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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Who are the Taliban, what is their history and what do they want for the country?
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.
The unprecedented Russian drone attacks on Poland are both a test and a warning. How Europe and NATO respond could be crucial to security on this continent.
The Russians are past masters at what’s called “salami slicing”. Tactics that use a series of smaller actions to produce a much bigger outcome that otherwise would have been far more provocative.
The Kremlin is probing the West with gradual but steady escalation. A British Council building and an EU installation are bombed in Kyiv; a senior EU official’s plane’s GPS is jammed.
On their own each provocation produces nothing more than rhetoric from the West – but new lines are crossed and Russia is emboldened.
Ukraine war latest: NATO chief sends message to Putin
Vladimir Putin has a history of testing the West. Pic: Sputnik/Alexei Druzhinin/Kremlin via Reuters
Putin is good at this.
He used salami slicing tactics masterfully in 2014 with his “little green men” invasion of Crimea, a range of ambiguous military and diplomatic tactics to take control. The West’s confused delay in responding sealed Crimea’s fate.
He has just taken a larger slice of salami with his drone attacks on Poland.
A drone found in a field in Mniszkow, eastern Poland
They are of course a test of NATO’s readiness to deploy its Article 5 obligations. Russia has attacked a member state, allies believe deliberately.
Will NATO trigger the all for one, one for all mechanism in Poland’s defence and attack Russia? Not very likely.
But failing to respond projects weakness. Putin will see the results of his test and plot the next one.
Expect lots of talk of sanctions but remember they failed to avert this invasion and have failed to persuade Russia to reverse it. The only sanctions likely to bite are the ones the US president refuses to approve, on Russia’s oil trade.
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Russia’s Poland incursion represents ‘new chapter’ in Ukraine war, expert says
So how are the drones also a warning? Well, they pose a question.
Vladimir Putin is asking the West if it really wants to become more involved in this conflict with its own forces. Europeans are considering putting boots on the ground inside Ukraine after any potential ceasefire.
If this latest attack is awkward and complicated and hard to respond to now, what happens if Russia uses hybrid tactics then?
Deniable, ambiguous methods that the Russians excel in could make life very difficult for the alliance if it is embroiled in Ukraine.
Think twice before committing your troops there, Russia is warning the West.
Read more:
The pivotal question for NATO
Trump ready to move to second stage of Russia sanctions
Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday
There is more Europe could do.
It could stop buying Russian energy, which it is still astonishingly importing – more than 20 billion euros a year at the last count.
It could use its massive economic advantage (20 times that of Russia’s, and that was before the war) to do more to fund Ukraine’s defence.
While it continues to do neither, expect more excruciating slices of the salami to come.
Riot police have clashed with protesters in Paris after they took to the streets in response to calls to ‘Block Everything’ over discontent with the French government.
Tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets of the French capital and other cities, including Marseille and Montpellier, in response to the online ‘Bloquons Tout’ campaign, which is urging people to strike, block roads, and other public services.
The government has deployed more than 80,000 officers to respond to the unrest, which has seen 200 arrested nationwide so far, according to police, and comes on the same day the new prime minister is being sworn in.
Demonstrators were seen rolling bins into the middle of roads to stop cars, while police rushed to remove the makeshift blockades as quickly as possible.
Tear gas was used by police outside Paris‘s Gare du Nord train station, where around 1,000 gathered, clutching signs declaring Wednesday a public holiday.
Others in the city blocked the entrance to a high school where firefighters were forced to remove burnt objects from a barricade.
Riot police with shields face off with protesters in Paris. Pic: Reuters
Protesters block the streets in Paris on Wednesday. Pic: AP
“Block Everything” blockade a street in Paris. Pic: Reuters
A protester raises a red flare outside Paris’s Gare du Nord train station. Pic: Reuters
Elsewhere in the country, traffic disruptions were reported on major roads in Marseille, Montpellier, Nantes, and Lyon.
Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau told reporters a group of protesters had torched a bus in the Breton city of Rennes.
Read more
France’s economic crisis explained
Protesters fill the streets and block tram lines in Montpellier, southern France. Pic: Reuters
A protester in Montpellier waves a lit flare. Pic: Reuters
Protesters hold a sign that reads: ’10 September public holiday!!’ in Paris. Pic: Reuters
Fourth prime minister in a year
The ‘Block Everything’ rallies come amid spiralling national debt and are similar to the Yellow Vest movement that broke out over tax increases during President Emmanuel Macron’s first term.
‘Bloquons tout’ was first spearheaded online by right-wing groups in May but has since been embraced by the left and far left, experts say.
On Monday, former Prime Minister Francois Bayrou lost a vote of no confidence, and was replaced by Sebastien Lecornu at the Hotel Matignon on Wednesday afternoon, becoming the fourth person in the job in just 12 months.
French outgoing Prime Minister Francois Bayrou (left) with his replacement Sebastien Lecornu at Paris’s Hotel Matignon. Pic: Reuters
Crowds of protesters outside Gare du Nord in Paris. Pic: Reuters
‘Block Everything’ protesters outside Paris’s Gare du Nord on Wednesday. Pic: Reuters
A teacher, Christophe Lalande, taking part in the Paris protests, told reporters at the scene: “Bayrou was ousted, [now] his policies must be eliminated.”
Elsewhere, union member Amar Lagha said: “This day is a message to all the workers of this country: that there is no resignation, the fight continues, and a message to this government that we won’t back down, and if we have to die, we’ll die standing.”
A lot has changed in Qatar in just 24 hours.
Israel brought its war with Hamas to the streets of Doha and people can’t quite believe it.
The sound of explosions on Tuesday afternoon in a residential neighbourhood has shattered the sense of peace and security that defines life here.
Israel-Hamas latest – Qatar attack puts talks in doubt
An explosion caused by an Israeli airstrike in Doha, Qatar. Pic: AP
It’s also shattered the critical sense of trust needed in these fragile ceasefire talks.
Qatar has played a critical role as an intermediary between Israel and Hamas for the last two years and those diplomatic efforts have been blown apart by this unprecedented attack.
Qatar has reacted with absolute fury and it has shocked and angered other Gulf neighbours, who, like Qatar, stake their reputation on being hubs of regional peace and stability.
Donald Trump is clearly unhappy, too. A strike on Qatar – a key American ally and home to Al Udeid Air Base, the largest US military hub in the Middle East – is seen as a dangerous escalation.
There’s no suggestion that permission was sought by Israel from its own closest ally in Washington.
And there’s little clarity if they were even forewarned by the IDF, as the White House said it learned of the attack from its own military.
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Aftermath of IDF strike on Hamas in heart of Doha
Donald Trump’s envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, was then tasked with alerting Qatar immediately, but by this point, it was too late.
According to Qatar’s foreign ministry, that call came 10 minutes after the first explosion was heard in Doha.
It’s clear Israel has crossed a huge diplomatic red line here.
Qatar plays a pivotal role on the international stage, punching well above its diplomatic weight for a country of its size.
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Netanyahu says Doha attack targeted ‘terror chiefs’
For decades, it has hosted negotiations in a number of conflicts, providing a safe haven for warring parties to hold talks.
Arguably, far more is achieved in Doha’s many five-star hotels than on any battlefield.
But there was never any sense that you were in danger here.
During the chaotic evacuation of Afghanistan in August 2021, I interviewed the Taliban in Doha.
It was a constructive and civil interview where their international leader presented their position to the world on Sky News.
It was vital information and there was never any sense we were at risk in meeting to talk here.
There is so much at stake in the Israel-Hamas war.
More than 60,000 Palestinians have been killed, children are starving in Gaza and 48 Israeli hostages have not been returned home.
Read more on Sky News:
Attack doesn’t help Israeli hostages
Trump ‘unaware’ of attack
Hamas admits Jerusalem shooting
Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday
What was Israel thinking, carrying out this attack? And was it worth it?
They claim it was a “precise strike”, but none of the Hamas leadership were taken out as they claimed was their objective.
Five lower-ranking officials were killed along with a member of Qatar’s security forces. What it has done is left any hope of ceasefire talks in tatters.
For many, this was a huge miscalculation by Benjamin Netanyahu.
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