Budget 2018-19

  Efforts on to resume operations at Kabul airport Afghan crisis:  Taliban and Afghan rebels loyal to local leader Ahmad Massoud claimed heavy casualties in heavy fighting in the Panjshir Valley, with some media reports suggesting 13 Taliban fighters were ambushed on Thursday. Panjshir is the last Afghan province resisting rule by the Taliban, which took control of the country two weeks ago by overthrowing the Western-backed government as the US and other foreign troops withdrew after 20 years. According to certain media reports, more than 300 fighters from both sides lost their lives during the fighting over the past few days, as the Northern Resistance Front refused to give up despite being surrounded by the Taliban from all sides. “We started operations after negotiations with the local armed group failed,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said. Taliban fighters had entered Panjshir and taken control of some territory, he said. “They (the enemy)...

  The Islamist movement’s supreme leader, Haibatullah Akhundzada, is expected to have ultimate power over a governing council, with a president below him, a senior Taliban official said last month Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers were preparing on Thursday to unveil their new government as the economy teetered on the edge of collapse more than two weeks after the Islamist militia captured  Kabul  and brought a chaotic end to 20 years of war. Taliban official Ahmadullah Muttaqi said on social media a ceremony was being prepared at the presidential palace in Kabul, while private broadcaster Tolo said an announcement on a new government was imminent. The Islamist movement’s supreme leader, Haibatullah Akhundzada, is expected to have ultimate power over a governing council here, with a president below him, a senior Taliban official told Reuters last month. The legitimacy of the new government in the eyes of international donors and investors will be crucial for Afghanistan’s econ...

  In the aftermath of the  Taliban  regaining power in Afghanistan, a former senior American diploma Nikki Haley t has said there is a need to closely watch China In the aftermath of the Taliban regaining power in Afghanistan, a former senior American diplomat has said there is a need to closely watch China as it is making a move to take over the Bagram air force base that was controlled by the United States for nearly two decades. America’s former envoy to the United Nations Nikki Haley told Fox News on Wednesday that it is time that President Joe Biden’s administration reaches out to its key friends and allies like India, Japan and Australia and assure them that the US will have their back. The first thing you should do is immediately start connecting with our allies, whether it’s Taiwan, whether it’s Ukraine, whether it’s Israel, whether it’s India, Australia, Japan, all of them, and reassure them that we will have their back and that we need them as well,  Nikki ...

  Consultations on forming an inclusive Afghan govt end in ‘consensus’ The  Taliban  and other Afghan leaders have reached a “consensus” on the formation of a new government and cabinet under the leadership of the group’s top spiritual leader, an official said. Taliban supreme commander  Haibatullah Akhundzada  will be the top leader of any governing council, Bilal Karimi, a member of the group’s cultural commission said Wednesday. Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, one of Akhundzada’s three deputies and the main public face of the Taliban, is likely to be in charge of the daily functioning of the government, Karimi added. “The consultations on forming an inclusive Afghan government within the Islamic Emirate’s leaders, with the leaders from previous government and other influential leaders have officially ended,” Karimi said. “They have reached a consensus. We’re about to announce a functioning cabinet and government in a few days, not weeks. The  Taliban  h...

  The UK is reportedly in talks with the Taliban over furthering the evacuation process and securing a safe passage out of Afghanistan for British nationals and Afghans who remain there Afghanistan Crisis : The UK is reportedly in talks with the Taliban over furthering the evacuation process and securing a safe passage out of Afghanistan for British nationals and Afghans who remain there. “The Prime Minister’s special representative for Afghan transition, Simon Gass, has travelled to Doha and is meeting with senior Taliban representatives to underline the importance of safe passage out of Afghanistan for British nationals, and those Afghans who have worked with us over the past 20 years,” the BBC quoted a government spokesman as saying. It comes after a  Taliban  pledge to allow further departures. As per an official statement by the UK government, over 17,000 people had been evacuated by the UK from Afghanistan so far, including over 5,000 UK nationals. Meanwhile, on Tue...

  There are nearly 10 million children in Afghanistan “in desperate need of humanitarian aid”, said UNICEF Afghanistan Representative, adding these children are deprived of right to a healthy childhood There are nearly 10 million children in  Afghanistan  “in desperate need of humanitarian aid”, said UNICEF Afghanistan Representative, Herve Ludovic De Lys, adding that these children are deprived of their right to a healthy and protected childhood. “Those least responsible for this crisis, are paying the highest price — including the children killed and injured in a series of atrocities in Kabul since last Thursday”, the senior UN Children’s Fund official told correspondents. “Again, today, I heard of more unsettling reports – of unaccompanied children across the country…more reports of grave violations, including children being recruited by armed groups…All this in a year in which more than 550 children have been killed, and more than 1400 injured.” He said that against a...

  The Indian ambassador to Afghanistan and around 120 of his staff members are being brought back to India on Tuesday from Kabul by a C-17 heavy-lift aircraft of the IAF The Indian ambassador to Afghanistan and around 120 of his staff members are being brought back to India on Tuesday from  Kabul  by a C-17 heavy-lift aircraft of the IAF as part of an emergency evacuation in view of the prevailing situation in the Afghan capital after its take over by the Taliban, people familiar with the development said. External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said that it was decided that the ambassador and his Indian staff will move to India immediately in view of the prevailing circumstances. “In view of the prevailing circumstances, it has been decided that our Ambassador in Kabul and his Indian staff will move to India immediately,” Bagchi tweeted. An Indian Air Force (IAF) C-17 heavy-lift transport aircraft brought back some personnel from Afghanistan...