The US military engaged the C-RAM missile defence, but, according to ABC News, it is still unclear whether all of the rockets were successfully intercepted.
The second batch of 146 Indian nationals who were evacuated from Afghanistan via Doha arrived in the national capital on Monday on various flights.
Strongly condemning the terrorist strikes in Afghanistan's capital Kabul, India has told the United Nations Security Council that these attacks reinforce the need for the world to stand unitedly against terrorism and all those who provide sanctuaries to terrorists.
Terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba is behind the attack on the Indian Consulate in Herat, Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai said on Monday.
The Council adopted the resolution proposed by France, the United Kingdom and the United States with 13 Council members voting in favour and Russia and China abstaining.
The Taliban have said that religious scholars will lead the upcoming government in Afghanistan as the country's government collapsed over a week ago when the terror group seized Kabul, a media report said.
Taliban also blamed the US for encouraging the Afghan elite to leave the country, Tolo News reported.
A special Indian Air Force repatriation flight ferrying 168 evacuees from Kabul landed at the Hindon air base in Ghaziabad on Sunday.
A couple of days before American troops leave Kabul on Tuesday, August 31, images to remember from the Afghan capital and elsewhere...
The US has said it will go ahead with its plan to conclude its Afghanistan mission by August 31, even as the evacuation effort, which is now in its "retrograde period", is facing an "ongoing and acute threat" from ISIS-K.
'Pakistan is uncomfortable with the Indian presence in Afghanistan. They want the Taliban to ensure that there is no Indian presence in Afghanistan.'
'Pakistan wanted India out of Afghanistan to which again the Taliban told Pakistan to take a walk.' 'Six months after they came back to power in 2021 India was back in Afghanistan at the request of the Taliban.' 'The Taliban realised that India has no agenda of its own in Afghanistan.'
"I judge by the first day of their control over Kabul. The impressions are good. The situation in Kabul is better now (under Taliban) than it was under Ashraf Ghani," Russian Ambassador to Afghanistan Dmitry Zhirnov was quoted as saying by Moscow's Ekho Moskvy radio station on Monday.
The United States officials in Afghanistan naively handed the Taliban a 'kill list' to target Afghans who aided American forces in the country, according to a media report.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai will arrive in Islamabad on Monday on a one-day trip to discuss the frayed ties with Pakistan and seek release of Taliban leader Mullah Abdul Ghani Barader as a confidence building measure.
"The Taliban have been cooperative in facilitating the departure of American citizens and lawful permanent residents on charter flights from HKIA. They have shown flexibility, and they have been businesslike and professional in our dealings with them in this effort. This is a positive first step," Emily Horne, Spokesperson of the National Security Council, the White House said.
The US military efforts in Afghanistan were akin to filling a bucket that had gaping holes, asserts Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
Two Indian aircraft would be permitted to operate from the Kabul airport which is under the control of American security forces, government sources told ANI.
'We had a long chat here on the boundary talking about it and he's worried: he can't get his family out of Afghanistan and there's a lot of things happening for him.'
A number of documents indicate that Pakistan International Airline has put embargo on Afghan citizens who have travelled to India.
Afghan politician Ali A Jalali, a former interior minister, speaks on the situation in his country.
The Taliban has reportedly claimed responsibility for the attack on the presidential palace in Kabul where a press conference was scheduled by President Hamid Karzai on Tuesday. Multiple explosions and gunfire were reported near the presidential palace, which is the site for several important organisations.
Expressing concern over political instability and drug trafficking in Afghanistan, Russia and Pakistan today said the situation could deteriorate further post-2014 after International Security Assistant Forces are withdrawn from the country.
Addressing a press conference, Karzai said Kabul reserved the right to strike Taliban insurgents on Pakistani soil as a form of self-defence. "Afghanistan has the right of self defence. When the Taliban cross the territory from Pakistan to come and kill Afghans and to kill coalition troops, it exactly gives us the right to go back and do the same," Karzai said.
Despite international condemnation, the Taliban has resumed the flogging and the public execution of criminals following a decree by the hard-liners' supreme leader.
The national men's team beat India 2-0 to win the South Asian Football Federation championship in Kathmandu late on Tuesday, Afghanistan's first international football title, sending tens of thousands of joyous Afghans into the streets. Fans in cars and on motorbikes joined others on foot, cheering, blowing horns and waving Afghan flags throughout the night.
'Don't be fooled. There is nothing more moderate about the revived Taliban government'
Condolences have poured in from across the globe, including from the United States, Canada and Sri Lanka following the demise of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Sixteen Afghans were killed by a 'rogue' United States soldier who walked off his base and opened fire on them in their homes in the early hours of Sunday morning. The dead include nine children and three women, plus five wounded.
"They advised the President and Vice President that another terror attack in Kabul is likely, but that they are taking maximum force protection measures at the Kabul Airport," a White House official said.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday returned to Delhi after a two-day visit to Afghanistan, during which he held talks with the Afghan leadership on several bilateral, regional and international issues, including terrorism and stepped up assistance to the war-torn country. Dr Singh held talks with Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai, First Vice President Mohammad Qasim Fahim and Second Vice President Mohammad Karim Khalili.
With Hamid Karzai stonewalling every US effort to conclude a bilateral security agreement, the Obama Administration is pinning its hopes on India to persuade the Afghan President to sign the deal and end the current political imbroglio on the issue.
Special envoys of China, Russia and Pakistan have met the top officials of the Taliban's interim government as well as Afghan leaders Hamid Karzai and Abdullah Abdullah in Kabul and discussed the formation of an inclusive government, combating terrorism and humanitarian situation, a top Chinese official said on Wednesday.
As the second Hamid Karzai government settles down to business in Afghanistan, India must seriously focus on long-term intervention and assistance in stabilising one of its most important neighbours, a variety of Afghan and Indian politicians, analysts and diplomats said in Kabul and New Delhi.
According to reports, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has talked to Indian External Affairs Minister SM Krishna as well as his Pakistani counterpart, Shah Mehmood Qureshi on the telephone to raise the prospect of another "talk about talks".
"So, there was no infiltration of any Afghani Taliban... To that effect, we have been able to control (things)," he said.
Kenzo Oshima led a 10-member mission to Afghanistan earlier this month.
In a video found on Islamist websites late Wednesday, Osama bin Laden's deputy called all Afghans, particularly students in universities and schools in Kabul, to take on the foreign 'infidels' in Afghanistan.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai will undertake a week-long visit to India from April 9 to further consolidate ties between the two countries.
