Afghanistan Pullout

Afghanistan's Taliban government marked on Tuesday the second anniversary of their takeover of the country with celebrations and a public holiday, issuing a defiant statement commemorating their surge back to power.

The UK's chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan last year showed "systemic failures of leadership, planning and preparation", according to a scathing inquiry by MPs published on Tuesday.

The International Olympic Committee said on Tuesday more than 700 members of its community remain in danger in Afghanistan under the Taliban regime.

President Joe Biden, speaking unexpectedly during a visit to the Pennsylvania site of one of the 9/11 plane crashes, again defended the widely criticized withdrawal from Afghanistan.

The United States has evacuated four Americans from Afghanistan, a State Department official said on Monday, in the first US-facilitated overland evacuation since the pullout from the war-torn country, US media reported.

A week after declaring America's "new chapter" of engagement with Afghanistan, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will aim to form a united front with allies this week on how to tackle the Taliban.

The Taliban said  they were close to forming a new government, as dozens of women held a rare protest for the right to work under a new regime that faces enormous economic hurdles and deep public mistrust.

Crowds seeking to flee Afghanistan gathered on its borders while long queues formed at banks on Wednesday, as an administrative vacuum after the Taliban's takeover left foreign donors unsure how to respond to a looming humanitarian crisis.

Facing sharp criticism over the tumultuous US withdrawal from Afghanistan, President Joe Biden said it was the best available option to end both the US' longest war and decades of fruitless efforts to remake other countries through military force.

President Joe Biden on Tuesday defended his decision to pull troops out of Afghanistan, saying it was in the US national interest.

A body dangled from a US military chopper being flown by the Taliban, reportedly over Kandahar in Afghanistan, in a video shared on Tuesday by several journalists and what the Taliban claims is their official handle.

Even before the last US flight left Kabul at midnight on Monday, many of the bright and garish sights and sounds of city life in Afghanistan were changing as those left behind tried to fit in with the austere tone of their new Taliban rulers.

With the Taliban in possession of Kabul's airport after the United States completed its withdrawal on Tuesday, the focus will now shift from the mammoth Western evacuation operation seen in the past two weeks.

Taliban fighters enter a hangar in Kabul airport soon after the United States military left Afghanistan and start examining Chinook helicopters, in a video that has been shared on social media.

The Taliban's top spokesman congratulated Afghans on their victory on Tuesday, hours after the last US troops left the country following 20 years of military intervention.

Afghanistan's Taliban government marked on Tuesday the second anniversary of their takeover of the country with celebrations and a public holiday, issuing a defiant statement commemorating their surge back to power.

The UK's chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan last year showed "systemic failures of leadership, planning and preparation", according to a scathing inquiry by MPs published on Tuesday.

The International Olympic Committee said on Tuesday more than 700 members of its community remain in danger in Afghanistan under the Taliban regime.

President Joe Biden, speaking unexpectedly during a visit to the Pennsylvania site of one of the 9/11 plane crashes, again defended the widely criticized withdrawal from Afghanistan.

The United States has evacuated four Americans from Afghanistan, a State Department official said on Monday, in the first US-facilitated overland evacuation since the pullout from the war-torn country, US media reported.

A week after declaring America's "new chapter" of engagement with Afghanistan, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will aim to form a united front with allies this week on how to tackle the Taliban.

The Taliban said  they were close to forming a new government, as dozens of women held a rare protest for the right to work under a new regime that faces enormous economic hurdles and deep public mistrust.

Crowds seeking to flee Afghanistan gathered on its borders while long queues formed at banks on Wednesday, as an administrative vacuum after the Taliban's takeover left foreign donors unsure how to respond to a looming humanitarian crisis.

Facing sharp criticism over the tumultuous US withdrawal from Afghanistan, President Joe Biden said it was the best available option to end both the US' longest war and decades of fruitless efforts to remake other countries through military force.

President Joe Biden on Tuesday defended his decision to pull troops out of Afghanistan, saying it was in the US national interest.

A body dangled from a US military chopper being flown by the Taliban, reportedly over Kandahar in Afghanistan, in a video shared on Tuesday by several journalists and what the Taliban claims is their official handle.

Even before the last US flight left Kabul at midnight on Monday, many of the bright and garish sights and sounds of city life in Afghanistan were changing as those left behind tried to fit in with the austere tone of their new Taliban rulers.

With the Taliban in possession of Kabul's airport after the United States completed its withdrawal on Tuesday, the focus will now shift from the mammoth Western evacuation operation seen in the past two weeks.

Taliban fighters enter a hangar in Kabul airport soon after the United States military left Afghanistan and start examining Chinook helicopters, in a video that has been shared on social media.

The Taliban's top spokesman congratulated Afghans on their victory on Tuesday, hours after the last US troops left the country following 20 years of military intervention.