A former Manchester City footballer who grew up in Afghanistan has recalled the harrowing night she fled the Taliban aged 10 – after the terrorists executed her father. Nadia Nadim, 32, told how she, her mother and four sisters left Kabul on trucks and made the long journey to Europe, where they eventually settled in … Read more
MEMOIR THE BOY WITH TWO HEARTS by Hamed Amiri (Icon £16.99, 288pp) In 2001, when Hamed Amiri was ten years old, his mother made a speech declaring that women ‘have the same rights as men’. In Taliban-ruled Herat, Afghanistan, this was a radical statement, and a dangerous one: that night, the Mullah called for her … Read more
Nigel Farage has been accused of inciting racism after he sensationally claimed the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement to be a ‘far-left Marxist organisation whose chief aim is to close down police forces’ in a blazing television row this morning over the toppling of a slave trader statue in Bristol. The Brexit Party leader also accused the … Read more
The Taliban have pledged their readiness to cooperate with healthcare workers instead of killing them, as fear of a coronavirus epidemic spreads in Afghanistan. Whatever reservations the militants previously held over eradicating the crippling disease, they have now clearly grasped the dangers posed by the pandemic sweeping the rest of the world. In the past … Read more
A top U.S. commander has voiced his disappointment at the level of violence being used by the Taliban, claiming that attacks are higher than the February 29 peace deal allows, as the military begins to pull out of two Afghan bases. Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, head of U.S. Central Command (CENTOM) and the top U.S. commander … Read more
The US launched an airstrike today against Taliban fighters in retaliation for the killing of at least 20 Afghan soldiers and policemen in a string of attacks. It was the first strike by American forces since a troop withdrawal agreement was signed between the two sides on Saturday as part of a historic peace deal. Taliban … Read more
The United States will begin withdrawing thousands of forces from Afghanistan after signing a peace agreement with Taliban militants aimed at ending America’s longest war. U.S. troop levels are to drop to 8,600 from about 13,000 in the four to five months following Saturday’s signing. The withdrawal of all remaining forces, within 14 months, will … Read more
President Donald Trump said Friday that he’s dispatching Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to the signing of an agreement with the Afghan Taliban aimed at beginning a draw down of thousands of U.S. troops and ending America’s 18-year involvement in the war. Trump said Pompeo would soon, at the president’s direction, witness the signing of … Read more