<ul class="summary-list"><li>Last month, a US <keyword id="11976251" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="airstrike" source="Orion">airstrike</keyword> killed an aid worker and nine members of his family. </li><li>Surviving members of the family are asking for help leaving Afghanistan, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/afghanistan-drone-mistake-family/2021/09/18/03e7e050-17ed-11ec-a019-cb193b28aa73_story.html">The Washington Pos</a>t reported. </li><li>News coverage revealed the family's ties to US companies and they fear retaliation from the Taliban.</li></ul>Surviving members of the family that lost ten relatives from the US airstrike in <keyword id="11892912" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="kabul" source="Orion">Kabul</keyword> last month are worried for their safety after reports showed some of them had worked for US-based firms, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/afghanistan-drone-mistake-family/2021/09/18/03e7e050-17ed-11ec-a019-cb193b28aa73_story.html">The Washington Pos</a>t reported. Members of the Ahmadi family told the Post they don't hold any animosity but they don't necessarily forgive the US for miscalculating the strike that killed aid worker, Zemari Ahmadi, and nine other relatives, including <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-drone-strike-targeted-aid-worker-killing-10-afghan-civilians-2021-9">seven children</a>. Family members told the outlets they want compensation and help leaving Afghanistan and being resettled in another safe country, possibly the US. "You can see the situation in Afghanistan is not good," Samim Ahmadi, 24, Zemari's stepson, told the Post. "Whether in America or another country, we want peace and comfort for our remaining years."On August 26, a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-troops-were-killed-in-the-airport-attack-in-kabul-2021-8">suicide bombing by the extremist group ISIS-K at the Kabul international airport</a> killed more than 160 people and 13 US soldiers. On August 29th, the US retaliated. The US Military <a href="https://www.centcom.mil/MEDIA/STATEMENTS/Statements-View/Article/2756206/us-central-command-statement-on-defensive-strike-in-kabul/">at the time said</a> the strike was carried out by an unmanned drone on a car "eliminating an imminent ISIS-K threat to Hamad Karzai <keyword id="6356001" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="international" source="Orion">International</keyword> airport."The US Central Command said they were certain they hit their intended target and there were no casualties. Later that same day, in <a href="https://www.centcom.mil/MEDIA/STATEMENTS/Statements-View/Article/2756293/update-us-central-command-statement-on-defensive-strike-in-kabul/">a subsequent statement,</a> the military said it was "aware of reports of civilian casualties,"On September 10, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/video/world/asia/100000007963596/us-drone-attack-kabul-investigation.html?playlistId=video/investigations">The New York Times</a> reported that the strike mistakenly targeted Zemari Ahmadi, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-drone-strike-targeted-aid-worker-killing-10-afghan-civilians-2021-9">an aid worker who was loading water</a> into his car for his family.On Friday, the military <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-military-admits-airstrike-kabul-killed-innocent-aid-worker-children-2021-9">apologized and acknowledged that the intelligence was wrong. </a>"This strike was taken in the earnest belief that it would prevent an imminent threat to our forces and the evacuees at the airport, but it was a mistake and I offer my sincere apology," Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, the head of US Central Command, told reporters.Zamarai's brother, Emal Ahmadi, told the Post, the family is happy the US "acknowledged their mistake and confirmed that they killed innocent people."Emal and Zamarai have both worked for American companies and had applications in process for special visas before the airstrike. Members are worried that these reports could make them targets for the Taliban."We are worried," Ajmal Ahmadi, another brother, told the Post. "We feel under threat because we are so exposed to the public by the media. Everyone got to know that we have worked for foreigners, served in the Afghan army as well as the Afghan intelligence agency."The family said they haven't had any contact with any US officials following the airstrike, but they want the US to hold those responsible for the attack accountable. "They knew and saw there were children on the ground. Can anyone bring them back?" Emal told the Post.

Surviving members of a family killed in US airstrike in Kabul fear for their safety and want the US to evacuate them

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="6356001" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="international" source="Orion">International</keyword> troops have just 3 more days to evacuate citizens and leave Afghanistan. </li><li>On Saturday, the State Department said there were roughly 350 Americans left that want to leave.</li><li>5,400 Americans have already been safely evacuated from the country since the <keyword id="11892778" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="taliban" source="Orion">Taliban</keyword> took over. </li></ul>Around 350 Americans that want to leave Afghanistan are still in the country, the State Department said on Saturday. They are the only Americans the department could confirm were still in the country, and many of them were nearly or already out of Afghanistan. The department has also been in communication with an additional 280 people who "self-identified" as US citizens but said they were either not leaving Afghanistan or haven't decided.At least 5,400 Americans have been evacuated since the Taliban took over on August 14. The US has until August 31 to evacuate Americans and allies out of the country. Evacuation efforts have continued despite an attack by <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/live-updates-afghanistan-kabul-airport-blast-evacuation-2021-8">ISIS-K near Kabul's international airport that killed around 170 Afghans and 13 US service members,</a> on Thursday.More than 117,000 people have been <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/afghan-evacuees-waiting-hours-planes-to-get-screened-for-entry-2021-8">evacuated out of Afghanistan,</a> the vast majority of whom are Afghans, <a href="https://www.defense.gov/Explore/News/Article/Article/2756029/over-the-horizon-air-strike-kills-2-high-profile-isis-k-targets/">the Department of Defense</a> said on Saturday. "This is an incredible number of people who are now safer thanks to the heroism of the young men and women who are putting their lives on the line each day to evacuate American and vulnerable Afghans out of Kabul," Army Maj. Gen. William D. "Hank" Taylor said.<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/28/world/asia/afghanistan-evacuations.html">The New York Times</a> reported that there are possibly hundreds of thousands more Afghans that are looking to flee the country. Countries like the US and Britain are swiftly withdrawing their troops and will leave in the next 3 days. A US military official told the Times there were only 4,000 US troops left in Kabul as of Saturday, almost 2,000 less than there were a few days ago. Britain planned to end its evacuation of citizens on Saturday, and France has also stopped its evacuations. Internationals leaders including Biden have said it's not likely all of those who want to flee will be able to get out by the deadline, the Times reported. "We haven't been able to bring everybody out and that has been heartbreaking," Britain's Gen. Nick Carter, the chief of the defense staff, told <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-58367225" target="_blank" title="" rel="noopener noreferrer">BBC Radio 4</a>. "There have been some very challenging judgments that have had to be made on the ground."

With only days left until the deadline to leave Afghanistan, the US says there's still about 350 Americans who want to get out

<ul class="summary-list"><li>In the fall of 1996, photographer Alan Chin documented the early days of <keyword id="16945" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Taliban">Taliban</keyword> rule in Afghanistan. </li><li>Now that the Taliban has returned to power, Chin revisits the trip - 25 years later - and the images he captured. </li></ul>In the autumn of 1996, I received an assignment from The New York Times to go to Afghanistan to cover how a little-known (in the West, anyway) fundamentalist group called the Taliban had taken Kabul, the Afghan capital. This week - 25 years later - I watched from afar as the Taliban again claimed victory. I've been reflecting on the fact that this isn't the first time the Taliban has seized Kabul, nor the first time the United States has left behind its allies in Afghanistan. Then, like now, the Taliban conquered most of the country with almost no resistance, as most of the armies arrayed against it slowly defected, retreated, surrendered, or simply disappeared.Back then, Afghanistan had been consumed by a vicious civil <keyword id="6363794" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="war">war</keyword> since 1989, when the Soviet Union <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1989/02/16/world/last-soviet-soldiers-leave-afghanistan-after-9-years-15000-dead-and-great-cost.html">withdrew its forces</a> and the United States cut off aid to the anti-Soviet mujahideen. Out of that vacuum, the Taliban formed, and it promised to end the corruption that was endemic to the warlords fracturing the country. I knew little of that at the time. I was a young photographer cutting my teeth in postwar Bosnia. Over 48 hours, I flew from Zagreb, Croatia, to London to Peshawar, Pakistan, where I was told to expect a call from the International Committee of the Red Cross, which was still making flights in and out of Kabul. I didn't want to miss my chance at a seat on one of those planes. So in that pre-cellphone era, I stayed in my hotel room binge-watching Bollywood videos on satellite TV until the phone rang.<div type="image" title="A wrecked airplane is seen on the runway." height="1993" width="3000" msid="85416264" hostid="261"></div>When the time came, we set off in a small twin-engine propeller plane, with perhaps 12 passengers. The South African pilots warned us that they hadn't been able to establish reliable communications with Kabul, so we would fly high until we were directly above the airport, and then rapidly descend in a corkscrew pattern to land. This approach, they said, would reduce the danger from anybody shooting at the airplane. The Kabul airport was a grim testament to decades of war. Wrecked helicopters, airplanes, <keyword id="6359526" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="military">military</keyword> radar units, and anti-aircraft guns were on their sides, all riddled with bullet holes. An Ariana Airlines jetliner was parked on the tarmac, but when I looked closely, I saw that pieces of it had been blown off by a rocket attack. The terminal building was without electricity, and it was almost surprising to have my passport stamped in the near darkness.A tank with a white flag sticking out from its radio antenna was parked in the airport's entrance. That's where the abyss of miscomprehension started for me. I assumed that the flag symbolized the tank crew's surrender to the Taliban. But the white flag was, and still is, a Taliban banner. It symbolizes the group's claim to purity of purpose.<div type="image" title="A crowd of boys are seen amid older women, who are fully covered in religious clothing." height="2001" width="3000" msid="85416265" hostid="261"></div>Kabul in 1996 was a city with entire square blocks of shattered buildings, reminiscent of photographs of bombed cities from World War II, of Grozny in Chechnya - much worse than Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina, where I was coming from. The destruction had occurred not from battle involving the Taliban or the Soviets, but between rival mujahideen factions that had shelled the city ruthlessly upon falling out with one another. Some stores and markets were open, but there wasn't much to buy. There were few women on the streets, and those few were covered head to toe in burqas.When I went to the Foreign Ministry to register as a journalist, Taliban soldiers wandered through the halls and offices, seemingly in awe of their own spectacular achievement. Many were bedecked with flowers, a discordant sight next to their automatic weapons. <div type="image" title="A Taliban fighter holds a flower in his hand, as another stands behind him." height="2118" width="3000" msid="85416266" hostid="261"></div>As part of its strict interpretation of Islam and Sharia, the Taliban destroyed televisions, musical recordings, and depictions of women it considered immodest - all "graven images." At roadside checkpoints, I saw unspooled cassette tapes waving in the breeze like confetti. At the movie theater, armed Taliban soldiers threw hundreds of reels of film into a pile and started a bonfire. At a police station they had occupied, a small mountain of smashed TV sets filled the backyard.<div type="image" title="A Taliban soldier stands over a smoldering pile of videos." height="1982" width="3000" msid="85416267" hostid="261"></div>I found a Taliban officer who spoke English, as many of them did because they grew up in refugee camps in Pakistan."I understand that your beliefs are against television and such influences," I said. (I'm transcribing this from memory.) "But have you ever watched TV yourself?" "Of course," he replied. "I've watched a lot of TV in Pakistan.""Oh, really? What did you think of it? Did you like it?""Yes. I especially enjoyed seeing the big fish in the big oceans." (Nature documentaries were perhaps an unsurprising choice for someone coming from a landlocked country. Later, bootleg copies of the movie Titanic were so popular that paintings of the ship adorned the walls of teahouses and the sides of trucks.)<div type="image" title="Two women, fully veiled, are seen in the back of a car." height="1988" width="3000" msid="85416268" hostid="261"></div>"But you're destroying TVs here?" I asked."We are destroying TVs because they aren't good for Afghans and Afghanistan," he said. "It's fine for you, but not for us."He spoke with the patient tone of an adult trying to explain a basic fact to a child. He didn't seem to have any anger or sense that I was, as gently as I could, possibly provoking him. <div type="image" title="A row of Taliban fighters face the camera" height="1983" width="3000" msid="85416272" hostid="261"></div>Over the next few weeks, I traveled around the country with John Burns, a New York Times reporter who would go on to win a Pulitzer Prize for his work in those months. We shared a car and the assistance of an Afghan journalist with two other Western reporters. Ruined armored vehicles littered the sides of the pitted roads - some rusted and overgrown with vegetation; others more recently abandoned or destroyed. The towns mostly had electricity only from generators. As civilians, we could cross the front lines, so long as we didn't make a show of it. Ahmed Shah Massoud, the ethnic Tajik commander famous for his efforts against the Soviets, had retreated to his home area of the Panjshir Valley, which he defended effectively against the still-advancing Taliban. The entrance to the valley is only several score miles north of Kabul, and on several nights, the flashes of artillery fire could be faintly seen in the distance.<div type="image" title="People boarding a packed bus." height="1981" width="3000" msid="85416275" hostid="261"></div>At a position of Taliban soldiers firing rockets at their opponents, I found a Taliban officer methodically cleaning his pistol, the parts of which were laid out on a piece of clean fabric on the dusty ground. He had a cheerful greeting for me once I introduced myself as a Chinese American photojournalist. (Again, this exchange is based on my memory of it.)"It's too bad you're going to hell. Because that is the fate of all non-Muslims," he said."I understand that," I answered. "But what if I do a lot of really good deeds? Like help grandmothers and elders?"<div type="image" title="Two tanks are seen in a dry, sandy area." height="1997" width="3000" msid="85416279" hostid="261"></div>"By all means, you should do that. You should do your best to be of service to your community," he replied. "So that will win me some points?" Once again, without quite intending it, I found myself straying into a potentially fraught conversation. "No. You will still go to hell because you aren't Muslim," he said.<div type="image" title="A young man leads a much older man by the arm." height="2002" width="3000" msid="85416283" hostid="261"></div>As we spoke, the crew finished loading the heavy rockets onto the tubes on the back of the truck-borne launcher. Some walkie-talkie conversation ensued out of my earshot, and the officer fired a salvo of rockets by pressing buttons on his controller, which was connected to the weapon by a cable. They roared off to targets miles away.Once again, that gap in worldview seemed impossible to bridge. What to me were logical fallacies were, at least to these particular Taliban officers, uncontroversial and core truths.In the village of Sar Chesma a few miles north of Kabul, a father displayed the bloody burqa and shoes of his daughter, who had been killed in a Taliban rocket attack.<div type="image" title="A man displays a bloodied piece of fabric." height="1996" width="3000" msid="85416287" hostid="261"></div>We were driving near the city of Mazar-i-Sharif when we saw a Cadillac - it was rumored to be the only one in Afghanistan - hurtling south at high speed, flanked by dozens of pickups and larger trucks. It was Abdul Rashid Dostum, a former pro-Soviet general turned warlord, who maintained a fiefdom in this largely ethnically Uzbek area. We spun around and gave chase, but there was no way the old Toyota Corolla I was riding in could keep up. Hours later, we caught up with them when they stopped at an old Soviet engineers' compound in the fishing town of Khinjan, just north of the Salang Pass in the Hindu Kush mountains.<div type="image" title="A girl is seen, followed by others, walking up a narrow passageway." height="1998" width="3000" msid="85416291" hostid="261"></div>There, Dostum met Massoud, who arrived by helicopter, and the ethnic Hazara leader Karim Khalili was also present. Their soldiers, formerly sometimes at war with each other, were now mingling while the commanders sequestered themselves. It was getting dark, and there was no electricity. I had to wait outside. Finally, they were ready, and by the light of a hissing kerosene lantern, I took a few photographs as they signed the agreement that formed the Northern Alliance, or United Front, against the Taliban. <div type="image" title="Several men in a dimly lit space are seen signing a document." height="1989" width="3000" msid="85416292" hostid="261"></div>For five years, with minimal assistance from Iran, <keyword id="6358826" type="LOCATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Russia">Russia</keyword>, and Tajikistan, they fought on. Massoud traveled to France to try to drum up Western support for his cause. The Taliban meanwhile cemented a terrible reputation with its oppression of women and incidents such as its destruction of the ancient Buddhas of Bamiyan. More quietly, Massoud's representatives were lobbying the US government for aid, with claims - accurate, as it turned out - that their Taliban foes were supporting Osama bin Laden, al-Qaida, and an international network of terrorist extremists.Two days before September 11, 2001, Massoud was assassinated by Taliban agents masquerading as journalists. The bomb that killed him was disguised inside a video camera. Dostum remained a warlord with a brutal record. A few days ago, he departed Afghanistan for Uzbekistan. <div type="image" title="Things are strewn about on a highway." height="1996" width="3000" msid="85416293" hostid="261"></div>Traveling to Kandahar, the Taliban's heartland, took two days from Kabul - not the six hours described in the 1970s guidebook we were using to get around. Every bridge along the 300-mile route had been destroyed, forcing all traffic up and down dry riverbeds - made barely passable by local residents, who piled up mud and debris. At one such crossing, an overturned truck lay on its side, its cargo of dozens of enormous aerial bombs scattered across the erstwhile roadway. They were guarded by a 12-year old boy, as the driver had gone to get help. Once in Kandahar, we wanted to investigate the report of a couple stoned to death for adultery. Witnesses and participants were proud of the death penalty as administered by Islamic clerics - at least, that's what they told foreign journalists. Mohammed Karim, a 24-year-old Taliban soldier, picked up a large stone and threw it, reenacting the executions. <div type="image" title="A man holds a stone high above his head as a second man looks on." height="1985" width="3000" msid="85416294" hostid="261"></div>''No, I didn't feel sorry for them at all,'' the story quoted him as saying. ''I was just happy to see Sharia being implemented.''Further attempts to speak to the victims' families were stopped by Taliban police, who incited a small crowd to throw rocks at us when we were slow in retreating from the area. We had enjoyed surprisingly good access and freedom to move around up until that point. It was as if they had no idea or didn't care much that the rest of the world (particularly the West) would consider their actions and policies anathema. In truth, perhaps, those attitudes were never as important as imperial considerations of strategy, economics, and raw power. <div type="image" title="Women in children pack into the back of a truck." height="1997" width="3000" msid="85416295" hostid="261"></div>I returned to Afghanistan to spend weeks with the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance in 2000, and I returned again after 9/11 once the American war began in earnest. I haven't been back since, and I'm far from expert or knowledgeable on any current realities.But I couldn't help but feel a range of excruciatingly mixed emotions and thoughts as I watched this week's harrowing scenes from Kabul airport, as desperate people clung to the fuselage of an American transport plane before falling to their deaths as it took off. Like most observers, I didn't imagine that the Afghan government would be a house of cards quite so brittle. And like a generation of journalists who covered Afghanistan in the years before and after 2001, I'm filled with trepidation as Afghanistan begins its next chapter. <div type="image" title="A curtain blows in the window of a large, empty room and a vehicle is seen out front." height="2003" width="3000" msid="85416296" hostid="261"></div>

Photos: I was in Afghanistan in 1996 when the Taliban first took power

<ul class="summary-list"><li>President <keyword id="99719" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Joe-Biden">Joe Biden</keyword> said in April that US troops would withdraw from Afghanistan by September 11.</li><li>US troops this week left the major air base at Bagram. Afghan forces have taken over.</li><li>As the US departs the country, the Taliban are seizing control of dozens of districts again.</li></ul>US troops have departed the military air base at Bagram, the most significant step to date toward the complete American military withdrawal from Afghanistan.Control of Bagram Airfield, which was central to US operations against the Taliban and Al Qaeda, has been ceded to the Afghan National Security and Defense Forces, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/taliban-afghanistan-f6da97f3bde5b50b6d029185c9eb385d?utm_campaign=SocialFlow&amp;utm_medium=AP&amp;utm_source=Twitter=Twitter">The Associated Press reported</a> Friday, citing US officials.The base was captured during the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan almost 20 years ago and had been continuously occupied by US forces until this week.The move is a clear step toward President Joe Biden's aim to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/biden-plan-withdraw-us-troops-afghanistan-911-report-2021-4">complete the US troop withdrawal from Afghanistan</a> by September 11, the 20th anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attacks.At the time of Biden's April announcement of the timeline, there were about 3,500 US troops in the country, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/14/world/asia/us-troops-afghanistan.html">according to The New York Times</a>. As many as 1,000 US troops are expected to remain in the country to guard the US Embassy in the capital, Kabul, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/29/politics/afghanistan-accelerated-us-troop-pullout/index.html">CNN reported</a>.Most of the 7,000 NATO troops in Afghanistan have already left, the AP said.The withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan began under President Donald Trump, who <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/taliban-cheers-trump-decision-on-afghanistan-troop-withdrawal-2020-11">cut a deal with Taliban forces in February 2020</a> under which all troops were to leave by May 1. The US missed that deadline.<blockquote class="twitter-tweet blockquote" data-lang="en" data-cards="" data-conversation="">-lyse doucet (@bbclysedoucet) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/1410840631409315843?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 2, 2021</a></blockquote>On June 25, Biden said during a meeting at the White House with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani that it was time for Afghanistan to cut its own path."Afghans are going to have to decide their future, what they want," Biden <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/25/us/politics/biden-afghanistan-withdrawal.html">said</a>. "The senseless violence has to stop."With the impending withdrawal of US troops comes fears that Afghanistan will sink into civil war, as the Taliban have made substantial territorial gains in recent months.Deborah Lyons, the UN envoy for Afghanistan, said on June 22 that the Taliban had taken control of 50 of the country's 370 districts since May, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/afghan-civilians-take-up-arms-us-led-forces-leave-2021-06-30/">Reuters reported</a>.Gen. Austin S. Miller, the top US general in Afghanistan, said Tuesday that he was concerned the situation could deteriorate further."A civil war is certainly a path that can be visualized if this continues on the trajectory it's on right now, that should be of concern to the world," <a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-afghanistan-9636261069b03719d569b5cf9fe5e4e5">Miller told the AP</a>.

US troops pulled out of a pivotal air base in Afghanistan after nearly 20 years, a major step toward total withdrawal

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Classified military plans were found behind a bus stop in Kent, England last week, the BBC reported.</li><li>A member of the public who found the papers sent them in after realizing their sensitive nature.</li><li>The documents are said to include plans for a possible <keyword id="6354868" type="COUNTRY" weightage="60" keywordseo="UK">UK</keyword> military presence in Afghanistan.</li></ul>An anonymous member of the public found <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/british-email-publicly-mentions-secretive-special-ops-unit-e-squadron-2021-6">top-secret military documents</a> behind a bus stop in the British county of Kent last week, <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-57624942">according to the BBC.</a>The documents, which included almost 50 pages of emails and PowerPoint presentations, were found in a "soggy heap," the BBC reported. One set of the documents is said to include plans for a possible UK military presence in Afghanistan. Read more: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/military-industrial-complex-budget-us-security-profit-forever-wars-2021-5">The ridiculous amount of money we spend on the US military is actually making our country less safe</a>Other papers in the trove examine the possible Russian reaction to the British Royal Navy ship HMS Defender, which sparked a diplomatic row after sailing through Ukrainian waters off the Crimea coast on Wednesday.The Ministry of Defence told the BBC that a senior employee had reported the documents missing last week. "The department takes the security of information extremely seriously and an investigation has been launched," a spokesperson for the department added, <a href="https://news.sky.com/story/sensitive-documents-discussing-hms-defenders-passage-through-black-sea-found-at-bus-stop-in-kent-12342881">according to Sky News.</a>On Wednesday, HMS Defender sailed close to the Crimean coast in the <keyword id="391209" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Black-Sea">Black Sea</keyword>. In response, <keyword id="6358826" type="LOCATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Russia">Russia</keyword> sent more than 20 aircraft and two coastguard ships to shadow the warship.British government officials say the move was in accordance with international law, but Russia claims it violated its borders. The UK recognizes the occupation of Crimea as illegal.The British Ministry of Defence was involved in another security gaffe earlier this month <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9645883/Probe-launched-names-SAS-troops-revealed.html" target="_top">when an email</a> containing the promotions of noncommissioned officers, including members of the special forces' SAS's E Squadron, was accidentally distributed across the government.

Top-secret British military documents found left in 'soggy heap' at a bus stop, report says

<ul class="summary-list"><li>A dog who took on an Al-Qaeda insurgent amid a hail of machine-gun fire awarded the animal equivalent of a Medal of Honor. </li><li>Kuno, a Belgian Shepherd Malinois, accompanied British and local forces on a raid on an Al-Qaeda compound when an insurgent pinned them down, <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-military-dog-to-receive-pdsa-dickin-medal-after-tackling-al-qaeda-insurgents">according to the UK Ministry of Defence</a>. </li><li>Kuno's attack saved lives and enabled the operation to continue, but he received injuries to his back legs and had a paw amputated. </li><li>Now retired with prostheses, he is due to receive the <a href="https://www.pdsa.org.uk/press-office/latest-news/kuno-to-receive-dickin-medal-for-tackling-insurgents">PDSA Dickin Medal for Valour</a>, considered the highest military honor for animals.</li></ul>A dog who braved a barrage of Al-Qaeda machine-gun fire to save soldiers' lives is to be given the animal equivalent of a Medal of Honor.Kuno, a Belgian Shepherd Malinois, is to receive the PDSA Dickin Medal for Valour, in recognition of his courage during a raid on an Al-Qaeda compound in <keyword id="43584" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Afganistan">Afganistan</keyword>, in 2019.Kuno accompanied the elite British Special Boat Service (SBS) and local forces in the raid when they came under attack from an insurgent bombarding them with grenades and machine-gun fire, <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-military-dog-to-receive-pdsa-dickin-medal-after-tackling-al-qaeda-insurgents">according to the UK's Ministry of Defence (MoD)</a>. <a href="https://inews.co.uk/news/military-dog-kuno-receive-animal-victoria-cross-dickins-medal-613467">The i paper</a> named the location as Afghanistan.The soldiers, unable to move without taking injuries, stalled the raid. But Kuno leaped into action and broke the deadlock, according to the MoD.<blockquote class="twitter-tweet blockquote" data-lang="en" data-cards="" data-conversation="">—Ministry of Defence (@DefenceHQ) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/1299633159055773699?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 29, 2020</a></blockquote>Bullets struck him on both back legs, but his assault, biting the insurgent's arm and wrestling him to the ground, meant that the raid could continue successfully. UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said that "it's clear" the dog saved soldiers' lives.Kuno was airlifted to safety, but infection set into one back paw, which had to be amputated. He has now been rehabilitated and has been given a prosthesis that allows him to run around and play. PDSA Director General Jan McLoughlin, said: "He took on the enemy without fear or hesitation, never faltering from his duty despite being seriously injured."The award by the <a href="https://www.pdsa.org.uk/">People's Dispensary for Sick Animals (PDSA)</a>, a British veterinary charity, is considered the highest military honor offered to animals — the equivalent to a Medal of Honor or, in the UK, a Victoria Cross, according to the charity.<div type="image" title="Dickin medal pdsa" height="641" width="1282" msid="77836962" hostid="261"></div>Kuno will receive his PDSA Dickin Medal in a virtual ceremony in November, the charity said. He is now retired and has been rehomed. Launched during WWII, the medal has <a href="https://www.pdsa.org.uk/what-we-do/animal-awards-programme/pdsa-dickin-medal">previously been given</a> to dozens of dogs and pigeons, as well as four horses and one cat.

An army dog who charged through a hail of machine-gun fire and tackled an Al-Qaeda fighter is to receive the animal equivalent of a Medal of Honor

<ul class="summary-list"><li>An A-10 pilot received the <keyword id="12547321" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="distinguished-flying-cross" source="Orion">Distinguished Flying Cross</keyword> recently for heroism during a fight 10 years ago.</li><li>His actions were part of what one official called "one of the most intense combat rescue missions of the Afghanistan war."</li></ul>A US <keyword id="6354954" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="air-force" source="Orion">Air Force</keyword> <keyword id="11899497" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="a-10-thunderbolt-ii" source="Orion">A-10 Thunderbolt II</keyword> attack aircraft pilot received a prestigious award recently for his role in a dangerous rescue mission 10 years ago in Afghanistan, <a href="https://www.442fw.afrc.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/2826133/fallen-angel-the-story-of-a-303-fs-pilots-distinguished-flying-cross/">the Air Force said in a statement</a>.Lt. Col. Mike "Vago" Hilkert, a pilot with the 303rd Fighter Squadron, was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross last month for heroism during what has been described as "one of the most intense combat rescue missions of the Afghanistan war."During that six-hour fight on April 23, 2011, Hilkert not only coordinated the warfighting efforts of 21 aircraft over dozens of frequencies, but he also intentionally put himself and his plane in harm's way repeatedly to draw enemy fire away from rescue helicopters.The Air Force said Hilkert also helped save the lives of more than 30 people.<iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2F442dFighterWing%2Fposts%2F245974150891255&amp;show_text=true&amp;width=500" width="500" height="626" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe>In the early hours of the day, when it was still dark, two Air Force HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopters carrying pararescuemen were sent out to respond to a downed Army helicopter.One helicopter, call sign Pedro 83, dropped three pararescuemen onto a ridge several hundred feet from the crash site, where they found one of the Army helicopter pilots alive. The other Pave Hawk, Pedro 84, dropped two PJs closer to the crash site. The other pilot was dead when they arrived.The PJs and their helicopters began taking heavy fire almost immediately.Pedro 84 took heavy fire, and the flight engineer was shot in the leg, forcing the helicopter to return to base to get the airman medical attention and to grab another engineer. The two PJs, Staff Sgts. Zachary Kline and Bill Cenna, were left at the crash site.Pedro 83 tried to get the three PJs and the surviving pilot out but had to cut the hoist. Rather than hoisting them up, the pilots opted to lower the helicopter down into what <a href="https://www.442fw.afrc.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/2826133/fallen-angel-the-story-of-a-303-fs-pilots-distinguished-flying-cross/">the Air Force said was</a> "a daring one-wheel hover" to get them back.Supported by AH-64 Apache helicopters flying overwatch, Kline and Cenna took cover in a rock outcropping, but they were forced to abandon that position and relocate as enemy fire set off the munitions on the downed Army helicopter.<div type="image" title="A U.S. Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt II assigned to the 163rd Fighter Squadron flies a mission over Afghanistan." height="667" width="1000" msid="87747398" hostid="261"></div>Hilkert, then a captain with the 74th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron, was supporting operations in another area in his A-10C when the call for help came in over the Guard frequency."You need to understand that in a combat zone using Guard is sacred — a last resort," Lt. Col. Rick Mitchell, the 442d Operations Group deputy commander who presented Hilkert with the DFC, <a href="https://www.442fw.afrc.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/2826133/fallen-angel-the-story-of-a-303-fs-pilots-distinguished-flying-cross/">said in a statement</a>, calling it "a true sign that things are bad, and someone needs help."Hilkert, fueled by Rip-It energy drinks and flying a plane identified as Hawg 73, joined forces with Capt. Rustin "Trombone" Traynham and Lt. Col. David "Seymour" Haworth in Hawg 71 and 74 respectively, creating Sandy 1, a force of three A-10s.They fired rockets into the valley while Hilkert established airspace restriction and communications relays for coordinating the fight.The rockets gave Kline and Cenna a short reprieve before they soon found themselves taking heavy machine gun fire at close range, within 50 meters, <a href="https://www.442fw.afrc.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/2826133/fallen-angel-the-story-of-a-303-fs-pilots-distinguished-flying-cross/">according to the Air Force</a>.Hilkert managed to identify the threat and relay targeting information to the other two A-10s while refueling, which is no easy task, and the two other pilots opened fire with their 30 mm cannons, "saving Kline's and Cenna's lives," the Air Force said.Two groups of 16 Army quick reaction force soldiers landed at two different locations later that morning, immediately coming under fire. One soldier was killed, and at least one other was hurt.Hilkert tracked one group with his binoculars while monitoring the other with his targeting pod. He also coordinated the efforts of the attack helicopters, tanker, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets, and the other attack aircraft to shield ground forces from friendly fire while tracking enemy positions.As ground forces took fire, two rescue helicopters supported by two Apaches and two A-10s flown by Hilkert and Haworth flew in to evacuate a wounded soldier, but the helicopters kept having to fall back amid heavy incoming fire.To draw enemy fire away from the helicopters trying to carry out the rescue mission, Hilkert repeatedly flew his aircraft into danger.His award citation explains that he "knowingly and selflessly put his aircraft in harm's way to ensure the survival of the rescue package, which ensured no further loss of assets despite nine observed surface to air fires."He helped clear landing zones, facilitating the rescue of the wounded soldier. Later, the other rescue helicopter flew in and got Kline and Cenna, who managed to get the fallen Army pilot out as well.Though the Air Force praised Hilkert, saying that his "skill and vigilance led to the securing of two landing zones, rescuing the two Guardian Angels, and recovering the downed pilot and evacuation of the 32 soldiers in the QRF team," he said the experience was "bittersweet.""I'm honored to be amongst a group of heroes that did their best with a bad situation," he said in a statement. "Several people lost their lives during this mission, so it wasn't all high fives when we got home. We flew back to Kandahar in silence."Hilkert is the fourth Air Force pilot who participated in that mission to earn the Distinguished Flying Cross. Additionally, two pararescue airmen received Silver Stars, as did two helicopter pilots.Air Force Times, <a href="https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/your-air-force/2021/11/12/a-harrowing-night-in-afghanistan-earns-a-10-pilot-the-distinguished-flying-cross-10-years-later/">which first reported Hilkert's actions</a>, said that his recent award was the result of a renewed award application backed by the support of a number of leaders. Hilkert is currently a member of the Air Force Reserve.

This A-10 pilot repeatedly drew fire away from rescue helicopters during an intense firefight 10 years ago. He finally received an award for it.

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The supreme leader of the Taliban says that the organization's rule has been good for women. </li><li>The Taliban's record on women's rights says otherwise. </li></ul>The supreme leader of the Taliban announced on Sunday that the organization has taken "necessary steps" for the "betterment of women" in Afghanistan but human rights experts say the country continues to experience some of the world's worst women's rights abuses.During an address ahead of Eid al-Adha, Hibatullah Akhundzada said that under the Taliban, "necessary steps have been taken for the betterment of women as half of society in order to provide them with a comfortable and prosperous life according to the Islamic Shariah," the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/taliban-leader-better-afghan-women-life-7a28ac892b53cdc2ebff1faa0bc7664e" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Associated Press reported</a>.This includes measures to prevent women from entering forced marriages, he said."The status of women as a free and dignified human being has been restored and all institutions have been obliged to help women in securing marriage, inheritance, and other rights," Akhundzada said, per the AP.Akhundzada's statements <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/meet-the-afghan-women-fighting-for-their-rights-under-taliban-rule-2021-9">are in direct opposition</a> to the international scrutiny the Taliban has faced from human rights organizations, the UN, and various nations since <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/corruption-and-abuse-contributed-to-afghanistan-collapse-expert-2021-9">it took over after the US and international forces withdrew troops from the country in 2021.</a> Most notably, the Taliban has been scrutinized for barring women from getting an education past the sixth grade, ordering that they <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/afghanistan-taliban-decree-orders-women-to-veil-their-faces-in-public-2022-5">completely veil their faces</a> in public, limiting the jobs they can hold, and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/afghanistan-taliban-bans-women-from-entering-parks-2022-11">barring them from going to parks</a>."Their claim that their policies in the past or in the future reflect a concern about the well-being of women are unsupported and, frankly, absurd," <a href="https://www.hrw.org/about/people/john-sifton" target="_blank" title="https://www.hrw.org/about/people/john-sifton" rel="noopener">John Sifton</a>, the advocacy director of the Asia division at Human Rights Watch, told Insider. "The restrictions on work and education go to the very heart of what women's rights are all about — the freedom to make choices about your own life. This is what human rights are."In March, the UN declared Afghanistan the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/taliban-afghanistan-women-rights-united-nations-591c39436d53f83e5a0c423c5e06891c" target="_blank" rel="noopener">world's most repressive country for women</a>. In a recent Human Rights Council meeting, UN Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights Nada Al-Nashif declared women in Afghanistan are "discriminated against in every way." Other countries with records of abuses against women, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-defended-hosting-the-saudi-backed-liv-golf-tournament-2022-10">like Saudi Arabia</a>, have also spoken out against some of the <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/taliban-univeristy-ban-women-afghanistan-saudi-arabia-turkey-criticism-rcna62900" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Taliban's restrictive policies</a>.<blockquote class="twitter-tweet blockquote" data-lang="en" data-cards="" data-conversation="">—United Nations Geneva (@UNGeneva) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/1672546858902667264">June 24, 2023</a></blockquote>Sifton said the statements claiming that the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has empowered women despite so much evidence showing otherwise is most likely part of an effort to establish its legitimacy on an international stage. The UN recently said it is <a href="https://news.un.org/en/story/2023/06/1137962" target="_blank" rel="noopener">"nearly impossible" to recognize the Taliban</a> as a legitimate government because of human rights issues. "The Taliban leadership craves legitimacy. They want to be recognized by other governments and international institutions like the United Nations," Sifton told Insider. "But the reason that outside governments and the United Nations are reluctant to recognize the Taliban as the government of Afghanistan is, in large part, because of their horrible record on women's rights."Since the Taliban's take over of Afganistan, women in the country have been <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/meet-the-afghan-women-fighting-for-their-rights-under-taliban-rule-2021-9">protesting and speaking out against</a> the restrictive rules put in place by the organization. Yalda Royan, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/afghanistan-what-womens-rights-under-the-taliban-looks-like-now-2022-8">a feminist activist who fled Kabul</a> with her two daughters in 2021 after the Taliban took over, told Insider's Charles Davis last year that the country "has now become a kind of cage for Afghan women; the birds who cannot fly out of it, just stuck inside the home without rights to movement, rights to education, rights to work — any basic right."Sifton said that despite this vocal opposition, Taliban leadership continues to argue that imposed rules align with what Afghan citizens want for their country. Sifton said the opposite is true."In speaking about women's rights, human rights groups and outside governments are merely reflecting what Afghan women and girls themselves have said. The Taliban can simply ask the women and girls of Afghanistan what they want," Sifton told Insider, "and they will find that they do not want these restrictions on women's rights, education, and work.""In many ways, the crisis for women's rights in Afghanistan is a reflection of the crisis of the Taliban not being the democratically elected government."

The Taliban says it has provided 'a comfortable and prosperous life' for women in Afghanistan. 'Absurd' says a human rights advocate.

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="12020836" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="paul-schrader" source="Orion">Paul Schrader</keyword> said the US withdrawal from Afghanistan was "a long time coming." </li><li>The director spoke about the links between his new film and the withdrawal at the Venice Film Festival.</li><li>"It shouldn't be a surprise that our exceptionalism in the world really wasn't that exceptional," he said.</li></ul>Veteran filmmaker Paul Schrader told Insider that the decline of US military and political influence following the recent withdrawal from Afghanistan was "a long time coming" at the Venice Film Festival on Thursday. On Thursday, Schrader debuted his new film, "The Card Counter," which stars <keyword id="12020835" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="oscar-isaac" source="Orion">Oscar Isaac</keyword> and <keyword id="12020837" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="tiffany-haddish" source="Orion">Tiffany Haddish</keyword>. It follows the story of an ex-US military interrogator, who now lives under the radar as a low-stakes gambler.Throughout the film, there are several flashbacks that depict the torture and violence against inmates by US officers at Abu Ghraib - the prison just outside of Baghdad, which served as a <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2004/05/10/torture-at-abu-ghraib">US detention center for captured Iraqis</a> during the Iraq War and became infamous in 2004 after photos were released of US soldiers torturing detainees.When asked during a press conference about the link between "The Card Counter" and the recent exodus of Western countries, including the US, from Afghanistan, Schrader was candid."It shouldn't be a surprise that our exceptionalism in the world really wasn't that exceptional," he said.Although Schrader was resistant to elaborate further on the connection between his film and the larger political context, he continued: "The moment you start saying a film is about these kinds of things, you lose your anchor. You can't get too hung up on making a big statement. Make a small statement, let others make big statements."<div type="image" title="A picture of the cast of &quot;The Card Counter&quot; with Paul Schrader at the Venice film festival." height="3526" width="5288" msid="85910420" hostid="261"></div>Later during the press conference when asked about the themes of military service and memory, which run through his film, Schrader said that "I'm sure for these US soldiers who were at the airport in the last 10 days, they are going to have some memories and we're going to be hearing about them for the next 10 to 20 years."The last US military planes <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/last-us-military-planes-leave-kabul-ending-us-presence-afghanistan-2021-8">left Afghanistan earlier this week</a>, marking an end to America's presence in the country after roughly two decades of war, Insider reported.The Biden administration had set an August 31 deadline to complete the US military withdrawal and subsequent evacuations. Despite <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/biden-speech-afghanistan-us-finalizes-withdrawal-2021-8">widespread criticism of the speed and nature of the US's departure</a>, President Biden defended his decision and said the withdrawal was an "extraordinary success" in a speech following the last flight from Kabul. "My fellow Americans: The war in Afghanistan is now over. I'm the fourth president who has faced the issue of whether and when to end this war," he said. "I refused to send another generation of America's sons and daughters to fight a war that should have ended long ago.""The Card Counter" hits theaters September 10.

'The Card Counter' may remind US soldiers of the recent withdrawal from Afghanistan, director says

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The US is withdrawing far too quickly from Afghanistan without any plan in place for peace. </li><li>Maintaining a small presence in the country is important for counter-terrorism operations. </li><li>Women and women's rights activists will be especially vulnerable now that the US has left. </li><li>This is an <keyword id="6356002" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="opinion">opinion</keyword> column. The thoughts expressed are those of the author. </li></ul>Americans should be alarmed and ashamed about how we are hastily leaving Afghanistan. President Joe <keyword id="60973" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Biden">Biden</keyword> chose to unilaterally withdraw our remaining forces from the country without a plan, process, or even the faintest possibility for peace in place. I get it. We have fought there for too long. We have lost too much blood and treasure over the last two decades. There are a lot of arguments for ending our <keyword id="6359526" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="military">military</keyword> campaign against the Taliban. Yet, if I'm being honest, it seems that the main driver is to score some short-term political points. Biden gets to claim the mantle of the president who finally "ended the war." Yet, the decision will only begin a new chapter of dangers, especially for women and girls around the globe.<h2>A small, steady presence</h2>The United States may not be able to eradicate the extremist group from every corner of the country, but at the very least we could keep the threat they posed to us and the Afghan government to a manageable minimum. The military had already reduced our troop presence to under <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/biden-us-troop-withdrawal-afghanistan/2021/04/13/918c3cae-9beb-11eb-8a83-3bc1fa69c2e8_story.html">2,500</a>. Last year there were just three combat deaths, this year there have been <a href="https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2021/05/31/a-year-without-combat-deaths-this-memorial-day-military-fatalities-overseas-were-the-fewest-since-911/">none</a>.There are more American troops now in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_military_deployments">Spain</a> than there are in Afghanistan. That small footprint at least enabled us to continue counter-terrorism operations, secure the capital and other major cities, and create conditions for <a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/afghanistan/overview">steady</a> economic growth. Importantly, it also preserved certain fundamental freedoms and rights. Why would we give all of that up? While the Biden Administration was forced to <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/biden-administration-says-it-will-evacuate-afghans-who-worked-u-n1272265">change</a> course on evacuating our local staff from Afghanistan, there are a lot of others who will be left behind. Most concerning are those who stood up for women's rights and girls' education during America's time in Afghanistan. Over 90 people were recently <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/08/world/asia/bombing-school-afghanistan.html">killed</a> at a girls school in Kabul. There are undoubtedly going to be many more lost.These advocates may not have worked for the United States government, but they certainly aligned themselves with our ideals. <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2021/05/afghanistan-unravelling-of-women-and-girls-rights-looms-as-peace-talks-falter/">They are </a>now left to fend for themselves. During the Taliban's time in power, women in Afghanistan faced draconian restrictions and those are likely to return in the absence of American forces. Some women's rights advocates may be able to flee, but others are bound to pay an unimaginable price. Many Afghan women and girls are already <a href="https://1430wcmy.com/2021/06/24/afghan-girls-women-fear-talibans-return-to-power-as-us-troops-withdraw/">sounding</a> the alarm. But, the harm will not be contained to only that country. Many around the world will look on with worry, wondering what could happen if they too fight for their rights.In taking this reckless action, Biden is telling extremists everywhere that the United States does not have the strength and stamina to sustain engagements against a stubborn adversary. They just have to fight hard enough and wait long enough. Ultimately, we will go home without having achieved our stated objectives.America's abrupt abandonment of Afghanistan is a serious cause for concern for parents of young girls in Indonesia or a women's rights activist in Egypt. Even if there isn't a conflict in their country, the way America chose to leave Afghanistan will not go unnoticed. Are people in a position to empower women and girls going to be willing to take risks after seeing what will inevitably happen in Afghanistan? Many are likely to judge that the United States is no longer dependable enough to join efforts at advancing gender equality. America asked Afghan women and girls to be brave. The government loudly heralded the start of every new program that created a more equitable country. Unfortunately, we evidently lack the same kind of courage that was so often seen on the streets of Kabul and Kandahar. President Biden opted for the easy way out. It will now make achieving progress on the status of women worldwide much, much harder.

Biden's hasty withdrawal from Afghanistan is a terrible mistake

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Afghanistan's <keyword id="4956776" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="kam-air">Kam Air</keyword> says it performed the first all-female crewed flight in the country's history.</li><li>The Boeing 737-500 flew from Kabul to Herat with two <keyword id="2271557" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="FEMALE-PILOTS">female pilots</keyword> and four female cabin crew.</li><li>YouTuber Josh Cahill was onboard to capture the flight as part of an International Women's Day documentary. </li></ul>A routine 90-minute flight in Afghanistan just made history.The country's only private airline, Kam Air, is celebrating its first flight with an all-female crew, which it says is the first in the South Asian country's history. Kam Air's first female Afghan pilot, 22-year-old Mohadese Mirzaee, joined Captain Veronica Borysova in piloting the Boeing 737 from the capital city of Kabul to Herat in western Afghanistan on Wednesday. And while they were at work in the cockpit, four female cabin crew serviced passengers for the routine 350-nautical mile flight while it journeyed across the country. Josh Cahill, a leading airline reviewer and <keyword id="6354692" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Travel">travel</keyword> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/Joshsv66">YouTuber</a>, was invited onboard the flight to document the endeavor during a recent trip to the Middle East and South Asia. Aside from the flight's historic nature, Cahill said the flight was as smooth running as any that he's in his extensive global journeys, telling Insider that the flight crew consisted of "highly trained pilots."<div type="image" title="Kam Air First All-Female Flight" height="1405" width="1874" msid="81237928" hostid="261"></div>"The crew has been very professional, just as you would expect from any other airline around the world," Cahill told Insider. "I have joined a few crews at the flight deck around the globe and I couldn't notice any difference."The historic flight was kept largely under wraps, besides inviting Cahill, as is the norm in the country. Airlines typically do not miss the opportunity to spread the word about their accomplishments but Afghanistan's heightened security discourages high-profile events."For security and safety purposes, gatherings or celebrations aren't very common in Afghanistan," Cahill said. South Asian and Middle Eastern countries like Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iran are a constant source of fascination for aviation enthusiasts like Cahill as their airlines boast some of the most unique and oldest aircraft still <keyword id="52392" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Flying">flying</keyword>. The 23-year-old Boeing 737-500 performing the flight was originally delivered to Continental Airlines in 1998, according to <a href="https://www.planespotters.net/airframe/boeing-737-500-ya-kmn-kam-air/3wwj53">Planespotters.net</a>, and delivered to Kam Air in April. It isn't the oldest aircraft in Afghanistan but the type has long been retired by US airlines. Cahill is no stranger to the country and has witnessed <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRxQgkpaSAM">Kam Air's development first-hand over the years</a>."I have been frequently visiting Afghanistan for the past 6 years and it is nice to see how Kam Air is developing given the difficult circumstances," Cahill said. The airline had recently lost nine staff members in a 2018 Taliban attack at the Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul.Kam Air is currently banned from European Union airspace but plans to start flights to Frankfurt, Germany soon, citing its certification under the International Air Transport Association Operational Safety Audit as a step towards being taken off of the Union's blacklist. <div type="image" title="Kam Air First All-Female Flight" height="1617" width="2157" msid="81237929" hostid="261"></div>Cahill frequently travels the globe as part of his job to review the latest airline products but doesn't encounter female pilots all that often, let alone all-female flight crews, something he hopes will change as the industry progresses. "Unfortunately, it is still rather rare to see female pilots around the world, especially in male-dominated societies such as the Middle East, but I really hope that my documentary on Kam Air will change this and inspire more women to join our industry," Cahill said, having flown on the world's best and worst airlines during his travels in the furthest reaches of the world from America to Afghanistan. Cahill's documentary on the flight will air on International Women's Day on March 8.

An airline in Afghanistan says it just flew the country's first flight with an all-female crew - here's what it was like onboard

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The <keyword id="11892778" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="taliban" source="Orion">Taliban</keyword> ruled that Afghan women will have to cover their faces in public.</li><li>If women do not comply, their closest male relative could face imprisonment or be fired from government jobs.</li></ul>The Islamic regime of the Taliban has ruled that Afghan women will have to cover their faces in public in a decree passed Saturday.According to the decree from Taliban supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzad, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/taliban-announce-women-must-cover-faces-public-say-burqa-is-best-2022-05-07/">Reuters</a> reported, that the ideal face covering is the all-encompassing burqa.If a woman does not comply with the new rule, her father or closest male relative will be visited and eventually imprisoned or fired from government jobs, a spokesman for the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice said, in a press conference, per Reuters.Most women in <keyword id="11892774" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="afghanistan" source="Orion">Afghanistan</keyword> already choose to wear a headscarf but often do not cover their faces in urban areas like Kabul, Afganistan's capital.Since taking control of Afghanistan in August of last year, the Taliban have introduced draconian laws imposing restrictions on women's freedom.In March, the theocratic group <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/taliban-orders-girl-high-schools-remain-closed-leaving-students-tears-2022-03-23/">closed girls' high schools</a> and recently introduced rules limiting women's ability to <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/12/26/afghanistan-long-distance-travel-women-without-male-escort-taliban">travel without a male chaperone.</a>The strict new directives are reminiscent of their Muslim fundamentalist hardline rule in the 1990s, in spite of their claims to have <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/taliban-trying-to-pose-as-moderates-after-years-terror-tactics-2021-8?r=US&amp;IR=T">reformed and become more moderate.</a>UN human rights experts warned in January that <a href="https://news.un.org/en/story/2022/01/1109902">Taliban leaders are institutionalizing large-scale and systematic gender-based discrimination</a> and violence against women and girls.The experts criticized what they described as the Taliban's "attempt to steadily erase women and girls from public life."In response to the takeover of Afghanistan, the US and other countries have <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2021/sep/11/the-taliban-are-not-the-only-threat-to-afghanistan-aid-cuts-could-undo-20-years-of-progress">cut development aid</a>, <a href="https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/biden-administration-freezes-afghan-reserves-taliban-cash-access">frozen the Afghan government's reserves</a> held in US bank accounts, and<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/21/business/afghanistan-economy.html"> imposed strict sanctions</a> on the group.

You Searched For "afganistan" and got 12 results

Surviving members of a family killed in US airstrike in Kabul fear for their safety and want the US to evacuate them

Sarah Al-Arshani

With only days left until the deadline to leave Afghanistan, the US says there's still about 350 Americans who want to get out

Sarah Al-Arshani

Photos: I was in Afghanistan in 1996 when the Taliban first took power

Alan Chin

US troops pulled out of a pivotal air base in Afghanistan after nearly 20 years, a major step toward total withdrawal

Bill Bostock

Top-secret British military documents found left in 'soggy heap' at a bus stop, report says

Sophia Ankel

An army dog who charged through a hail of machine-gun fire and tackled an Al-Qaeda fighter is to receive the animal equivalent of a Medal of Honor

Mia Jankowicz

This A-10 pilot repeatedly drew fire away from rescue helicopters during an intense firefight 10 years ago. He finally received an award for it.

Ryan Pickrell

The Taliban says it has provided 'a comfortable and prosperous life' for women in Afghanistan. 'Absurd' says a human rights advocate.

Hannah Getahun

'The Card Counter' may remind US soldiers of the recent withdrawal from Afghanistan, director says

Zac Ntim

Biden's hasty withdrawal from Afghanistan is a terrible mistake

Brett Bruen

An airline in Afghanistan says it just flew the country's first flight with an all-female crew - here's what it was like onboard

Thomas Pallini

A new Taliban decree orders Afghanistan's women to veil their faces in public, and if they don't comply, male relatives face punishment

Alia Shoaib