Brussels Reporter
  • Home
  • Brussels
  • Europe
    • Europe

      DUP chief dismisses Irish and US calls to…

      May 21, 2022

      Europe

      Austria to lower hurdles for LGBT+ citizens to…

      May 20, 2022May 20, 2022

      Europe

      Brexit: UK ‘miscalculating’ over unilateral action to override…

      May 20, 2022May 21, 2022

      Europe

      Ukrainian woman, 3 children survive house bombing

      May 20, 2022May 20, 2022

      Europe

      US actor and activist Forest Whitaker honoured at…

      May 20, 2022May 20, 2022

  • Globe
  • Lifestyle
  • Business

Brussels Reporter

  • Home
  • Brussels
  • Europe
    • Europe

      DUP chief dismisses Irish and US calls to…

      May 21, 2022

      Europe

      Austria to lower hurdles for LGBT+ citizens to…

      May 20, 2022May 20, 2022

      Europe

      Brexit: UK ‘miscalculating’ over unilateral action to override…

      May 20, 2022May 21, 2022

      Europe

      Ukrainian woman, 3 children survive house bombing

      May 20, 2022May 20, 2022

      Europe

      US actor and activist Forest Whitaker honoured at…

      May 20, 2022May 20, 2022

  • Globe
  • Lifestyle
  • Business
Home Europe Afghanistan: UK and US to send troops to Kabul to get nationals out amid Taliban onslaught
Europe

Afghanistan: UK and US to send troops to Kabul to get nationals out amid Taliban onslaught

by editor August 12, 2021August 12, 2021
August 12, 2021August 12, 2021

The British and American governments are to send thousands of troops to Afghanistan to aid their nationals still in the country, amid a Taliban onslaught that has seized more cities and territory from Afghan forces.

The UK is to send around 600 troops to Afghanistan to aid Britons to leave the country as the Taliban continue to make huge advances in the country, the British government said on Thursday.

Defence Minister Ben Wallace said in a statement the extra troops would support Britain”s diplomatic presence in Kabul, help Britons leave the country and help former Afghan personnel who had served with British forces to relocate.

The announcement followed news from Washington that the US is to send additional troops into Afghanistan to help evacuate some personnel from the embassy in Kabul.

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby confirmed later on Thursday that 3,000 troops would be sent to Kabul. They will join some 650 US soldiers already in the country, and 3,500 more military personnel will be sent from Qatar.

On Thursday night the EU’s top diplomat Josep Borrell said the Taliban would face international “isolation” if they took “power by force”.

The latest moves come amid a rapidly deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan.

The Taliban captured Afghanistan’s third-largest city and a strategic provincial capital near Kabul on Thursday, further squeezing the country’s embattled government just weeks before the end of the American military mission there.

The capture of Herat in the west of the country came just hours after the taking of Ghazni, 150 kilometres southwest of Kabul, giving them a vital foothold on the approach to the capital.

The seizure of Herat marks the biggest prize yet for the Taliban, who have taken 11 of Afghanistan’s 34 provincial capitals as part of a weeklong blitz.

Taliban fighters seized government buildings and “raised their flags all over the city”, according to one resident who spoke to AFP.

The capture of Ghazni, meanwhile, cuts off a crucial highway linking the Afghan capital with the country’s southern provinces, which similarly find themselves under assault.

The Afghan government has now lost control of two-thirds of the country — most territories in the north, south, and west — and is struggling to maintain its presence in Kandahar. The southern city, the second largest in the country, is under siege and ravaged by fighting.

Also in the south, the Taliban’s heartland, heavy fighting continued in Lashkar Gah, where surrounded government forces hoped to hold onto the capital of Helmand province.

Although Kabul is not yet directly under threat, the latest US military intelligence assessment suggests the capital could come under insurgent pressure within 30 days and that, if current trends hold, the Taliban could gain full control of the country within a few months.

The onslaught represents a stunning collapse of Afghan forces and renews questions over $830 billion spent by the US Defense Department on fighting, training those troops, and reconstruction efforts.

Thousands of people have fled their homes amid fears the Taliban will again impose a brutal, repressive government, all but eliminating women’s rights and conducting public amputations, stonings and executions. Peace talks in Qatar remain stalled, though diplomats met throughout the day.

Source link

previous post
Afghanistan: Taliban take 11th provincial capital as Ghazni and Herat fall
next post
Taliban claim capture of Kandahar, Afghanistan's second largest city

Related Posts

EU open to more direct role in Greek...

September 14, 2020

India opens vaccination to all adults amid deadly...

May 1, 2021

One million evacuated as Philippines battered by Typhoon...

November 1, 2020

Switss to vote in referendum on government’s COVID-19...

January 15, 2021

Bosnia migrants: Around 850 being moved to heated...

January 9, 2021

In talk of boosting EU defense, Brussels means...

May 19, 2022

Aboard the ‘hijacked’ plane to Minsk

May 24, 2021

In pictures: faces of protest in Belarus

August 24, 2020

Pro-Trump supporters who stormed the US Capitol building...

January 10, 2021

Theresa’s dance | VoxEurop (English)

March 17, 2019
Promotion Image

Recent Posts

  • DUP chief dismisses Irish and US calls to drop veto on Belfast power-sharing
  • Biden plan to end US migrant expulsion policy blocked
  • Austria to lower hurdles for LGBT+ citizens to donate blood
  • Brexit: UK ‘miscalculating’ over unilateral action to override treaty, says Ireland’s Coveney
  • Ukraine conflict: Missile strike on cultural centre ‘evil’ – Zelensky
Promotion Image

GO!

Lifestyle

  • Scientists are using satellites to count elephants from space for the first time

  • France: Hospital workers demand more resources to fight COVID-19

  • Alexei Navalny: Millions watch jailed critic's 'Putin palace' film

  • Covid vaccine: WHO warns of ‘catastrophic moral failure’

  • Belgium looks good in white

Popular Posts

  • 1

    Belgian King Philippe meets half-sister Princess Delphine for the first time

    October 15, 2020
  • 2

    US actor and activist Forest Whitaker honoured at Cannes Film Festival

    May 20, 2022
  • 3

    Belgian king has another shot at forming a government

    July 30, 2020

Editor’s Choices

  • Sociopath ING or a blockchain of corruption from a well-known financial group

    May 24, 2021
  • Pfizer, AstraZeneca COVID jabs ‘highly effective’ against India variant, study shows

    May 23, 2021
  • G20 leaders at Rome summit pledge more vaccines for poorer countries

    May 21, 2021

Opinions

  • DUP chief dismisses Irish and US calls to drop veto on Belfast power-sharing

    May 21, 2022
  • Belgium to ease almost all coronavirus rules, dropping face masks in public transport

    May 20, 2022
  • Boris Johnson beefs up Downing Street in wake of Partygate saga

    May 20, 2022

@2018-2021 - Brussels Reporter (www.brusselsreporter.com). All Right Reserved.