All posts tagged "afghanistan"

This single ICE detainment shows the depth of Trump's disgrace

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainment of J.R. Tucker High School student Armand Momand constitutes a constitutional outrage.

Because of his father’s service to the U.S. government in Afghanistan, Momand has legal U.S. immigration status. Yet ICE agents took him into custody Aug. 8 after convictions in an Henrico County court for driving more than 20 miles an hour over the speed limit and disorderly conduct, both misdemeanors.

Now, the government that Momand’s father risked his life to serve in fighting terrorism wants to deport his 19-year-old son, despite the young man’s lawful presence in the United States.

The deportation debacle ordered by President Donald Trump has turned into a nightmare of lies and unconstitutional behavior.

Trump’s demonization of immigrants in the name of nationalism doesn’t get much worse than betraying those who placed themselves in harm’s way to support this country.

On its website, ICE lists criminal convictions which would cause the service to detain an immigrant because they pose “a public safety or national security threat.”

The list includes burglaries and robberies. It includes kidnapping, homicide, sexual assault, and weapons offenses. It includes drug trafficking, and human trafficking.

What the list does not include are Momand’s convictions for reckless driving for going more than 20 miles an hour over the speed or misdemeanor disorderly conduct, a charge which prosecutors reduced from an original felony charge for eluding or disregarding police.

To detain an immigrant, federal law requires ICE to have “probable cause” to believe the immigrant has committed a federal crime or is illegally residing in this country.

Momand has done neither, his lawyer, Miriam Airington-Fisher, told me in an interview.

Public records that I looked at show that a Virginia district court judge gave Momand no jail time for his state convictions on August 8. Yet ICE detained him to consider for deportation.

According to Airington-Fisher, Momand is a legal resident of this country who is pursuing permanent legal status and eventually U.S. citizenship.

Momand was born in Afghanistan. Momand’s father received a Special Immigration Visa to bring his wife and children to America because he helped the U.S. military during its fight against Taliban terrorists in Afghanistan. The visas granted to Momand’s father and his family come with extensive vetting and reflect the deadly Taliban retribution faced by Afghanis who worked with Americans.

Virginia court records show no other criminal history for Momand. Airington-Fisher told me that is because the teenager has none. Ironically, Momand’s continued detention by ICE forced him to reschedule a green card interview set for Aug. 14, Airington-Fisher said.

ICE has offered no legal explanation for Momand’s imprisonment to his lawyers or family, Airington-Fisher added.

“We received a notice to appear at a hearing to initiate deportation,” she explained.

That Aug. 25 hearing was postponed because of a “crowded” court docket, Airington-Fisher told me a day later. Now, to argue for bond, Momand, a legal U.S. resident, must wait until a rescheduled hearing on Sept. 8. He must spend a month in a federal detention center and miss the first two weeks of school. This is what passes for a speedy trial in Trump’s nationalist crackdown on a legal teen immigrant.

Momand, his family, and lawyers remain “completely in the dark” about the legal justification for the young man’s imprisonment, Airington-Fisher said.

“ICE can’t dissolve his visa status,” Airington-Fisher told me. “We do not believe his detention is legal.”

The ICE detainee database shows Momand is being held at the Abyon Farmville Detention Center.

On Aug. 19, I asked ICE if Momand had been charged with any crimes, and if so, what crimes. The media office acknowledged my request, but has yet to get back to me with an answer.

“You can’t just arrest someone and then figure out whether they did anything wrong,” immigration lawyer Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, a partner with the firm Murray Osorio, said in an interview on Aug. 19. “What was the probable cause to think this person committed a federal crime or was illegally in the country?”

Sandoval-Moshenberg represents Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, the man ICE seized and was mistakenly deported by the Trump administration to a brutal El Salvadoran prison in defiance of a federal court order.

As Momand’s Aug. 25 hearing was being postponed in Virginia, ICE was again detaining Abrego Garcia for deportation three days after a judge ordered his release from custody as he awaits trial on federal criminal charges by the Trump administration.

Sandoval-Moshenberg stressed that situations like Momand’s are very different from the Abrego Garcia case, which involves allegations of criminal felonies.

Momand’s case deals with basic constitutional rights such as being told of the charges against him and the right to a bond hearing so he could go to school between legal hearings and the constitutional requirement that the government must justify its legal right to deport him.

Most of all, Momand’s case involves the Trump administration’s detention of immigrants living legally in the United States without probable cause.

Finally, Momand’s case deals with Trump’s disrespect for the Special Immigration Visas meant to protect people who faced death constantly to help America fight ruthless terrorists. This is why the law provides Special Immigrant Visa holders an opportunity to get a green card and an eventual path to American citizenship.

Asked about Momand’s detention by journalists, Virginia Gov. Glen Youngkin treated the young man as a dangerous criminal who deserved to be in custody while he is investigated for charges that had already been litigated and resolved.

Youngkin got it backwards. And he took the position that misdemeanor convictions in a traffic incident qualify as proof of a national security risk.

Under Trump’s indiscriminate immigrant removal policies, immigrants can no longer rely on being in the U.S. legally to protect themselves from being harassed and possibly deported, Adam Bates, senior supervisory lawyer for the International Refugee Assistance Project, told me.

“People now do everything they are supposed to, but they get grabbed off the street for doing nothing wrong,” Bates told me.

I have met two Afghans who worked with the American government and who currently live in the U.S. One barely eluded capture by the Taliban as he set up forward communications systems for U.S. Marines. The other risked attack each day for translating in public for an American military contractor.

They, and others like them, worked knowing the fate of people like Sohail Pardis, an Afghani interpreter beheaded by the Taliban for aiding the American government.

The system for granting immigrants who helped America fight terrorism special visas is exhaustive and time-consuming.

For the Trump administration to now turn its back on foreigners who risked their lives on America’s behalf to pursue a nationalist deportation policy that demonizes all immigrants is cruel and self-destructive. The policy betrays constitutional and moral principles, not to mention national security.

“It is horrific the extent to which we put people in mortal danger to help with our war effort and then toss them aside like used candy wrappers,” said Sandoval-Moshenberg. “It is going to have disastrous long-term foreign policy consequences.”

In Virginia, the ICE handling of Arman Momand should also have consequences.

If it proves anything, it proves that immigrants are not and have never been America’s enemy.

Trump is 'very comfortable' fostering fears of 'white genocide': conservative analyst

Conservative journalist David Weigel, who writes for Semafor, was stunned by President Donald Trump's willingness to believe right-wing talking points about "white genocide" in South Africa.

Weigel appeared as part of the panel on CNN's State of the Union on Tuesday, where Manu Raju played a clip of Trump defending his decision to grant refugee status to Afrikaner farmers.

"They happen to be white. But whether they're white or Black, makes no difference to me," Trump said Monday. "But white farmers are being brutally killed and their land is being confiscated."

Raju added, "President Trump went so far as to say there's a genocide taking place, although there's no evidence of that."

EXCLUSIVE: Breastfeeding mom of US citizen sues Kristi Noem after being grabbed by ICE

"Twenty years ago, there was this idea on the right that when Nelson Mandela died, there would be some sort of white genocide — literal genocide of people being killed in the streets — was very prevalent on the far right online," Weigel said. "This was not dreamed of that the president would be taking status away from Haitians, from other people who've been let in the country and giving it to white South Africans."

"This is a president who's not going to run again, who's very comfortable doing something that would engender a backlash and undoes decades of American foreign policy toward South Africa," Weigel continued. "This is an enormous shift from — remember, he ran on bringing Juneteenth in, making it a holiday in 2020. That's not how he's governing right now. He's very comfortable saying some Americans assimilate better, and saying in the same sentence that, yes, they happen to be white."

Also Monday, the administration announced that it was ending its refugee program for thousands of displaced people from war-torn Afghanistan.

The New Yorker's Susan Glasser said she was "struck by the timing" of allowing white Afrikaners into the U.S. on the same day the Trump administration revoked temporary protected status for Afghans "who assisted the American two-decade-long presence in Afghanistan, either working with the U.S. military, working with nonprofit groups."

Glasser continued, "These are people, in many cases, who may now face the risk of being sent back to the Taliban government in Afghanistan, their lives being placed at risk. We guaranteed their safety."

Watch the clip below via CNN.

'Pile of dog crap': Fox News commentator slams Biden's foreign policy legacy

Conservative commentator Tomi Lahren slammed President Joe Biden's foreign policy legacy Monday on X, likening it to a "pile of dog crap."

Biden gave his final foreign policy speech at the State Department on Monday afternoon. He also posted to social media, "Since Kamala and I took office, our nation has become stronger at home and in the world. America today is more capable and prepared than we have been for a long time. While competitors are facing stiff headwinds, we have the wind at our back. This is what we're handing over."

Lahren, a Fox News commentator and host of "Tomi Lahren is Fearless" on Outkick.com, replied to Biden's post, "You are handing over a pile of dog crap, but luckily Donald Trump is taking on the challenge to clean up your mess."

Not surprisingly, President-elect Donald Trump has been wildly critical of the Biden administration's foreign policy efforts, starting with the disastrous 2020 Afghanistan withdrawal and terrorist attack that killed 13 soldiers and more than 170 Afghan civilians. In September, Trump said, "It’s very sad, actually, because these people shouldn’t have died. They shouldn’t have died. They died because of Biden and because of Kamala. They died just like if they pulled the trigger...Afghanistan was the most incompetently run operation I think I’ve ever seen, military or otherwise.”

ALSO READ: Fox News has blood on its hands as Trump twists the knife

Regarding Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Trump claimed it never would have happened if he had been president, and famously declared that he could end the war "in 24 hours."

Trump also claimed that the 2023 Hamas surprise attack that killed 1,200 people would never have happened on his watch.

"All those people would be alive" if he had been president, Trump said.

Biden's foreign policy efforts continued Monday with White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan claiming negotiators were "very close" to reaching a hostage deal between Israel and Hamas. Sullivan said the deal could still be finalized in the next few days before President Biden leaves office.

When he takes office next week, Trump could be very busy. He has vowed that he will "set up a 'tiny little desk' on the Capitol steps during the inauguration to sign 'four or five' executive orders on the spot." Trump also claimed, “On Day 1 of the Trump presidency, I will restore the travel ban, suspend refugee admissions, stop the resettlement and keep the terrorists the hell out of our country.”

'Dizzying conflict of interest': Taliban reportedly owes Trump building more than $200,000

When the Taliban took over in Afghanistan in 2021, the Middle Eastern nation stopped making payments to one of Donald Trump's buildings, leading to a potential conflict of interest if the ex-president were to win another term, a watchdog reported.

Former federal corruption prosecutor Noah Bookbinder flagged the report from watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington Saturday.

"We found that Afghanistan owes Trump World Tower over $200,000, highlighting the potential national security risks and Emoluments Clause violations if Donald Trump serves in government again and fails to divest from his businesses," said Bookbinder, who serves as president of CREW.

ALSO READ: Donald Trump deep in debt while foreign money keeps coming: disclosure

According to the report, "The government of Afghanistan owes Donald Trump’s Trump World Tower more than $200,000, according to a property lien filed last week with the New York City Department of Finance." It continues: "The debt relates to unpaid charges for a unit in the building across the street from the United Nations, which is popular with foreign governments."

The watchdog notes that, "Afghanistan has not paid for common charges and other fees in the building since March 2022, resulting in a debt of $219,914.75." It adds that, "They do not appear to have missed payments while Trump served as president, but started to miss payments after the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan."

CREW also summarizes how the country bought the unit in Trump World Tower for $4.2 million in 2009, and explains past troubles associated with the tower and its board.

"Donald Trump owns a building and controls a condo board that is owed hundreds of thousands of dollars by a foreign government as he seeks to become president again. This represents a dizzying conflict of interest. Problematic as it is for Trump to make money from foreign governments, a debt raises the possibility Trump could use the power of the presidency to pursue collection, or seek retaliation," the report concludes. "Trump’s foreign entanglements are potential Emoluments Clause violations and national security threats if he serves in government again. Afghanistan’s large debt to Trump World Tower is case in point."

Read the report here.

Taliban discussed prisoner exchange with U.S.: Afghan government

Two American prisoners were being held in custody in Afghanistan, a Taliban government spokesman said Wednesday, and an “exchange” for Afghans held in Guantanamo Bay had been discussed with the United States.

Zabihullah Mujahid did not name the US prisoners, but an American woman was among more than a dozen staff of an international NGO arrested by Taliban authorities last September, and aid worker Ryan Corbett has been custody in since 2022.

“We should be able to free our citizens in (an) exchange, as American citizens are important for them (the United States), just as Afghans are important for us,” Mujahid told a press conference in Kabul.

He said discussions over a prisoner exchange were held with U.S. representatives during United Nations-led talks in Qatar.

The talks, which gathered UN officials, Taliban authorities and the special envoys to Afghanistan, ended on Monday.

“Two American citizens are imprisoned in Afghanistan,” Mujahid told the press conference, adding that Afghan prisoners were also held in the United States, including in the secretive U.S. prison in Cuba.

“We have had discussions on their release with them (the United States) before. Afghanistan’s conditions should be accepted,” he said.

An American woman was among at least 18 staff of non-governmental organisation International Assistance Mission (IAM) detained on accusations of carrying out Christian missionary work.

The UN in June warned Corbett’s “life could be at risk” and called for Taliban authorities to give him “immediate access to medical treatment for his deteriorating health”.

Dozens of foreigners have been detained by the Taliban authorities since the group’s return to power in August 2021.

Travel risks

Many countries, including the United States, warn against citizens travelling to Afghanistan, citing risks of wrongful detention, violence and kidnapping.

At least one Afghan prisoner remains in detention at Guantanamo Bay, Muhammad Rahim, whose family called for his release in November.

In February, two former prisoners held in Guantanamo Bay until 2017 were welcomed home to Afghanistan, more than 20 years after they were arrested.

Abdul Karim and Abdul Zahir had been transferred to Oman and held under house arrest until their release.

They were among hundreds of suspected militants captured by U.S. forces and held in Guantanamo Bay.

US authorities faced accusations of torture and abuse against prisoners at the facility, where many were held without charge or the legal power to challenge their detention.

Most of the military prison’s inmates have been released over the years, including senior Taliban leaders.

The US government has said for years it is working to reduce the number of detainees and eventually shut down Guantanamo Bay, which lies on the island of Cuba but is under U.S. jurisdiction.

Whistles at dawn: birdsong duels enthral Afghans

Just after sunrise on the Afghan day of rest, two goldfinches puffed their chests and belted a song, surrounded by men straining to hear which chirped stronger in an age-old pastime.

Every Friday, weather permitting, hundreds gather on a derelict basketball court in west Kabul, pitching pet birds against each other in a test of tweets and trills.

"Life is short, so we need to enjoy it," said 50-year-old Jamaluddin, who goes by only one name.

"This is what excites me and gives me peace of mind."

Under the Taliban government, entertainment options have drastically shrunk in line with their austere interpretation of Islam.

The authorities have also warned against betting -- once a roaring trade on the sidelines of birdsong duels -- but the competitions remain immensely popular.

"The human mind is made to chase happiness," said 42-year-old spectator Ahmad Wahid Dostyar.

"I have come here to spend some good time and calm my mind."

The bird owners remove cage shrouds and hand their avian champions to a pair of referees who hold them aloft to spectators.

As the cages are placed side-by-side on a chalk "X", the crowd falls quiet. The birds -- all male, like the human onlookers -- flit onto perches just a beak-length apart.

Then they start singing in jittery dominance displays.

The rules are simple: the first to stop loses.

An umpire counts the silenced bird to 10, like a boxing referee after a knock-out, and the winner is declared.

- 'Priceless' passion -

The Afghan obsession with birds runs deep, with bird-related hobbies enjoyed across ages, ethnic groups and regions.

Peacocks and ducks call out in Kabul's cafes and the competition-minded collect chickens and quail for fighting.

The capital is built around a bustling tumbledown bird market and, when invited into a home for tea, it is common for polite conversation to be overlaid by the chatter of songbirds.

Hundreds of self-described "goldfinchers" have no problem peeling themselves out of bed at dawn for competitions on Fridays -- the only full day off in the Afghan week.

A bird's worth can rise and fall on its tune.

The cheapest can be bought for around 500 Afghani ($7).

However, last year a bird that sang in Kabul for four minutes and 44 seconds was sold for around $1,000.

Some say prices go as high as $3,000 for an animal no larger than a playing card -- a huge sum in a country where the United Nations says 85 percent of the population lives on less than a dollar a day.

Saeed Nasim Hashimi paid about 20,000 Afghani for his bird, -- a winner on a recent Friday which was rewarded with four miniature goblets of feed in its cage.

"My little goldfinch won, and he is a champion," he boasted.

"He has a reputation among the other goldfinchers," added the 30-year-old.

A bird's worth jumps when it wins a contest, but it is not all about money for Hashimi.

"If something fulfills someone's passion, it has a lot of worth... it is priceless," he said.

- 'Keep your distance' -

Goldfinchers use various methods to try to coax the most song from their animals.

They feed their birds special seeds -- different types in different seasons -- take them out to gardens or forested areas to encourage their singing and do not allow them to mate.

On the playground surrounding the basketball court, dozens of mini-fridge-sized bird cages are dotted around.

Waiting to compete, the yellow-and-red streaked birds are kept subdued in the dark by cage covers patterned in tartan, sequin and paisley.

Nearby, children play cricket as an elderly goldfincher pulls off a cage cover marked with the warning: "Keep your distance."

He affectionately clucks at the bird as he brings it forward to compete.

During the workday, Waris Hajizada is busy selling curtains.

But on Friday mornings, he plays a critical role as a referee, adjudicating the birdsong duels inside a circle of squatting and squinting spectators.

It requires a keen ear but also "you need to know and understand the bird", insisted the 27-year-old.

"They have their own breeding, they have their own families. Those who are passionate, they know the genuine one who can sing more.

"The hard work, troubles, and care for the bird is all because we want the bird to sing more and more."

'Forgotten' Afghan stories highlighted in two new films from Netflix, Nat Geo

Zarifa Ghafari, a former mayor in Afghanistan who had to flee as the Taliban took over, is spotlighted in the Netflix documentary 'In Her Hands'

Los Angeles (AFP) - The world's focus has shifted to the war in Ukraine, but two major new documentaries aim to throw the spotlight back on Afghanistan, and the people left behind by the United States' rapid withdrawal last year.

National Geographic's "Retrograde" follows an Afghan general who tried in vain to hold back the Taliban advance in 2021, while Netflix's "In Her Hands" tells the story of the country's youngest woman mayor, who had to flee as the Islamists took over.

"We've forgotten about this story -- when was the last time we discussed the war in Afghanistan, or read an article about it?" said "Retrograde" director Matthew Heineman.

"Obviously there's still some coverage of it, but... not that many people are talking about this country that we left behind."

Zarifa Ghafari, the former mayor spotlighted by "In Her Hands," told AFP that back under the Taliban, Afghanistan is "the only country around the world nowadays where a woman can sell their body, their children, anything else, but are not able to go to school."

But at international political meetings, "Afghanistan is out of those discussions."

Both movies begin in the months before the US withdrawal, as their subjects tried to build a safer and more egalitarian future for their country.

The two films end with their central characters forced to watch from abroad as the Taliban rapidly erases all their work.

"Retrograde" began as a documentary with rare inside access to US special forces.

In one early scene, US troops are shown having to destroy -- or retrograde -- their equipment and wastefully fire off excess ammunition that was sorely needed by their Afghan allies.

After the Americans left their base in Helmand, Afghan general Sami Sadat agreed to let Heineman's cameras stay and follow him, as he took charge of the ultimately doomed effort to stave off Taliban advances.

In one scene, Sadat -- stubbornly determined to rally his men to fight on as the situation crumbles around them -- chides his aide for bringing to his war office persistent reports of nearby Afghan troops downing their weapons.

"Every neon sign was saying 'stop, give up, this is over,' and he had this blind faith that maybe, just maybe, if he held on to Lashkar Gah or Helmand, that they could beat back the Taliban," recalled Heineman.

Sadat eventually had to flee, and the filmmakers shifted their lens again, to desperate scenes at Kabul airport as Afghans fought for spaces on the last American planes out.

"It was one of the most difficult things I've ever witnessed in my career," added Heineman, who was nominated for an Oscar for 2015's "Cartel Land."

"Discussions around wars in public policy and foreign policy, they're often talked about and discussed without the human element," said the director.

"One of the things I've tried to do throughout my career is take these large, amorphous subjects and put a human face to them."

'Murder'

Former mayor Ghafari had survived assassination attempts and seen her father gunned down by the Taliban before she too left Afghanistan as the Islamists moved in.

"Talking about that moment, I'm still not able to stop crying... it was something that I really never wanted to do," said Ghafari, who drew the Taliban's ire by campaigning for girls' education after being appointed mayor of Maidan Shahr aged 24.

"I had some personal responsibilities, especially after the murder of my dad... to help secure my family."

The directors of "In Her Hands," which counts Hillary Clinton among its executive producers, returned to Afghanistan and filmed Ghafari's former driver Massoum, now unemployed and living under the Taliban.

In unsettling scenes, he is seen bonding with the same fighters who once attacked the car in which he was driving Ghafari.

"The story of Massoum represents the story of all Afghanistan's crisis... why people are feeling betrayed," said Ghafari.

'Share their pain'

Though the conflicts in Afghanistan and Ukraine are vastly different in nature, both films offer a cautionary tale about what can happen once the West's focus shifts.

"Obviously, that's happened throughout history, and will continue to happen long into the future. And so what can we learn from this experience?" said Heineman.

Ghafari said: "Whatever happens in Ukraine and happened in Ukraine, it's the same thing that we have been going through for like 60 years.

"The same thing, again and again. So we share their pain."

Taliban to meet US on releasing frozen Afghan funds after quake

Volunteers carry aid from the International Organization for Migration for Afghans hit by a major earthquake in the Spera district in Khost province

Doha (AFP) - The United States and the Taliban plan talks Thursday in Qatar on unlocking some of Afghanistan's reserves following a devastating earthquake, officials said, with Washington seeking ways to ensure the money goes to help the population.

The White House said it is working "urgently" on the effort, but a member of the Afghan central bank's board said it could take time to finalise.

The Taliban's foreign minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi, arrived in the Qatari capital Doha along with finance ministry and central bank officials for talks, Taliban foreign ministry spokesman Hafiz Zia Ahmed said.

The State Department said its envoy on Afghanistan, Tom West, would take part and said the United States was focused on a range of interests including human rights and opening schools for girls.

"None of these engagements should be seen as 'legitimising' the Taliban or its so-called government but are a mere reflection of the reality that we need to have such discussions in order to advance US interests," said a spokesperson for the US State Department, which does not recognize Taliban rule over Afghanistan.

The Taliban took over in August 2021 after the United States gave up a 20-year military effort.

Washington at the time froze $7 billion in reserves and the international community halted billions in direct aid that Afghanistan and its population of roughly 40 million people had relied on.

The currency has collapsed and the country descended into a serious economic crisis, although some assistance has been restored.

Last week's 5.9-magnitude earthquake in eastern Afghanistan, which killed more than 1,000 people and left tens of thousands homeless, adds urgency to the funding debate.

"Negotiations are underway and it is our expectation that a final proposal under discussion will be finalised," said Shah Mehrabi, member of the Supreme Council of the Central Bank of Afghanistan.

However, details on "the mechanism to transfer the reserves to the Central Bank has not been finalised," he told AFP.

"It is going to take a while. These things do not happen overnight."

'Get these funds moving'

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said over the weekend that efforts were underway "to get these funds moving" from the frozen reserves.

"We are urgently working to address complicated questions about the use of these funds to ensure they benefit the people of Afghanistan and not the Taliban," she told reporters travelling with President Joe Biden to Europe.

In question are $3.5 billion in frozen reserves, half the total blocked by the US government.

"I have argued that these reserves should be released to the Central Bank," said Mehrabi, who also is an economics professor at Montgomery College in the suburbs of the US capital.

He proposed a "limited, monitored release of reserves" of about $150 million each month to pay for imports.

That would help "stabilise prices and help meet the needs of ordinary Afghans so that they can afford to buy bread, cooking oil, sugar and fuel," alleviating the misery of families facing high inflation, he said.

Use of the funds "can be independently monitored and audited by external auditing firms with an option to terminate in the event of misuse," he said.

The United Nations has warned that half the country is threatened with food shortages.

The United States earlier said it was contributing nearly $55 million to relief efforts made more urgent by the earthquake, directing aid to groups working in Afghanistan.

The Taliban are still considered a terrorist group by the United States, which has insisted that any improvement of relations would be dependent on meeting key concerns, including on the treatment of women.

Biden in February gave the green light for the other half of the frozen reserves to go to compensating survivors and families of the victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks, which triggered the invasion in which the United States toppled the Taliban and kept afloat a pro-Western government for two decades.

US man held hostage in Afghanistan seen alive for 1st time in 2 years in new video

An American man kidnapped by the Taliban in early 2020 was seen alive for the first time since then on Friday in a hostage video. Mark Frerichs, 59, asked for his release in the video, which was sent to The New Yorker by an unidentified Afghanistan source. He appeared to be reading off a script and said the video was recorded on Nov. 28, 2021. “I’d like to ask the leadership of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, please, release me,” he said. “Release me so that I may be reunited with my family.” Frerichs is a Navy veteran and former civilian contractor. An Illinois native, he was living in Ka...

Angelina Jolie shares letter from Afghan woman who details rights being ‘taken away’ under Taliban control

A letter sent to Angelina Jolie detailed the rights that are being taken away from women in Afghanistan after the Taliban seized control of the country. Jolie shared the letter on Instagram, saying she received it from a young Afghan woman who hasn’t been able to go back to school since the Taliban took over last year. “I feel like women don’t have any right to speak or put their word forward,” the letter reads, according to Jolie’s post. “The rights of the woman are taken away from them and they are not allowed to do anything in the country,” the letter continued. “Few weeks back when the Tal...