Afghanistan poised to become Islamic Emirate after Taliban sweeps to power
Afghanistan is poised for an announcement that it is now the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, under Sharia law, after the Taliban swept to power.
It follows a spokesman for the group telling AP it is holding talks aimed at forming an “open, inclusive Islamic government” and the deputy leader of the group releasing a video saying it plans to “give serenity to the whole nation”.
Taliban officials have declared the war is over and it is in charge of 90% of government buildings.
Afghanistan live updates: All the latest as the Taliban establish new government
Taliban fighters took control of the Afghan presidential palace on Sunday after President Ashraf Ghani fled the country. Pic AP
But, amid the statements, chaotic scenes are unfolding at Kabul’s international airport with thousands of people trying to get past a cordon to aircraft that are evacuating diplomatic staff.
A spokesperson for the German government, which aims to evacuate 10,000 staff, civilians and Afghans it has worked with, said no flights are leaving Kabul airport at the moment because desperate people trying to flee the country are blocking the tarmac.
Footage has emerged, which Sky News has not been able to verify, of an Apache helicopter being used to clear a runway as a C-17 military transport plane comes in to land.
Five people are reported to have been killed as US troops guarded the evacuation of embassy staff but it was not immediately clear how they died.
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People have been trying to climb on to an airbridge at Kabul airport
A US official said soldiers had fired in the air to deter people trying to force their way onto a military flight that was set to take US diplomats and embassy staff out of the fallen city.
An official described the crowd trying to get onto the tarmac at the airport as “out of control” and other images showed people climbing on to an airbridge that allows people to walk onto an aircraft from a terminal and onto the undercarriage housing of a military plane taxiing along the runway.
Afghanistan’s aviation authorities said the “civilian side” of the airport had been “closed until further notice” and there are reports that the US has taken over air traffic control to ensure safety in the region, with many carriers saying they would be avoiding airspace above the country.
Sky’s Stuart Ramsay, who is near the airport, has said he has heard the sound of gunfire outside and the constant noise of helicopter gunships flying overhead, but says on the ground the people are already dressing differently, in readiness for a Taliban takeover.
Crowds gather at Kabul Airport amid evacuation
It came as many of the countries which have been involved in the efforts to rebuild the country amid two decades of war with the Taliban pulled out their diplomatic staff and attempted to evacuate their civilians and Afghans who had helped them.
Among the countries planning to pull out staff was Russia, which launched an invasion in 1979 and fought mujahideen including members of the Taliban during a 10-year war. It came as the Taliban deployed guards to the Russian embassy.
The first group of evacuated Britons and embassy staff arrived at RAF Brize Norton last night, the Ministry of Defence confirmed.
A picture issued by the Ministry of Defence of evacuated personnel arriving at RAF Brize Norton
There were reported to be 4,000 Britons in Afghanistan and the UK has said it plans to ramp up efforts to evacuate up to 1,500 people from Afghanistan a day.
The Taliban, who ruled from 1996 to 2001 until a US-led invasion reduced them to conducting a guerrilla war, have routed the US-backed government’s forces following a US decision to pull out its troops.
President Ashraf Ghani fled the country on Sunday as the Islamists began to enter Kabul virtually unopposed – despite ongoing but short-lived resistance elsewhere – saying he wanted to avoid bloodshed.
But Russia’s embassy in Kabul said the next day that he had fled with four cars and a helicopter full of cash, and had to leave some money behind as it would not all fit in.
Taliban says its ‘type of rule’ will become clear soon after President Ashraf Ghani flees
British troops were sent back to Afghanistan last week to assist in evacuating British nationals and entitled persons from Kabul. Pic AP
Taliban spokesperson Suhail Shaheen said in a message on Twitter its fighters were under strict orders not to harm anyone and on Monday it put out videos showing quiet city streets in Kabul as fighters manned major intersections.
A Taliban official said its fighters in Kabul had started collecting weapons from civilians on Monday because people no longer need them for personal protection.
The Russia-led security bloc CTSO, which includes central Asian states such as Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, but excludes Uzbekistan, said it was deeply concerned by the Taliban taking control in Afghanistan will have a significant impact on the situation in Central Asia.
Russia is said to be talking to the US about the deteriorating situation.
President Joe Biden, whose order pulling out US troops from the country preceded the Taliban surge, was seen at his Camp David retreat on Sunday, alone in a conference room meeting virtually with military, diplomatic and intelligence experts.
US officials are said to be stunned by how quickly the Taliban have overcome Afghan forces, despite the billions spent on military hardware and training to equip them for the fight.
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South Korea’s constitutional court has confirmed the dismissal of President Yoon Suk Yeol, who was impeached in December after declaring martial law.
His decision to send troops onto the streets led to the country’s worst political crisis in decades.
The court ruled to uphold the impeachment saying the conservative leader “violated his duty as commander-in-chief by mobilising troops” when he declared martial law.
The president was also said to have taken actions “beyond the powers provided in the constitution”.
Demonstrators stayed overnight near the constitutional court. Pic: AP
Supporters and opponents of the president gathered in their thousands in central Seoul as they awaited the ruling.
The 64-year-old shocked MPs, the public and international allies in early December when he declared martial law, meaning all existing laws regarding civilians were suspended in place of military law.
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The court was under heavy police security guard ahead of the announcement. Pic: AP
After suddenly declaring martial law, Mr Yoon sent hundreds of soldiers and police officers to the National Assembly.
He has argued that he sought to maintain order, but some senior military and police officers sent there have told hearings and investigators that Mr Yoon ordered them to drag out politicians to prevent an assembly vote on his decree.
His presidential powers were suspended when the opposition-dominated assembly voted to impeach him on 14 December, accusing him of rebellion.
The unanimous verdict to uphold parliament’s impeachment and remove Mr Yoon from office required the support of at least six of the court’s eight justices.
South Korea must hold a national election within two months to find a new leader.
Lee Jae-myung, leader of the main liberal opposition Democratic Party, is the early favourite to become the country’s next president, according to surveys.
Stock markets around the world fell on Thursday after Donald Trump announced sweeping tariffs – with some economists now fearing a recession.
The US president announced tariffs for almost every country – including 10% rates on imports from the UK – on Wednesday evening, sending financial markets reeling.
While the UK’s FTSE 100 closed down 1.55% and the continent’s STOXX Europe 600 index was down 2.67% as of 5.30pm, it was American traders who were hit the most.
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All three of the US’s major markets opened to sharp losses on Thursday morning.
The S&P 500 is set for its worst day of trading since the COVID-19 pandemic. File pic: AP
By 8.30pm UK time (3.30pm EST), The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 3.7%, the S&P 500 opened with a drop of 4.4%, and the Nasdaq composite was down 5.6%.
Compared to their values when Donald Trump was inaugurated, the three markets were down around 5.6%, 8.7% and 14.4%, respectively, according to LSEG.
Worst one-day losses since COVID
As Wall Street trading ended at 9pm in the UK, two indexes had suffered their worst one-day losses since the COVID-19 pandemic.
The S&P 500 fell 4.85%, the Nasdaq dropped 6%, and the Dow Jones fell 4%.
It marks Nasdaq’s biggest daily percentage drop since March 2020 at the start of COVID, and the largest drop for the Dow Jones since June 2020.
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‘Trust in President Trump’
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told CNN earlier in the day that Mr Trump was “doubling down on his proven economic formula from his first term”.
“To anyone on Wall Street this morning, I would say trust in President Trump,” she told the broadcaster, adding: “This is indeed a national emergency… and it’s about time we have a president who actually does something about it.”
Later, the US president told reporters as he left the White House that “I think it’s going very well,” adding: “The markets are going to boom, the stock is going to boom, the country is going to boom.”
He later said on Air Force One that the UK is “happy” with its tariff – the lowest possible levy of 10% – and added he would be open to negotiations if other countries “offer something phenomenal”.
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Economist warns of ‘spiral of doom’
The turbulence in the markets from Mr Trump’s tariffs “just left everybody in shock”, Garrett Melson, portfolio strategist at Natixis Investment Managers Solutions in Boston, told Reuters.
He added that the economy could go into recession as a result, saying that “a lot of the pain, will probably most acutely be felt in the US and that certainly would weigh on broader global growth as well”.
Meanwhile, chief investment officer at St James’s Place Justin Onuekwusi said that international retaliation is likely, even as “it’s clear countries will think about how to retaliate in a politically astute way”.
He warned: “Significant retaliation could lead to a tariff ‘spiral of doom’ that could be the growth shock that drags us into recession.”
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It comes as the UK government published a long list of US products that could be subject to reciprocal tariffs – including golf clubs and golf balls.
Running to more than 400 pages, the list is part of a four-week-long consultation with British businesses and suggests whiskey, jeans, livestock, and chemical components.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said on Thursday that the US president had launched a “new era” for global trade and that the UK will respond with “cool and calm heads”.
It also comes as Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announced a 25% tariff on all American-imported vehicles that are not compliant with the US-Mexico-Canada trade deal.
He added: “The 80-year period when the United States embraced the mantle of global economic leadership, when it forged alliances rooted in trust and mutual respect and championed the free and open exchange of goods and services, is over. This is a tragedy.”
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