Taliban spokesperson warns US not to interfere with their culture: LIVE UPDATES
A Taliban spokesperson insisted to Fox News on Friday that "there will be no issue about women’s rights" following the militant group’s takeover of Afghanistan, despite widespread international concerns.
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The Taliban and China solidified their ties Thursday, with a top official in the militant group calling the People's Republic of China a "trustworthy friend."
Deputy director of the Taliban’s office in Doha, Qatar, Abdul Salam Hanafi said the Taliban will work with its neighboring country to allow China’s continued expansion of the Belt and Road Initiative.
The House Armed Services Committee adopted an amendment Friday requiring Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin to detail various elements of the Pentagon’s activities in Afghanistan, including how military officials plan to facilitate the evacuation of American citizens who were left behind.
Ohio Republican Rep. Jim Jordan explained why Biden should release the transcript of his phone call with Ghani on 'Fox News Primetime.'
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. officials are looking into reports that in the frantic evacuation of desperate Afghans from Kabul, older men were admitted together with young girls they claimed as “brides” or otherwise sexually abused.
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A 9-month-old Afghan child has become the first evacuee from Kabul to die on American soil, according to a report.
A spokesperson from the Department of Defense told CBS News that the child was flying from Germany to Philadelphia International Airport on a C-17 aircraft when she became unresponsive.
After the plane landed Wednesday, the girl was taken to a local hospital where she was pronounced dead.
Families evacuated from Kabul, Afghanistan, walk to board a bus after they arrived at Washington Dulles International Airport, in Chantilly, Va., on Tuesday. (AP)
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas promised to "swiftly and safely" resettle thousands of Afghan allies into the United States and confirmed that DHS has denied evacuees from entering the U.S. due to "derogatory" information obtained during the vetting process.
Mayorkas was joined by Robert J. Fenton Jr., senior response official of the Unified Coordination Group, during a press conference Friday to discuss Operation Allies Welcome – created to help thousands of vulnerable Afghan evacuees from Afghanistan assimilate into the United States.
The DHS secretary told reporters that roughly over 40,000 American citizens and Afghan partners have arrived into the U.S. from Afghanistan and are undergoing an initial processing at predesignated U.S. military bases prior to being resettled into communities. He touted the robust biometric screening and vetting process in place, in both the U.S. and transit countries, in order to make sure every individual entering the country is properly screened.
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Taliban spokesperson Suhail Shaheen told Fox News that the U.S. 'should not be changing our culture.' (Fox News)
A Taliban spokesperson insisted to Fox News on Friday that "there will be no issue about women’s rights" following the militant group’s takeover of Afghanistan, despite widespread international concerns.
But Suhail Shaheen also says he opposes western views that "women should have an education without [a] hijab."
"That is a change of culture," he said. "Our culture... they can receive education with hijab. They can work with hijab."
When asked about future relations with the U.S., Shaheen said "we should be focusing how can we work together in a positive and constructive way which is in the best of interest of both sides."
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Mohammad Faizi, center, speaks during a news conference Thursday in El Cajon, Calif. He and his family were visiting relatives in Afghanistan in August and were forced to escape as the Taliban seized power. (AP)
Families from the San Diego suburb of El Cajon who managed to evacuate from Afghanistan are opening up about their final moments before fleeing the war-torn country.
One father says he was beaten by the Taliban while another family described dodging gunfire as they were trying to force their way into Kabul's airport.
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Gold Star families are demanding answers after their pleas to get a Global War on Terrorism memorial built on the National Mall appear to have fallen on deaf ears.
In June, 40 families whose loved ones died while serving the country sent a letter to Rep. Raúl Grijalva, D-Ariz., chairman of the House Committee on Natural Resources, to hold a hearing on the memorial's location.
That was months before President Biden pulled all U.S. troops out of Afghanistan by Aug. 31, ending the country's longest war; months before 13 U.S. service members were killed in an Aug. 26 explosion in Kabul; and months before the U.S. remembered those nearly 3,000 people who died 20 years ago in the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
Families say they still have not heard back about holding a hearing on the memorial's location and are now demanding answers. Jannie Taylor, a mother of seven from Utah whose husband was killed in 2018 in Afghanistan, sent her own letter to Grijalva asking about a hearing.
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Taliban co-founder Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar arrives with other members of the Taliban delegation for an international peace conference in Moscow, Russia, on March 18. (AP)
Taliban co-founder Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar will be in charge of a new Afghanistan government that will be announced shortly, sources told Reuters on Friday.
A source close to the militant group told the news agency that the interim government would consist only of Taliban members, contain 25 ministries and a consultative council of a dozen Muslim scholars.
At the top levels, Baradar will be joined by Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob, the son of Mullah Omar – the late Taliban co-founder, multiple sources also said.
"All the top leaders have arrived in Kabul, where preparations are in final stages to announce the new government," a Taliban official told Reuters while speaking on condition of anonymity.
An undated photo of Rylee McCollum, 20, a Marine among the thirteen U.S. service members who were killed in a deadly airport suicide bombing in Kabul, Afghanistan on August 26, 2021. U.S. Marines/Handout via REUTERS
Fallen soldier Lance CPL. Rylee McCollum was killed during the Kabul terror attack last week leaving his family to grieve his sudden death.
The soldier’s sister Roice McCollum and father Jim McCollum joined "Hannity" on Thursday to express their sorrow and explained why they decided against meeting with the president after his hasty withdrawal.
"Everything he has done is completely wrong," Jim McCollum said. "We had opportunities to do this the right way and we absolutely failed miserably."
The Gold Star father admitted that the current administration cannot be blamed alone since the war has been ongoing for 20 years, yet "there couldn’t have been a worse way" for Biden to pull out for good.
Even though the McCollum family’s hero knew the mission would be dangerous, his father said that Rylee McCollum was the kind of soldier who would not have abandoned the task at hand.
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A Gold Star widow says she's "honored" to know her husband is the last U.S. soldier to die in Afghanistan.
Jennifer Griffin, Fox News national security correspondent, discusses the latest in Afghanistan on "Special Report."
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Men prepare for defense against the Taliban in Panjshir, Afghanistan August 22, 2021
Rebel fighters loyal to local leader Ahmad Massoud continued their fight Thursday against the Taliban, which seized power more than two weeks ago, according to a report.
Panjshir is the last province resisting rule by the Taliban rule following the U.S. withdrawal from the country.
"The enemy made multiple attempts to enter Shotul from Jabul-Saraj, and failed each time," a spokesman for the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan (NRFA) rebel grouping said, according to Reuters.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said they started operations "after negotiation with the local armed group failed."
Both sides said they had inflicted heavy casualties.
Massoud is the son of Afghan Mujahideen hero Ahmad Shah Massoud, who was assassinated by al Qaeda days before the 9/11 terror attacks.
President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden leave Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., Thursday, Sept. 2, 2021, after visiting with injured troops. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden traveled to a Bethesda, Maryland, hospital Thursday night, where they visited U.S. troops injured during the Afghanistan exit, according to the Associated Press.
There are 15 Marines hospitalized at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center following last week's suicide bombing at the Kabul airport.
Eleven Marines were killed in the Aug. 26 attack, as well as one Army solider and one Navy corpsman. At least 169 Afghans were also killed.
It marked the deadliest day for U.S. troops since insurgents in Afghanistan shot down a U.S. Chinook helicopter in August 2011 – which killed 38 people, including 31 U.S. troops.
At least one of the Marines wounded last week was in critical condition, while three were in serious condition, the AP reported.
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