The terrorist attack was carried out by ISIS gunmen, General Kenneth Franklin McKenzie, Commander of the United States Central Command, told reporters at a Pentagon news conference on Thursday, hours after the terrorists opened gunfire at American soldiers standing outside the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul.
Robust military preparedness along the entire perimeter of our nation is the only iron-clad permanent guarantee for our security, asserts Vivek Gumaste.
The election seem to have been conducted without any major security lapses. However, in the coming weeks, the military situation in Kandahar could tilt in the Taliban's favour, notes Aveek Sen.
An intense 25-hour gun-battle between security forces and terrorists outside the Indian consulate in Mazar-e-Sharif came to end on Monday night with the killing of all the attackers who attempted to storm the Mission building.
The United States is going to retain a laser focus on its counterterrorism mission in Afghanistan, President Joe Biden said on Friday, and warned the Taliban of a forceful response to any attack on American forces or disruption of its operations at the Kabul airport.
The official confirmed that these are the first four Americans that "we've facilitated in this manner" since the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan.
'It's waging an offensive with no seeming precedent.' 'The fact that it's now entering cities, as opposed to remaining massed around their perimeters, is a game changer.'
US President Barack Obama and his Defence Secretary Leon Panetta have praised special forces for conducting a successful rescue operation in Afghanistan that left one American soldier and seven terrorists dead.
Biden's authorisation of 5,000 troops in his statement on Saturday included 1,000 who are already on the ground in Afghanistan, according to a defence official. A battalion of 1,000 troops from the 82nd Airborne Division were redirected to Kabul, instead of their original standby position in Kuwait.
The billions India invested in dams, schools, etc in Afghanistan will be gone. The Hindu and Sikh population of Afghanistan has already shrunk from some 200,000 to about 500, points out Rajeev Srinivasan.
A young Indian national, Mahesh Guda who came to the United States to pursue undergraduate studies, but half-way into his programme joined the US Army and was deployed in Afghanistan, has been awarded the US Army's Commendation Medal for his efforts in that war-ravaged country.
Aafia Siddiqui, also known as 'Lady Al Qaeda', is a Pakistani national who was convicted in 2010 by a New York City federal court of attempting to kill US military personnel. She is currently serving an 86-year sentence at the Federal Medical Center, Carswell, in Fort Worth, Texas.
The US military has confirmed that they will not return to the Taliban-ruled Afghanistan either to destroy or to retrieve the equipment.
"We saw with our own eyes and I can say 99 per cent that those attackers were from Pakistani military and used special tactics while conducting their operation," Sayed Kamal Sadat, police chief of the Balkh province.
Khan was known to directly participate in attacks against US and coalition forces, and the actions of his network terrorised Afghans, especially in Nangarhar.
"Now we live in a completely independent Afghanistan. The new government will be announced very soon," said Anaamullah Samangani, a member of the Taliban's cultural commission, reported Tolo News.
Blinken said the US will continue to act against those who threaten the country, its people and its allies.
A tribute to an incomparable photojournalist who was slain by the Taliban on Thursday night.
Foreign policy is always a work in progress and ups and downs are built into foreign policy process. What is permanent is national interest. Hopefully, this year, which will also witness general elections in the country, will also clear clouds in the foreign policy horizon, observes Rup Narayan Das.
Pakistan-India bilateral relations remained frozen for the fourth year over the vexed Kashmir issue but analysts hope the strained ties could be repaired if Nawaz Sharif becomes the prime minister for a record fourth time in the general elections in February in the absence of his main challenger Imran Khan who is in jail in multiple cases.
'India would not like to see Pakistani domination and tutelage of Afghanistan against Indian security and economic interests.'
New Delhi and Beijing are the only two regional capitals that have commented on US President Donald Trump's speech on August 21 outlining the way forward in Afghanistan. The Indian foreign ministry statement was effusive in praise, while the Chinese statement has been one of cautious and guarded hope. Delhi has identified itself with Trump's Afghan strategy, whereas the Chinese stance is calibrated -- observant and objective, keeping a distance, says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
India strongly condemned the terror attack, saying targeting of a religious place in the midst of the COVID-19 outbreak reflects the "diabolical mindset" of the perpetrators and their backers.
The accused identified as Mohd Mustaqeem, originally from Balarampur, Uttar Pradesh, was also in touch with the IS entities of Kashmir, added sources.
A total of 168 people, including 107 Indians and 23 Afghan Sikhs and Hindus, were flown from Kabul to the Hindon airbase in a C-17 heavy-lift military transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF).
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said a number of people were killed and wounded in the blast that apparently targeted the offices of Afghanistan's main security agency.
IMAGES from the ICC World Cup match played between Bangladesh and Afghanistan in Dharamsala on Saturday
'The worst case scenario for Pakistan is a full-scale Taliban takeover of Afghanistan.' 'Pakistani militants would be inspired and emboldened and seek to replicate the Taliban's successes in Pakistan.'
Taliban spokesperson Zabiullah Mujahid said that women should not go to work for their own safety.
ISI chief Faiz Hameed coerced the Taliban to announce an interim government guaranteed to preserve Pakistan's control over the levers of power in Kabul, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The Taliban will view India through the eyes of the ISI and can be relied upon to undertake hostile actions against this country, warns Virendra Kapoor.
But the ISI chief did not retire giving the impression that he has won General Asim Munir's trust, notes Rana Banerji who headed the Pakistan desk at RA&W.
Modi on Thursday spoke to Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and offered his condolences over the loss of lives in the Kabul guesthouse sieg
Taking part in the first meeting of Foreign Ministers of the neighbouring countries on Afghanistan, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said China will provide Afghanistan with 200 million yuan ($31 million) worth of grains, winter supplies, vaccines and medicines as per its requirements, official media in Beijing reported.
China's Ambassador to Afghanistan Wang Yu and Acting Minister of Refugee Affairs of the Afghan caretaker government Khalil-ur-Rehman Haqqani attended the handover ceremony at the airport.
'India should play the role of a good neighbour, a mediator. and they should stand beside the people of Afghanistan. As a woman, as a human being, I will advise the Indian government to play the role of a peacemaker'
The United Kingdom on Sunday handed over its last base in Afghanistan to the Afghan forces, marking an official end to the 13-year-long combat operations that claimed over 450 British lives in the war-torn country.
The decision was taken during a meeting between Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his Pakistan counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi in the southwestern the Chinese city of Chengdu on Saturday.
Nearly 23 officials signed the cable that went to Blinken and Director of Policy Planning Salman Ahmad, The Wall Street Journal added.
The aircraft landed at Dushanbe in Tajikistan after evacuating the Indians, they said, adding the flight is expected to arrive at the Hindon airbase near Delhi in the evening.
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