Afghanistan Crisis HIGHLIGHTS: Afghan Athlete Makes Debut At Tokyo Paralympics Amid Crisis In Home Country
Afghanistan Taliban Crisis HIGHLIGHTS: For all the latest developments in the Afghanistan-Taliban crisis and the situation created around it follow ABP News LIVE blog to stay updated.
Background
Afghanistan Taliban Crisis HIGHLIGHTS: The US military has completed its withdrawal from Afghanistan to end a brutal 20-year war, which has been America's longest. It started and ended with the hardline Taliban in power, despite billions of dollars spent trying to rebuild the conflict-wracked country, reports AFP.
Celebratory gunfire rang out in Kabul in the early hours of Tuesday, and elated senior Taliban officials hailed the event as a watershed moment.
The withdrawal came after the fraught final days of a frantic mission to evacuate tens of thousands of Americans and Afghans who had helped the US-led war effort -- and which left scores of Afghans and 13 US troops dead in a suicide attack last week.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken says fewer than 200 Americans remain in Afghanistan who want to leave and the US will continue to try to get them out. Blinken says the number of Americans left may be closer to 100. He says the US would work with Afghanistan's neighbors to secure their departure either overland or by charter flight once the Kabul airport re-opens.
Taliban fighters watched the last U.S. planes disappear into the sky over Afghanistan around midnight Monday and then fired their guns into the air, celebrating victory after a 20-year insurgency that drove the world's most powerful military out of one of the poorest countries.
The departure of the U.S. cargo planes marked the end of a massive airlift in which tens of thousands of people fled Afghanistan, fearful of the return of Taliban rule after the militants took over most of the country and rolled into the capital earlier this month.
Afghan athlete Hossain Rasouli represents Afghanistan in Tokyo Paralympics
Afghan athlete Hossain Rasouli participated in a long jump event at the Tokyo Paralympics on Tuesday after being evacuated from his war-torn country. Rasouli, who competed in the men's T47 long jump, became 1st athlete to represent Afghanistan in Tokyo Paralympics.
EU to organize high-level forum in September to discuss resettlement of needy Afghans
The European Commission will organize a special high-level forum in September to discuss the resettlement of needy Afghans, European Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson said on Tuesday.
"As part of the follow up to the #JHA @EUCouncil today, I will convene, in September, a High-Level Resettlement Forum to discuss concrete priorities with the Member States and provide sustainable solutions to those Afghans who are most vulnerable, particularly women and children, but also human rights activists, journalists, lawyers. We will cooperate together with the other global leaders on a coordinated approach to safe and legal routes for resettlement," Johansson said on Twitter.
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