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US strikes Daesh after deadly Kabul attack
The United States launched a drone strike against an Islamic State (Daesh) attack “planner” in eastern Afghanistan, the US military said on Friday, a day after a suicide bombing at Kabul airport killed 13 U.S. troops and over 60 Afghan civilians.
US President Joe Biden vowed on Thursday that the United States would hunt down those responsible for the attack, saying he had ordered the Pentagon to come up with plans to strike at the perpetrators.
U.S. Central Command said the strike took place in Nangarhar province, Reuters reported.
“Initial indications are that we killed the target. We know of no civilian casualties,” a U.S. military statement said. It did not say whether the target was connected with the airport attack.
A U.S. official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the strike was against a Daesh militant planning future attacks, Reuters reported.
A reaper drone, which took off from the Middle East, struck the militant while he was in a car with a Daesh associate, the official said. Both are believed to have been killed, the official added.
Islamic State Khorasan (ISIS-K), an affiliate of militants who previously battled U.S. forces in Syria and Iraq, said it had carried out Thursday’s attack, which killed dozens of people – including Afghans who were trying to leave the country.
In addition to the 13 U.S. troops killed, 18 injured were flown to Germany.
Thursday’s attack marked the first U.S. military casualties in Afghanistan since February 2020 and represented the deadliest incident for American troops there in a decade.
“We will not forgive, we will not forget. We will hunt you down and make you pay,” Biden said.
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Afghanistan lodges complaint with UN over Pakistani airstrikes
Afghanistan’s acting representative to the United Nations has formally raised concerns at the UN Security Council following overnight airstrikes this week it says were carried out by Pakistan inside Afghan territory.
Nasir Ahmad Faiq, acting chargé d’affaires of Afghanistan’s mission to the UN, announced on Monday that a formal complaint had been submitted regarding the strikes, which reportedly resulted in civilian casualties.
In a statement posted on X, Faiq called for “the immediate cessation of such actions, a thorough and impartial review, full respect for Afghanistan’s territorial integrity, and strict adherence to the Charter of the United Nations and international law.”
According to Afghan officials, the strikes took place late Saturday night in eastern Nangarhar and south-eastern Paktika provinces.
Authorities say dozens of civilians, including women and children, were killed or wounded when residential areas were hit.
Islamabad has previously maintained that it reserves the right to act against militant groups it says operate near or along the disputed Durand Line. Afghan officials, however, have consistently rejected allegations that Afghan territory is being used to launch attacks against Pakistan.
The latest incident comes amid heightened tensions between Kabul and Islamabad over security concerns and cross-Durand Line militancy, further complicating already fragile bilateral relations.
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US companies are welcome to join TAPI project: Turkmenistan’s ex-president
In an interview with Al Arabiya, former Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov said international companies, including United States firms, are welcome to join the Turkmenistan–Afghanistan–Pakistan–India (TAPI) gas pipeline project.
Berdymukhamedov noted that while the project enjoys U.S. support, it will need to navigate longstanding regional tensions, as Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India have seen outbreaks of deadly fighting over the past year.
“This project, which enjoys international support, including from the United States, possesses immense potential in meeting the growing energy needs of South Asian nations. It also opens promising avenues for accessing the emerging markets of the Asia-Pacific region, the Near East, and the Middle East,” he said.
“The TAPI project is also of paramount importance for political stability and economic prosperity, maintaining high investment attractiveness,” Berdymukhamedov added.
Turkmenistan plans to complete the first section of the pipeline, reaching the Afghan city of Herat, by the end of 2026. No plans have yet been announced to extend the project further south.
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UK’s Reform party pledges visa ban affecting Afghanistan and five other states
The British political party Reform UK, led by Nigel Farage, is set to impose a blanket visa ban on Afghanistan and five other countries — including Pakistan — as part of its proposed crackdown on illegal migration and states refusing to accept deported nationals.
In a speech set for Monday, the party’s newly appointed “shadow” home secretary, Zia Yusuf, will outline plans to halt all visas for diplomats, students, workers, VIPs and tourists from Pakistan, Somalia, Eritrea, Syria, Afghanistan and Sudan. Reform says these governments fail to cooperate in accepting back deported migrants and convicted criminals.
Pakistan received more than 160,000 UK visas last year, making it one of the biggest visa recipients. However, British officials say Islamabad accepts back only a small fraction of rejected asylum seekers and has resisted pressure to take back individuals convicted in high-profile criminal cases.
The move – which mirrors US President Donald Trump’s visa ban on 75 countries – would be a key element in Reform’s strategy to deport up to 288,000 illegal migrants from the UK on five charter flights a day.
On legal migration, Yusuf will say a Reform government would terminate all welfare payments to foreign nationals, including the 1.3 million currently receiving UC, up from around 900,000 in 2022.
Yusuf is expected to say that years of weak immigration enforcement have undermined public trust and that a Reform government would secure Britain’s borders and make people feel safe.
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