pushed closer to Kabul, captur…
Kandahar’s fall to the Taliban is a moment of huge significance
Afghanistan’s second city was the capital of the jihadist group until 2001 and has vital strategic and symbolic importanceIn the sprawling compound of Mullah Omar, the Taliban’s first emir, outside the southern city of Kandahar, curious onlookers were …
Taliban advances in Afghanistan ‘deeply concerning’, says Pentagon – US politics live
UN calls on Taliban to ‘immediately halt offensive’, citing humanitarian concernsPentagon says leaders concerned by Taliban’s speedCDC officially recommends Covid booster shots for immunocompromised peopleJuly was hottest month Earth has ever recorded,…
The Guardian view on the Taliban’s advance: not an American debacle but Afghans’ tragedy
People are losing their homes, their freedom and their hope. That should be more of a priority than US credibility“There’s going to be no circumstance where you’ll see people being lifted off the roof of an embassy of the United States from Afghanistan…
Taliban claim to have captured Kandahar as grip on Afghanistan grows
Claim follows earlier fall of Herat with militants overrunning government positionsThe Taliban have claimed the capture of Kandahar, Afghanistan’s second-largest city and the place where the hardline Islamist group first emerged in the 1990s, as its fi…
‘A source of hope’: Afghanistan’s female journalists challenging sexism and the Taliban
Zahra Joya started Rukhshana Media so Afghan women could tell their stories in their own words. Now she is battling to keep it going as long as she canDespite years of development, investment and progress in the Afghan media industry, 28-year-old Zahra…