Dozens of civilians, 12 US troops killed in Kabul airport blasts

Suicide bombers struck the crowded gates of Kabul airport with at least two explosions on Thursday, causing a bloodbath among civilians and US troops, and bringing a catastrophic halt to the airlift of tens of thousands of Afghans desperate to flee.

Two US officials put the US death toll at 12 service members killed, making it one of the deadliest incidents for American troops of the entire 20-year war.

There was no complete toll of Afghan civilians but video images uploaded by Afghan journalists showed dozens of bodies of people killed in packed crowds outside the airport.

A watery ditch by the airport fence was filled with bloodsoaked corpses, some being fished out and laid in heaps on the canal side while wailing civilians searched for loved ones.

Several Western countries said the airlift of civilians was now effectively over, with the United States having sealed the gates of the airport leaving no way out for tens of thousands of Afghans who worked for the West through two decades of war.

A Taliban official said at least 13 people including children had been killed in the attack and 52 were wounded, though it was clear from video footage that those figures were far from complete. One surgical hospital run by an Italian charity said it alone was treating more than 60 wounded.

The explosions took place amid the crowds outside the airport who have been massing for days in hope of escaping in an airlift which the United States says will end by Tuesday, following the swift capture of the country by the Taliban.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blasts, but US officials pointed the finger at Islamic State's Afghan affiliate, ISIS-Khorosan, which has emerged as enemies of both the West and of the Taliban.

A witness who gave his name as Jamshed said he went to the airport in the hope of getting a visa for the United States.

"There was a very strong and powerful suicide attack, in the middle of the people. Many were killed, including Americans," he said.

'COMPLEX ATTACK'

Zubair, a 24 year-old civil engineer, who had been trying for a nearly week to get inside the airport with a cousin who had papers authorizing him to travel to the United States, said he was 50 meters from the first of two suicide bombers who detonated explosives at the gate.

"Men, women and children were screaming. I saw many injured people – men, women and children – being loaded into private vehicles and taken toward the hospitals," he said. After the explosions there was gunfire.

Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby said on Twitter: "We can confirm that the explosion at the Abbey Gate was the result of a complex attack that resulted in a number of US and civilian casualties. We can also confirm at least one other explosion at or near the Baron Hotel, a short distance from Abbey Gate."

Taliban official Suhail Shaheen said there were two explosions in a crowded area managed by US forces. "We strongly condemn this gruesome incident and will take every step to bring the culprits to justice."

The Taliban did not identify the attackers, but a spokesman described it as the work of "evil circles" who would be suppressed once the foreign troops leave.

Washington and its allies had been urging civilians to stay away from the airport on Thursday, citing the threat of an Islamic State suicide attack.

In the past 12 days, Western countries have evacuated nearly 100,000 people, mostly Afghans who helped them. But they say many thousands more will be left behind following President Joe Biden's order to pull out all troops by Aug 31.

The last few days of the airlift will mostly be used to withdraw the remaining troops. Canada and some European countries have already announced the end of their airlifts, while publicly lamenting Biden's abrupt pullout.

AIRPORT DOORS 'CLOSED'

"The doors at the airport are now closed and it is no longer possible to get people in," Norwegian Foreign Minister Ine Eriksen Soereide said on Thursday.

"We wish we could have stayed longer and rescued everyone," the acting chief of Canada's defense staff, General Wayne Eyre, told reporters.

Biden ordered all troops out of Afghanistan by the end of the month to comply with a withdrawal agreement with the Taliban negotiated by his predecessor Donald Trump. He spurned calls this week from European allies for more time.

The abrupt collapse of the Western-backed government in Afghanistan caught US officials by surprise and risks reversing gains, especially in the rights of women and girls, millions of whom have been going to school and work, once forbidden under the Taliban.

Biden has defended the decision to leave, saying US forces could not stay indefinitely. But his critics say the US force, which once numbered more than 100,000, had been reduced in recent years to just a few thousand troops, no longer involved in fighting on the ground and mainly confined to an air base. It was a fraction of the size of US military contingents that have stayed in places such as Korea for decades.

The US troops killed on Thursday were the first to die in action in Afghanistan in 18 months.

Violence from Islamic State creates a headache for the Taliban who have promised that their victory will bring peace to Afghanistan at last. Fighters claiming allegiance to Islamic State began appearing in eastern Afghanistan at the end of 2014 and have established a reputation for extreme brutality.

Since the day before the Taliban swept into Kabul, the United States and its allies have mounted one of the biggest air evacuations in history, bringing out about 95,700 people, including 13,400 on Wednesday, the White House said on Thursday.

The Taliban have encouraged Afghans to stay, while saying those with permission to leave will still be allowed to do so once foreign troops leave and commercial flights resume.

The Taliban's 1996-2001 rule was marked by public executions and the curtailment of basic freedoms. The group was overthrown two decades ago by US-led forces for hosting the al Qaeda militants who masterminded the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.

The Taliban have said they will respect human rights in line with Islamic law and will not allow terrorists to operate from the country.

-reuters-

Islamic scholars to decide role of women in Afghanistan, says senior Taliban member

A senior Taliban leader has said that the role of women in Afghanistan, including their right to work and education and how they should dress, would ultimately be decided by a council of Islamic scholars.

"Our ulema (scholars) will decide whether girls are allowed to go to school or not," Waheedullah Hashimi, who has access to the group's decision-making, told Reuters.

"They will decide whether they should wear hijab, burqa, or only (a) veil plus abaya or something, or not. That is up to them." 

The hijab is usually a scarf covering the head, the burqa is an all-enveloping robe while the abaya is a robe that leaves the face uncovered. 

On Tuesday, the Taliban's main spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, told a news conference in Kabul that women would be allowed to work and study and "will be very active in society but within the framework of Islam."

During their 1996-2001 rule, also guided by Islamic law, the Taliban stopped women from working. Girls were not allowed to go to school and women had to wear burqas to go out, and then only when accompanied by a male relative.

Those who broke the rules sometimes suffered humiliation and public beatings by the Taliban's religious police.

Western leaders have said they will judge the new Taliban by their actions, including how they treats girls and women.

"We will judge this regime based on the choices it makes, and by its actions rather than by its words, on its attitude to terrorism, to crime and narcotics, as well as humanitarian access, and the rights of girls to receive an education," British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Wednesday.

"People in Afghanistan 99.99% are Muslims and they believe in Islam," Hashimi said. "When you believe in laws, definitely you should apply that law. We have a council, a very prominent council of Ulema. They will decide what to do." 

Despite its surge across Afghanistan in recent weeks, Hashimi said even the Taliban had not expected to enter Kabul so soon. But chaos ensued in the capital after President Ashraf Ghani fled the country, he said. 

"Therefore our leadership ordered our Taliban to Kabul city. There was no one to resist. No one at all. So we entered and everything was laid kind of empty. So we occupied and now we are in control of Kabul city." (Writing by Raju Gopalakrishnan; Editing by Mike Collett-White)

-reuters-

Afghan women forced from banking jobs as Taliban take control

In early July, as Taliban insurgents were seizing territory from government forces across Afghanistan, fighters from the group walked into the offices of Azizi Bank in the southern city of Kandahar and ordered nine women working there to leave.

The gunmen escorted them to their homes and told them not to return to their jobs. Instead, they explained that male relatives could take their place, according to three of the women involved and the bank's manager.

 "It's really strange to not be allowed to get to work, but now this is what it is," Noor Khatera, a 43-year-old woman who had worked in the accounts department of the bank told Reuters.

"I taught myself English and even learned how to operate a computer, but now I will have to look for a place where I can just work with more women around."

The incident is an early sign that some of the rights won by Afghan women over the 20 years since the hardline Islamist militant movement was toppled could be reversed.

The Taliban have steadily overrun the country since US troops began withdrawing in May and the insurgents entered the capital on Sunday.

When they last ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001, women could not work, girls were not allowed to attend school and women had to cover their face and be accompanied by a male relative if they wanted to venture out of their homes.

Women who broke the rules sometimes suffered humiliation and public beatings by the Taliban's religious police under the group's strict interpretation of Islamic law.

During hitherto fruitless talks over a political settlement in recent years, Taliban leaders made assurances to the West that women would enjoy equal rights in accordance with what was granted by Islam, including the ability to work and be educated.

'THE WORLD SHOULD HELP US'

Two days after the episode at Azizi Bank, a similar scene played out at a branch of another Afghan lender, Bank Milli, in the western city of Herat, according to two female cashiers who witnessed it.

Three Taliban fighters carrying guns entered the branch, admonishing female employees for showing their faces in public. Women there quit, sending male relatives in their place.

Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid did not respond to a request for comment about the two incidents. Spokespeople for the two banks did not respond to requests for comment.

On the broader question of whether women would be allowed to work in banks in areas it controls, Mujahid added that no decision had yet been made.

"After the establishment of the Islamic system, it will be decided according to the law, and God willing, there will be no problems," he said.

The United States and others Western powers fear that the Taliban will roll back many of the freedoms won by women.

Gains made in women's right have been touted as one of the biggest accomplishments during the 20 years that US-led forces have been deployed in Afghanistan, although they have mostly been made in urban centres.

Afghan women working in fields including journalism, healthcare and law enforcement have been killed in a wave of attacks since peace talks began last year between the Taliban and the US-backed Afghan government.

The government blames most targeted killings on the Taliban, who deny carrying out assassinations.

"The Taliban will regress freedom at all levels and that is what we are fighting against," an Afghan government spokesperson said.

"Women and children are suffering the most and our forces are trying to save democracy. The world should understand and help us."

Scores of educated Afghan women took to social media to appeal for help and express their frustration.

"With every city collapsing, human bodies collapse, dreams collapse, history and future collapse, art and culture collapse, life and beauty collapse, our world collapses," Rada Akbar wrote on Twitter. "Someone please stop this." 

(Reporting by Rupam Jain in Mumbai; Writing by Alasdair Pal; Editing by Lincoln Feast, Mike Collett-White and Philippa Fletcher)

-reuters-

Afghanistan begins COVID-19 vaccination drive amid rising violence

KABUL - Afghanistan began its first COVID-19 vaccinations on Tuesday, administering doses initially to security force members, health workers and journalists, in a campaign that may face challenges from a sharp rise in violence.

The war-damaged country received 500,000 doses of AstraZeneca's vaccine from the Serum Institute of India (SII), which is producing the vaccine for mid- and low-income countries, earlier this month.

In a ceremony at the presidential palace, acting health minister Waheed Majroh said the vaccines would be provided to 250,000 people, mostly from the security, health, education and media sectors.

"Today is a fortunate day for Afghanistan as we launch the first vaccination drive, but it would be a challenge to roll the plan to the whole country," Majroh said.

Taliban insurgents fighting the foreign-backed Afghan government have announced their backing for the vaccination campaign.

However, the inoculations will take place amid relentless violence despite the government and the Taliban insurgents opening peace talks in September. The discussions have produced no progress to date.

A report by the United nations released on Tuesday said civilian casualties escalated sharply after peace talks begin last year and it called for a ceasefire.

Afghan health officials have said that the international COVAX program, which is aimed at improving access to the COVID-19 vaccine for developing countries, would provide vaccines to cover 20 percent of the country's 38 million population. 

President Ashraf Ghani, one of several Afghan leaders who witnessed the first injections, said the pandemic is still a serious problem for the country and called on health workers to vaccinate people in a fair and transparent manner.

He added efforts are under way to cover 40 percent of the population in a second round.

Afghanistan has registered 55,646 infections and 2,435 deaths. But experts say cases are significantly under-reported due to low testing and limited access to medical facilities in the war-torn country. 

-reuters-

Multilingual robot waitress serves up fries in Afghanistan

KABUL - In downtown Kabul, a robotic waitress named "Timia" rolls across a restaurant to serve pizza and fries to a customer.

Zahra Barakzai, 30, cheerfully receives her meal from the robot, who has drawn curious diners since she was unveiled at Time Restaurant last month.

"It was very interesting to me because it was the first robot to come into a restaurant in Afghanistan and serve food. It was nice to see the robot here, it's kind of fun," said Barakzai.

Though manufactured in Japan and serving American-style fast food such as cola and burgers, Time Restaurant's team designed the robot with locals in mind.

The robot speaks Dari and Pashto, as well as English, and her head is designed to appear as though she is wearing a hijab, the headscarf worn by most Muslim women in Afghanistan.

Decades of war in Afghanistan have hampered the development of the country's technology, education and innovation sector, though bright spots exist as access to education, including for girls, improves.

In 2017, an all-female robotics team from Western city of Herat rose to global fame when they were initially refused and later cleared to compete in a robotics competition in the United States. Their solar-powered robot later won an award at an international robotics festival held in Estonia.

Zuhal, 13, a customer at the restaurant, said she was inspired, having previously only seen robots in cartoons.

"I never thought I would see a robot one day in my own town, but now I'm happy to see the robot in my favorite restaurant, it means that Afghanistan is developing," she said.

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Trump visits troops in Afghanistan, says Taliban talks back on

BAGRAM, Afghanistan — President Donald Trump said Thursday the US had resumed talks with Taliban insurgents as he made a surprise trip to Afghanistan to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday with troops.

On a brief visit to Bagram Airfield outside the capital Kabul, Trump served turkey dinner to soldiers, posed for photographs and delivered a speech after meeting Afghan President Ashraf Ghani.

"The Taliban wants to make a deal and we're meeting with them and we're saying it has to be a ceasefire," he told reporters.

About 13,000 US troops remain in Afghanistan, 18 years after the United States invaded after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. Trump said he planned to reduce the number to 8,600 without giving further details.

"There's nowhere I'd rather celebrate this Thanksgiving than right here with the toughest, strongest, best and bravest warriors on the face of the earth," the president, who was making his first trip to the war-torn country, told the troops.

"I've just come from serving Thanksgiving dinner to some of you... and we had a good time."

Trump joked that he had just started eating when he was called away, and didn't even get to taste his turkey.

"I should've started with that, instead of the mashed potatoes," he said.

"But I hope everyone enjoyed the fantastic meal, it certainly did look good and hopefully everyone can get some well-deserved rest this holiday."

AMERICA'S LONGEST WAR

The United States earlier this year reached a deal with Taliban insurgents to pull US troops from Afghanistan and wind down America's longest war in return for security guarantees.

But Trump made a shock move in September, describing the year-long talks as "dead" and withdrawing an invitation to the insurgents to meet near Washington due to the killing of a US soldier.

The Taliban refuses to negotiate formally with the Afghan government, though diplomatic efforts have continued to foster dialogue and an eventual peace deal.

Trump said Thursday the war in Afghanistan "will not be decided on the battlefield" and that "ultimately there will need to be a political solution" decided by people in the region.

The US president has often vowed to pull out of the US's "endless wars," and he is keen to withdraw many troops from Afghanistan ahead of the November 2020 election when he faces a tough battle to win a second term.

Afghanistan remains roiled by violence, and US presidents are still only able to make fleeting, unannounced visits to Bagram -- the biggest US base in the country -- due to the security threat.

Ghani, who was only given a few hours' notice about the visit, thanked Trump for pushing for "the type of peace that will ensure the gains of the past year and ensure your security and our security."

The Taliban last week handed over 2 hostages -- an American and an Australian -- after 3 years in captivity in exchange for 3 high-ranking insurgent prisoners, a move seen as a boost to peace talks.

FRICTION WITH US MILITARY LEADERS

Back in Washington, Trump's relations with the US military leadership have recently soured over his repeated interference in high-profile discipline cases.

Trump reversed the demotion of Navy SEAL Edward Gallagher who was accused of war crimes but only found guilty of a lesser offense.

Gallagher's cause had been championed by Fox News and Trump's conservative base.

The case drew sharp criticism from the top brass concerned that the president was undermining military judicial process.

Trump this month also dismissed a murder conviction against a soldier who ordered his men to fire on 3 unarmed Afghans in 2012.

And he granted clemency to another soldier charged with murder over the death of an alleged Taliban bomb-maker in 2010.

Before taking the secret 13-hour flight to Afghanistan, Trump had been expected to spend Thanksgiving at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida and to make video calls to US troops deployed abroad.

The White House scheduled tweets that were sent from the president's account during the flight when he did not have access to the internet.

Agence France-Presse

At least 28 killed in mosque blast in Afghanistan

JALALABAD, Afghanistan - At least 28 worshippers were killed and dozens wounded by a blast inside an Afghan mosque during Friday prayers, officials said, a day after the United Nations said violence in the country had reached "unacceptable" levels.

The explosion, which witnesses said collapsed the mosque's roof, took place in eastern Nangarhar province and wounded at least 55 people, provincial governor spokesman Attaullah Khogyani told AFP.

He said the dead were "all worshippers" in the blast in Haska Mina district, roughly 50 kilometers (30 miles) from the provincial capital Jalalabad.

A doctor at a hospital in Haska Mina gave a slightly higher toll, telling AFP that "around" 32 bodies had been brought in, along with 50 wounded.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Both the Taliban and the Islamic State group are active in Nangarhar province.

Witnesses said the roof of the mosque had fallen through after the "loud" explosion, the nature of which was not immediately clear.

"Dozens of people were killed and wounded and were taken in several ambulances," Haji Amanat Khan, a 65-year-old local resident, told AFP.

The blast came after the UN released a new report on Thursday saying an "unprecedented" number of civilians were killed or wounded in Afghanistan from July to September.

The report, which also charts violence throughout 2019 so far, underscores how "Afghans have been exposed to extreme levels of violence for many years" despite promises by all sides to "prevent and mitigate harm to civilians."

It also noted the absurdity of the ever-increasing price paid by civilians given the widespread belief that the war in Afghanistan cannot be won by either side.

"Civilian casualties are totally unacceptable," said the UN's special representative in Afghanistan, Tadamichi Yamamoto, adding they demonstrate the importance of talks leading to a ceasefire and a permanent political settlement.

The figures - 1,174 deaths and 3,139 injured from July 1 until September 30 - represent a 42-percent increase compared to the same period last year.

The UN laid most of the blame for the spike at the feet of "anti-government elements" such as the Taliban, who have been carrying out a bloody insurgency in Afghanistan for more than 18 years.

July alone saw more casualties than in any other month on record since the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) began documenting the violence in 2009.

The first six months of 2019 had seen casualties drop slightly compared to previous years.

But the violence has surged so far in the third quarter that it yanked the overall total for the year back on par with the bloodiest since NATO withdrew its combat forces at the end of 2014.

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Voting in Afghanistan's presidential election begins

KABUL - Voting began on Saturday to elect a president for Afghanistan with more than 9 million Afghan registered voters potentially heading to the polls amid fears of violence and fraud.

Tens of thousands of Afghan forces were deployed across 34 provinces to protect voters and polling stations from Taliban attacks.

The hardline insurgent group has threatened voters to stay away from the election or face dire consequences.

About 9.6 million of Afghanistan's 34 million people are registered to vote for one of 14 candidates at around 5,000 polling centers that will be protected by some 100,000 Afghan forces with air support from U.S. forces.

More than 400 polling centers will remain closed because they are situated in areas under Taliban control. Hundreds more in schools, mosques and district centers will be closed because of security concerns.

The voting process is another source of concern. The Independent Election Commission (IEC) has come under criticism for issuing contradictory and unclear statements over what processes will be in place to prevent fraud if biometric systems fail during the eight hours of voting.

Four of the 18 candidates registered to contest for the top job dropped out of the race, but their names remain on the biometric voting devices.

The chief contenders are incumbent President Ashraf Ghani and his former deputy Abdullah Abdullah, both of whom came to power in 2014 after a bitterly contested election marred by fraud.

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Rocket strike in Kabul on 9/11 anniversary

KABUL - A rocket was fired at the Afghan defense ministry complex in the capital Kabul in the early hours of Wednesday, on the 18th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, but no one was hurt, an official said.

"A rocket hit a wall at the defense ministry, with no casualties reported," interior ministry spokesman Nosrat Rahimi said in a statement.

The strike occurred just after midnight.

It was the first in the Afghan capital since US President Donald Trump announced at the weekend that talks with the Taliban aimed at a withdrawal of US troops were "dead".

On Tuesday, the insurgents pledged to continue fighting and warned that Washington would regret abandoning the negotiations.

The September 11, 2001 attacks on US targets prompted the US-led invasion of Afghanistan, which toppled the Taliban regime.

Last week, Kabul was the scene of two attacks claimed by the Taliban that killed more than two dozen people.

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US military likely to ramp up operations against Taliban: US general

BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan -- The US military is likely to accelerate the pace of its operations in Afghanistan to counter an increase in Taliban attacks, a senior US general said following Washington's suspension of peace talks with the insurgents.

US Marine General Kenneth McKenzie, the head of US Central Command, said during a visit to Afghanistan that the Taliban overplayed its hand in peace negotiations by carrying out a spate of high-profile attacks, including one that killed a US soldier last week.

The Taliban, which controls more territory than at any time since 2001 when it governed the country, said on Sunday that more American lives would be lost.

McKenzie declined to comment on the Taliban statement. But he noted that US troops in Afghanistan were hardly "defenseless."

"We're certainly not going to sit still and let them carry out some self-described race to victory. That's not going to happen," McKenzie told a group of reporters traveling with him during a stop at Bagram Airfield in northeastern Afghanistan.

Airstrikes by US-led international forces and Afghanistan’s small air force already are at a high level - a Sept. 3 United Nations report said there had been 506 between May 10 and Aug. 8, a 57 percent increase from the same period in 2018.

Asked whether increasing operations against the Taliban could include airstrikes and raids by US and Afghan commandos, McKenzie responded: "I think we're talking a total spectrum."

"And, again, whatever targets are available, whatever targets can be lawfully and ethically struck, I think we're going to pursue those targets," he said.

Any increase in US military action would correspond to an acceleration of Taliban attacks, McKenzie said.

The insurgents' determination to step up both attacks on provincial centers and suicide bombings even as discussions were taking place was a major factor in pushing US President Donald Trump to announce on Saturday that he was canceling peace talks aimed at ending America's longest war of 18 years.

The halt to the negotiations has fueled fears of even more violence across Afghanistan, with heightened security warnings in the capital Kabul and other centers ahead of a presidential election scheduled for Sept. 28.

TALIBAN MISCALCULATION

Trump, a longtime critic of the Afghan war, and the billions of dollars it costs, had been preparing an unprecedented meeting with the insurgency's leaders at the presidential compound in Camp David, Maryland.

But he called off the event after the latest violence.

Trump on Monday said talks with Taliban leaders are "dead" but that he was still considering a US troop drawdown.

Reuters has reported on growing misgivings that had been building within Trump's administration about the peace deal negotiated by a special US envoy, Zalmay Khalilzad.

McKenzie said he believed the Taliban underestimated the delicate nature of the talks with Washington, even in their later stages.

"I think they overplayed their hand," McKenzie said. "They misjudged the character of the American people. I think they misjudged the character of the president of the United States."

The growing tension on the ground in Afghanistan adds to the uncertainty about the future course for American forces, many of whom must now simultaneously brace for an increase in fighting while also awaiting potential orders to withdraw.

The United States has about 14,000 troops in Afghanistan, a figure that Trump has said he would like to reduce to about 8,600.

A further intensification in airstrikes poses a grave risk of increasing civilian casualties - and fueling support for the Taliban - which were 39 percent higher for the first half of 2019 from the same period in 2018, a July UN report said.

A spokesman for US forces in Afghanistan disputed the methods and findings but declined to provide civilian casualty figures.

Asked what his message was in his talks on Monday with US special operations forces, medical teams and other personnel he visited at bases in Afghanistan, McKenzie told reporters that they would need to keep fighting the "hard fight" for now.

"We just have to hold the line right now," McKenzie said.

"We're going to make some decisions, I think, back in our nation's capital over the next few days and that will give us increased guidance going ahead," he added, without elaborating.

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Taliban kill at least 10 in 'horrifying' attack in Afghan capital

KABUL - The Taliban killed at least 10 people, including a Romanian soldier, in a fresh bombing in Kabul on Thursday -- yet another horrific attack on the Afghan capital as the US and the insurgents negotiate a deal to see American troops leave the country.

The car bomb blast shook Shash Darak, a heavily fortified area adjacent to the Green Zone and home to several important complexes including the National Directorate of Security (NDS), the Afghan intelligence service.

Apparent surveillance footage of the attack, which occurred at about 10:10 a.m. (0540 GMT), showed a grey minivan explode just after it had cut in front of a line of white SUVs waiting to make a right turn right onto a street.

One nearby pedestrian can be seen turning and trying to run away as the minivan crashed through a barrier just before the blast.

Romania's defense ministry said in a statement that a Romanian soldier "lost his life today while executing a mixed patrol mission near (the) Green Zone in Kabul". 

His death comes after a Romanian employee of the European nation's embassy was killed in a separate Taliban attack in east Kabul on Monday.

According to interior ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi, at least 10 civilians were killed and 42 more wounded. 

But Farid Ahmad Karimi, general manager at the Wazir Akbar Khan hospital close to the bomb site, told AFP that both civilians and security personnel were among the dead and wounded.

On Twitter, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the attack, saying a "martyrdom seeker" -- or suicide bomber -- had triggered the car bomb and that 12 "foreign invaders" were killed.

Massoud Zazai, who owns a photo studio across the street from the blast site, said he was in his shop when the explosion happened.

"I fell off my chair and it got dark inside the shop because of smoke and dust," Zazai told AFP.

"I went out to the scene moments after the attack, the side of the road was littered with debris and bodies."

Through the smoke, Zazai said he could hear injured people crying and calling for their mothers and brothers.

"I saw at least five very badly injured, one was covered in blood and not moving. It was horrifying."

The attack was close to where the Islamic State group killed 9 journalists in a blast in April last year, including AFP Kabul's chief photographer Shah Marai.


'Bitten by the snake'

On Monday, a Romanian was among at least 16 people who were killed in a Taliban attack on a residential area in east Kabul. 

Currently, Romania contributes about 760 military personnel to the US-led NATO mission in Afghanistan, which has a total force size of about 17,000 troops from 39 countries.

The capital has been gripped by a surge in deadly violence even after the US and the insurgents reached an agreement "in principle" that would see the Pentagon pull thousands of troops from Afghanistan in return for various Taliban security promises.


But there is increasing unease about the deal, with Afghans fearing it will lead to a return of the Taliban to power, and a growing chorus of US lawmakers and officials expressing doubts.

According to parts of the deal made public so far, the Pentagon would pull about 5,000 of its 13,000 or so troops from five bases across Afghanistan by early next year, provided the Taliban hews to its security pledges.

The insurgents have said they will renounce Al-Qaeda, fight the Islamic State group and stop jihadists using Afghanistan as a safe haven.

On Wednesday, the Afghan government expressed doubts about the prospective deal, saying officials need more information about the risks it poses.

"There is too much concern about it, and we are still not assured of what consequences this agreement could have for Afghanistan's future," presidential advisor Waheed Omar told journalists Thursday.

"The people of Afghanistan have been bitten by the snake before, and have been witness to the consequences of hasty deals".

Even as negotiations for an accord have entered what are widely considered to be the final stages, violence has surged across Afghanistan.

On Saturday, the Taliban attempted to seize the provincial capital of Kunduz in the north and sporadic fighting has continued on the outskirts all week. 

Insurgents launched an operation in the city of Pul-e Khumri, the capital of neighboring Baghlan province on Sunday.

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At least 20 wounded, many feared dead in Kabul wedding blast

KABUL - At least 20 people were wounded in a blast at a Kabul wedding late Saturday, a local hospital said, while a witness told AFP he had seen many dead bodies at the scene.

The explosion came just as the US and the Taliban are widely expected to sign off on a deal that would see American troops begin to depart Afghanistan in return for various security assurances from the insurgents.

"#Kabul #Afghanistan explosion in a hotel during a wedding party, about 20 patients arrived up to now at our hospital #masscasualty," the Italian-run Emergency hospital of Kabul said on Twitter. 

Interior ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi said the blast occurred in a west Kabul wedding hall around 10:40 pm (1810 GMT).

He shared on Facebook photos showing several apparent bodies inside a dining area.

Afghan weddings are epic and vibrant affairs, with hundreds or often thousands of guests celebrating inside industrial-scale wedding halls where the men are usually segregated from the women and children.

Mohammad Farhag, who had been at the wedding, said he had been in the women's section when he heard a huge blast in the men's area. 

"Everyone ran outside shouting and crying," he said.

"For about 20 minutes the hall was full of smoke. Almost everyone in the men's section is either dead or wounded. Now, two hours after the blast, they are still taking bodies out of the hall."

No group immediately claimed responsibility.

LITTLE SECURITY 

Government spokesman Feroz Bashari said the blast was "a clear sign that terrorists can't see Afghans express happiness."

"You can't make them bow by killing them. The perpetrators of tonight's attack shall be held responsible," he wrote on Twitter.

Insurgents have periodically struck Afghan weddings, which are seen as easy targets because they frequently lack rigorous security precautions.

On July 12, at least 6 eople were killed when a suicide bomber attacked a wedding ceremony in the eastern Afghan province of Nangarhar. The Islamic State group, which has a growing footprint in the region, claimed the blast.

Expectations are rising for a deal in which the US would start withdrawing its approximately 14,000 soldiers from Afghanistan after a two-decade war that has turned into a stalemate.

US President Donald Trump has said since the start of his presidency that he wants troops out of the country where Washington has spent more than $1 trillion on military operations and reconstruction since 2001.

In return for the US departure, the Taliban would commit to various security guarantees, including that the Islamist hardliners who long harbored Al-Qaeda would not allow Afghanistan to once again become a jihadist safe haven.

On Friday, Ahmadullah Azkhundzada, brother of Afghan Taliban leader Haibatullah Akhundzada, was among 4 people killed in a blast at a mosque in Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan, a senior official with the provincial government said.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Six dead, 50 children wounded in Taliban car bomb attack on Kabul

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN - At least 6 people were killed and dozens, including 50 children, were wounded Monday when the Taliban detonated a powerful car bomb in Kabul, officials said -- the latest deadly attack in one of the most dangerous countries in the world to be a child.

Save the Children led international condemnation of the blast targeting a defense ministry building, which sent a plume of smoke into the air during rush hour and shook buildings nearly two kilometers (1.2 miles) away. 

Gunmen then stormed a nearby building, triggering a gun battle with special forces in the Puli Mahmood Khan neighbourhood of the Afghan capital. 

At least 6 people were killed, including a child and 2 special forces, said interior ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi.

The health ministry put the wounded toll at 116 people. Among the injured were 50 children, officials said, adding that most had been hurt by flying glass and were in stable condition.

Rahimi said all 5 gunmen and the driver of the car had been killed, and a clearing operation was over.

Some social media images purportedly taken at a hospital showed wounded, stunned children in school uniforms, still clutching books as they arrived for treatment. 

Five schools were damaged in the blast, the education ministry said.

Save the Children branded the attack "utterly deplorable", warning that "children's smaller bodies sustain more serious injuries than adults" and that the trauma of such attacks can stay with them for years.

'The world turned upside down' -

The Taliban claimed the attack, which came just two days after the insurgents began a seventh round of talks with the US in Qatar, as Washington eyes a breakthrough before Afghanistan's presidential election in September.

"We were sitting inside the office when the world turned upside down on us," said Zaher Usman, an employee at a branch of the culture ministry, which he said stands just 150 meters (yards) from the blast site.

"When I opened my eyes, the office was filled with smoke and dust and everything was broken, my colleagues were screaming," Usman told AFP by telephone.

AFP reporters could hear gunshots and multiple smaller explosions for hours after the initial blast, before the clearing operation was announced. 

The interior ministry said 210 civilians had been rescued from buildings nearby.

Taliban reject talks with Kabul 

Nearby Shamshad TV station, which was attacked in 2017, aired images of broken glass and damage to its offices. 

"I was terrified," Shamshad anchor Hashmat Stanikzai told AFP. 

A media watchdog said seven Shamshad journalists were among the wounded.

The attack came as the US was set to resume negotiations with the militants in Doha.

With the attack still ongoing, the Taliban spokesman in Doha again insisted that the insurgents will not negotiate with Kabul.

"Once the timeline for the withdrawal of foreign forces is set in the presence of international observers, then we will begin the talks to the Afghan side, but we will not talk to the Kabul administration as a government," Suhail Shaheen tweeted. 

There are deep concerns among Afghans who fear Washington will rush for the exits and allow the militants to return to some semblance of power.

However, US officials have insisted that "nothing is agreed until everything is agreed", including intra-Afghan talks.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Fallen Fil-Am soldier’s heroism remembered

The family of a Filipino-American soldier who died from injuries from an improvised explosive device (IED) blast in Afghanistan paid tribute to his heroism.

Sergeant First Class Reymund Transfiguracion spent his last time with his parents and five brothers last Christmas.

The 36-year old highly-decorated Special Forces Green Beret died on August 12 from wounds he suffered after an IED blast while conducting a dismounted nighttime raid in Afghanistan. 

His older brother Reydez spoke exclusively to Balitang America just two days after his brother’s body arrived back home in the island of Hawaii.

Reydez said they learned a little bit more about his humble, brave and heroic younger brother. 

“According to the person who was close to him during that moment, he said to the wife and he said something to us that he saved a lot and we didn’t even know cause he’s so quiet he doesn’t tell us what he does. That’s why he got two purple hearts, we didn’t even know,” he said.

Scott Smith, a brother of one of Transfiguracion’s teammates who set up a GoFundMe page for the late soldier's wife and two young children, tells Balitang America a similar story. 

He said he learned that Transfiguracion, who was on his fourth deployment, saved many people the night he was injured. 

Reydez said he remembers one particular time that truly defines what kind of man his brother was. 

“My truck broke down and I was the only truck up in the mountain. If you’ve ever been to Hawaii, I was stuck 12,000 feet up, about 5:30 in the evening. And I called him, and he was like I’m coming bro, don’t worry I got your back. And that’s just the way he is. He always finds a way. He never quits on you.”

Born in Sarrat, Ilocos Norte, Transfiguracion moved to the big island with his family in 2001. He will be laid to rest on September 7 at West Hawaii Veterans Cemetery. 

Meanwhile, the Department of Defense said the incident is still under investigation.

Read more on Balitang America:

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Huge car bomb near embassies in Afghan capital kills or wounds dozens

KABUL - A powerful car bomb exploded in the center of Afghanistan's capital on Wednesday, killing or wounding dozens of people and sending clouds of black smoke into the sky above the presidential palace and foreign embassies, officials said

Basir Mujahid, a spokesman for Kabul police, said several people were killed and wounded in the blast near the fortified entrance to the German embassy.

"It was a car bomb near the German embassy, but there are several other important compounds and offices near there too. It is hard to say what the exact target is," Mujahid said.

The explosion shattered windows and blew doors off their hinges in houses hundreds of metres (yards) away.

A public health spokesman said at least 67 wounded people had been taken to hospitals around Kabul.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast. A spokesman for Taliban insurgents said he was gathering information.

Violence around Afghanistan has been rising throughout the year, as the Taliban push to defeat the U.S.-backed government and reimpose Islamic law after their 2001 ouster in a Washington-backed invasion.

Since most international troops withdrew at the end of 2014, the Taliban have gained ground and now control or contest about 40 percent of the country, according to U.S. estimates, though President Ashraf Ghani's government holds all provincial centres.

U.S. President Donald Trump is due to decide soon on a recommendation to send 3,000 to 5,000 more troops to bolster the small NATO training force and U.S. counter-terrorism mission now totalling just over 10,000.

The commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, General John Nicholson, told a congressional hearing earlier this year that he needed several thousand more troops to help Afghan forces break a "stalemate" with the Taliban.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

At least 40 killed in Damascus bombing targeting Shi'ites

BEIRUT/DAMASCUS — A double bomb attack targeting Shi'ite pilgrims in Damascus killed at least 40 Iraqis and wounded 120 more who were going to pray at a nearby shrine, the Iraqi foreign ministry said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Saturday's attack, which the Hezbollah-run al-Manar TV station said had been carried out by two suicide bombers.

Footage broadcast by Syrian state TV showed two badly damaged buses with their windows blown out. The area was splattered with blood and shoes were scattered on the ground.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has been supported in the country's war by Shi'ite militias from countries including Iraq, Afghanistan and Lebanon.

The attack took place at a bus station where the pilgrims had been brought to visit the nearby Bab al-Saghir cemetery, named after one of the seven gates of the Old City of Damascus.

The second blast went off some 10 minutes after the first at around 10 a.m. local time, inflicting casualties on civil defense workers who had gathered to tend to the casualties, the Damascus correspondent for al-Manar told the station by phone.

The pilgrims were due to pray at the cemetery after visiting the Sayeda Zeinab shrine just outside Damascus, he said.

Sayeda Zeinab, the granddaughter of the Prophet Mohammad, is venerated by Shi'ites and her shrine is a site of mass pilgrimage for Shi'ites from across the world. It has also been a magnet for Shi'ite militiamen in Syria.

Iran has backed Assad in the conflict that erupted in 2011. The Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah is also fighting in support of Assad.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based organisation that reports on the war, said the number of dead was at least 44. The death toll was expected to rise due to the many serious injuries, it added.

Last June, Islamic State claimed responsibility for bomb attacks near the Sayeda Zeinab shrine. The last bomb attack in Damascus was in January, when a suicide bomber hit the heavily police Kafr Sousa neighbourhood, killing at least seven people.

(Additional reporting by Maher Chmaytelli in Baghdad; Editing by Alexander Smith and Dominic Evans)

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Trump seeks 'historic' increase of 9 pct in US military's budget

WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump is seeking what he called a "historic" 9 percent increase in military spending, even as the United States has wound down major wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and remains the world's strongest military power.

Trump will ask Congress to boost Pentagon spending in the next fiscal year by $54 billion in his first budget proposal and slash the same amount from non-defense spending, including a large reduction in foreign aid, a White House budget official said on Monday.

The president does not have the final say on federal spending. His plan for the military is part of a budget proposal to Congress, which although it is controlled by his fellow Republicans, will not necessarily follow his plans. Budget negotiations with lawmakers can take months to play out.

Trump told state governors at the White House that his budget plan included a "historic increase in defense spending to rebuild the depleted military of the United States of America."

"This is a landmark event and message to the world in these dangerous times, of American strength, security and resolve. We must ensure that our courageous servicemen and women have the tools they need to deter war and when called upon to fight in our name, only do one thing: Win," he said.

Officials familiar with Trump's budget blueprint said the defense increase would be financed partly by cuts to the State Department, Environmental Protection Agency and other non-defense programs.

“We’re going to do more with less and make the government lean and accountable to the people," Trump said.

Trump's budget will not seek cuts in federal social programs such as Social Security and Medicare, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Sunday.

Such a military spending hike would be unusual given that the United States is not engaged in a major war, although its special forces and Air Force are active against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.

An official familiar with the proposal said Trump's request for the Pentagon included more money for shipbuilding, military aircraft and establishing "a more robust presence in key international waterways and choke points" such as the Strait of Hormuz and South China Sea.

That could put Washington at odds with Iran and China. The United States already has the world's most powerful fighting force and it spends far more than any other country on defense.

Defense spending in the most recent fiscal year was $584 billion, according to the Congressional Budget Office, so Trump's planned $54 billion increase would be a rise of 9.2 percent. About one-sixth of the federal budget goes to military spending.

LARGE BUILDUP

Mark Cancian, an adviser with the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank, said Trump's plan was in line with the kind of military spending seen before the Iraq war.

"This is certainly comparable to the largest peacetime buildups, which would be 2003," said Cancian, who worked at the Office of Management and Budget and the Defense Department. He cautioned that the proposal was far from being a budget. "This is just giving everyone the top line."

Nancy Pelosi, the top Democrat in the House of Representatives, said Trump’s plan to slash funding for federal agencies to free up money for the Pentagon showed he was not putting American working families first.

“A $54 billion cut will do far-reaching and long-lasting damage to our ability to meet the needs of the American people and win the jobs of the future,” Pelosi said. “The president is surrendering America’s leadership in innovation, education, science and clean energy."

In a speech to conservative activists on Friday, Trump promised "one of the greatest military buildups in American history."

A second official said the State Department's budget could be cut by as much as 30 percent, which would force a major restructuring of the department and elimination of programs.

The United States spends about $50 billion annually on the State Department and foreign assistance.

More than 120 retired US generals and admirals urged Congress on Monday to fully fund US diplomacy and foreign aid, saying that "elevating and strengthening diplomacy and development alongside defense are critical to keeping America safe."

Trump has said previously he would expand the Army to 540,000 active-duty troops from its current 480,000, increase the Marine Corps to 36 battalions from 23 – or as many as 10,000 more Marines – boost the Navy to 350 ships and submarines from 276, and raise the number of Air Force tactical aircraft to 1,200 from 1,100.

He has not said where he would place the extra hardware and forces or made clear what they would be used for. The United States has been shutting some of its military bases in recent years.

Trump has also said he would bolster the development of missile defenses and cyber capabilities. Last week, he told Reuters the United States had "fallen behind on nuclear weapon capacity." He pledged to ensure that "we're going to be at the top of the pack."

Trump also said on Monday he would talk about his plans for infrastructure spending in a speech to Congress on Tuesday. "We're going to start spending on infrastructure big," he said.

(Additional reporting by Tim Ahmann, Doina Chiacu, Andy Sullivan, Idrees Ali and David Alexander; Writing by Alistair Bell; Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Peter Cooney)

source: news.abs-cbn.com

At least 350 dead as landslide hits Afghan villages

MAZAR-I-SHARIF - A landslide in northern Afghanistan killed at least 350 people on Friday, officials said, with hundreds also feared missing as a major rescue operation was launched to find survivors in villages buried under mud.

The first emergency teams on the scene in Badakhshan province started digging through rocks and dirt as local authorities, the United Nations and the NATO-led military force raced to assess the damage and provide help.

"The number of deceased has increased to 350," the UN mission in Afghanistan said in a statement.

"A response is being mobilised for those who survived but were displaced, with some partners already on the ground.

"(NATO's) Regional Command in the north in contact with the Afghan National Army in regards to search and rescue efforts."

Badakhshan is a remote province in northeast Afghanistan bordering Tajikistan, China and Pakistan.

"It is a disaster. The landslide has affected around 1,000 families," Sayed Abdullah Homayun Dehqan, provincial director of the Afghan National Disaster Management Authority, told AFP.

"Around 300 families are missing, that could involve around 2,000 people. The people are working to remove the rocks, so far three bodies have been recovered.

"Around 700 families were rescued, we have sent in some basic assistance such as tents and blankets."

US President Barack Obama expressed his condolences over the disaster, saying "our thoughts are with the people of Afghanistan who have experienced an awful tragedy."

"We stand ready to help our Afghan partners as they respond to this disaster," Obama said at a joint press conference in Washington with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

The UN said that it was helping to coordinate local authorities to rescue those still trapped, but that road access to the area could not take heavy machinery.

"About 350 to 400 houses were destroyed in Argo district as a result of heavy rains that triggered landslides," Badakhshan province deputy governor Gul Mohammad Baidaar told AFP.

Severe flooding

The disaster follows recent severe flooding in other parts of northern Afghanistan, with 150 people dead and 67,000 people affected by floods in Jowzjan, Faryab and Sar-e-Pul provinces.

"With nearly 3,500 houses reported damaged and destroyed the caseload in need of shelter continues to grow," the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Thursday.

It said clean water, medical supplies, food and shelter were needed immediately as relief efforts were stepped up after days of torrential rain.

The floodwaters swept through villages, engulfing thousands of homes and leaving many people seeking safety on the roofs of their mud-brick houses.

The floods destroyed farmland and also killed livestock across the remote region.

Flooding often occurs during the spring rainy season in northern Afghanistan, with flimsy mud houses offering little protection against rising water levels.

Two weeks ago, a landslide triggered by heavy rains and a small earthquake swept through two villages in the northern province of Takhar, killing four people and destroying around 100 houses.

In the last major flooding in Afghanistan, 40 people died in August in flash floods in eastern and southeastern provinces and some districts of the capital Kabul.

Neighbouring Pakistan suffered the worst floods in its history in 2010 when almost 1,800 people died and 21 million people were affected.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Asian Muslims celebrate Eid as 14 killed in Afghanistan

KABUL - Muslims across Asia celebrated Eid al-Fitr Thursday with lavish feasts and religious services but festivities in Afghanistan were marred by an explosion at a graveyard that killed 14 women and children.

The attack, which occurred in eastern Nangahar province, came as a group of women and youngsters gathered to commemorate the late wife of a pro-government tribal leader as part of their Eid prayers.

Earlier, President Hamid Karzai appealed to the Taliban to resist being controlled by foreigners and said the militants should support their own country.

"You are working for others, (foreign) guns are put on your shoulders, and innocent Afghan people are being killed by it, homes are destroyed," he said. "Give up on it, be Afghan."

Elsewhere in Asia, Indonesia was among the first countries in the Islamic world to kick off Eid celebrations, but fears of fresh attacks at Buddhist sites prompted a security clampdown days after a temple bombing.

The past week has seen an exodus from cities in the world's most populous Muslim-majority nation, with people taking to cars, boats and planes to head home to their families across the archipelago of more than 17,000 islands.

While most Indonesians were celebrating, it was an anxious time for the country's minority Buddhists after an attack on a temple in Jakarta on Sunday.

One person was injured when a small bomb exploded at the Ekayana temple as hundreds were praying, an attack motivated by anger at the plight of the persecuted Rohingya Muslim minority in Buddhist-majority Myanmar.

"Buddhist temples are one of the key locations we are securing," national police spokesman Ronny Sompie told AFP.

Malaysia's Islamic authorities called for Muslims to strengthen the unity of the nation in the aftermath of controversial elections in May that saw the Muslim Malay ruling party retain its grip on power.

Prime Minister Najib Razak is expected to host up to 80,000 guests as he opens his home to celebrate the end of the fasting month.

Muslims in Australia were among those to celebrate Eid on Thursday, along with Malaysia and the Philippines, with Gulf states expected to follow. Pakistan, Hong Kong and North African nations are expected to start festivities on Friday.

Leaders of Australia's ruling Labor Party including foreign minister Bob Carr and members of the opposition addressed worshippers outside Sydney's Lakemba mosque, rallying support ahead of national polls on September 7.

In Beijing, Chinese Hui Muslims exchanged sweets and received blessings at the city's historic Nijuie Mosque, built in the 10th century.

Many of China's estimated 40 million Muslims live in the country's eastern regions of Ningxia and Xinjiang, which last month saw its worst ethnic violence in recent years that left at least 35 people dead.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Earthquake shakes Afghanistan, Pakistan

KABUL, Afghanistan - Buildings shook in the Afghan capital Kabul Thursday as an earthquake with a magnitude of 5.8 struck in the northern Hindu Kush region, according to a preliminary report by the US Geological Survey.

There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties from the remote region, but two slightly smaller quakes last month triggered landslides that killed at least 75 villagers.

In Kabul Thursday, office workers felt their chairs shake briefly and desk lamps swayed as the tremor hit.

The quake struck some 72 kilometers (45 miles) south south east of Faizabad, capital of Badakhshan province, and 121 kms (75 miles) northwest of Chitral in Pakistan at a depth of 190 kms, the USGS said.

Tremors were also felt in Pakistan's capital Islamabad, central Punjab and the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province where people came out of their homes and offices but there were no reports of damage or casualties, an official said.

Northern Afghanistan and Pakistan are frequently hit by earthquakes, especially in the Hindu Kush, which lies near the collision of the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates.

A 7.6-magnitude earthquake in Pakistan in October 2005 killed 74,000 people and displaced 3.5 million.

source: interaksyon.com