Defence`s Feeds

With the Taliban seizing control of Afghanistan, Turkey seeks to avert a refugee exodus, with the country already hosting over four million refugees, with about 120,000 of them from Afghanistan, according the United Nations.

Men with Kalashnikovs roamed the streets of Kabul on foot, in security vehicles and on motorcycles Monday as the insurgents solidified their hold on Afghanistan's capital.

The rapid Taliban offensive across Afghanistan that culminated Sunday with the flight of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani was meticulously planned and executed with ruthless efficiency, say Western military experts.

The Taliban previously ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001 and imposed a strict form of Islamic law on the country. Here are some key facts about the group's beliefs and history.

Taliban fighters patrolled the streets of Kabul on Monday, a day after the group swept into the Afghan capital and President Ashraf Ghani left the country.

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The Australian Defence Force will be deploying more than 250 personnel to support urgent Australian Government efforts to evacuate Australian citizens and visa holders from Afghanistan.

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President Joe Biden today addressed the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban and the actions U.S. troops are now taking to facilitate the departure of allies and Afghan partners. He spoke from the White House.

Afghanistan has fallen to the Taliban, and U.S. troops now in the country are working to secure Hamid Karzai International Airport to enable the safe departure of U.S., allied and Afghan partners from the country.

Seven people have been reported killed as thousands of Afghans flooded the runways and terminals of the Kabul airport amid chaos, attempting to leave after Taliban militants seized control of the country ahead of the withdrawal of U.S.-led coalition forces after a presence of nearly two decades.

The sudden seizure of Kabul by Taliban militants after they made rapid advances across the country has triggered sharp criticism of the U.S. policy in Afghanistan, with Washington being held responsible for ultimately failing to build a democratic government capable of withstanding the insurgents despite spending hundreds of billions of dollars and providing two decades of military support.

The Taliban's rapid takeover of Afghanistan has led many to criticize U.S. President Joe Biden's administration for allowing the internationally backed government in Kabul to collapse.

Uzbekistan says its armed forces have shot down an Afghan military plane after the aircraft illegally entered the Central Asian nation's airspace.

The head of the United Nations has urged the body's Security Council to use "all tools" at its disposal to guarantee that human rights will be respected in Afghanistan after Taliban militants seized control of the country.

A senior Russian official says the country's ambassador to Afghanistan, Dmitry Zhirnov, will hold talks with Taliban representatives on August 17 to discuss the security of Russian citizens and embassy personnel.

Afghanistan's Civil Aviation Authority (ACAA) has advised commercial air traffic to reroute and avoid transiting the country's airspace after the military was given sole access to departures and arrivals as countries scramble to evacuate their citizens from Kabul.

U.S. President Joe Biden has decried as "gut wrenching" the chaotic scenes under way in Afghanistan and the events around the Taliban's lightning-fast seizure of power in the war-torn country, but reiterated that he stands behind his decision to withdraw American troops as Washington had given the Afghan military "every chance" to succeed against the militants.

The Kabul airport reopened early on August 17 after flights were paused the day before due to a breakdown in security on the tarmac that interrupted evacuation operations, the Pentagon said.

Thousands of Taliban militants encircled Kabul as fear and panic swept through the capital, its residents bracing for a bloody takeover of the city and a return to an oppressive life under the militant Islamist group.