DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Congressmen demand answers after CNN report contradicts Pentagon investigations into deadly Kabul airport attack
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-08 | by ( Nick Paton Walsh | Mick Krever | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

The reporting included a video obtained by CNN captured by a Marine’s GoPro camera that had not been seen publicly in full before. Much of the controversy about the Pentagon’s two investigations into the attack has focused on gunfire in the aftermath of the blast. “Lastly, why do journalists have this video footage and the Department does not? The recent discovery of new video released by CNN directly contradicts and exposes outright lies from our recent briefing last month from CENTCOM officials,” the Gold Star families said in a statement they sent to CNN. Haroon Sabawoon/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images/FileThe evidence also suggests the Pentagon may have more video footage than it has acknowledged in public.

Persons: Defense Lloyd Austin, Austin “, –, ”, Mike Waltz, Darrell Issa, Tim Burchett, Brian Mast, Rich McCormick, Keith Self, Cory Mills, Chris Smith –, Sayed Ahmadi, Ahmadi, “, ” James Adams, Hamid, Jared Schmitz, Humberto Sanchez, Taylor Hoover, Nicole Gee, Kareem Nikoui, Hunter Lopez, Rylee McCollum –, Biden, Erik Kurilla, CENTCOM, I’m, Haroon Sabawoon, Rob Lodewick, ” Lodewick Organizations: CNN —, Defense, CNN, Pentagon, House Foreign Affairs, Command, Marines, House Foreign Affairs Committee, Department, Gold Star, Department of Defense, Biden Administration, “, Anadolu Agency, Getty, Army, DoD, Service Locations: Kabul, Afghanistan, US

☆ Kabul airport attack exclusive: New evidence challenges the Pentagon’s official account of a horrific incident as the US withdrew from Afghanistan
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-24 | by ( Nick Paton Walsh | Mick Krever | Mark Baron | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +22 min

One told CNN he heard the first large burst of shooting come from where US Marines were standing, near the blast site. This is significantly more than the three “near simultaneous” bursts of gunfire that the Pentagon investigations have claimed occurred. The Supplemental Review found no new evidence of a complex attack, and uncovered no new assertions of outgoing fire post-blast. “They were targeting people,” another, Nazir, 16, told CNN. CNN spoke with about ten Marines anonymously, many of whom described hearing gunfire and feeling under attack from it.

Persons: Hamid, Akhter Gulfam, –, Wakil Koshar, Robert Maher, Sarah Morris, Morris, Maher, Rob Lodewick, ”, “, ” Shogofa Hamidi, Morsal, Nazir, ” Noorullah Zakhel, Read, Sayeed Ahmadi, ” Ahmadi, Ahmadi, Lodewick, Marcus Yam, CNN's Nick Paton Walsh, “ You’ve, they’ve, It’s, Taylor Crul, Romel Finley, Finley, Barber, ‘, ” Finley, Christian Sanchez, Sanchez, Staff Mark Milley, Kenneth “ Frank ” McKenzie, Darrell Issa, Nick Paton Walsh, Sandi Sidhu, Julia Hollingsworth, Masoud Popalzai, Sitara Zamani, Abdul Basir Bina, Katie Polglase, Gianluca Mezzofiore Organizations: CNN, United, Pentagon, US, Airport, NATO, US Army Central Command, Getty, Montana State University, University of Southampton, Marines, British Ministry of Defense, U.S . Central Command, AP CNN, “, Los Angeles Times, Marine, ” Marines, Navy, US Air Force, . Air Force, Reuters, US Marines, YouTube, Investigators, Joint Chiefs, Staff, Central Command Locations: Kabul, Afghanistan, United States, airport’s, American, British, AFP, Bozeman, England, US, Kabul airport's, U.S, Finland, ”

☆ A bloodthirsty ISIS branch is 'on the upswing' after the US left Afghanistan in a lurch, a former top commander says
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-12 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

AdvertisementIn the years since the US and its NATO allies left Afghanistan, a particularly violent branch of the Islamic State terror group has grown stronger. During the first few years of its existence, ISIS-K attacks were mainly confined to Afghanistan and Pakistan. The first year under the Taliban's rule saw a sharp uptick in terror attacks inside Afghanistan. But that trend has changed in recent months; attacks inside the country declined while attacks beyond its borders have increased. Thus, the conditions inside Afghanistan have awarded the terror group space to develop a greater capacity to stage external attacks.

Persons: —, Joseph Votel, Hamid, Taylor Crul, Michael Kugelman, Kugelman, MARCUS YAM, Votel, that's, Doug Ellis, Qassem, STRINGER, Michael Kurilla, John Kirby, Biden, Kirby Organizations: Service, NATO, 82nd Airborne Division, U.S . Air Force, US Air Force, REUTERS ISIS, Islamic, ISIS, Department of Defense, Hamid, AP, South Asia Institute, Wilson, Kabul International Airport, ANGELES, US Central Command, Security Forces, Staff, Getty, White, National Security, Department, Defense Locations: Afghanistan, Moscow, Kabul, Handout, Khorasan Provence, Iraq, Syria, Pakistan, Washington, Darzab district, Jowzjan province, Mar, Iran, Central Asia, Iranian, Kerman, Europe, Russia, Islamic State, Crocus, American, Achin, Nangarhar Province

☆ Exclusive: State Department officials told House investigators they created Afghanistan withdrawal plans from scratch
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-03 | by ( Kylie Atwood | Jennifer Hansler | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

The State Department has continued to publicly defend its decision making around the NEO as well as the ending of the war. Milley and retired Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, who were in charge of the US military during the withdrawal, blamed the State Department for not ordering a NEO sooner. The State Department officials did not weigh in on whether calling a NEO sooner would have had a substantial impact, as this would have preceded their arrival in Afghanistan. Although the State Department has faced sharp criticism from the Defense Department – most recently in a congressional hearing with retired Gens. Coordination with the militaryAnd on the ground, as they grappled with the frenzied and fluid situation, State Department officials and service members at Hamid Karzai International Airport were regularly coordinating.

Persons: John Bass, Jim DeHart, Jayne Howell, Michael McCaul’s, McCaul, Biden, ”, Mark Milley, ” Howell, DeHart, ” Bass, Hamid, Bass, Wendy Sherman, Washington . Howell, I’m, Howell, “, Trump, Anna Moneymaker, Milley, Kenneth McKenzie, McKenzie, Vedant Patel, “ It’s, Defense Department –, Gens, Kenneth McKenzie –, ” DeHart, didn’t Organizations: CNN, State Department, House Foreign Affairs, Republican, Department, Foreign Affairs, Chiefs, House Foreign, ”, DC, State, Department of Defense, Airport, Foreign Service Institute, Pentagon, Biden, Joint Chiefs, Staff, US, US Central Command, ” State Department, Defense Department, Hamid Locations: Afghanistan, Kabul, Afghan, Ukraine, Kabul Afghanistan, Washington ., Turkey, Rayburn, Washington , DC, extremis

☆ How ISIS has Europe and the US in sights after deadly Moscow attack
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-30 | by ( Tim Lister | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

ISIS claimed responsibility for the Moscow attack. Maxim Shemetov/ReutersHe regards the Moscow attack as a “breakthrough success” for the group, demonstrating a level of planning not previously seen beyond south Asia. Russia’s support for authoritarian regimes in central Asia – which ISIS-K has described as Russia’s “puppets” – has deepened the animus. The attitude of the Russian government, both pre- and post- the Moscow attack, may not help it confront the threat. For ISIS-K, the Moscow attack is a coup.

Persons: Erik Kurilla, “, Sanaullah Ghafari, Edmund Fitton, Brown, Fitton, Amira Jadoon, ” Jadoon, Hans, Jakob Schindler, Christine Abizaid, ” Fitton, Maxim Shemetov, –, Gabriel Attal, ”, Jadoon, Putin, Abu Bakr al, Sinai, Vladimir Putin, Assad, Shamsidin, Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev, Muhammadsobir Fayzov, Yulia Morozova, Shamil Hukumatov, ” Putin, ” Schindler, Alexander Bortnikov, they’ll, Rita Katz Organizations: CNN, Analysts, ISIS, Islamic, US Central Command, UN, Taliban, Russian, Clemson University, Counter, ”, K, US National Counterterrorism Center, –, Crocus City, US Defense Department, Paris, Central, Crocus City Hall, St, City, Tajik, Kyiv, SITE Intelligence Locations: State, Ukraine, Gaza, Moscow, Khorasan, Afghanistan, Europe, Asia, Russia, ‘, Islamic State, Pakistan, Iran, Crocus, United States, West, New York, Tajik, Kabul, Afghan, Kandahar, Central Asia, Baujur, Pakistani, Baluchistan, Iranian, Kerman, Germany, al Qaeda, Turkey, France, America, Russian, Sharm el, St . Petersburg, Syria, Kaluga, St Petersburg, Istanbul, Washington

☆ Who are ISIS-K, the group that claimed it carried out the Moscow terror attack?
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-25 | by ( Jessie Yeung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

It is a branch of ISIS, the terror group that emerged in Syria and Iraq and, at its peak, controlled a huge stretch of territory. By 2018, ISIS-K was ranked the world’s fourth-deadliest terror group, according to the Institute for Economics and Peace, which monitors global terrorism. Video Ad Feedback What we know about ISIS group claiming responsibility for Moscow terror attack 04:16 - Source: CNNWhat do they want? Russian state media reported on March 7 that the FSB, Russia’s security service, prevented an ISIS attack on a synagogue in Moscow, according to Reuters. It is the most active terror group in the country, responsible for 73 deaths in 2023, according to the Institute for Economics and Peace.

Persons: Kamala Harris, –, Joe Biden, Putin, ”, Daniel Byman, ” Byman, John Miller, Wakil Kohsar, Washington, Vladimir Putin Organizations: CNN, Islamic, ISIS, Sunday, US, Institute for Economics, The United Nations, Sharia, “, RIA Novosti, RIA, Reuters, Kabul University, CSIS, National Legal Training, US Central Command, National Intelligence, UN, Manchester Arena, State Department, Kyiv Locations: Moscow, Soviet, Tajikistan, Khorasan, Asia, Russia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, Syria, Iraq, Africa, East, Central Asia, Southeast Asia, Kabul, Afghanistan’s Kunar, Nangarhar, United States, Britain, Europe, “ Russia, Georgetown, Caucasus, Pakistan –, Mastung, AFP, Germany, Paris, Ariana Grande, England, Orlando , Florida, Russian, Ukraine, Crocus

☆ Opinion: ISIS is making a comeback
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-23 | by ( Peter Bergen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —If ISIS was indeed responsible for the attack Friday at a Moscow-area concert venue that killed at least 133 people, it would suggest that, unfortunately, the terror group is making something of a comeback. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack; a US official told CNN the US has no reason to doubt it. Through that attack, ISIS-K showed that the group, which is very anti-Shia, could target a hostile state like predominantly Shia Iran. In March alone, a Russian state news agency said the country had thwarted multiple ISIS-related incidents, including a plan to attack a synagogue in Moscow. As for capability, the ISIS-K attack in Iran earlier this year demonstrated that the group could carry out a large-scale attack outside of its home base in Afghanistan.

Persons: Peter Bergen, Osama bin Laden, Biden, Qasem Soleimani, Vladimir Putin, ”, Bashar al Assad, Assad, Putin Organizations: New, Arizona State University, Apple, Spotify, CNN, ISIS, US, Kabul Airport, Democratic, US National Security Council, Government Locations: New America, Moscow, Iraq, Syria, United Kingdom, Europe, Paris, Orlando , Florida, Africa, Asia, Afghanistan, Kabul, Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, Iran, Russian, Russia, ”, Ukraine, Syrian

That pushed Biden's count past 1,968 for a majority of delegates to the Democratic National Convention in Chicago this August, where his nomination will be made official. Former President Donald Trump is expected to clinch the Republican nomination shortly. Biden, who mounted his first bid for president 37 years ago, did not face any serious Democratic challengers to his run for reelection at age 81. Already the oldest-ever American president, Biden would be 86 if he served out the entirety of a second term. “I sure feel confident.”Biden first ran for the Democratic nomination ahead of the 1988 presidential election, but flamed out when it emerged he had plagiarized speeches.

Persons: Joe Biden, Biden, Donald Trump, —, Trump, Vladimir Putin, Roe, Wade, Putin, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Robert Hur, I’ve, he’s, Dean Phillips, Phillips, Said, Aishah Al, Louis, “ It’s, ”, Barack Obama, uncommitted, Delaware Sen, Ted Kaufman, “, ” Biden, Kaufman Organizations: WASHINGTON, Democratic, Democratic National Convention, Republican, Associated Press, NORC, for Public Affairs Research, NATO, GOP, Trump, Biden, Republicans, Dean Phillips of Locations: Georgia, Chicago, U.S, Ukraine, Russia, Kyiv, Western Europe, Afghanistan, Kabul, Dean Phillips of Minnesota, St, Louis Park , Minnesota, Delaware, Iowa, South Carolina

(AP) — Alec Baldwin didn't have to pay anything to resolve a $25 million lawsuit filed by family members of a Marine killed in Afghanistan after the actor chastised them on social media over the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, Baldwin's attorney said. Rylee McCollum, of Jackson, Wyoming, When the McCollum family didn’t file an amended lawsuit as Ramos invited to do before a September deadline, the judge closed the case in October. Lawyers for both sides, including McCollum family attorney Dennis Postiglione, did not comment further on the case when contacted by email Thursday. Reached by email Wednesday, Postiglione declined to comment and said the McCollum family would not comment. The lawsuit was filed as Baldwin faced legal peril for the death of a cinematographer on a New Mexico movie set in 2021.

Persons: — Alec Baldwin didn't, Edgardo Ramos, Lance Cpl, Rylee McCollum, McCollum, Ramos, Baldwin, Luke Nikas, Dennis Postiglione, Postiglione, Roice McCollum, ”, Donald Trump’s Jan, Halyna Hutchins, Joel Souza Organizations: U.S . Capitol, U.S . Southern, of New, Associated Press, Washington , D.C, FBI Locations: Afghanistan, U.S, Jackson , Wyoming, Kabul, Wyoming, New York, Washington ,, New Mexico

It ended in frantic scenes of Afghans and Americans desperately trying to get on one of the last flights out of Kabul. Two-thirds of Americans say the war in Afghanistan was not worth fighting; 65% of Democrats and 63% of Republicans agree on that evaluation. Only about one in five Americans say the U.S. successfully improved opportunities for women and girls in Afghanistan, with 43% saying such efforts were unsuccessful. Women were more likely than men across party lines to call advancing the rights of women in Afghanistan an important goal. Mike Mitchell is executive director of No One Left Behind, which helps Afghans who worked with the U.S. relocate.

Persons: Joe Biden’s, ”, Martin Stefen, Justin Campbell, Campbell, he's, Maliha Chishti, “, Toni Dewey, Nola Sayne, —, Ukraine —, Mike Mitchell, ‘, Mitchell, ___ Organizations: WASHINGTON, United, Pearson Institute, Global, Associated Press, NORC, for Public Affairs Research, U.S, Taliban, Republicans, Republican Party, “ Locations: United States, Afghanistan, Kabul, U.S, Carson City , Nevada, Soviet Union, Brookhaven , Mississippi, Wilmington , North Carolina, America, Loganville , Georgia, Ukraine, Israel

[1/2] Vehicles of Russian peacekeepers leaving Azerbaijan's Nagorno-Karabakh region for Armenia pass an Armenian checkpoint on a road near the village of Kornidzor, Armenia September 22, 2023. Images of fleeing Armenians at Russia's own peacekeeping base at an airport in Nagorno-Karabakh have been harder for them to watch. But its handling of the Karabakh crisis has forced it into a blame game with Armenia and obliged it to defend its foreign policy in the region. It now accuses him of triggering the crisis by saying - after Russian peacekeepers were deployed to Karabakh in 2020 following Armenia's defeat in a 44-day war - that he recognised Azerbaijan's territorial integrity. Baku has long argued that Karabakh falls within its own borders, but Karabakh Armenians wanted Pashinyan to recognise their independence and unify them with Armenia.

Persons: Irakli, Alexander Baunov, Russia's, Sergei Markov, Pashinyan, Dmitry Medvedev, Medvedev, Margarita Simonyan, Andrew Osborn, Gareth Jones Organizations: REUTERS, Armenian, Soviet, Carnegie, Karabakh, Protesters, Kremlin, Russian, Security Council, NATO, Thomson Locations: Karabakh, Armenia, Kornidzor, Russia, Azerbaijan Moscow, Kabul, U.S, Afghanistan, Nagorno, Turkish, Moscow, Azerbaijan, Soviet Union, Turkey, Iran, Ukraine, South Caucasus, Stepanakert, Russian, America, Baku ., Yerevan, Baku, Pashinyan

☆ US military to conduct additional interviews with witnesses of Kabul airport bombing
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-15 | by ( Haley Britzky | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —The senior US general for the Middle East has ordered additional interviews be conducted regarding the 2021 Abbey Gate bombing in Kabul, Afghanistan, which killed 13 US service members during the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, the US military announced Friday. It’s unclear if the new interviews will include Afghans who witnessed the blast, which killed more than 170 Afghan civilians. When pressed on whether the interviews would include Afghans, Lawhorn said it would be “up to the Supplementary Review Team to decide who to interview.”“I cannot be explicit about anything that the Supplementary Review Team may or may not decide to review in the future,” Lawhorn said. CENTCOM released a lengthy after-action review last year that included statements from more than 100 witnesses. Tyler Vargas-Andrews, who was seriously injured in the blast and who has said he was not interviewed in CENTCOM’s original investigation.

Persons: Michael “ Erik ” Kurilla, Pat Frank, ”, Michael Lawhorn, Lawhorn, ” Lawhorn, CENTCOM, Tyler Vargas, Andrews, Vargas, ” Vargas, “, they’d, Kurilla, Frank Organizations: CNN, US Central Command, US Army Central, Marines, Gold Star Locations: Kabul, Afghanistan

Biden, who spent eight years as Obama's vice president, told a friend that Obama couldn't even curse properly, according to “The Last Politician: Inside Joe Biden’s White House and the Struggle for America’s Future." In private, Biden would “occasionally admit to friends he felt tired," the book says. She said the book was actually praising Biden for helping to push major legislation through Congress and unify global support around Ukraine. "And we’re not going to litigate here.”Foer's book also describes struggles by Vice President Kamala Harris to carve out a role for herself as Biden's No. Foer's book says Biden tried to treat Harris more respectfully than he felt Obama often had treated him as vice president, calling her “the vice president" instead of “my vice president."

Persons: Joe Biden, Barack Obama, Biden, Obama, Joe Biden’s, Franklin Foer, Donald Trump, Biden's, flailing ”, “, Karine Jean, Pierre, ” Jean, ”, Jean, ” “, Kamala Harris, Foer, Harris, Anthony Fauci, Jake Sullivan, Ashraf Ghani, Hillary Clinton, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Sullivan, Clinton Organizations: WASHINGTON, Harvard, Ardent, White, Central, Taliban, U.S, Marines Locations: Ukraine, Scandinavia, U.S, Mexico, Afghanistan, Kabul

☆ Mother of Marine killed in Abbey Gate bombing says she wants full account of where her son took his last breath
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-01 | by ( Kaanita Iyer | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

“Just accurate statements of where my child was at the time of the bombing, where he took his last breath – all that, we have no information on any of that,” Alicia Lopez, mother of Cpl. The Biden administration has sought in recent days to honor members of the military involved in the US withdrawal of American troops from the country. But two years on, questions over the frenzied exit remain and Lopez and other families of Abbey Gate victims are demanding that the president take accountability. “We have requested true accountability and validation of the stories that the Marines that were injured and that were there have told us,” Lopez told Tapper. At a congressional roundtable earlier this week, the families of Abbey Gate victims offered emotional testimony about the withdrawal and losses.

Persons: Biden, ” Alicia Lopez, Cpl, Hunter Lopez, CNN’s Jake Tapper, Lopez, ” Lopez, Tapper, hasn’t, Joe Biden, ”, Chris Meagher, “, Hamid Karzai, Trump, Jaclyn Schmitz, Lance Cpl, Jared Schmitz Organizations: CNN, Marines, Pentagon, Gold Star, Department of Defense, Republican, House Foreign Affairs Committee, White, Department Locations: Kabul, Afghanistan

☆ Army, Marine units involved in Afghanistan withdrawal to receive Presidential Unit Citation two years later
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-31 | by ( Haley Britzky | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —US service members deployed on the Afghanistan withdrawal mission will receive the Presidential Unit Citation, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced Thursday, the two-year anniversary of the withdrawal. The Air Force does not appear to be included in the units receiving citations under Thursday’s announcement, an Air Force official said, though Pentagon spokesman Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said at a news briefing on Thursday that more units could receive the citation in the future. “So in the statement that we put out today, it highlighted the units that have currently been awarded that recognition. The Biden administration conducted an after-action review of the Afghanistan withdrawal and released a summary of findings in April this year.

Persons: Lloyd Austin, ” Austin, “, Pat Ryder, ” Ryder, Hamid Karzai, Austin, Mike McCaul, they’d, Biden, Trump, Ashraf Ghani, Christine Wormuth, ” Wormuth Organizations: CNN, 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, Force, Central Command, 82nd Airborne Division, Gold Star, Army National Guard and, The Air Force, Air Force, Pentagon, Hamid, Capitol, House Foreign Affairs, Republican, Biden, Department, Marines, The Defense Department, US Central Command, Army, Marine Corps, 82nd Airborne, Command Locations: Afghanistan, Kabul

☆ Opinion: Why the fall of Afghanistan in 2021 broke me in a way my husband’s death didn’t
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-30 | by ( Hilary Krieger | Opinion Jane Horton | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

Chris Horton, a sniper with 1st Battalion, 297th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, Oklahoma Army National Guard, stands with his weapon in Paktia, Afghanistan, in 2011. In this March 2016 photo, US Central Command Commander Gen. Lloyd Austin and Gold Star Wife Jane Horton talk at Headquarters Resolute Support Mission in Kabul, Afghanistan. Jane Horton, senior adviser to the acting secretary of defense, gives a speech in Kabul in December 2020. It was a place that might have even been darker than the day Chris died. Chris Horton and Jane Horton pose for a photo on their wedding day in 2009 in Cleveland, Ohio.

Persons: Jane Horton, CNN —, It’s, Chris, I’ve, Marcus Yam, who’d, Kirk Owen, ”, Chris Horton, ., Whitney Hughes, “ Jane, Marshal Rommel ‘ Don’t, ’, —, Lloyd Austin, Myles Cullen, ” Maryam, Ashraf Ghani, Taylor Crul Organizations: Department of Defense, Afghan Women’s Council, CNN, Oklahoma National Guard, Los Angeles Times, Facebook, Spc, 1st Battalion, 297th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, Oklahoma Army National Guard, National Guard Bureau, Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gold Star, Embassy, Central Command, US Air Force, 816th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron, III, Hamid, Airport, Twitter, State Department Locations: Georgetown University’s, Afghanistan, Kabul, Paktia, United States, Washington, Resolute, American, Paktya, –, America, Cleveland , Ohio, anytown USA

☆ Fact Check-Video of Kabul airport dates to 2021, not Mali and Niger forces in 2023
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-10 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

A video filmed at Afghanistan’s Kabul airport that dates to August 2021 is being shared in 2023 with a caption that falsely says it shows soldiers from Mali and Niger preparing to fight Nigeria and the Economic Community of West African States’ (ECOWAS). The claim is being shared after President Mohamed Bazoum was removed by Niger's military leaders on July 26, 2023. Reuters could not independently verify the source of the video, however, it predates the 2023 coup in Niger. It can be traced to August 2021 (here) when it was shared in relation to the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. Video of Kabul airport dates to August 2021, does not show Mali and Niger forces in 2023.

Persons: Mohamed Bazoum, “, ”, Bola Tinubu, Read Organizations: Economic, West, Reuters, Watch, Force, Kabul Airport Locations: Kabul, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, States, West, Central Africa, Afghanistan, U.S

☆ Afghanistan's exiled soccer team wants the right to play for their country
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-29 | by ( Hilary Whiteman | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

It’s not like going on a moon.”The Afghan Women's Team took on Football Empowerment during The Hope Cup on July 18, 2023 in Melbourne, Australia. The Afghan Women's Team began training last year with local club Melbourne Victory. “If the Afghan Football Federation recognize a team and say: ‘Yes, we accept a team to represent Afghanistan,’ they can be shot. Afghan Women's Team goalie Fatima Yousifi buried her kit before fleeing Afghanistan. When told the Afghan women’s team was in the crowd, cheering the Matildas on, she said: “I think that’s great they’re here tonight supporting us.

Persons: Coldplay’s, Khalida Popal, “, ’ ”, she’s, ”, Kelly Defina, Heather Barr, HRW’s, Penny Wong, Sarai Bareman, Fatma, Bareman, ” Behram Siddiqui, Popal, ’, Craig Foster, “ They’ve, that’s, Fatima Yousifi, John Didulica, Didulica, he’s, there’s, Hilary Whiteman, Emily van Egmond, Yousifi, ” Foster Organizations: Australia CNN, Brisbane, Nigeria, Afghan women’s national, Taliban, FIFA, women’s, Afghan Women's, Football Empowerment, Rights Watch, Human, United Nations, HRW’s Women’s Rights, Afghan, Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade, Foreign, Association, Afghan Football Federation, CNN FIFA, Afghan Women's Team, Melbourne Victory, UN, “, Hope, Melbourne, Afghan national, Australia, CNN, Canada Locations: Brisbane, Australia, Denmark, Australian, Afghanistan, Europe, Canada, Melbourne, Kabul, United, ’, women’s, Nigeria, Afghan

☆ State Department review of 2021 Afghanistan evacuation critical of Biden, Trump
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-30 | by ( Jonathan Landay | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Victor Mancilla/Handout via... Read moreWASHINGTON, June 30 (Reuters) - A U.S. State Department report on Friay criticized the handling of the 2021 evacuation from Afghanistan, saying decisions by President Joe Biden and his predecessor Donald Trump to withdraw troops had "serious consequences for the viability" and security of the former U.S.-backed government. The review, and a similar Pentagon study, contributed to a report released by the White House in April. But the State Department review's critical findings were not reflected in the White House report.cWhite House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre defended Biden's handling of the Afghan pullout. "I can't speak to that internal coordination piece and how the administration settled on the core conclusions that it presented" in April, a senior State Department official said. The review said State Department planning for the evacuation "was hindered" because it was "unclear" which senior official "had the lead."

Persons: Victor Mancilla, Read, Friay, Joe Biden, Donald Trump, Antony Blinken, Karine Jean, Pierre, Biden's, Steven Cheung, Afghanistan — Joe Biden, Trump, Biden, Jonathan Landay, Steve Holland, Grant McCool, Alistair Bell Organizations: U.S, Marines, 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, Evacuation Control Center, Hamid, Airport, . Marine Corps, Staff, U.S . State Department, State, White House, State Department, United, Trump, American, Department, Thomson Locations: Kabul, Afghanistan, WASHINGTON, U.S, United States, State

☆ The Taliban promised to provide security to Afghans. New data shows threat from ISIS is growing
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Eliza Mackintosh Ehsan Popalzai Antonio Jarne Lou Robinson | Eliza Mackintosh | Ehsan Popalzai | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +19 min

“Currently we don’t have security in Afghanistan at all, whenever we go out we don’t know if we will come home alive or not,” he added. Taliban security forces guard a checkpoint near the foreign ministry in Kabul on March 27, after an ISIS-K suicide bomber struck the site. The data, which is available in a live map, includes 367 pieces of open-source evidence — largely videos and images shared on social media — about 70 ISIS-K attacks since August 2021. As the Taliban try to minimize the threat ISIS-K poses, attacks on civilians continue. Taliban security forces have been waging ongoing operations and night raids against ISIS-K.

☆ Thousands of Afghans escaped the Taliban with the help of private veteran groups. Today, many remain in limbo in the UAE
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-07 | by ( Haley Britzky | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +18 min

Several thousand were brought there by the State Department directly from Kabul and have since been relocated to the US or Canada. Consequently, thousands of Afghans evacuated by private groups were left in a legal limbo with seemingly no clear path to the US – or anywhere else. It was unclear whether that documentation is sufficient for what the State Department has required. The first two groups were evacuated from the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul in August 2021 by both the State Department and private groups working independently. In her responses to CNN, Tekach said the State Department “had limited information” about refugees who came on those separate flights.

☆ Taliban Said to Kill Islamic State Militant Behind Attack That Killed 13 Americans
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Gordon Lubold | William Mauldin | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

An image from a video shows U.S. Marines near Abbey Gate at Kabul’s airport following a suicide attack in 2021. Photo: Department of Defense/Associated PressWASHINGTON—Taliban fighters in Afghanistan recently killed an Islamic State militant who U.S. officials believe was responsible for the August 2021 suicide attack at the Kabul airport that killed 13 U.S. service members. The attack at the airport’s Abbey Gate, during the chaotic withdrawal of American forces from Afghanistan that summer, also killed at least 170 Afghans and injured 40 other U.S. troops, according to U.S. officials.

☆ Taliban Kill Head of ISIS Cell That Bombed Kabul Airport
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( Karoun Demirjian | Eric Schmitt | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

WASHINGTON — The Taliban have killed the leader of the Islamic State cell responsible for the suicide bombing at the international airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, in August 2021 that killed 13 U.S. troops and as many as 170 civilians, four senior American officials said on Tuesday. The administration on Monday began calling relatives of the American troops who died in the attack to tell them that the leader of the terrorist cell had been killed by Taliban security forces in recent weeks. The American officials said that U.S. intelligence analysts became aware in early April that the mastermind of the attack, whom they declined to identify, had died in a Taliban operation in Afghanistan. It was unclear whether the Taliban were specifically targeting the insurgent or he was killed in one of the increasing number of attacks between Taliban and Islamic State fighters, the officials said. But the officials offered no evidence to support that conclusion or other details about his purported death.

CNN —The ISIS-K leader who planned the deadly 2021 suicide bombing at the Kabul international airport’s Abbey Gate was killed by the Taliban, according to the National Security Council. Kirby did not specify when the Taliban killed the ISIS-K leader, but called it one in a “series of high-profile leadership losses” that ISIS-K has suffered this year. The terrorist who carried out the suicide bombing, Abdul Rehman Al-Loghri, had been released from prison only days earlier when the Taliban took control of the area. ISIS-K stands for ISIS-Khorasan, the terror organization’s affiliate that is active in Afghanistan and the surrounding region. Taylor Hoover, who was killed in the bombing, told CNN that he was notified by the military Tuesday morning.

☆ Kabul airport attack 'mastermind' killed by Taliban, US officials say
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Soldiers, Airmen and civilian staff receive casualties who were injured outside of Hamid Karzai International Airport and evacuated to the U.S. Army-operated Landstuhl Regional Medical Center (LRMC) for further care in Landstuhl, Germany August 27, 2021. Landstuhl Regional Medical Center/Marcy Sanchez/Handout via REUTERSWASHINGTON, April 25 (Reuters) - The Taliban have killed an Islamic State militant who was the "mastermind" behind a suicide attack at Kabul's international airport in 2021 that killed 13 U.S. troops and scores of civilians during the United States' chaotic evacuation from the country, U.S. officials said on Tuesday. The Afghan affiliate of Islamic State, known as Islamic State Khorasan or ISIS-K, after an old name of the region, is an enemy of the Taliban. Fighters loyal to Islamic State first appeared in eastern Afghanistan in 2014 and later made inroads in other areas. Reporting by Idrees Ali and Phil Stewart; Editing by Cynthia OstermanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Search resuls for: "Kabul Airport"

25 mentions found