Afghanistan

Powerful earthquake and aftershocks in Afghanistan's west kill dozens and injure many more

The United Nations gave a preliminary figure of 320 dead, but later said the figure was still being verified.

Local authorities gave an estimate of 100 people killed and 500 injured, according to the same update from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

The update also said 465 houses had been reported destroyed and a further 135 were damaged.

Ayman al-Zawahiri: al-Qaida leader killed in US drone strike in Afghanistan, Joe Biden says

The attack on a safe house in Kabul where al-Zawahiri and his family were staying was ordered by the US president at a meeting of key cabinet members and national security officials on 25 July, a senior administration official told reporters.

“At the conclusion of the meeting, the president authorised a precise, tailored airstrike on the condition that a strike minimised to the greatest extent possible the risk of civilian casualties,” the official said in a background briefing call.

Taliban warned against targeting former security forces

In a joint statement, the 22 nations demanded that the Islamist regime respect its pledge not to harm former government or security personnel.

"We are deeply concerned by reports of summary killings and enforced disappearances", the statement says.

It follows a damning report on killings and abductions by the Islamist regime.

Released by the Human Rights Watch earlier this week, the report documented more than 100 executions and abductions of former Afghan government officials since the Taliban took control of the country almost four months ago.

Baby handed to US soldiers amid Kabul chaos still missing

Mirza Ali Ahmadi and his wife Suraya found themselves and their five children on Aug. 19 in a chaotic crowd outside the gates of the Kabul airport in Afghanistan when a U.S soldier, from over the tall fence, asked if they needed help.

Fearing their two-month old baby Sohail would get crushed in the melee, they handed him to the soldier, thinking they would soon get to the entrance, which was only about 16 feet away.

Deadly attack hits Afghanistan mosque during Friday prayers

Bodies were seen scattered inside the Said Abad mosque, used by the minority Shia Muslim community.

More than 100 people were injured in the blast in the northern city.

The Islamic State group said it was behind the attack. Sunni Muslim extremists have targeted Shias who they see as heretics.

IS-K, the Afghan regional affiliate of the IS group that is violently opposed to the governing Taliban, has carried out several bombings recently, largely in the east of the country.

Taliban claim to have taken Panjshir Valley

The group posted footage online of their fighters raising their flag there on Monday.

Resistance fighters however said they were still present in "all strategic positions" and "continue to fight".

Their leader has called for a "national uprising" against the Taliban.

In an audio recording posted on social media Ahmad Massoud, leader of the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan (NRF), blamed the international community for legitimising the Taliban and giving them military and political confidence.

Deadly bomb attacks strike Kabul airport; airlift thrust into chaos

The attacks have effectively shutting down the Western airlift of Afghans desperate to flee.

There was no complete death toll, but video images uploaded by Afghan journalists showed dozens of bodies of people killed in tightly 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. The Pentagon said "a number" of American service members were killed. Sources said at least 11 marines and a Navy medic were dead.

Biden vows to complete evacuations despite airport attack

"We must complete this mission and we will," he said. He also vowed to hunt down the perpetrators.

More than 100,000 people have been evacuated from Kabul, which fell to the Taliban on 15 August.

But many more Afghans have been rushing to the airport ahead of the 31 August deadline for US forces to leave.

Mr Biden vowed to complete the mission, adding "we will not be deterred by terrorists".

Thursday's attacks happened at about 18:00 local time (13:30 GMT).

US orders civilian jets to join evacuation

Eighteen aircraft will transfer people to third countries from safe sites outside Afghanistan, the Pentagon said.

Many thousands of Afghans are crowded outside Kabul airport, desperate to flee the country after the Taliban swept to power on 15 August.

President Joe Biden said on Sunday that the US had evacuated nearly 28,000 people in the past week.

"There is no way to evacuate this many people without pain and the heart-breaking images you see," Mr Biden told reporters at the White House, adding: "We have a long way to go and a lot can still go wrong."

Taliban carrying out door-to-door manhunt, report says

It said the militants have been going door-to-door to find targets and threaten their family members.

The hardline Islamist group has tried to reassure Afghans since seizing power in a lightning offensive, promising there would be "no revenge".

But there are growing fears of a gap between what they say and what they do.

The warning the group were targeting "collaborators" came in a confidential document by the RHIPTO Norwegian Center for Global Analyses, which provides intelligence to the UN.