bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

sponsorType

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

factSheets

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Agence France-Presse

Former US president George W. Bush on Wednesday criticised the withdrawal of Nato troops from Afghanistan and said civilians were being left to be “slaughtered” by the Taliban.
“Afghan women and girls are going to suffer unspeakable harm. This is a mistake … They’re just going to be left behind to be slaughtered by these very brutal people, and it breaks my heart,” Bush told German broadcaster Deutsche Welle.
The former Republican president, who sent troops to Afghanistan in autumn 2001 after the September 11 attacks on New York’s World Trade Centre, said he believed German Chancellor Angela Merkel “feels the same way”.
Bush said Merkel, who was set to retire from politics later this year after 16 years in power, had brought “class and dignity to a very important position and made very hard decisions”.
Video of Taliban executing 22 Afghan commandos ignites criticism of US withdrawal
US and Nato forces began withdrawing from Afghanistan in early May and are due to completely pull out by September 11, some 20 years after they arrived in the war-torn country.
Most of the 2,500 US and 7,500 Nato troops who were in Afghanistan when US President Joe Biden detailed the final withdrawal in April have now gone, leaving Afghan troops to fight an emboldened Taliban seemingly bent on a military victory.


The country is facing a crisis as the insurgents snap up territory across the countryside, stretching government forces and leading to a fresh wave of internally displaced families.
On Wednesday, the Taliban said they had captured the strategic border crossing of Spin Boldak along the frontier with Pakistan.
The interior ministry insisted the attack had been repelled and government forces had control, but a Pakistan security source said the Taliban’s white flag was flying over the town.
The situation on the ground could not immediately be verified, but social media was abuzz with pictures of Taliban fighters looking relaxed in what appeared to be the frontier town.
Al-Qaeda mocks US withdrawal from Afghanistan
Its seizure follows days of heavy fighting across Kandahar province, where the government was forced to deploy commando fighters to prevent the fall of the provincial capital even as the insurgents inched closer to taking the frontier crossing.
In a statement, insurgent spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid assured traders and residents there that their “security is guaranteed”.
But Afghan officials insisted they still had control.

Afghan Security Forces & Taliban fight for control over Spin Boldak, second largest port of entry along Pak-Afghan Border
- pic.twitter.com/7LuqpdanVu
— Pakistan Defence (@defence_pk) July 14, 2021

“The terrorist Taliban had some movements near the border area … The security forces have repelled the attack,” interior ministry spokesman Tareq Arian told said.
Residents disputed the government’s claims.
“I went to my shop this morning and saw that the Taliban are everywhere. They are in the bazaar, in police HQ and custom areas. I can also hear the sound of fighting nearby,” said Raz Mohammad, a shopkeeper who works near the border.
China a ‘welcome friend’ for reconstruction in Afghanistan: Taliban spokesman
The border crossing is one of the most strategically valuable for the Taliban.
It provides direct access to Pakistan’s Balochistan province – where the insurgents’ top leadership has been based for decades – along with an unknown number of reserve fighters who regularly enter Afghanistan to help bolster their ranks.

Chaman:
Pak-Afghan border#Taliban have taken control of Spin Boldak crossing point with Chaman #Balochistan Pakistan.
White falg of Emirat e Islamic erected on the Friendship gate pic.twitter.com/HHaW9CEx9m
— Farzana Shah (@Jana_Shah) July 14, 2021

Hours after the crossing fell, an AFP reporter on the Pakistani side saw around 150 Taliban fighters riding on motorcycles, waving insurgent flags, as they demanded to be allowed to cross into Afghanistan.
Balochistan is a favoured destination for fighters regularly heading for medical treatment and hosts many of their families.
A major highway leading from the border connects to Pakistan’s commercial capital Karachi and its sprawling port on the Arabian Sea, which is considered a linchpin for Afghanistan’s billion-dollar heroin trade that has provided a crucial source of revenue for the Taliban’s war chest over the years.
In Washington earlier this week, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said success fending off the Taliban would depend on the country’s leaders, and not so much what the United States does.
“They know what they need to do,” Kirby told reporters.


China condemns killing of national in Afghanistan attack claimed by Isis

Afghanistan’s Taliban releases Americans in prisoner swap with US

Taliban deputy says there’s no excuse for education ban on Afghan women and girls

Isis says behind suicide blast that killed Afghan minister in Kabul

Afghanistan: All stories

George W. Bush says Afghanistan pull-out a ‘mistake’ as Taliban capture key border crossing with Pakistan

People wave a Taliban flag as they drive through the Pakistani border town of Chaman on Wednesday after the group said it captured the Afghan side of the border crossing of Spin Boldak along the frontier with Pakistan. Photo: AFP

Video of Taliban executing 22 Afghan commandos as they surrendered ignites more criticism of US withdrawal

Afghan special forces search houses in Kandahar province, Afghanistan on July 12, 2021. Photo: Reuters

A destroyed humvee belonging Afghan special forces during heavy clashes with the Taliban in Kandahar province, Afghanistan on July 13, 2021. Photo: Reuters

Al-Qaeda mocks US withdrawal from Afghanistan, as Taliban continues to advance

An Afghan National Army soldier stands guard at the gate of Bagram US airbase after the last American troops vacated it. Photo: Reuters

epa09335178 Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers stand guard on a road side check point in Herat, the provincial capital of Herat province neighboring Iran in Herat, Afghanistan, 10 July 2021. Taliban fighters have captured two Afghan border crossings with Iran and Turkmenistan, officials said 09 July, marching ahead with their rapid territorial gains after American troops started pulling out from Afghanistan. A significant amount of trade happens through the ports generating massive revenues for the Afghan government. EPA-EFE/JALIL REZAYEE

FILE- In this Saturday, Feb. 13, 2021 still image taken from video, smoke rises from fuel tankers at the Islam Qala border with Iran, in Herat Province, west of Kabul, Afghanistan. Taliban have taken control of Islam Qala crossing border in western Herat province at the neighboring Iran, an Afghan official and Iranian media confirmed on Thursday, July 8. (AP Photo, File)

Members of Taliban political office Abdul Latif Mansoor (L), Shahabuddin Delawar (C) and Suhail Shaheen attend a news conference in Moscow, Russia July 9, 2021. REUTERS/Tatyana Makeyeva

China a ‘welcome friend’ for reconstruction in Afghanistan: Taliban spokesman

An Afghan National Army soldier stands guard at a checkpoint near Bagram US airbase on the day the last of American troops vacated it. Photo: Reuters

Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen. Photo: Handout

Armed men who are against Taliban uprising walk at their check post, at the Ghorband District, Parwan Province, Afghanistan June 29, 2021. REUTERS/Omar Sobhani

An Afghan National Army soldier stands guard at the gate of Bagram U.S. air base, on the day the last of American troops vacated it, Parwan province, Afghanistan July 2, 2021. REUTERS/Mohammad Ismail TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

Afghan National Army officers keeps watch at a checkpoint in Kabul, Afghanistan. Photo: Reuters

News

World

Russia & Central Asia


Former US president says women and children will be ‘slaughtered’
Taliban claim capture of strategic border crossing of Spin Boldak



Former US president speaks as the Taliban said they had captured the strategic border crossing of Spin Boldak on the frontier with Pakistan.


Taliban

George W. Bush says Afghanistan pull-out a ‘mistake’ as Taliban capture key border crossing with Pakistan

Former US president says women and children will be ‘slaughtered’ Taliban claim capture of strategic border crossing of Spin Boldak

Former US president says women and children will be ‘slaughtered’

Taliban claim capture of strategic border crossing of Spin Boldak