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One week in Afghanistan
The Taliban has taken control of Afghanistan again. Here’s everything that happened this week
Taliban has moved swiftly to increase their rule across the region – the military group has clashed with protestors who are fighting back against the regime.
This comes as thousands of Afghan residents and foreign nationals rush to Kabul’s main airport in a desperate bid to escape the country before it’s too late.
As of Friday, the US military has so far evacuated around 7,000 people from Afghanistan after taking control of the airport earlier in the week.
It appears that the Taliban is cooperating with the evacuation efforts but there are fears that this could change very quickly.
Did this all begin with the US withdrawal of troops?
Joe Biden “stands squarely behind” the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan as the US military secures the Afghan capital’s airport in Kabul.
US President Joe Biden “stands squarely behind” the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan as the US military secures the Afghan capital’s airport in Kabul
Biden says his country’s military presence will be swift and the response will be forceful if the Taliban attacks troops as evacuations continue.
The US has spent trillions of dollars over twenty years in Afghanistan and lost more than 2,000 military personnel, making the decision to withdraw largely popular among citizens.
US President Joe Biden “stands squarely behind” the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan as the US military secures the Afghan capital’s airport in Kabul
US President Joe Biden spoke publicly about the situation just hours ago, for the first time since the Taliban took control of Kabul.
Biden says his country’s military presence will be swift and the response will be forceful if the Taliban attacks troops as evacuations continue.
This comes as the President admits that although the collapse of Afghanistan to the Taliban was quicker than anticipated and he stands by his decision and will not repeat mistakes of past leaders.
The US has spent trillions of dollars over twenty years in Afghanistan and lost more than 2,000 military personnel, making the decision to withdraw largely popular among citizens
However, there has been growing criticism on the decision to leave as swiftly as has occurred, with many saying it has undone years of work by American forces to bring the territory back under control.
He says that not a single further American soldier should lose their life in this battle.
What are people doing?
We’re also hearing reports that the Taliban is forcing Afghan residents to stay inside and the militant group is moving to enforce a curfew for “an indefinite time”.
This comes as residents line the streets in several cities to protest the Taliban’s regime and call for a return to a democratic government.
In a protest led by women, Afghans are seen carrying their national flag and chanting “LONG LIVE AFGHANISTAN”:
All kinds of movement will now be banned by the Taliban in the wake of these protests.
This clampdown follows a United Nations briefing that found that the Taliban is stepping up the search for “collaborators”.
Meanwhile, the G7 foreign ministers have called on the militant group to continue to honour their commitment to allowing safe passage out of the country.
In a statement, the UK’s Dominic Raab says “the ministers are deeply concerned by reports of violent reprisals in parts of Afghanistan”.
What about social media?
Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn have confirmed they had moved to secure the accounts of Afghan citizens to protect them against being targeted amid the Taliban’s swift takeover of the country.
Head of security policy at Facebook, Nathaniel Gleicher stated in a tweet that Facebook has temporarily removed the ability for people to view or search the friends lists of accounts in Afghanistan.
Gleicher also stated that the company had launched a “one-click tool” for users in Afghanistan to lock down their accounts, so people who are not their Facebook friends would be unable to see their timeline posts or share their profile photos.
The Taliban has slammed social media giant Facebook over protections on freedom of speech
The militant group has taken aim at the tech giant for curbing freedom of speech in Afghanistan following a ban on its content, as a result of the crackdown by the US firm.
Reports claim that while answering a question on freedom of speech at a virtual press conference, Taliban spokesperson Suhail Shaheen stated that, “The question should be asked to those people who are claiming to be promoters of freedom of speech who do not allow publication of all information.. the Facebook company, this question should be asked to them.”
On Monday, Facebook confirmed that under the obligation of US law, it was bound to ban the outfit’s content from its social media platforms, including WhatsApp, as the Taliban are designated a terrorist group.