Afghanistan

Aug 17 (Reuters) - NATO only had the option to leave Afghanistan completely or to increase troop numbers and resume combat operations there, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Tuesday.

"Allies took that risk (of the withdrawal) clear-eyed because they knew that the alternative was not to continue with a limited military presence, the alternative was most likely to continue with an increased presence of NATO troops and to once again engage in combat," he told reporters in Brussels.

Washington, Aug 17 (AP) Built and trained at a two-decade cost of USD 83 billion, Afghan security forces collapsed so quickly and completely in some cases without a shot fired that the ultimate beneficiary of the American investment turned out to be the Taliban.

They grabbed not only political power but also US-supplied firepower guns, ammunition, helicopters and more.

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The Taliban declared an “amnesty” across Afghanistan and urged women to join their government Tuesday, seeking to convince a wary population that they have changed a day after deadly chaos gripped the main airport as desperate crowds tried to flee the country.

Following a blitz across Afghanistan that saw many cities fall to the insurgents without a fight, the Taliban have sought to portray themselves as more moderate than when they imposed a brutal rule in the late 1990s. But many Afghans remain skeptical.

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Thousands of people packed into the Afghan capital’s airport on Monday, rushing the tarmac and pushing onto planes in desperate attempts to flee the country after the Taliban overthrew the Western-backed government. U.S. troops fired warning shots as they struggled to manage the chaotic evacuation.

(AP) --- The chop of U.S. military helicopters whisking American diplomats to Kabul’s airport punctuated a frantic rush by thousands of other foreigners and Afghans to flee to safety as well, as a stunningly swift Taliban takeover entered the heart of Afghanistan’s capital.

The U.S. was pouring thousands of fresh troops into the country temporarily to safeguard what was gearing up to be a large-scale airlift. It announced late Sunday it was taking charge of air-traffic control at the airport, even as it lowered the flag at the U.S. Embassy.

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The Taliban swept into Afghanistan’s capital Sunday after the government collapsed and the embattled president joined an exodus of his fellow citizens and foreigners, signaling the end of a costly two-decade U.S. campaign to remake the country.

Heavily armed Taliban fighters fanned out across the capital, and several entered Kabul’s abandoned presidential palace. Suhail Shaheen, a Taliban spokesman and negotiator, told The Associated Press that the militants would hold talks in the coming days aimed at forming an “open, inclusive Islamic government.”

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Taliban fighters entered Kabul on Sunday and sought the unconditional surrender of the central government, officials said, as Afghans and foreigners alike raced for the exit, signaling the end of a 20-year Western experiment aimed at remaking Afghanistan.

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The Taliban on Sunday seized the last major city outside of Kabul held by the country’s central government, cutting off the capital to the east as helicopters began landing at the U.S. Embassy there.

KABUL, Aug. 14 (Xinhua) -- Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani on Saturday vowed to prevent instability in his war-battered country.

The president made the remarks in a televised address, his first public remarks following the Taliban's major advance in recent days.

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The Taliban seized a province just south of Afghanistan’s capital and launched a multi-pronged assault early Saturday on a major city in the north defended by powerful former warlords, Afghan officials said.

The insurgents have captured much of northern, western and southern Afghanistan in a breakneck offensive less than three weeks before the United States is set to withdraw its last troops, raising fears of a full militant takeover or another Afghan civil war.