Taliban Renames Country Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan
After surging into Kabul, Afghanistan’s capital, the Taliban renamed the country the “Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,” a busy metropolis of six million people that has devolved into a male-dominated city with no police or traffic restrictions.
Scores of Afghans ran alongside a US military plane as it taxied on the runway, and several clung to the side as the plane took off, according to Aljazeera. Senior US military officials confirmed to Aljazeera that the chaos resulted in seven deaths, as well as several people falling from the plane.
According to the Associated Press, the Taliban, a militant group that ruled Afghanistan in the late 1990s, has retaken control.
The rebels were driven out of power by the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, but they never departed.
The Western-backed government that had ruled the country for 20 years crumbled after a recent blitz across the country.
Hundreds of people streamed onto the tarmac at Kabul’s international airport on Monday, frantically seeking a way out of Afghanistan after the Taliban’s abrupt capture of power spurred a chaotic Western departure and brought the US’ two-decade operation in the country to a halt.
Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged the Taliban to demonstrate “the utmost caution to safeguard lives” before a special session of the UN Security Council in New York, and requested that anybody who wished to leave the country be permitted to do so.
According to the White House, US President Joe Biden was also briefed on the situation in Afghanistan by top security personnel.
“This morning, the President was briefed by his national security team, including the Secretary of Defense and Chairman Milley, on the security situation at Hamid Karzai International Airport, and ongoing efforts to safely evacuate American citizens, US Embassy personnel and local staff, SIV (special immigrant visa) applicants and their families, and other vulnerable Afghans,” it said in a statement.
