Afghanistan crisis live updates: US troops surge evacuations out of Kabul but threats persist

A group of about 60 Afghan Sikhs and Hindus who had been waiting nearly 43 hours to be evacuated from Afghanistan were sent back by the Taliban on Saturday from outside Kabul airport, members of both communities said from Kabul, reports J K Singh. This group includes Afghanistan parliament Sikh members Anarkali Kaur Honaryar and Narender Singh Khalsa. All of them have returned safely to their homes in Kabul or to Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha, Karta-e-Parwan, near Kabul, along with the Sikh community belonging to Jalala

Amid the ongoing turmoil in Afghanistan, UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab discussed the issues concerning the war-torn country with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian.

The EU has not recognised the Taliban, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Saturday, nor is it holding political talks with the militants. Von der Leyen said she would propose an increase in the ¤57 million in humanitarian aid which the commission had allocated this year for Afghanistan. She said EU development aid is tied to respect of human rights, good treatment of minorities and respect for the rights of women. (Reuters)

Forces holding out against the Taliban in northern Afghanistan say they have taken three districts close to the Panjshir valley where remnants of government forces and other militia groups have gathered. Defence minister General Bismillah Mohammadi, who has vowed to resist the Taliban, said in a tweet that the districts of Deh Saleh, Bano and Pul-Hesar in the province of Baghlan to the north of Panjshir had been taken.It was not immediately clear what forces were involved but the incident adds to scattered indications of opposition to the Taliban. TV station Tolo News quoted a police commander who said Bano district in Baghlan was under the control of local militia forces and said there had been heavy casualties. The Taliban have not commented on the incident. Afghan vice-president Amrullah Saleh, who says he is the country's rightful president after Ashraf Ghani's escape, and Ahmad Massoud, son of former anti-Soviet Mujahideen commander Ahmad Shah Massoud, have vowed to resist the Taliban from Panjshir, which repelled both Soviet forces and the Taliban in the 1980s and 1990s.

Pakistan's strategic security objectives in Afghanistan almost certainly continue to be countering Indian influence and mitigating spillover of the Afghan civil war into Pakistani territory, a US government report has said, citing inputs from the defence intelligence agency. "Pakistan continues to support peace talks, while maintaining ties with Taliban," US department of state noted in its latest quarterly report on Afghanistan. (PTI)

Afghan women are being shipped into neighbouring countries in coffins and used as sex slaves, according to a former judge. Najla Ayoubi, who lives in the US after "fleeing for my life" from the Taliban, said she has heard horrific examples of violence against women since the militants took control of her homeland on August 15, reports metro.co.uk. ​​She said one woman was "put on fire because she was accused of bad cooking for Taliban fighters" in the north of the country. Other women are being forced into marriage and sexually abused, she said. She told Sky News: "There are so many young women in the past few weeks being shipped into neighbouring countries in coffins to be used as sex slaves." (IANS)

Pakistan's strategic security objectives in Afghanistan almost certainly continue to be countering Indian influence and mitigating spillover of the Afghan civil war into Pakistani territory, a US government report has said, citing inputs from the defence intelligence agency. "Pakistan continues to support peace talks, while maintaining ties with Taliban," US department of state noted in its latest quarterly report on Afghanistan. (PTI)

Days after vowing to respect women's rights in Afghanistan, Taliban officials in the restive Herat province have banned co-education in government and private universities, describing it as the 'root of all evils in society'.The decision was taken after a meeting between varsity professors, owners of private institutions, and Taliban authorities, Khaama Press News Agency reported on Saturday.

Government employees in Kabul were blocked by Taliban militants from returning to their offices on Saturday, the first day of the Afghan working week. Since the group seized power six days ago, government buildings, banks, schools and universities have remained largely closed. The blocking came despite the Taliban announcing they would allow government staff to continue working. "I went to the office this morning, but the Taliban who were at the gate told us they have not received any orders to reopen government offices," said one Kabul local Hamdullah. (AFP)

A medical student, a police constable, a teacher and three clerics are among 15 people arrested from 12 districts of Assam since Friday night for using social media platforms to allegedly support the Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan. CM Himanta Biswa Sarma, who had recently given police the license to "shoot in the legs" any arrested criminal attempting to flee, tweeted that he had asked the cops to take action against those posting inflammatory content "without fear and favour". Nadim Akhtar, a 23-year-old student of Tezpur Medical College, was picked up from his home in south Assam's Hailakandi. The arrested constable was identified as Saidul Hoque. Jamiat state secretary Maulana Fazlul Karim Qasimi was arrested in Darrang, while a journalist, Rafikul Islam, was taken into custody in Baksa district."In the last few days, we have found as many as 18 profiles posting messages on social media in support of the Taliban. We decided to take action and arrested 12 people last night," special DGP GP Singh said. The crackdown continued till late on Saturday, with the police tracking select social media accounts of people from Assam living in Dubai, Saudi Arabia and Mumbai.