Afghan official evacuated by U.S. says he and his family living "like prisoners" on American military base in Kosovo
CBSN
A former Afghan intelligence official and politician who worked closely with the United States after the September 11 terror attacks says he and about 45 other Afghan refugees have been stuck at a U.S. military base in Kosovo in unsuitable conditions since they were evacuated by the U.S. from Afghanistan last summer, and that they have felt "like prisoners."
Muhammad Arif Sarwari, known as "Engineer Arif," worked with the CIA during America's invasion of Afghanistan in 2001. He went on to serve as a top intelligence official and a politician before the Taliban retook control of the country last August.
"There are people here who have been in the Defense Ministry (MOI) in Afghanistan, those who worked in the CIA, the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, police officers, and a few regular people who escaped from the Taliban," Sarwari told CBS News in a text message from Camp Bondsteel in Kosovo. "We have absolutely no freedom to leave the area. We only have access to one field, the bathrooms, the dining hall, and our tent. … Not only are we unable to leave the camp, but we can't speak to most of the visitors."
Zhytomyr, Ukraine — Exactly 1,000 days after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of neighboring Ukraine, Russia's defense ministry accused Ukrainian forces on Tuesday of firing six U.S.-made and -supplied ATACMS missiles at the Russian region of Bryansk. If confirmed, it could be the first time Ukrainian troops had taken advantage of President Biden easing restrictions over the weekend on Ukraine's use of the U.S.-made missiles to strike targets deeper inside Russian territory.
In the wake of former President Donald Trump's re-election, Israel's far-right minister of finance suggested the country would look to annex the occupied West Bank in 2025. Here's what you need to know:
Police in Russia are investigating after renowned Russian ballet dancer Vladimir Shklyarov reportedly fell to his death over the weekend. He was 39.
President Biden's decision to allow Ukraine to fire U.S.-made and supplied missiles deeper into Russia — a major policy shift announced over the weekend after months of intense lobbying by Kyiv — has drawn a furious response from Moscow. While there was no immediate reaction directly from the man who launched the nearly three-year war on his neighboring nation, lawmakers aligned with President Vladimir Putin in Russia said Monday that the move was unacceptable and warned it could lead to a third world war.
Tel Aviv — After more than a year of bombing and homelessness, Gazans are looking to a new administration in Washington for help. President-elect Donald Trump's election victory has raised hopes and fears among the five million residents of the Palestinian territories — the warn-torn Gaza Strip and the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
President Biden has given the OK to lift restrictions that will allow Ukraine to use U.S.-provided long-range weapons to strike deep into Russian territory, a U.S. official confirmed to CBS News on Sunday. The move is a significant change to U.S. policy in the ongoing Ukraine-Russia conflict.
Tropical Storm Sara was downgraded to a tropical depression after it made landfall in Belize on Sunday as forecasters expect heavy rain to continue and cause life-threatening flash flooding and mudslides.
The main spokesman for Hezbollah was killed in an Israeli airstrike on central Beirut on Sunday, an official with the militant group said.
Eight people were killed and 17 others wounded Saturday in a knife attack at a vocational school in eastern China, and the suspect — a former student — has been arrested, police said.
A fire tore through a neonatal intensive care unit in a hospital in northern India, killing 10 newborn babies and injuring 16 others, authorities said.
Johannesburg — It's often called the forgotten conflict, but the civil war that has torn Sudan apart for 19 months is fueling the world's biggest humanitarian crisis. In just over a year and a half, 13 million people have been displaced from their homes. At least one overcrowded camp for displaced civilians is already dealing with famine, while other parts of the country are suffering though famine-like conditions.