Taliban parade in Kandahar as it showcases military hardware seized during takeover

Published

4 years ago

September 1, 2021

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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.

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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.

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.

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.

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.

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.”

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.

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

Israel attacks Houthi targets at three ports and power plant in Yemen

Published

1 hour ago

July 7, 2025

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Israel attacks Houthi targets at three ports and power plant in Yemen

Israel says its military has attacked Houthi targets at three ports and a power plant in Yemen.

Defence minister Israel Katz confirmed the strikes, saying they were carried out due to repeated attacks by the Iranian-backed rebel group on Israel.

Mr Katz said the Israeli military attacked the Galaxy Leader ship which he claimed was hijacked by the Houthis and was being used for “terrorist activities in the Red Sea”.

It came after the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) issued an evacuation warning for people at Hodeidah, Ras Issa, and Salif ports – as well as the Ras al Khatib power station, which it said is controlled by Houthi rebels.

The IDF said it would carry out airstrikes on those areas due to “military activities being carried out there”.

Afterwards, Mr Katz confirmed the strikes at the ports and power plant.

Earlier in the day, a ship was reportedly set on fire after being attacked in the Red Sea.

A private security company said the assault, off the southwest coast of Yemen, resembled that of the Houthi militant group.

It was the first such incident reported in the vital shipping corridor since mid-April.

The vessel, identified as the Liberian-flagged, Greek-owned bulk carrier Magic Seas, had taken on water after being hit by sea drones, maritime security sources said. The crew later abandoned the ship.

The Houthi rebels have been launching missile and drone attacks against commercial and military ships in the region in what the group’s leadership called an effort to end Israel’s offensive against Hamas in Gaza.

Between November 2023 and January 2025, the Houthis targeted more than 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones, sinking two of them and killing four sailors.

The Houthis paused attacks in a self-imposed ceasefire until the US launched an assault against the rebels in mid-March.

That ended weeks later and the Houthis have not attacked a vessel, though they have continued occasional missile attacks targeting Israel.

A renewed Houthi campaign against shipping could again draw in US and Western forces to the area.

The ship attack comes at a sensitive moment in the Middle East.

A possible ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war hangs in the balance and Iran is weighing up whether to restart negotiations over its nuclear programme.

It follows American airstrikes last month, which targeted its most-sensitive atomic sites amid an Israeli war against the Islamic Republic that ended after 12 days.

How did the Houthis come to control much of Yemen?

A civil war erupted in Yemen in late 2014 when the Houthis seized Sanaa.

Worried by the growing influence of Shia Iran along its border, Saudi Arabia led a Western-backed coalition in March 2015, which intervened in support of the Saudi-backed government.

The Houthis established control over much of the north and other large population centres, while the internationally recognised government based itself in the port city of Aden.

World

‘We’ll never yield’: Millions of Iranians unite in mourning

Published

1 hour ago

July 7, 2025

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'We'll never yield': Millions of Iranians unite in mourning

Under the red flag of martyrdom, they beat their chests in memory of a fallen religious leader as the cleric recounts his fate outside one of Tehran’s oldest mosques.

Imam Hussein was tricked and martyred by his enemies in the seventh-century battle of Karbala. The crowd of grown men and women wept with grief as Hussein’s story was retold on Sunday.

Ashura is always deeply moving for the Shia faithful but this year even more so. It comes after the trauma of Israel’s surprise attacks on Iran.

There was a sense of emotional release and a chance for Iranians to come together in solidarity.

Ashura is also a reminder that Iran’s revolutionary leaders draw much of their power from the strength of religion in this country after a conflict its enemies hoped would see those same leaders toppled.

The festival has come at just the right time for its embattled government.

Iran’s supreme leader has appeared in public for the first time since Israel attacked his country. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was greeted with ecstatic cheers by his followers at Ashura prayers.

His supporters told us they welcomed his return. “I was so happy that I didn’t know what to do,” said one woman. “This caused our big enemies the United States and Israel to receive a great slap in the mouth.”

“His appearance on TV for Ashura,” a young man told us, “showed that all the talk about him hiding and taking the path of peace with the United States is not true and it shows that he is holding his position strongly and steadfastly”.

We had been given rare access to Iran among a handful of journalists who were let in after the 12-day war.

Its scars aren’t hard to find – buildings left with gaping holes where Israeli airstrikes took out members of Iran’s elite, one after another.

And Abbas Aslani, an analyst with close ties to the government, says there is a fear it may not be over.

“The Iranian government and the army are prepared for a new round of conflict, because they think that the other party, specifically Israel, is not to be trusted in terms of any ceasefire,” he said.

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At the Ashura ceremony, the crowd chants, “we’ll never yield to humiliation” – an age-old message for Iran’s enemies today as they brace for the possibility of more conflict.

World

What is the possible Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal – and what challenges could lie ahead?

Published

7 hours ago

July 6, 2025

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What is the possible Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal - and what challenges could lie ahead?

An Israeli delegation is heading to Qatar for indirect talks with Hamas on a possible hostage and ceasefire deal in Gaza.

The development comes ahead of a meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump in Washington DC on Monday aimed at pushing forward peace efforts.

The US leader has been increasing pressure on the Israeli government and Hamas to secure a permanent ceasefire and an end to the 21-month-long war in Gaza.

Mr Trump said on Tuesday on social media that Israel had agreed “to the necessary conditions to finalise” a deal on a truce.

And Hamas, which runs the coastal Palestinian territory, said on Friday it has responded to the US-backed proposal in a “positive spirit”.

So what is in the plan?

The plan is for an initial 60-day ceasefire that would include a partial release of hostages held by the militant group in exchange for more humanitarian supplies being allowed into Gaza.

The proposed truce calls for talks on ending the war altogether.

The war in Gaza began after Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking 250 others hostage. Dozens of hostages have since been released or rescued by Israeli forces, while 50 remain in captivity, including about 30 who Israel believes are dead.

The proposal would reportedly see about half of the living hostages and about half of the dead hostages returned to Israel over 60 days, in five separate releases.

Eight living hostages would be freed on the first day and two released on the 50th day, according to an Arab diplomat from one of the mediating countries, it is reported.

Five dead hostages would be returned on the seventh day, five more on the 30th day and eight more on the 60th day.

That would leave 22 hostages still held in Gaza, 10 of them believed to be alive. It is not clear whether Israel or Hamas would determine who is to be released.

Hamas has sought guarantees that the initial truce would lead to a total end to the war and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza.

A Hamas official has said Mr Trump has guaranteed that the ceasefire will extend beyond 60 days if necessary to reach a peace deal, but there is no confirmation from the US of such a guarantee.

Possible challenges ahead

And in a sign of the potential challenges still facing the two sides, a Palestinian official from a militant group allied with Hamas said concerns remained.

The concerns were over humanitarian aid, passage through the Rafah crossing in southern Israel to Egypt and clarity over a timetable for Israeli troop withdrawals.

Hamas’s “positive” response to the proposal had slightly different wording on three issues around humanitarian aid, the status of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) inside Gaza and the language around guarantees beyond the 60-day ceasefire, a source with knowledge of the negotiations revealed.

But the source told Sky News: “Things are looking good.”

The Times of Israel reported Hamas has proposed three amendments to the proposed framework.

According to a source, Hamas wants the agreement to say that talks on a permanent ceasefire will continue until an agreement is reached; that aid will fully resume through mechanisms backed by the United Nations and other international aid organisations; and that the IDF withdraws to positions it maintained before the collapse of the previous ceasefire in March.

Mr Netanyahu’s office said in a statement that changes sought by Hamas to the ceasefire proposal were “not acceptable to Israel”.

However, his office said the delegation would still fly to Qatar to “continue efforts to secure the return of our hostages based on the Qatari proposal that Israel agreed to”.

Another potential challenge is that Mr Netanyahu has repeatedly said Hamas must be disarmed, which is a demand the militant group has so far refused to discuss.

Hamas has said it is willing to free all the hostages in exchange for a full withdrawal of Israeli troops and an end to the war in Gaza.

Israel rejects that offer, saying it will agree to end the war if Hamas surrenders, disarms and goes into exile – something that the group refuses.

Previous negotiations have stalled over Hamas demands of guarantees that further negotiations would lead to the war’s end, while Mr Netanyahu has insisted Israel would resume fighting to ensure the group’s destruction.