US Air Force C-17s and other aircraft assist with the withdrawal from Afghanistan. US Air Force
US Air Force C-17s and other aircraft assist with the withdrawal from Afghanistan. US Air Force

2021 - The fall of Kabul

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Updated 19 April 2025
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2021 - The fall of Kabul

2021 - The fall of Kabul
  • After 2 decades, trillions of dollars and countless lives lost, Afghanistan is back where it began. Was it all in vain?

KABUL: During the hot summer of 2021, a deep sense of eeriness, and at the same time optimism, hung over Afghanistan as one city and province after another fell to the Taliban ahead of the imminent full withdrawal of US-led troops.

Those weeks were a microcosm reflecting much of the experience of the 20 years following the US invasion of a country that had already suffered a bloody, decade-long occupation by the Soviet Union in the 1980s, and between 1838 and 1939 endured a series of conflicts with the British Empire.

On Feb. 29, 2020, the Taliban signed the Doha Accord, a peace agreement with a US administration determined to end to America’s longest war, which began in 2001 in the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 attacks by Al-Qaeda.

As part of the deal — officially known as the “Agreement for Bringing Peace to Afghanistan between the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan which is not recognized by the United States as a state and is known as the Taliban and the United States of America” — Washington agreed to dramatically reduce the number of US forces in the country ahead of a complete withdrawal within 14 months.

It immediately became apparent, however, that without US air and ground support, Afghan government forces could not cope with the sudden surge in Taliban attacks that followed the signing of the agreement.

How we wrote it




Arab News reported the Taliban’s takeover of Kabul “20 years after the US-led invasion that ousted them.”

Even the Taliban were stunned by the speed of their victories in 2001, which by Aug. 15 had brought them to the gates of Kabul.

The fall of the city had been predicted a year earlier by Mariam Koofi, a member of the Afghan parliament, while the talks between Taliban delegates and US diplomats were still in full swing in Doha.

“I fear that we would see the Taliban on the streets of Kabul one day when you get up from your bed,” Koofi told me.

Her assessment was based on a number of factors, including corruption within the government, rising numbers of deaths among Afghan troops, power struggles between state and non-state actors, the growing push for a US withdrawal by regional rivals such as Iran, Russia and China, and the decline in vital American military and logistical aid to the government of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani.

On Aug. 15, 2021, Koofi’s prediction came to pass. As news spread that Ghani and members of his government had fled by helicopter to Central Asia, and US and other Western diplomats had abandoned their embassies in panic, Taliban fighters entered Kabul and captured the presidential palace.

In some parts of the city, large crowds gathered on the streets, some in fear, some to welcome their new rulers. Others were merely curious to see them for the first time, because they were born during the US occupation and so had not experienced the first rule of the Taliban, which was cut short by the American-led invasion in 2001.

Key Dates

  • 1

    In an agreement that excludes the Afghan government, the Taliban and the US sign the Doha Accord, under which Washington commits to a full withdrawal of troops within 14 months.

    Timeline Image Feb. 29, 2020

  • 2

    Newly elected President Joe Biden announces all US troops will leave Afghanistan by Sept. 11, the 20th anniversary of the start of “the forever war.”

    Timeline Image April 14, 2021

  • 3

    Taliban launch major offensive.

    Timeline Image May 1, 2021

  • 4

    Taliban seize Kabul; government of President Ashraf Ghani collapses.

    Timeline Image Aug. 15, 2021

  • 5

    Suicide bombing at Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport kills 170 Afghan citizens and 13 US military personnel.

    Timeline Image Aug. 25, 2021

  • 6

    Last-remaining US soldiers leave Afghanistan. Taliban declare victory.

According to Brown University’s Costs of War project, 20 years of war in Afghanistan claimed the lives of more than 168,000 Afghans, including 69,000 members of the national police and military, and 46,000 civilians.

Despite the loss of more than 6,000 American lives and after spending trillions of dollars on the conflict, the US had handed power back to the very group it drove out 20 years earlier.

In the center of Kabul, banks and businesses closed, fearing looting, but the Taliban swiftly managed to stop any threat of plundering. The group also quickly announced the reestablishment of its Islamic Emirate, rather than the formation of a broad-based government as agreed in the Doha deal.

At Kabul airport, diplomats, some of their local employees and foreign aid workers were flown out of the country on US and other foreign military aircraft.

Fearful for the future of Afghanistan under Taliban rule and the return of civil war, tens of thousands of residents mobbed the airport amid false rumors that aircraft were waiting to transport Afghans who wanted to leave the country.




Commanding General US Central Command Kenneth F. McKenzie touring an evacuation control center at Hamid Karzai International Airport, Afghanistan, on August 17,2021. AFP

As evening approached, a human tide broke through barriers and flooded onto the runway. In chaotic scenes, broadcast around the world, some desperate people tried to cling to aircraft as they took off. On Aug. 16, a young dentist fell to his death from a plane, his remains found on a rooftop four miles from the airport. A teenage soccer player similarly died after plummeting from a US aircraft.

In the days that followed, the Taliban, who had promised to be more lenient and inclusive than they had been during their previous rule, began imposing curbs and draconian policies. Billboards depicting women were defaced or torn down, Afghan flags were lowered, cafes stopped playing music, and a few restaurants run by women were closed. Demonstrations by women protesting against the Taliban’s actions were suppressed.

On Aug. 26, a suicide bomber, later identified as a member of Daesh, killed 170 Afghans and 13 US troops at the airport. Five days later, on Aug. 31, the US completed its full withdrawal from Afghanistan.




US Marine and a child spray water at each other during the evacuation at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, August 21. US Marine Corps

Since then, the Taliban have continued to impose tough restrictions, particularly on women, who are barred from education above grade 6, attending university, and most public jobs. Hundreds of thousands of Afghans have fled the country, seeing no future there.

Meanwhile, the Taliban government faces ever-deepening international isolation, signs of internal divisions, and growing local frustration with its fundamentalist policies.

In addition, Afghanistan might not yet be free of foreign intervention. Although the policy of the new US administration toward the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan is not yet entirely clear, on Feb. 1, President Donald Trump repeated a preelection threat that America would reclaim Bagram Airbase.

  • Sayed Salahuddin is an Afghan journalist based in Canada who covered the rise of the Taliban in 1996, the US invasion and the fall of Kabul in 2021.


Pakistan to complete pilot project for digital currency rollout by June next year

Pakistan to complete pilot project for digital currency rollout by June next year
Updated 1 min 37 sec ago
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Pakistan to complete pilot project for digital currency rollout by June next year

Pakistan to complete pilot project for digital currency rollout by June next year
  • The development follows establishment of Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority that will regulate the country’s virtual economy
  • Analysts expect the regularization of digital currencies will help expand the country’s tax net by an estimated $25 billion in virtual assets

KARACHI: Pakistan’s central bank plans to complete a pilot project for a digital currency in the ongoing fiscal year, its spokesperson said on Friday, as the country takes cautious steps toward embracing blockchain-based payments while tightening oversight of its virtual asset economy.

The pilot announcement follows the establishment of the Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (PVARA) through a presidential ordinance earlier this week.

The law empowers the authority to regulate the country’s growing crypto market, crack down on money laundering and terror financing, and promote responsible innovation — a move analysts say could bring an estimated $25 billion in virtual assets into the tax net.

“We hope to complete the pilot within the current fiscal year [ending June 30, 2026],” Noor Ahmed of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) told Arab News when asked about the rollout timeline. “Tech partner and other details will be announced in due course.”

Shankar Talreja, head of research at Topline Securities, said it was too early to say who would use the digital currency, since a pilot was still being launched, though he said it could benefit most bank account holders.

“Since this would be backed up [by the] central bank, so existing digital payment users can use this for payments,” he said. “The challenge would be if merchants accept this initially.”

The South Asian nation had long remained under scrutiny for weak financial controls and was only removed from the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) “grey list” in 2022. The creation of PVARA is seen as part of Islamabad’s broader effort to cautiously formalize the virtual asset space.

“The legality of digital assets has been a grey area in Pakistan in the recent past from a practical standpoint,” said Nayab Babar, the chief investment officer at the Prime Minister’s Pakistan Startup Fund.

“Creation of the crypto council is an extremely important development which gives confidence to consumers and corporates alike, that there is a way forward to legally participate in this booming asset class without fear of losing money,” he added.

Farrukh H. Khan, the chief financial officer at Jazz, Pakistan’s largest digital operator and a unit of global telecom giant VEON, also welcomed the new regulatory measures.

“It is the right approach that we pilot it and cautiously move forward,” he said while pointing out the government’s decision would help document Pakistan’s “very large” base of crypto investors.

“According to Binance, which is one of the largest [digital] trading platforms, about 15 million Pakistanis are registered on their platform,” he said.

To integrate digital assets into the economy, the government earlier launched the Pakistan Crypto Council (PCC) in March and later appointed Binance founder Changpeng Zhao as a strategic adviser.

The move has been welcomed by retail traders like Muhammad Huzaifa, who said the lack of legal cover had previously left crypto investors vulnerable.

“Sometimes few government institutions like the FIA [Federal Investigation Agency] freeze the bank accounts of traders,” said the 33-year-old.

“These laws will lend more freedom and space for traders as they can buy, sell and invest in crypto easily without any fear,” he added.

Asked about his digital holdings, he said he was managing multiple accounts “between $50,000 to $100,000.”

Farhan Hassan, the chief digital officer at Easypaisa Digital Bank (eDB) with over 50 million users, praised the creation of PVARA as a key step toward safer adoption.

“Pakistan has long been poised for broader crypto and blockchain adoption, but it lacked the regulatory clarity to unlock its full potential,” he said.

“This landmark development sets the foundation for a secure, transparent and regulated framework to guide the growth of virtual assets in Pakistan.”

Hassan added that eDB was “uniquely positioned” to collaborate with regulators in piloting, testing, and scaling financial solutions aligned with both global standards and local needs.

CHALLENGES

Still, analysts caution that implementation could be challenging due to the government’s institutional capacity.

“The regulators may lack technical capacity and real-time monitoring tools to fully oversee crypto markets,” said Muhammad Waqas Ghani, head of research at Karachi-based JS Global Capital.

He maintained that Pakistan’s stock market was a more regulated and secure investment option, offering greater protection against fraud and manipulation compared to the still-evolving crypto space.

Pakistan may also require the International Monetary Fund’s approval if it plans to subsidize electricity for future crypto mining and AI data centers.

“[The IMF] staff reiterated the importance of maintaining a level playing field for all private sector participants and will continue to engage with the authorities on this as appropriate as plans develop further,” Mahir Binici, the IMF’s resident representative in Pakistan, said this week.

Talal Ahmad, an official from the office of State Minister on Blockchain and Crypto Bilal Bin Saqib, did not provide any details in response to Arab News queries.

“A lot of these questions don’t have answers at the moment. Could you wait until we pass the regulation law [from parliament]?” he said.

Asked who would be the first users of Pakistan’s digital currency, SBP’s Ahmed said the central bank would share such details at a later stage.

Pakistan’s push follows the example of countries like India, which launched a pilot e-rupee in 2022.

The Reserve Bank of India initially allowed selected banks to use it for settling secondary-market transactions in government securities before extending it to the retail sector.


Pakistan launches vehicle emissions testing in Islamabad to combat air pollution

Pakistan launches vehicle emissions testing in Islamabad to combat air pollution
Updated 11 July 2025
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Pakistan launches vehicle emissions testing in Islamabad to combat air pollution

Pakistan launches vehicle emissions testing in Islamabad to combat air pollution
  • Smoke-emitting vehicles entering the federal capital to face fines or be impounded
  • Pakistan aims for 30 percent of new vehicle sales to be electric by 2030 under EV policy

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has launched emissions testing for vehicles entering the federal capital, Islamabad, in a bid to reduce air pollution and improve air quality, State Minister for Interior Talal Chaudhry said on Friday.

The move follows the launch of the emission testing system in the country’s most populous Punjab province in May, the first initiative of its kind ever taken in the country.

Emissions testing for vehicles is a process that measures the pollutants released from a vehicle’s exhaust to ensure compliance with environmental standards. It evaluates the levels of harmful gases such as carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides.

“The greatest damage caused to the environment is through vehicle emissions,” Chaudhry said while speaking to the media.

“Such testing has never been conducted before in Islamabad, but it has been initiated now,” he continued, adding that every car would be checked according to international standards before being certified.

Chaudhry announced the government would first inspect official vehicles before expanding the initiative to private vehicles.

“No smoke emitting vehicle will be allowed to enter Islamabad,” he added. “If it enters, there will be a fine, cars will be impounded and it will be dealt according to law.”

Earlier this year in June, Pakistan unveiled its Electric Vehicle Policy 2025–2030, setting a target for 30 percent of all new vehicle sales to be electric by the end of the decade.

The policy, which covers cars, buses, motorcycles and rickshaws, aims to accelerate Pakistan’s transition to sustainable transport, reduce reliance on fossil fuels and curb climate-warming emissions.

Pakistan imports the majority of its energy, and its urban centers rank among the most polluted in the world, primarily due to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) emissions.

This severe air pollution poses a serious threat to public health, undermines economic productivity and diminishes the quality of life for millions of residents.


Philippine president to meet Trump in Washington this month

Philippine president to meet Trump in Washington this month
Updated 11 July 2025
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Philippine president to meet Trump in Washington this month

Philippine president to meet Trump in Washington this month
  • Security, tariff issues will be priorities when Marcos meets Trump, expert says
  • Manila, Washington have increasingly boosted defense engagements in recent years

MANILA: President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. will visit Washington this month, the Philippine Foreign Ministry said on Friday, making this the first trip of a Southeast Asian leader since Donald Trump took office.

The trip, which follows Trump’s tariffs announcement earlier this week, will take place from July 20 to 22, the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs said in a statement, adding that details of the visit are not yet finalized.

Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Manuel Romualdez told reporters that Marcos is the “first ASEAN head of state invited by Trump,” referring to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

Trade and security will likely be the focus of discussions, according to Prof. Ranjit Sing Rye, president of OCTA Research.

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“I think it’s a very significant meeting of both leaders of the Philippines and the US, especially at this time when there’s so much dynamics in the … South China Sea,” Rye told Arab News.

“It signifies and symbolizes the broadening and deepening of US-Philippine relations under the Trump administration.”

Tensions have continued to run high between the Philippines and China over territorial disputes in the South China Sea, a strategic waterway through which billions of dollars of goods pass each year.

Manila and Beijing have been involved in frequent maritime confrontations in recent years, with China maintaining its expansive claims of the area, despite a 2016 international tribunal ruling the historical assertion to it had no basis.

The US has a seven-decade-old mutual defense treaty with the Philippines and Washington has repeatedly warned that a Chinese attack on Filipino ships could trigger a US military response.

Philippine and US forces have increasingly upped mutual defense engagements, including large-scale combat exercises in the Philippines.

Manila is also sending trade officials to the US next week to hold further negotiations on tariffs, after Trump raised a planned tariff on Philippine exports to the US to 20 percent from 17 percent.

It is not immediately clear if the Marcos visit will coincide with that of Manila’s tariff-negotiating team.

“Over the next three years, there will be, in my view, a broadening and deepening of US-Philippine relations on many levels, not just economic, not just socioeconomic, but also in trade, but also in security relations,” Rye said.

“And maybe some of these details will be threshed out during that meeting.”

This will be Marcos’ third visit to the US since he became president in 2022.

His last trip was in April 2024, when he met with then President Joe Biden and former Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in the first trilateral summit among the treaty allies. 


Thousands gather in Srebrenica to mark 30 years since genocide against Bosniak Muslims

Thousands gather in Srebrenica to mark 30 years since genocide against Bosniak Muslims
Updated 11 July 2025
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Thousands gather in Srebrenica to mark 30 years since genocide against Bosniak Muslims

Thousands gather in Srebrenica to mark 30 years since genocide against Bosniak Muslims
  • Thousands gather to mark massacre of more than 8,000 Muslim boys and men in Europe’s only genocide since WWII
  • Seven newly identified victims of the 1995 massacre, including two 19-year-old men, were laid to rest

SREBRENICA, Bosnia-Herzegovina: Thousands of people from Bosnia and around the world gathered in Srebrenica to mark the 30th anniversary of a massacre there of more than 8,000 Bosniak Muslim boys and men — an atrocity that has been acknowledged as Europe’s only genocide after the Holocaust.

Seven newly identified victims of the 1995 massacre, including two 19-year-old men, were laid to rest in a collective funeral at a vast cemetery near Srebrenica Friday, next to more than 6,000 victims already buried there. Such funerals are held annually for the victims who are still being unearthed from dozens of mass graves around the town.

Relatives of the victims, however, often can bury only partial remains of their loved ones as they are typically found in several different mass graves, sometimes kilometers (miles) apart. Such was the case of Mirzeta Karic, who was waiting to bury her father.

“Thirty years of search and we are burying a bone,” she said, crying by her father’s coffin which was wrapped in green cloth in accordance with Islamic tradition.

“I think it would be easier if I could bury all of him. What can I tell you, my father is one of the 50 (killed) from my entire family,” she added.

July 11, 1995, is the day when the killings started after Bosnian Serb fighters overran the eastern Bosnian enclave in the final months of the interethnic war in the Balkan country.

After taking control of the town that was a protected UN safe zone during the war, Bosnian Serb fighters separated Bosniak Muslim men and boys from their families and brutally executed them in just several days. The bodies were then dumped in mass graves around Srebrenica which they later dug up with bulldozers, scattering the remains among other burial sites to hide the evidence of their war crimes.

The UN General Assembly last year adopted a resolution to commemorate the Srebrenica genocide on the July 11 anniversary.

Scores of international officials and dignitaries attended the commemoration ceremonies and the funeral. Among them were European Council President Antonio Costa and Britain’s Duchess of Edinburgh, Sophie, who said that “our duty must be to remember all those lost so tragically and to never let these things happen again.”

Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp said he felt “humbled” because UN troops from the Netherlands were based in Srebrenica when Bosnian Serbs stormed the town.

“I see to what extent commemorating Srebrenica genocide is important,” he said.

In an emotional speech, Munira Subasic, who heads the Mothers of Srebrenica association, urged Europe and the world to “help us fight against hatred, against injustice and against killings.”

Subasic, who lost her husband and youngest son in Srebrenica along with more than 20 relatives, told Europe to “wake up.”

“As I stand here many mothers in Ukraine and Palestine are going through what we went through in 1995,” Subasic said, referring to ongoing conflicts. “It’s the 21st century but instead of justice, fascism has woken up.”

On the eve of the anniversary, an exhibition was inaugurated displaying personal items belonging to the victims that were found in the mass graves over the years.

The conflict in Bosnia erupted in 1992, when Bosnian Serbs took up arms in a rebellion against the country’s independence from the former Yugoslavia and with an aim to create their own state and eventually unite with neighboring Serbia. More than 100,000 people were killed and millions displaced before a US-brokered peace agreement was reached in 1995.

Bosnia remains ethnically split while both Bosnian Serbs and neighboring Serbia refuse to acknowledge that the massacre in Srebrenica was a genocide despite rulings by two UN courts. Bosnian Serb political and military leaders Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic, along with many others, were convicted and sentenced for genocide.

Serbia’s populist President Aleksandar Vucic expressed condolences on X while calling the Srebrenica massacre a “terrible crime.”

“There is no room in Europe — or anywhere else — for genocide denial, revisionism, or the glorification of those responsible,” European Council President Costa said in his speech. “Denying such horrors only poisons our future.”


EU pressing Israel to improve Gaza humanitarian situation, top diplomat says

EU pressing Israel to improve Gaza humanitarian situation, top diplomat says
Updated 11 July 2025
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EU pressing Israel to improve Gaza humanitarian situation, top diplomat says

EU pressing Israel to improve Gaza humanitarian situation, top diplomat says
  • EU’s diplomatic service presented 10 options for political action against Israel after it found “indications” Israel breached human rights obligations under pact
  • Foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas says the options were prepared in response to member states that want stronger pressure on Israel to rectify suffering of civilians in Gaza

KUALA LUMPUR: The European Union is seeking ways to put pressure on Israel to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza, its top diplomat said, as member states weighed action against Israel over what they see as potential human rights violations.

The EU’s diplomatic service on Thursday presented 10 options for political action against Israel after saying it found “indications” last month that Israel breached human rights obligations under a pact governing its ties with the bloc.

In a document prepared for EU member countries and seen by Reuters, the options included major steps such as suspending the EU-Israel Association Agreement — which includes trade relations — and lesser steps such as suspending technical projects.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Friday the options were prepared in response to member states that wanted stronger pressure on Israel to rectify the suffering of civilians in Gaza’s now 21-month-old war.

“Our aim is not to punish Israel in any way,” she said after meeting with Asian foreign ministers in Kuala Lumpur on Friday, amid growing global jitters arising from US President Donald Trump’s tariff offensive.

“Our aim is to really improve the situation on the ground (in Gaza), because the humanitarian situation is untenable.”

EU members have voiced concern over the large number of civilian casualties and mass displacement of Gaza’s inhabitants during Israel’s war against Hamas militants in the enclave, and alarm about restrictions on access for humanitarian aid.

Kallas said on Thursday Israel had agreed to expand humanitarian access to Gaza, including increasing the number of aid trucks, crossing points and routes to distribution hubs.

She also said negotiations with the US on a trade deal to avoid high tariffs threatened by Trump were ongoing, and stressed that the EU did not want to retaliate with counter-levies on US imports.

Trump has said the EU could receive a letter on tariff rates by Friday, throwing into question the progress of talks between Washington and the bloc on a potential trade deal.

“We have of course possibilities to react, but we don’t want to retaliate. We don’t want a trade war, actually,” Kallas said.