Afghanistan: Medics respond to the overwhelming health needs

In the wake of intense fighting and the rapid transfer of power to the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (also known as the Taliban), people are facing widespread instability, mass displacement, and the disruption of basic services, including health care. Despite the challenges, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) teams continue to provide essential medical care across all five of our projects in Afghanistan—in Herat, Helmand, Kandahar, Khost, and Kunduz provinces. Here, two medical staff members working in Lashkar Gah (Helmand province) and Khost city describe the recent changes they have witnessed, and how they have affected patients and health care providers alike.

Names withheld to protect anonymity.
Lashkar Gah: “We are receiving over 700 patients a day in our emergency room”

NOTICE OF MEETING AND PROVISIONAL AGENDA

COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION

(Justice and Home Affairs)
Europa building, Brussels
31 August 2021 (13.00)
Format 1+2 (+1 in listening room)


Adoption of the agenda Non-legislative activities


Situation in Afghanistan: Home Affairs aspects1
Exchange of views

Any other business

The Past and Future of Deobandi Islam

As the barack obama administration considers modifying the current U.S. strategy in Afghanistan, it is useful to understand the social, religious and historical forces that influence Pashtun society. Pashtuns form the single largest community in Afghanistan, consisting of approximately 38% of the population.[1] Pakistan also hosts a significant Pashtun population, primarily in the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP), where they make up 78% of the population, and in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), where they make up 99% of the population.[2] Overall, 15% of Pakistanis are Pashtun.[3]

How Dangerous Is Afghanistan’s Islamic State Group?

The Islamic State offshoot that Americans blame for Thursday’s deadly suicide attacks outside the Kabul airport coalesced in eastern Afghanistan six years ago and rapidly grew into one of the more dangerous terror threats globally.

Despite years of military targeting by the U.S.-led coalition, the group known as Islamic State Khorasan has survived to press more assaults as the United States and other NATO partners withdraw from Afghanistan, and as the Taliban return to power.

The Neocons Speak: Afghanistan As Political Real Estate – OpEd

When the tears dry, it is worth considering why there is so much upset about the fall of Kabul (or reconquest) by the Taliban and the messy withdrawal of US-led forces. A large shield is employed: women, rights of the subject, education. Remove the shield, and we are left with a simple equation of power gone wrong in the name of paternalistic warmongering.

Erdogan Says Turkey Holds Talks With The Taliban In Kabul

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday said Turkey has held its first talks with the Taliban in Kabul, adding that Ankara was still assessing Taliban’s offer to run the Afghan capital’s airport.

The Turkish leader said the talks were held at a military section of the Kabul airport where the Turkish embassy is temporarily stationed.

The Neocons Speak: Afghanistan As Political Real Estate – OpEd

When the tears dry, it is worth considering why there is so much upset about the fall of Kabul (or reconquest) by the Taliban and the messy withdrawal of US-led forces. A large shield is employed: women, rights of the subject, education. Remove the shield, and we are left with a simple equation of power gone wrong in the name of paternalistic warmongering.