Essay: Surviving war, Afghan families are now caught in the crosshairs of US refugee restrictions

KAMI RICE, co-founder of Allied Shepherd – a member of the #AfghanEvac coalition, says thousands of Afghan wartime allies have completed years of security vetting and final medical checks, but their travel is now indefinitely on hold…
Trump aid freeze strands Afghan visa holders in Albania

Shengjin, Albania Reuters Ali Amini was just days from starting a new life in the United States when President Donald Trump halted aid for resettling Afghan refugees last week, a move that Amini worries could put his life in danger if forced to return home. After processing in Albania, he had a flight booked for […]
Biden spoke with families of Americans detained in Afghanistan, White House says

Washington DC, US Reuters US President Joe Biden spoke on Sunday with the families of three Americans detained in Afghanistan by its Taliban rulers since 2022, and emphasised his commitment to bringing home Americans wrongfully held overseas, the White House said. Biden’s administration has been negotiating with the Taliban since at least July about a […]
Taliban marks three years of rule and sharia law in Afghanistan

Kabul, Afghanistan Reuters The Taliban’s supreme spiritual leader said the group had transformed Afghanistan into an Islamic sharia-based country, as the former insurgents marked three years of rule with a huge military parade at the Bagram Air Base near Kabul. “The system is Islamic and sharia-based, sharia is being implemented,” said supreme leader Haibatullah Akhundzada, […]
Essay: Three years after fall of Kabul, US Congress has still not acted to secure future of more than 70,000 Afghan evacuees in US

In an article first published on The Conversation, KELSEY NORMAN and ANA MARTIN GIL look at the circumstances of Afghans evacuated as US troops pulled out…
Essay: US military is leaving Niger even less secure – why it didn’t succeed in combating terrorism

In an article first published on The Conversation, OLAYINKA AJALA looks at US successes and failures in their mission to tackle terrorism in Niger…
US to lift Afghan visa limit under Biden, Congress deal

Washington DC, US Reuters US President Joe Biden’s administration has reached a compromise deal with Republicans in House of Representatives to lift the number of resettlement visas for Afghans who worked for the United States, US lawmakers said on Tuesday. The congressionally-authorised limit of 38,500 Special Immigration Visas (SIVs), which offer a path to US […]
State Department review of 2021 Afghanistan evacuation critical of Biden, Trump

Washington DC, US Reuters A US State Department report on Friday criticised the handling of the 2021 evacuation from Afghanistan, saying decisions by President Joe Biden and his predecessor Donald Trump to withdraw troops had “serious consequences for the viability” and security of the former US-backed government. Adverse findings in the report also reflected badly […]
Biden Afghanistan report mostly blames Trump for chaotic US withdrawal

Washington DC, US Reuters President Joe Biden’s administration on Thursday released a summary of classified reports that mostly blamed the chaotic August, 2021, US pullout from Afghanistan on his predecessor, Donald Trump, for failing to plan for the withdrawal he had agreed on with the Taliban. The Democratic administration’s summary, drawn from top-secret State Department […]
Afghanistan: Taliban mark year in power that has provided security but little hope

MOHAMMAD YUNUS YAWAR and CHARLOTTE GREENFIELD, of Reuters, report on what’s happened in Afghanistan in the year since the Taliban takeover…