Afghanistan: Raab says evacuations from Kabul airport could resume 'in the near future' following discussions with Qatar - Sky News

Evacuations from Kabul airport may be able to resume 'in the near future', Dominic Raab has said, following discussions on the situation in Afghanistan with his Qatari counterpart.

At a news conference with foreign minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, Mr Raab raised hopes that those British nationals and Afghan allies left behind may be able to leave on flights out of the capital shortly.

But he stressed that he is, at present, unable to "say anything formal".

Image: Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab gave a news conference in Doha alongside his Qatari counterpart

Speaking in Qatar, the foreign secretary also said the UK will not recognise the Taliban in the "foreseeable future" but that there is scope for engagement and dialogue with the group.

Sir Simon Gass, the prime minister's special representative for Afghan transition, had earlier travelled to Qatar for talks with "senior Taliban representatives" about allowing people to leave Afghanistan.

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The final UK evacuation flights left Kabul last week ahead of the departure of British troops, ending a 20-year campaign in the country.

Thousands of Afghans who helped British efforts in the nation and their relatives, as well as other vulnerable civilians, are feared to have been left behind.

More on Afghanistan

The possibility of flights being able to resume from the airport gives hope that more people could be transported to safety.

The foreign secretary said he had "good conversations" with Qatar's foreign minister about the "workability" of evacuations resuming from the airport.

"I don't think we're yet able to say anything formal but that's looking like it may happen at some point in the near future," he told broadcasters.

Mr Raab later told Sky News: "We want to live up to our responsibilities to those who haven't made it out yet. Ideally, via Kabul airport, but that has got to be functional, that has got to be safe."

He said it is "incumbent on the Taliban to live up to the assurances that we have received directly" on allowing the safe passage of British nationals and Afghans out of the country, adding: "If they live up to those undertakings, I am confident that we can get those people back to the UK that we need to."

Image: Evacuation flights out of Kabul airport ended last week

Speaking alongside Mr Raab at the conference on Thursday, Qatar's foreign minister said the Gulf state was talking with the Taliban and working with Turkey to see if it can provide technical support to restart operations at Kabul airport, but he was unable to give any timeline.

Sky News understands this might be weeks rather than days.

Mr Raab announced during an almost two-hour Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on Wednesday that he would be travelling to "the region" that evening.

He said he would use the visit to build a coalition to "exert the maximum moderating influence" on the Taliban and added that there needs to be "wider buy-in" from countries in the region around Afghanistan.

Image: The foreign secretary also said the UK will not recognise the Taliban in the 'foreseeable future' but that there is scope for engagement and dialogue with the group. Pic: AP

Speaking at the news conference in Doha on Thursday, Mr Raab said: "We need to get wider buy-in, regional countries involved... there's a lot of countries with a direct stake in what happens in Afghanistan, as well as countries who will feel and be moved by the humanitarian risks and the plight.

"Above all, we need to put a grouping together that can exert maximum moderating influence on what the Taliban does next. And we will certainly be judging them. Yes, on their words. But more importantly, what they're willing to do to live up to the assurances that they've made."

Taliban parade in Kandahar as it showcases military hardware seized during takeover

West risks civil war unless it engages with Taliban, Pakistan warns

Meanwhile, in other developments around Afghanistan:

• Taliban rulers are to unveil their new government, with a ceremony being prepared at the presidential palace

• Prices are soaring, the currency has plunged, shops are closed and the Taliban is struggling to keep banks and essential services running

• Humanitarian organisations have warned of catastrophe as severe drought and the war have forced thousands of families to flee their homes

• The EU has said it is still far from deciding whether it will recognise the Taliban

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Tom Tugendhat said revealing the document was made on 22 July, before the fall of Kabul, was 'clearly in the public interest'

At the news conference, Mr Raab said four key points for the future were stopping Afghanistan becoming a "haven" for terrorists, preventing a humanitarian crisis, preserving regional stability and holding the Taliban to account over its claims it will form a more inclusive government.

He added that Qatar was a "lynchpin" in dealing with the Afghanistan crisis.

The foreign secretary was anticipated to go on to meet the Amir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al Thani, and his deputy prime minister.

He will meet Foreign Office officials after the British embassy to Afghanistan was temporarily relocated and is now up and running in Doha.

Mr Raab left the UK hours after he was questioned by MPs in the Foreign Affairs Select Committee on the events in central Asia.

The foreign secretary told the committee the advice from the intelligence community and the military was that Kabul was unlikely to fall this year.

Following his appearance, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace struck back at Mr Raab's comments, saying in an interview published on Thursday that history shows "it's not about failure of intelligence, it's about the limits of intelligence".

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The foreign secretary would not be drawn on when he started his holiday, calling questions about it a 'fishing expedition'

But responding to Mr Wallace's comments after a news briefing in Doha, the foreign secretary countered the defence secretary's assertion that he knew the "game was up" in Afghanistan back in July.

"Ben and I were taking the same assessment throughout until very late," Mr Raab told reporters.

"The central assessment had been that Kabul wouldn't fall until after the end of August and the evacuation of allied troops, and indeed there would be a steady deterioration throughout the remaining part of the year, so we were all working to the same set of assumptions."

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2021-09-02 15:22:30Z
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Afghanistan: Taliban to rely on Chinese funds, spokesperson says - Al Jazeera English

With the help of China, the Taliban will fight for an economic comeback in Afghanistan, Zabihullah Mujahid tells Italian newspaper.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid has told an Italian newspaper that the group will rely primarily on financing from China following the withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan and its takeover of the country.

In his interview published by La Repubblica on Thursday, Mujahid said the Taliban will fight for an economic comeback with the help of China.

The Taliban seized control of Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul, on August 15 as the country’s Western-backed government melted away, bringing an end to 20 years of war amid fears of an economic collapse and widespread hunger.

Following the chaotic departure of foreign troops from Kabul airport in recent weeks, Western states have severely restricted their aid payments to Afghanistan.

“China is our most important partner and represents a fundamental and extraordinary opportunity for us, because it is ready to invest and rebuild our country,” the Taliban spokesperson was quoted as saying in the interview.

He said the New Silk Road – an infrastructure initiative with which China wants to increase its global influence by opening up trade routes – was held in high regard by the Taliban.

There are “rich copper mines in the country, which, thanks to the Chinese, can be put back into operation and modernised. In addition, China is our pass to markets all over the world.”

Mujahid also confirmed that women would be allowed to continue studying at universities in future. He said women would be able to work as nurses, in the police or as assistants in ministries, but ruled out that there would be female ministers.

Afghanistan desperately needs money, and the Taliban is unlikely to get swift access to the roughly $10bn in assets here mostly held abroad by the Afghan central bank.

Earlier this week, United Nations chief Antonio Guterres warned of a looming “humanitarian catastrophe” in Afghanistan and urged countries to provide emergency funding as severe drought and war have forced thousands of families to flee their homes.

Guterres expressed his “grave concern at the deepening humanitarian and economic crisis in the country”, adding that basic services threatened to collapse “completely”.

“Now more than ever, Afghan children, women and men need the support and solidarity of the international community,” he said in a statement on Tuesday as he pleaded for financial support from nations.

“I urge all member states to dig deep for the people of Afghanistan in their darkest hour of need. I urge them to provide timely, flexible and comprehensive funding,” the UN secretary-general said.

UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the current $1.3bn UN humanitarian appeal for Afghanistan is only 39 percent funded.

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2021-09-02 14:16:38Z
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Texas abortion law: US Supreme Court votes not to block ban - BBC News

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The US Supreme Court has refused to block a new law in Texas that bans abortions for most women.

The so-called Heartbeat Act bans terminations after the detection of what anti-abortion campaigners call a foetal heartbeat - a point when many women do not know they are pregnant.

The law gives any individual the right to sue doctors who perform an abortion past the six-week point.

Rights groups had asked for an injunction to prevent its enforcement.

But in a late night vote, the Supreme Court justices ruled 5-4 against granting this.

The court's majority said their decision was not based on any conclusion about whether the Texas law was constitutional or not, and that the door remained open for legal challenges.

All three of former President Donald Trump's Supreme Court appointees voted against blocking the ban.

One of the court's six conservatives, Chief Justice John Roberts, joined the three liberal justices in dissent.

Liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor called the court's order "stunning".

"Presented with an application to enjoin a flagrantly unconstitutional law engineered to prohibit women from exercising their constitutional rights and evade judicial scrutiny, a majority of justices have opted to bury their heads in the sand," she said.

President Joe Biden has condemned the law, which came into effect on Wednesday. He called it "extreme" and warned that it would "significantly impair" women's access to healthcare.

• What's going on with US abortion rights?
• What is Roe v Wade ruling on abortion?

In a statement, President Biden said his administration would "protect and defend" the constitutional rights established under Roe v Wade and "upheld as a precedent for nearly half a century".

He was referring to the 1973 case in which the Supreme Court ruled US women have the right to an abortion until a foetus is viable - that is, able to survive outside the womb. This is usually between 22 and 24 weeks into a pregnancy.

White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters that the president had long wanted to see the "codification" of Roe v Wade - which would mean Congress voting to make the precedent federal law - "and [the Texas law] highlights even further the need to move forward on that effort".

Other Democrats also expressed their outrage. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the Supreme Court had "delivered catastrophe to women in Texas" while New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said it was a "direct assault on the rights of women" across the country and would need a "national mobilisation" to fight it.

Rights groups including Planned Parenthood and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), who had requested that the Supreme Court block the legislation, say they will not give up the fight.

Texas' Republican Governor Greg Abbott, who signed the Heartbeat Act into law, said the state would "always defend the right to life".

"No freedom is more precious than life itself," he tweeted.

Feeling targeted

By Angélica Casas, BBC News, San Antonio, Texas

Dr Ghazaleh Moayedi, who carries out abortions in her OB/GYN practice in north Texas, said she feels targeted. In the 15 years that she has worked in abortion care, she has seen greater restrictions in the state, but never anything as aggressive as this law.

"Providing abortion care, and accessing abortion care is actually the very heart of being Texan," Moayedi told the BBC.

"Texans don't believe that the government should interfere in our personal lives. We believe that the community takes care of each other. It doesn't make sense that our legislators here in the state continue to go after folks for their personal lives, because that's really not what we're about here."

She said that the bill will immediately stop access to care for 90% of the people that see her for abortions and that those patients will likely be forced to consider going out of state or to continue unwanted pregnancies.

Her biggest fear is for women who will seek dangerous alternatives to a medical abortion with the help of a doctor - but she also fears for herself.

"I'm afraid for my personal future and the future of my career as a result of this."

• Read more here.

How does this law differ from other restrictions?

Most abortion restrictions that have been proposed before have relied on criminal penalties or some form of regulatory punishment.

The Texas law, which was signed into law by Governor Greg Abbott in May, instead authorises "a private civil right of action", which allows people to sue to enforce the law even if they themselves have not been harmed.

An ordinary American, from Texas or elsewhere, may now be able to seek up to $10,000 (£7,200) in damages in a civil court against abortion providers and doctors - and possibly anyone at all involved in the process. That means people like clinic staff, family members, or clergy who encourage or support the procedure could, in theory, be sued.

The legislation makes an exception in the case of medical emergency, which requires written proof from a doctor, but not for pregnancies resulting from rape or incest.

Turning over enforcement of the Heartbeat Act to private citizens instead of government officials likely means that - in the absence of Supreme Court intervention - the law cannot be challenged until a private citizen seeks damages.

Kim Schwartz of the Texas Right to Life organisation, which supports the measure, told the BBC most anti-abortion laws were "held up in the court system for years" and this "thwarts the will of the people". She argued that courts would require "a credible claim that an illegal abortion occurred" and would still undergo fact-finding processes.

But the ACLU and other critics have suggested the Texas law will champion "a bounty hunting scheme" of costly "vigilante lawsuits" designed to harass women seeking an abortion. The ACLU noted tip lines had already been set up by anti-abortion groups.

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2021-09-02 13:18:51Z
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Storm Ida: Flash flooding in New York and New Jersey kills nine - BBC News

At least nine people have died after flash flooding and tornadoes hit the north-eastern US, local media report.

Some people were trapped in flooded basements of their homes, while one body was found in a vehicle that was swept away.

The governors of New York and New Jersey declared a state of emergency, and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio called it a "historic weather event".

At least 3in (8cm) of rain fell in just one hour in New York's Central Park.

Almost all New York City subway lines have been closed, and non-emergency vehicles banned from roads. Many flights and trains out of New York and New Jersey have been suspended.

The mayor of the city of Passaic in New Jersey, Hector Lora, told CNN the body of a man in his 70s had been recovered from a vehicle that had been swept away in the floods.

NBC New York has reported that at least one more person died in New Jersey. NBC and AFP reported that seven people had died in New York City, some after becoming trapped in their basements.

A two-year-old boy was among the victims in New York City.

Footage on social media showed water pouring into subway stations and people's homes, and flooded roads.

New York resident George Bailey told the BBC: "Right in the middle of dinner I hear gurgling, and the water's coming up out of the shower drain in our bathroom.

"I went to check the main water line in the utility room, and by the time I walked back into the living room there was nearly a foot of water. It was incredible how fast it came through."

EPA

The US National Weather Service declared a flood emergency in New York City, Brooklyn, Queens and parts of Long Island, and issued tornado warnings for parts of Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

A flood emergency, as opposed to a warning, is issued in "exceedingly rare situations when a severe threat to human life and catastrophic damage from a flash flood is happening or will happen soon", the NWS said.

'My train was stuck, there was no way out'

BBC's Laura Trevelyan in New Jersey

At 20:00 (16:00 GMT) on Wednesday night, torrential rain began to fall as the Amtrak train I regularly get between Washington and New York approached New Jersey.

Suddenly, my phone lit up with flash flooding alerts, and the rainfall intensified, vast sheets of water hammering the side of the train.

"It's like a car wash," said the cafe car attendant as we stopped at Metropark station. Soon came the announcement of flooding on the tracks ahead of us, making it impossible to reach New York.

Passengers scrolled social media, swapping tales of flooding at Newark airport in New Jersey and streets underwater in Brooklyn.

I called my husband at 01:00 and told him I was stuck. "There is no alternate transportation," read a sign at Metropark station. The roads around us were flooded, there was no way out, so I settled in for the night.

At 02:00 came the announcement that our train was going back to Washington. I changed trains to one bound for New York - which still hadn't left as of 06:15. My husband is driving to get me, though he says many roads are closed.

This is the new world of extreme weather - severe, exacerbated by climate change.

The extreme weather has been caused by the remnants of Tropical Storm Ida, which caused widespread devastation in southern Louisiana earlier this week.

Many factors contribute to flooding, but a warming atmosphere caused by climate change makes extreme rainfall more likely.

The world has already warmed by about 1.2C since the industrial era began and temperatures will keep rising unless governments around the world make steep cuts to emissions.

Reuters

The remnants of Hurricane Ida have been pushing north across the east of the country, having hit Louisiana as a Category 4 hurricane on Sunday.

Hundreds of thousands of homes in Louisiana remain without power and New Orleans is under a night-time curfew.

Two people died when a motorway in Mississippi collapsed, while two others died in Louisiana - one in flash flooding, and another who was hit by a falling tree. Two electrical workers in Alabama were killed while they were repairing damage caused by the hurricane.

• Four ways climate change links to extreme weather

Some small towns in Louisiana were all-but destroyed. Tim Kerner, mayor of Jean Lafitte - about 20 miles (32 km) south of New Orleans - said the town had suffered "catastrophic" flooding. One estimate suggested 90% of homes had suffered serious damage.

More than 400 people had chosen to stay in the town ahead of the storm, and dozens needed to be rescued from attics and rooftops, the local police chief said.

Galliano, on the Gulf Coast, was also badly hit, and the roof of the Lady of the Sea Hospital in the town was blown off by the heavy winds.

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2021-09-02 10:39:26Z
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Afghanistan crisis: Unclear if ruthless Taliban will change, says US general - BBC News

The top US general has described the Taliban as a "ruthless group" and says it is unclear whether they will change.

Gen Mark Milley said, however, it was "possible" that the US would co-ordinate with the Islamist militants on future counter-terrorism operations.

US forces withdrew from Afghanistan on Tuesday, ending America's longest war 20 years after launching an invasion to oust the Taliban.

The Islamists are now in control and expected to announce a new government.

Gen Milley was speaking alongside US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin, in their first public remarks since the last troops left Afghanistan.

US President Joe Biden has been widely criticised over the abrupt manner of the withdrawal, which led to the unexpected collapse of the Afghan security forces the US had trained and funded for years.

The Taliban's lightning advance sparked off a frenetic effort to evacuate thousands of foreign nationals and local Afghans who had been working for them.

In the news conference on Wednesday, both Gen Milley and Secretary Austin praised the troops who had served in Afghanistan and the massive evacuation mission.

Asked about their co-ordination with the Taliban in getting evacuees to the airport, Mr Austin said: "We were working with the Taliban on a very narrow set of issues, and that was just that - to get as many people out as we possibly could."

"In war you do what you must in order to reduce risk to mission and force, not what you necessarily want to do," Gen Milley added.

He said it was possible that the US would co-ordinate with the Taliban on future action against Islamic State affiliate IS-K, the group which claimed an attack outside Kabul airport last week that killed as many as 170 people, including 13 US service personnel.

IS-K is the most extreme and violent of all the jihadist militant groups in Afghanistan. It has major differences with the Taliban, accusing them of abandoning jihad and the battlefield.

Mr Austin, meanwhile, said he would "not want to make any predictions" on future co-operation. But he added that officials would "do everything that we can to make sure we remain focused on [IS-K], understand that network, and at the time of our choosing in the future, hold them accountable for what they've done".

In total, the evacuation operation saw more than 123,000 people wishing to flee the Taliban airlifted out of the country.

The US estimates that there are between 100 and 200 Americans still in Afghanistan.

• FACT-CHECK: Biden on Afghanistan withdrawal fact-checked
• FEATURE: Passport delay blamed for baby stranded in Kabul
• ANALYSIS: How can the West stop Afghan terror bases?

US Under-Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland said "all possible options" were being looked at to get remaining US citizens and people who had worked with the US out of the country.

Meanwhile, UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said he was not certain how many UK nationals remained in the country, but that it was believed to be in the "low hundreds".

The Taliban have celebrated the final withdrawal of foreign forces, and are now focusing on forming a government.

The deputy head of the Taliban's political office in Qatar, Sher Abbas Stanekza, told BBC Pashto that a new government could be announced in the next two days.

He said there would be a role for women at lower levels but not in top positions.

He also said that those who served in government in the past two decades would not be included.

This magical word "inclusive" is being used by Afghanistan's neighbours to try to put pressure on the Taliban to share some of the power so they don't have absolute control.

But look at it in pure political terms. The Taliban have come to power much more quickly than even they expected. And they feel they have an overwhelming mandate to pursue their overriding objective to establish an Islamic system.

In this new emerging Islamic emirate, women will be playing secondary roles to men.

This is already very different from what we heard even two years ago, when the Taliban started discussing with representatives of the Afghan government and civil society. They said then that women could have any roles in our new Islamic government except the president or prime minister. They could be ministers or CEOs.

Now they seem to be rolling back from that because what happened in the past is now history. It's a new day for them and it's a day when the Taliban are in charge.

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2021-09-01 21:42:32Z
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'The Taliban are here': The inside story of one woman's escape from Kabul - BBC Newsnight - BBC News

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2021-09-01 12:40:59Z
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Dominic Raab grilled by MPs on Afghan withdrawal - BBC News

European Pressphoto AgencyCopyright: European Pressphoto Agency

The Taliban took control of Kabul on 15 August after 20 years of war.

It came after foreign forces withdrew from Afghanistan following a deal between the US and the Taliban, two decades after US forces removed the militants from power in 2001.

The conflict has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced millions.

Back in 2001, the US was responding to the 9/11 attacks in which nearly 3,000 people were killed. Officials identified Islamist militant group al-Qaeda, and its leader Osama Bin Laden, as responsible.

Bin Laden was in Afghanistan, under the protection of the Taliban, the Islamists who had been in power since 1996.

When they refused to hand him over, the US intervened militarily, quickly removing the Taliban and vowing to support democracy and eliminate the terrorist threat.

In 2014, at the end of what was the bloodiest year since 2001, Nato's international forces ended their combat mission, leaving responsibility for security to the Afghan army.

That gave the Taliban momentum and they seized more territory.

Peace talks between the US and the Taliban started tentatively, with the Afghan government pretty much uninvolved, and the agreement on a withdrawal came in February 2020 in Qatar.

In April 2021, the new US President Joe Biden announced that all US troops would leave Afghanistan by 11 September 2021.

In fact, the last US soldier to leave Afghanistan, Major General Chris Donahue, left on 30 August.

The last British soldiers had left a day earlier. A total of 457 died during the conflict.

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2021-09-01 12:13:14Z
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