Taliban parade in Kandahar as it showcases military hardware seized during takeover
The Taliban has been showcasing military hardware it captured in its takeover of Afghanistan, during a parade in the southern province of Kandahar.
Footage showed fighters sitting on top of pickup trucks, flying the group’s flag and driving a convoy of armoured vehicles through the streets.
Celebrations have erupted across Afghanistan after the US troops and its NATO allies withdrew from the country.
Taliban forces in Kandahar rally to celebrate the withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan. Pic: EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
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Taliban supporters also paraded coffins draped with American and NATO flags in the Kandahar city of Khost on Tuesday.
The mock funeral included the carrying of coffins covered in French and British flags along the street through a large crowd.
It follows the final US troops leaving on flights from Kabul airport before Tuesday’s deadline which President Joe Biden set after the Taliban took power in mid-August.
Taliban forces have regained control of the country. Pic: EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Other recent developments in the country include:
• The Taliban has been focussing on keeping banks, hospitals and government machinery running following the US withdrawal.
• Thousands of people are flocking to the landlock nation’s borders after the airlift ended.
• Pictures showed long queues of people in Kabul outside banks as they tried to withdraw savings.
• Witnesses reported Taliban violence with one saying she saw fighters beating women with sticks outside a Kabul bank.
• Pakistan’s foreign minister has said he expects the country to have a new “consensus government” within days.
• The Taliban reported it has surrounded the only remaining province resisting its rule in Panjshir and called on the local militia and resistant fighters to negotiate a settlement.
• The UN has warned that food stocks in the country could run out this month.
• Russian President Vladimir Putin has criticised the US, saying it achieved “zero” during its 20-year military presence in Afghanistan.
• The EU has said the collapse of Afghanistan’s government and the evacuation has highlighted the bloc’s need for its own rapid-reaction military force.
Supporters of the Taliban gather to listen to Haji Mohammad Yousaf, the Taliban’s governor for Kandahar province. Pic: EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Since taking power, the Taliban has yet to name a new government or reveal how it intends to govern.
They are currently focussing on keeping essential services like banks, hospitals and government machinery running.
But the foreign minister of neighbouring Pakistan, which has close ties to the Taliban, said he expected Afghanistan to have a new “consensus government” within days.
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Destroyed military planes and vehicles left by US
Taliban leaders have meanwhile called on Afghans to return home, promising to protect human rights in an apparent bid to present a more moderate stance than their first government in the 1990s, which enforced radical Islamic law.
But reports of violence from the Taliban continue with one woman saying she saw their fighters beating women with sticks outside a bank in the Afghan capital on Tuesday.
“It’s the first time I’ve seen something like that and it really frightened me,” the 22-year-old said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Taliban fighters have been showing off their military hardware. Pic: EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
It came as long queues formed at banks in Kabul on Wednesday as people tried to withdraw savings.
More than 123,000 people were evacuated from Kabul in the US-led airlift but tens of thousands of Afghans at risk are still in the country.
With Kabul’s airport now inoperable, private efforts to help people leave the country have shifted focus to seeking safe passages across the landlock nation’s borders with Iran, Pakistan and central Asian states.
At Torkham, a border crossing with Pakistan just east of the Khyber Pass, a Pakistani official said: “A large number of people are waiting on the Afghanistan side for the opening of the gate.”
Afghans in Kabul line up outside a bank to take out their money after the Taliban takeover
Thousands also gathered at the Islam Qala post on the border with Iran, witnesses said.
The Taliban also said on Wednesday that it had surrounded the only remaining province resisting its rule.
Several thousand members of local militias and remnants of army units have been holding up in the mountainous Panjshir under the leadership of Ahmad Massoud.
The Taliban have called on these resistance fighters to negotiate a settlement.
The Taliban are back in charge of Afghanistan 20 years after being ousted in a US-led invasion. Pic: EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Elsewhere on Wednesday, Ramiz Alakbarov, the local UN humanitarian coordinator, warned that food stocks in Afghanistan could run out this month, threatening to add a hunger crisis to the challenges facing the new rulers.
About one third of the country’s population of 38 million is facing “emergency” or “crisis” levels of food insecurity, he said.
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Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin has criticised the United States’ involvement in Afghanistan, claiming its 20-year military presence in the country has achieved “zero”.
Senior EU officials have also said that the collapse of Afghanistan’s government, the Taliban’s takeover of the country and the rush to evacuate European citizens and Afghan employees have highlighted the bloc’s need for its own rapid-reaction military force.
World
European leaders to meet in Ukraine for ‘coalition of the willing’ talks – and issue call to Russia
Sir Keir Starmer will join other European leaders in Kyiv on Saturday for talks on the “coalition of the willing”.
The prime minister is attending the event alongside French President Emmanuel Macron, recently-elected German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.
It will be the first time the leaders of the four countries will travel to Ukraine at the same time – on board a train to Kyiv – with their meeting hosted by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Follow latest updates on the Ukraine war
Sir Keir Starmer, Emmanuel Macron and Friedrich Merz travelling in the saloon car of a special train to Kiev. Pic: Reuters
Military officers from around 30 countries have been involved in drawing up plans for the coalition, which would provide a peacekeeping force in the event of a ceasefire being agreed between Russia and Ukraine.
Ahead of the meeting on Saturday, Sir Keir, Mr Macron, Mr Tusk and Mr Merz released a joint statement voicing support for Ukraine and calling on Russia to agree to a 30-day ceasefire.
Sir Keir and Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a meeting in March. Pic: AP
“We reiterate our backing for President Trump’s calls for a peace deal and call on Russia to stop obstructing efforts to secure an enduring peace,” they said.
“Alongside the US, we call on Russia to agree a full and unconditional 30-day ceasefire to create the space for talks on a just and lasting peace.”
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Putin’s Victory Day parade explained
The leaders said they were “ready to support peace talks as soon as possible”.
But they warned that they would continue to “ratchet up pressure on Russia’s war machine” until Moscow agrees to a lasting ceasefire.
“We are clear the bloodshed must end, Russia must stop its illegal invasion, and Ukraine must be able to prosper as a safe, secure and sovereign nation within its internationally recognised borders for generations to come,” their statement added.
“We will continue to increase our support for Ukraine.”
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The European leaders are set to visit the Maidan, a central square in Ukraine’s capital where flags represent those who died in the war.
They are also expected to host a virtual meeting for other leaders in the “coalition of the willing” to update them on progress towards a peacekeeping force.
This force “would help regenerate Ukraine’s armed forces after any peace deal and strengthen confidence in any future peace”, according to Number 10.
World
Ten explosions near international airport in India-administered part of Kashmir, officials say
Ten explosions have been heard near Srinagar International Airport in India-administered parts of Kashmir, officials have told Reuters news agency.
The blasts followed blackouts caused by multiple projectiles, which were seen in the sky above the city of Jammu earlier on Friday.
Explosions were also heard in the Sikh holy city of Amritsar, in the neighbouring Punjab state, according to Reuters.
An Indian military official told the agency that “drones have been sighted” and “they are being engaged”.
It comes as tensions between India and Pakistan across the line of control around the region of Kashmir have boiled over this week, leading to fears of a wider conflict.
On Wednesday morning, India carried out missile strikes in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered parts of the disputed region.
The retaliation came weeks after 26 people, mainly Indian tourists, were shot dead by gunmen in an India-administered part of Kashmir last month.
The government in India said it hit nine “terrorist infrastructure” sites, while Pakistan said it was not involved in the April attack and the sites were not militant bases.
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Explained: India-Pakistan conflict
Around 48 people have been killed since Wednesday, according to casualty estimates on both sides – which have not been independently verified.
India also suspended its top cricket tournament, the Indian Premier League, as a result of rising tensions, while the Pakistan Super League moved the remainder of its season to the United Arab Emirates.
Meanwhile, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said at a conference on Friday that the US is in constant contact with both India and Pakistan.
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Conclaves are famously unpredictable affairs – and once again the election of Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost as the new pope caught many by surprise.
The newly elected Pope Leo XIV won the consensus of the 133 cardinal electors after only four ballots – a fast process for a diverse college of cardinals.
Though his name had circulated among some Vatican watchers, other cardinals had emerged as clear front-runners, including Pietro Parolin – the Vatican’s number two who would have been the first Italian in almost 50 years to become pontiff – or Luis Tagle, a Filipino cardinal looking to become the first Asian pope.
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What are the conclave’s secrecy measures?
Instead, it was the first North American to win the highly secretive process.
So, what went on behind the closed doors of the Sistine Chapel?
Until Thursday lunchtime, Cardinal Parolin was ahead, gathering between 45 and 55 votes, sources say.
A substantial number, but well short of the 89 votes he needed for a two-thirds majority.
At this point, Cardinal Prevost had between 34 and 44 votes.
But as the Italian struggled to grow his support during the first three rounds of voting, he stepped down from the race, endorsing Prevost instead, Sky News understands.
Read more:
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Who is Pope Leo?
An internal battle between Luis Tagle and Pablo Virgilio David – both cardinals hailing from Asia – cancelled out both of their chances.
And a contender from Africa – the most conservative sector of the church – was never likely for a conclave where the overwhelming majority of cardinals had been appointed by Francis, a progressive pontiff, sources say.
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Moment new pope emerges on balcony
An American pope has long been seen as highly improbable, given the geopolitical power of the US.
But Cardinal Prevost was able to draw from across the groups making up the electors: moderate US cardinals, South American cardinals and many European cardinals all coalesced around him.
Italian newspaper La Repubblica said Prevost “certainly attracted cross-party preferences, both ideologically and geographically”.
“In the conclave he was the least American of Americans: Born in Chicago, he lived 20 years in Peru,” the newspaper said.
It added: “As a man used to teamwork, Prevost appeared to many as the right man to make the papacy evolve into a more collegial form.”
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