By Aysha Safi and Susannah Walden KABUL, March 20, 2024 (AFP) – Sequestered at home in a remote Afghan town, 18-year-old Shekiba often roams the house hunting for the patchy internet signal that is her last link to an education. Shekiba has turned to online learning since the Taliban returned to power in 2021 and shut her out of classrooms, signing up for live economics lectures she squints at on a pocket-sized phone screen. She […]
Tag: afghan
US has killed Al-Qaeda chief al-Zawahiri in Afghanistan: US media
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The United States has killed Al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri, according to US media outlets, in what the White House announced Monday was a “successful” operation against a target in Afghanistan. Zawahiri, an Egyptian surgeon who became one of the world’s most wanted terrorists, was identified as a mastermind of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States that killed nearly 3,000 people. He had been on the run ever […]
Biden says US will complete Afghan pullout by August 31
by Sebastian Smith with David Fox in Kabul Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — President Joe Biden said Tuesday the United States intends to complete its pullout from Afghanistan by August 31 and needs to withdraw rapidly because of a growing risk of terrorist attacks. “The sooner we can finish, the better,” Biden said of the plan to evacuate Americans, Afghan nationals and US troops from Taliban-controlled Kabul. “Each day of operations […]
Amnesty condemns ‘forced’ returns of Afghan asylum seekers
KABUL, Afghanistan (AFP) – A surge of failed Afghan asylum seekers “forcibly” returned from Europe are at risk of torture, kidnapping and death in war-torn Afghanistan, Amnesty International said Thursday. Almost 9,500 Afghans went back to their homeland in 2016 after their applications for asylum in Europe were rejected, compared with nearly 3,300 a year earlier, the human rights group said. The figure covers asylum seekers who were detained and then deported from European countries, and those […]
Pakistan launches new strikes near Afghan border; warns militants
By Jibran Ahmed and David Brunnstrom PESHAWAR, Pakistan/WASHINGTON Tue Feb 25, 2014 5:16pm EST (Reuters) – The Pakistani military launched new air strikes targeting militant hideouts in the North Waziristan tribal region on Tuesday, killing at least 30 people, and a senior government official warned of a big offensive unless the Taliban showed they were serious about negotiations. Pakistani fighter jets have been pounding targets in the region since the government’s efforts to engage Taliban […]





