
Afghanistan: What We Know
Voice of America
Taliban fighters patrolled the streets of Kabul on Monday, a day after the group swept into the Afghan capital and President Ashraf Ghani left the country.
The United Nations Security Council is scheduled to meet to discuss the developments, while the United States and more than 60 other countries issued a statement calling on all parties in Afghanistan to allow any Afghans or foreign nationals to leave the country if they wish. The U.S. sent more troops to Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport to help secure the evacuation of U.S. diplomats and Afghan allies. Other Western nations also worked Monday to get their personnel out of the country. Thousands of Afghan civilians have also massed at the airport, fearing a return to Taliban rule but facing a less clear exit path. Afghanistan’s Civil Aviation Authority issued a statement Monday morning saying the civilian side of the airport was “closed until further notice.”
Local officials and navy personnel attend a joint Iranian, Russian and Chinese military drill in the Gulf of Oman, Iran, on March 12, 2025. (Iranian Army Office via AFP) Chinese navy troops attending a joint naval drill with Iran and Russia stand on the deck of their warship in an official arrival ceremony at Shahid Beheshti port in Chabahar in the Gulf of Oman, Iran, on March 11, 2025.

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