Against the backdrop of what is happening in Afghanistan, the US State Department called on all Americans to immediately leave the country using affordable commercial flights. The corresponding warning is posted on the website of the US Embassy.
The main reason is the inability to guarantee the safety of US citizens in this country in the face of the ongoing Taliban offensive.
Following the capital of the province of Nimroz, the city of Zaranj. (A video of the meeting of Taliban militants with the local population, apparently, some local satisfied with the change of power):
People in Nimroz giving a warm welcome & chanting Islamic slogans on the arrival of Taliban. pic.twitter.com/BgpeKLPeax
Today the Taliban captured the hometown of Marshal Dostum, the capital of Jowzjan province, the city of Shibargan (Taliban militants are part of Shibargan:
#BREAKING Taliban have captured Sheberghan, provincial capital of Jowzjan Province. Pro-government forces retreated to the airport. Taliban have taken over the central prison and released 100s of prisoners. Sheberghan is the second city that was captured by Taliban in 24 hours. pic.twitter.com/2vmNz53urA
The police headquarters and the prison were also captured (several hundred prisoners were released there). Captured a large number of small arms and ammunition:
That's an insane amount of weapons Taliban has captured from just one location in the Sheberghan city of Jawzjan province today. pic.twitter.com/mQOeWGWJRy
Taliban propaganda claims that Dostum fled in a cowardly way, but the Taliban will never forget how Dostum broke his word in 2001 and in fact handed over several hundred Taliban prisoners to an extrajudicial execution. In general, the history of blood feud is classic for these places. Dostum will clearly not fit into the "beautiful Afghanistan of the future", unless, of course, he can build some kind of remake of the "Northern Alliance" and provide active resistance to the Taliban in order to force them to reckon with.
It is also worth noting that the Taliban have fortified their positions near the border with Turkmenistan, which is already conducting military exercises near the border. Just in case.
One of Ismail Khan's militants in Herat. "Uncle Yusuf," 70 years old. Fighting since the early 80s. This is the third time he has fought against the Taliban.
According to local sources, the military and police retreated to the Shibargan airfield after a week of fighting. Thus, in a day, the Taliban captured 2 provincial capitals at once. Herat and Lashkargah are holding out for now.
In Herat, Ismail Khan's fighters were able to drive Taliban fighters into the suburbs.
It is also noted that in Zaranj, the Taliban drove en masse on American Humvees through the streets of Zaranj , which he captured several hundred pieces in recent months, which of course adds color to the surrealism of what is happening:
It is also worth noting that the Afghan military and police who fled from Zaranj to Iran were taken back to Afghanistan by military transport planes (delivered on flights to Kabul to continue fighting on other fronts), though without part of the heavy weapons - he was interned in Iran.
Marshal Dostum held an emergency meeting with the Afghan President today to discuss the deteriorating situation. Dostum's son is now taking an active part in organizing resistance to the Taliban in the northern regions of the country.
The situation for the government is getting worse weekly.
Among other things:
1. The Taliban have officially declared that they will not allow any country to use the territory of Afghanistan to threaten China. In general, they really want to please the Chinese comrades. As they say, just admit us. China, nevertheless, is in no hurry with official recognition and continues to observe the course of events. Recognition is highly unlikely to happen while Ashraf Ghani's government is in Kabul.
Pakistani propaganda positioning Pakistan and China as the main guarantors of peace in Afghanistan. Along the way, Pakistanis criticize India's attempts to get involved in Afghan affairs. India, in turn, supports the accusations of the Ghani government against Pakistan, which, according to Kabul, is the main sponsor of the Taliban offensive.
Pakistani claims that this is slander and Pakistan's ability to influence the Taliban is limited. In this case, Pakistan is of course disingenuous, although its current relationship with the Taliban is far from simple.
2. Biden ordered the use of B-52 bombers from bases in the Middle East to strike at Taliban forces that are storming provincial centers in Afghanistan. It is also supposed to use warships in strikes against the Taliban. The Pentagon believes that concentrated air and naval strikes will help weaken the Taliban's pressure on large cities like Herat or Kandahar.
3. At the beginning of August 2021, the real combat readiness of the Afghan Air Force is about 60% due to heavy wear and tear of equipment and a lack of components, which leads to delays in the repair of aircraft and helicopters, as well as cannibalization of the material part.
There is also a high overfatigue of the personnel due to systematic combat missions to support the troops - there are simply not enough pilots and an increased load falls on the existing ones. Hence the dependence on aid from the US Air Force.
#6
Some uber lefty conflict tourist trustifarian idiot will be grabbed. Then Joe will grab America's metaphorical ankles to get that person released. Probably trade The 9/11 conspirators at GITMO for someone we are better off without. And the lefty press (but I repeat myself) will swoon with affection for Joe.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
08/08/2021 9:26 Comments ||
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#7
Strong horse, weak horse, all that.
Posted by: Tom ||
08/08/2021 13:18 Comments ||
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Follow up to this story from yesterday about Belarus weaponizing their poor, suffering collection of Western Europe-bound migrants colonists against Lithuania — the Lithuanians are most displeased. Related:
[NATION.PK] Pakistain on Saturday again asked the government of Afghanistan to refrain from the blame game.
In a statement issued on Saturday, the Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri said that Pakistain has closely followed discussion at the United Nations ...the Oyster Bay money pit... Security Council (UNSC) on the situation in Afghanistan and it’s a matter of deep regret that, as the closest neighbor of Afghanistan whose contribution in the ongoing grinding of the peace processor has been recognized by the international community.
He said Pakistain’s request to the President of the Security Council to address the Council’s session and present its perspective on the Afghan grinding of the peace processor and the way forward was not acceded to.
On the other hand, the Council’s platform was made available to enable the peddling of a false narrative against Pakistain.
The FO spokesperson went on to say that in his statement at the UNSC, Afghanistan’s representative propagated disinformation and leveled baseless allegations against Pakistain with a view to mislead the international community. Pakistain categorically rejects these accusations.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/08/2021 00:00 ||
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[OneIndia] Jaish-e-Mohammad ...literally Army of Mohammad, a Pak-based Deobandi terror group founded by Maulana Masood Azhar in 2000, after he split with the Harkat-ul-Mujaheddin. In 2002 the government of Pervez Musharraf banned the group, which changed its name to Khaddam ul-Islam and continued doing what it had been doing before without missing a beat... chief, Maulana Masood Azhar ...One of the major players in Pak terrorism. In early 1994, India incarcerated him for his activities. In 1995, foreign tourists were kidnapped in Jammu and Kashmir. The kidnappers included his release among their demands. One of the hostages managed to escape but the rest were eventually killed. In 1999, he was freed by the Indian government in exchange for passengers on hijacked Indian Airlines Flight 814 that had been diverted to Kandahar. The hijackers were led by Masood Azhar's brother, Ibrahim Athar. Once he was handed over to the hijackers, they fled to Pak territory despite the fact that Islamabad had earlier stated that any of the hijackers would be jugged at the border. The Pak government had also previously indicated that Azhar would be allowed to return home since he did not face any charges there. Shortly after his release, he made a public address to an estimated 10,000 people in Karachi, firing up the rubes against America and India... is undeniably one of the most protected persons in Pakistain. The history of the terrorist who is an accused in the 2001 Parliament attack and 2019 Pulwama bombing case is an interesting one considering the lengths Pakistain goes to protect him.
Continued on Page 49
[DW] Despite security threats and growing local resentment, China continues to pump billions of dollars into Pakistain and invest in a wide range of sectors.
The multibillion-dollar China-Pakistain Economic Corridor (CPEC),announced in 2015, was aimed at overhauling Pakistain's crumbling infrastructure and linking the nation's southern port of Gwadar to western China.
The ambitious project, part of Chinese President Xi Jinping's signature Belt and Road Initiative, was originally estimated to bring in $46 billion (€38.7 billion) of investment into Pakistain. But it's now estimated to have increased to about $65 billion.
Continued on Page 49
#1
the link between Pakistan and China is a curious one
the only highway that connects them goes over Khunjerab Pass which is over 14,000' and is snow covered and impassible during the midwinter
there is no rail link between the two countries but it would be possible to build a rail line along the highway --- the cost would be enormous and it would take years
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
08/08/2021 0:25 Comments ||
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#2
It will be fascinating to see who hustles whom, given the Kiplingesque admonition about "hustling the east". Here we see thieving cheats taking money from thieving cheats....how does this end well, and hopefully it doesn't!
#5
The Paks see China as a balance to India. Got to wonder why all the silo building in the Middle Kingdom. US and Russian deescalation was only about addressing overkill.
#1
In an existential shooting war, one can’t have sick people infecting the troops, even if most of the infections are mild. Israel’s situation is very different than America’s so the calculations of risk and reward are necessarily different. For us deaths and hospitalizations elicit mourning and fury, but not the conquest of our homeland followed by a massacre of the inhabitants.
[IsraelTimes] Outgoing Middle East Division head Haim Regev says official ’enemy states’ among many countries Jerusalem is in touch with, though list does not include Lebanon, Syria and Yemen
The Foreign Ministry maintains some form of contact with almost all Arab countries, including ones officially designated as "enemy states" like Iraq, a senior Foreign Ministry official said Tuesday.
"Over the last twenty years, the Foreign Ministry was always in touch with almost all the players in the Arab World," said the outgoing director of the Foreign Ministry’s Middle East Division, Haim Regev, during a briefing in Jerusalem.
Continued on Page 49
[AlAhram] Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... is ready to resume talks reviving the nuclear deal with world powers under new president Ebrahim Raisi, and meetings could take place in Vienna from early September, an EU official said on Saturday.
The bigwig, speaking on condition of anonymity ... for fear of being murdered... , said the EU's negotiator on the file, Enrique Mora, attended Raisi's swearing-in in Tehran last Thursday and spoke with the Iranian official designated to take charge of the nuclear talks, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.
Amir-Abdollahian "is supposed to be the new foreign minister" in Raisi's cabinet, but that has not yet been announced, the EU official said.
He added that it was unclear whether the nuclear talks would remain under the responsibility of the Iranian foreign ministry or be taken over by another body, such as Iran's National Security Council.
Raisi is a hardliner expected to consolidate the ultraconservatives' power during his four-year term.
He succeeds the relatively moderate Hassan Rouhani ...Iran's moderate president, which he is, relative to his predecessor, which doesn't mean he's anything but a puppet of the nearest holy man... whose landmark achievement during his own two-term presidency was the 2015 nuclear agreement between Iran and six world powers: the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany.
Former US president Donald Trump ...Perhaps no man has ever had as much fun being president of the US... pulled out of the deal in 2018 and re-imposed sanctions that have choked Iran's oil-dependent economy. Iran responded by walking back measures it had agreed to abide by.
Talks have been happening since April in Vienna to find a way to bring both sides back into full compliance.
The last round took place on June 20 with no date set for when they would continue. The EU chairs the meetings.
The United States has said it is "an urgent priority" to get Iran back to the table.
But tensions have risen, notably with an attack by drones last week on an Israeli-linked tanker off Oman that killed a Briton and a Romanian on board.
The G7 -- the United States, Britannia, Canada, La Belle France, Germany, Italia and Japan -- blamed the attack on Iran. Tehran denies the accusation.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
08/08/2021 09:44 ||
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[11 views]
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Hezbollah's leader His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah ...The satrap of the Medes and the Persians in Leb... allegedly claimed in a speech on Saturday that the investigator of the Beirut port blast was politically biased.
On Thursday, Beirut marked the one year anniversary of the blast that flattened large swathes of the city and killed more than 200 people. A judge, Tarek Bittar, is leading the probe into what happened.
"I am formally telling the family of the deaders that this judicial investigator is playing politics, this is a politicized investigation," Nasrallah said.
He added he was not calling for Bitar’s immediate removal but demanded that he operate under a single standard and release the results of a technical investigation.
Nasrallah also criticized people he did not name for blaming Hezbollah for the presence of the ammonium nitrate that caused the earth-shattering kaboom.
"Where is your evidence for this ugly, heinous accusation? There is none," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/08/2021 00:00 ||
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[NATION.PK] Iran's Foreign Ministry on Saturday dismissed as "baseless" the recent Group of Seven (G7)'s allegations over a tanker attack, according to the ministry's website.
On Friday, the foreign ministers of G7, including Britannia, Canada, La Belle France, Germany, Italia, Japan and the United States, as well as the high representative of the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... , accused Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... of being behind a "reportedly" drone attack on July 29 against an Israel-linked oil tanker in the Arabian Sea off the coast of Oman, which killed a Brit and a Romanian national.
"We strongly condemn the baseless statement by the G7 foreign ministers ... in which baseless allegations have been made against the Islamic Theocratic Republic of Iran," said Saeed Khatibzadeh, front man for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Khatibzadeh called the incident a "scenario" that took place a few days before the inauguration of the new president of Iran.
Such "baseless scenarios" are designed to confuse the political climate, he was quoted as saying.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/08/2021 00:00 ||
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[19 views]
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The lying MoFo had to do something after the incompetent rocketry and the capture of his minions
[JPost] Hezbollah Secretary-General His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah ...The satrap of the Medes and the Persians in Leb... warned on Saturday night that recent festivities with Israel are a "very dangerous development" which has not happened since the Second Leb
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/08/2021 00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[NATION.PK] Pakistain on Saturday again asked the government of Afghanistan to refrain from the blame game.
[DW] Despite security threats and growing local resentment, China continues to pump billions of dollars into Pakistain and invest in a wide range of sectors.
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for 
...The satrap of the Medes and the Persians in Leb...
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for 
His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah
