Di Maio in Pakistan, visits the border with Afghanistan
The Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio arrived in Islamabad. He will shortly be transferred by helicopter to the Torkham border between Pakistan and Afghanistan. First a passage to the military base of Torkhan, followed by briefings on the transits and on the measures prepared by the Pakistani side at the border with Afghanistan. Soon after, he will meet the chief of staff of the Pakistani army. Following meeting with the Foreign Minister and the Pakistani Prime Minister. This is the first high-profile Italian government mission to Pakistan, since the visit of the then foreign minister Paolo Gentiloni in 2016.
The Taliban: “We will ask the Afghan security forces to join us”
“We will ask the Afghan security forces who have been trained in the past 20 years to join the security departments together with the Taliban forces.” Zabiullah Mujahid during a press conference in Kabul in which he also announced an upcoming public sortie of the elusive leader Haibatullah Akhundzada.
US Deputy Rep: “American citizens held hostage by the Taliban”
Michael McCaul accused the Taliban of “holding hostage” six aircraft carrying US citizens and Afghan allies at Mazar-i-Sharif International Airport in northern Afghanistan. McCaul, a leading Republican member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said airplanes had been stuck at the airport “for the past few days” despite receiving take-off clearance from the US State Department. “While I am speaking we have six flights to Mazr-i-Sharif. The Taliban are holding them hostage to make demands,” the deputy said in an interview with “Fox News”. “They want something in return. This is turning into a hostage crisis,” the deputy said. According to a note sent by the State Department to members of the US Congress, the six charter aircraft should already have taken off for Doha, but have not yet obtained the go-ahead from the Taliban.
Lindsey Graham at the BBC: “We will return to Afghanistan”
Republican Senator for the State of South Carolina Lindsey Graham, he said in an interview. “The Taliban have not improved. They have a vision out of sync with the world. And they will provide a refuge for Al Qaeda who wants us out of the Middle East. We will return to Afghanistan as we have returned to Iraq and Syria.” “Are you serious?” Asks the presenter Stephen Sackur. “Sure. We’ll have to. Because the threat is too broad.”
“Got the Panshir”
The Taliban have announced the complete conquest of Panshir province, the last stronghold in Afghanistan of the National Resistance Front (NRF) led by Ahmad Massud. This was reported in a press release published via Twitter by Zabiullah. According to the Afghan broadcaster Tolo News in yesterday’s fighting he was killed Faheen Dashty, spokesman for the Resistance Front and well-known journalist. At the moment there is no news of Massoud, while the former vice president Amrullah Saleh he would have fled to Tajikistan.
The resistance: “We still fight”
Despite the announcement, the resistance assured that it was present in “strategic positions” throughout the valley, adding that “the fight against the Taliban will continue”.
Masood: “I fight against the Taliban. And I won’t give up “
by Bernard-Henri Lévy
A university tent to divide boys and girls
The correspondent of France2, now in Kabul, tweeted it.
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