KABUL: Taliban forces clashed with militia fighters in the Panjshir valley north of the Afghan capital Kabul on Monday night, with at least seven killed, two members of the main anti-Taliban opposition group said on Tuesday. Since the fall of Kabul on Aug 15, Panjshir has been the only province to hold out against the Taliban, although there has also …

ISTANBUL: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan held a rare phone call with the UAE’s de facto ruler, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Erdogan’s office said on Tuesday, in a new sign of efforts to improve ties between the regional rivals. Turkey and the UAE have competed for regional influence since the Arab uprisings erupted a decade ago, …

MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday ordered law enforcement officers and army staff receive $200, as he seeks support for his unpopular United Russia party ahead of parliamentary elections next month. The cash handouts follow earlier one-time payments for pensioners of $135 ahead of lower house State Duma polls in September, with United Russia’s ratings hit by rising prices …

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s main elephant orphanage recorded a rare twin birth on Tuesday as a 25-year-old named Surangi delivered healthy male calves. They are the first elephant twins born in captivity in Sri Lanka since 1941, according to elephant expert Jayantha Jayewardene. “Both the calves and the mother are doing fine,” Renuka Bandaranaike, head of the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage, said. …

WASHINGTON: The United States on Tuesday decided to maintain diplomatic relations with Afghanistan — even though it’s now controlled by its former arch enemy, the Taliban — but will no longer have any personnel on the ground. “We have suspended our diplomatic presence in Kabul, and transferred our operations to Doha, Qatar, which will soon be formally notified to Congress,” …

Dutch Foreign Minister Sigrid Kaag is expected in Islamabad today (Wednesday) to discuss the evolving situation in Afghanistan with her Pakistani counterpart, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, according to a statement issued by the Foreign Office (FO). The statement said the talks between the two foreign ministers would focus on measures needed for the transportation to the Netherlands of Dutch and eligible …

As the last US troops prepared to leave Afghanistan, Hussain, a US passport holder who worked with the US military, scrambled with his six daughters through Taliban checkpoints to the gates of Kabul airport for several days in a row, hoping to catch a flight to safety. He had called and emailed the US embassy for days without a response. …

WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden on Tuesday rejected criticism of his decision to stick to a deadline to pull out of Afghanistan this week, a move that left 100 to 200 Americans in the country along with thousands of US-aligned Afghan citizens. In a televised address from the White House state dining room, Biden criticised the ousted Afghan government’s inability to …

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president Shehbaz Sharif’s remarks about the formation of a national government amid speculation about the possibility of early general elections have ignited a political debate in the country. In a surprising reaction, the PML-N dubbed the party president’s views as ‘passing remarks’ based on his ‘personal’ opinion about a post-election scenario. While questioning its timing, …

ISLAMABAD: At present, 356 international transit passengers from Afghanistan are staying in different hotels of the capital, sources told. Sources told the passengers include 125 Belgians, 62 Britons, 49 Dutch, 39 Afghans, seven Saudis, five Iranians, three Argentineans, 62 Japanese and four World Bank officials. Most of these foreigners are diplomats who had been posted in Kabul, they said. Britons, …