Latest news with #Taliban-affiliated
Hindustan Times
09-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Hindustan Times
'Welcome to Afghanistan': Shocking tourism promo urging Americans to visit the country goes viral
A shocking promotional video is circulating on Taliban-affiliated social media, urging American travelers to come to Afghanistan. The video showcases a blend of dark comedy, military visuals and picturesque views of the Afghan countryside. It begins with a provocative image: five armed Afghan men positioned behind three kneeling, hooded figures, imitating the format of extremist hostage recordings. Shocking tourism promo asking Americans to visit the country goes viral (X) Abruptly, an Afghan yanks the hood away from a grinning Caucasian man who offers a thumbs-up and exclaims, 'Welcome to Afghanistan!' What does the video show? In the video, a man does pull-ups on the barrel of a ruined tank, while another swims through a lake with an assault rifle. An M4 rifle labeled 'Property of US Government' is shown, while an off-camera voice quips, 'Oh, it's not even on safety,' prompting laughter. Western visitors are shown enjoying regional cuisine, dressing in traditional Afghan garb and receiving kind welcomes from the locals. The pictures aim to portray Afghanistan as a challenging yet hospitable destination. Influencers contribute to disputes American adult star Whitney Wright recently traveled to the country and shared pictures of herself there on Instagram in March, showing off her Afghan attire and holding a rifle at different tourist spots, The Daily Telegraph reported. A few Afghan citizens criticized the Taliban for permitting her visit while prohibiting local women from employment, education and participating in public life, the report added. 'This is fundamentally hypocritical,' one of them said. In spite of attempts to alter Afghanistan's worldwide perception, Western governments still warn against traveling to the nation. The US State Department issued a Level Four 'Do Not Travel' advisory for Afghanistan because of the risks of terrorism, crime, and kidnapping. In 2021, the US embassy in Kabul closed, ending consular support for Americans who were there The UK Foreign Office also advises citizens to avoid traveling to Afghanistan, referencing continuing civil unrest. FAQs Is it safe for US tourists to visit Afghanistan in 2025? No. The US government currently advises against all travel to Afghanistan due to risks of terrorism, kidnapping, and civil unrest. Who is behind the viral Afghan tourism video inviting Americans? The video was shared on Taliban-linked social media accounts, though it was not officially released by the Taliban government. Have any American influencers actually visited Afghanistan recently? Yes. Influencers like Whitney Wright and Marian Abdi have visited and documented their trips, sparking controversy online. What is the current US travel advisory level for Afghanistan? The US State Department has issued a Level 4: Do Not Travel advisory for Afghanistan, citing extreme security concerns.
NDTV
20-06-2025
- Politics
- NDTV
Pak Using Drone Campaign Inside Its Borders, But With A Collateral Damage
New Delhi: Pakistan, during a brief military clash with India, used drones to attack civilian areas - showing off their high-tech weapons. But little was it known, the country has been running a deadly drone campaign to monitor and strike terrorists within its borders for years, a report by The New York Times said. This, however, comes with its own collateral damage: civilian deaths. While Pakistani officials have said that drone operations have become significantly more effective and precise, some reports of attacks tell a different story. Earlier this year, the Pakistani Security Forces targeted a terrorist hideout with drones in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, killing an unspecified number of "high-value" terrorists. However, some civilians were also killed in the strike, with the provincial government suggesting that women and children were among the victims. Late last month, at least 20 people were injured in a suspected drone strike on a crowd watching a volleyball match in Lower South Waziristan, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa bordering Afghanistan. Last month, four children were reportedly killed after a drone strike in North Waziristan. Officials blamed the Pakistani Taliban for the attack, but the political opposition condemned it as a consequence of the government's flawed security strategy, the NYT report said. Pakistan is among the four countries that are using drones against terrorists within their borders. The other three countries are Iraq, Nigeria, and Turkey. Despite this, the country's government has not yet officially acknowledged the role of drones in its counterinsurgency, the report said. Drone campaign goes online The Pakistani security officials are reportedly becoming more vocal about the drone strikes online - mainly to put down the criticism. A video that recently went viral showed armed men (with what officials said were Pakistani Taliban terrorists) trying to breach a barbed-wire perimeter at night when a drone strike hit them. Officials reportedly said that the video was recorded in 2024. Another video shows a drone strike targeting Taliban-affiliated terrorists in a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, which borders Afghanistan in northwestern Pakistan. While the videos remain unverified, many of them were posted by pro-military accounts, the NYT reported. According to the report, the Pakistani government is backing the digital drone campaign. US drone campaign in Pakistan For many years, the US conducted drone strikes inside Pakistan that targeted Al Qaeda, the Pakistani Taliban, and affiliated groups. The first known US strike took place in 2004, in which a prominent Taliban commander, Nek Muhammad, died. According to the NYT report, the George Bush administration had allowed 48 drone strikes in Pakistan, while Barack Obama authorised 353. The last recorded drone strike in the Pakistan borders by the US was in 2016, in which the chief of the Afghan Taliban, Mullah Akhtar Mansour, was killed. US President Donald Trump had reportedly ordered 13 strikes in Pakistan during his first term. However, no drone strikes by the US were reported after 2018. Pakistan and terrorism The Pakistani government faces one of the most severe terrorist threats in the world, with the country ranking second as the most affected by terrorism in the world. Some of the deadliest terror organisations include: the Pakistani Taliban and the Baloch Liberation Army. Pakistan was placed on the FATF's grey list in June 2018. Countries that are considered safe havens for terror funding and money laundering are put on this list. Pakistan was said to be lacking a comprehensive and coordinated risk-based approach in combating money laundering and terror financing - following which the FATF urged Islamabad to implement a 34-point action plan by the end of 2019. This deadline was then extended due to the coronavirus pandemic. Between 2020 to 2022, Pakistan carried out measures to its anti-money laundering and anti-terrorism laws. In September 2022, the FATF conducted an onsite visit to Pakistan to confirm the completion of the action plan. Islamabad was removed from the list in October 2022. India, responding to FATF's move, had said that Pakistan must continue to take credible action against terrorism.
AllAfrica
18-06-2025
- Business
- AllAfrica
Taliban making steady gains toward global legitimacy
The Taliban's quest for legitimacy is gaining momentum after Pakistan upgraded diplomatic ties last month, promoting its charge d'affaires in Kabul to the rank of ambassador and accepting the Taliban's counterpart in Islamabad. At the time, Pakistan's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said the Pakistan-Afghanistan relationship was on a 'positive trajectory' and that the move was a positive step towards 'enhanced engagement' in the areas of trade, security and counterterrorism. This is a big win for the Taliban, particularly after its relationship with Islamabad broke down over terror attacks on Pakistani soil by the Taliban-affiliated militant group Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP). The situation had reached crisis levels when Pakistan carried out airstrikes on alleged terror camps in Afghanistan last year, killing 46 people and sparking border skirmishes between Taliban and Pakistani soldiers. Pakistan's recognition is the latest in a series of diplomatic victories for the Taliban. China was the first country to seek closer ties, sending its ambassador to Kabul in 2023 before accepting the credentials of a Taliban envoy in Beijing. At the time, Chinese officials said the Taliban should not be excluded from the international community. Today, China is the Taliban's closest partner. China recently hosted a trilateral meeting with Taliban and Pakistani officials in Beijing that successfully cooled tensions between the Taliban and Pakistan. Beijing also announced it would extend the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor to Afghanistan, representing a potential Belt and Road Initiative-fuelled trade boon for the Taliban. Taliban envoys occupy embassies in every Central Asian country barring Tajikistan, and the United Arab Emirates has also sent an ambassador to Afghanistan. More recently, the Taliban has welcomed Indonesia's chargé d'affaires in Kabul and Iran has accepted the appointment of the Taliban's new Consul General in Mashad. Russia also plans to send an ambassador after removing the Taliban from a list of designated terror organizations. Further afield, Japan hosted a high-level Taliban delegation in February, the first visit to the country by any Afghan government. For a regime accustomed to international isolation, engaging with the likes of Japan and Indonesia is seen as a key route towards international legitimacy. India, too, is bidding to engage with the Taliban. There are reports that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will soon accept a Taliban ambassador in New Delhi. That comes after Indian and Taliban foreign ministers met in Dubai in January. India clearly thinks this is the time to recognize the Taliban before the country is dominated by rivals Pakistan and China. Even the United States, which battled Taliban insurgents for nearly two decades in the name of the War on Terror, has shown signs of softening on the regime. For example, Washington removed millions of dollars worth of bounties for senior Taliban leaders in March, including for Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani, to secure the release of George Glezmann, an American tourist detained by the Taliban in December 2022. Despite this, the Taliban still faces stubborn obstacles to achieving full legitimacy. Most significantly, the regime continues to be denied Afghanistan's seat at the United Nations; it has been barred from taking the seat four times since 2021. Many countries still refuse to recognize the regime due to its abysmal treatment of women – called 'gender apartheid' by the UN experts – and its close links to internationally designated terrorist groups. History shows winning legitimacy is rarely a linear process and is often a game of diplomatic patience. The People's Republic of China spent years in isolation before it was recognized by the West as the legitimate government of China, taking its place on the UN Security Council in 1971 and recognized by Washington only in 1979. This was a decision based on pragmatism – an acknowledgment the PRC was not going anywhere and that engaging with Beijing was then aligned with Western strategic interests. Similarly, while China, India and the US have at one time or another all demanded the Taliban respect women's rights and root out terrorism, these unmet demands have not stopped them and others engaging with the regime by opening embassies, exchanging envoys and making deals. There is a pragmatic view emerging that the Taliban is probably here to stay and that it is better to engage with the regime rather than further isolate Afghanistan. The West seems to believe it can negotiate with so-called Taliban 'reformers' to improve the situation for women and girls, while China, Russia and Iran see the regime as a key ally against the deadly Islamic State in Khorasan (ISK), which has carried out attacks in Russia and Iran and threatened Chinese interests in the region. But the Taliban's words and actions show this approach is not working. The Taliban continues to roll out punitive edicts oppressing women and made it clear its position is fused with its harsh interpretation of Islam and is thus non-negotiable. And the West's decision to engage is no doubt seen by the regime as a sign of weakness, validating its stance and emboldening it to take further hardline positions and policies. Indeed, with reports supreme leader Haibatullah Akhundzad has strengthened his power base and marginalized Taliban moderates, reforms look increasingly unlikely. The Taliban has also wholly failed to defeat ISK, seen by the group's brazen assassination of Taliban powerbroker Khalil Ur-Rahman Haqqani last year, terror attacks on civilians in Russia, Iran and Turkey, and threats to do the same against India. There is also certain evidence ISK has successfully infiltrated the regime's intelligence agencies and attracted disillusioned Taliban soldiers to its ranks. At the same time, The Taliban is believed to be backing Al Qaeda and TTP, likewise failing on its vow to keep Afghanistan terror-free. The regime's inability to divest from terrorism makes the region less safe, a reality experienced by China, Russia, Iran, Pakistan and India since the Taliban returned to power. Legitimizing and emboldening the Taliban, therefore, comes with significant security risks that may ultimately outweigh the potential diplomatic benefits of engagement. Nonetheless, the Taliban is winning the battle of legitimacy despite these failings, helped by Afghanistan's strategic position between Central and South Asia and China's willingness to fill the vacuum left by the US after its fateful 2021 withdrawal.
The Guardian
05-03-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Lemurs, Lego and dotty dogs: photos of the day
Masked participants parade through the streets on the closing day of the Venice carnival Photograph: Alessio Marini/LiveMedia/Rex/Shutterstock People move motorbikes on carts through a flooded road in the suburb of Bekasi after rivers overflowed following heavy rain Photograph: Aditya Irawan/AFP/Getty Images A woman walks with her dogs through the snow on a beach Photograph: Evgeniy Maloletka/AP An installation by German artist Anselm Kiefer during a preview of his exhibition Sag Mir Wo die Blumen Sind (Tell Me Where the Flowers Are) at the Stedelijk Museum Photograph: Dingena Mol/EPA People gather for the funeral of victims killed by a bomb at an army base that also destroyed nearby houses and mosques. The Pakistani Taliban-affiliated group Jaish al-Fursan claimed responsibility for the attack Photograph: Abdullah Khan/EPA Supporters of Călin Georgescu, the independent candidate who won the first round of Romania's annulled presidential elections, wave flags and shout slogans after his arrival at court Photograph: Robert Ghement/EPA A resident of Lemurs' Park, home to 112 distinct lemur species and one of the largest natural habitats for these primates unique to the island Photograph: Cem Genco/Anadolu/Getty Images A Lego model of the ship Batavia, wrecked on its maiden voyage in 1629, at the exhibition Brickwrecks: Sunken Ships in Lego Bricks at the Historic Dockyard Chatham in Kent. It took 1,336.5 hours and 170,463 bricks to create eight ships dating from the oldest known shipwreck in about 1300 BC Photograph: Gareth Fuller/PA Rapper A$AP Rocky poses during a photoshoot for Vogue in Harlem Photograph: Jose Perez/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images A child runs through the streets with a mask during the town's African-Mexican carnival in the Actopan River region in Veracruz Photograph:People take pictures of delegates before the opening session of the National People's Congress at the Great Hall of the People Photograph: Vincent Thian/AP Donald Trump leaves the chamber after addressing a joint session of Congress at the Capitol Photograph: Win McNamee/AP Humpback whales photographed by researchers on the ninth National Antarctic Science Expedition led by the Turkish Polar Research Institute Photograph: Sebnem Coskun/Anadolu/Getty Images Members of the Acadêmicos do Grande Rio samba school take part in the third day of parades in the city's carnival Photograph: António Lacerda/EPA People take photos at Snapper Rocks as a tropical cyclone is expected to hit part of the Australian coast for the first time in more than 50 years Photograph: Jason O'Brien/AAP A woman and her son stop to look at a fire at a toy store in downtown Lima Photograph: Connie France/AFP/Getty Images Residents remove their belongings from a building destroyed by a drone attack after Russia targeted energy facilities in the southern region Photograph: Oleksandr Gimanov/AFP/Getty Images The house of a Palestinian man accused of an attack against Israelis in October 2024 is blown up by Israeli security forces Photograph: Hazem Bader/AFP/Getty Images
