There is growing concern among Pakistani officials about security in neighbouring Afghanistan, as the Taliban tries to form a government and stabilise the country following the departure of US and other foreign forces.

President Joe Biden on Tuesday rejected criticism of his decision to stick to a deadline to pull out of Afghanistan this week, a move that left 100 to 200 Americans in the country along with thousands of U.S.-aligned Afghan citizens.

 In the last call between U.S. President Joe Biden and his Afghanistan counterpart before the Taliban seized control of the country, the leaders discussed military aid, political strategy and messaging tactics, but neither Biden nor Ashraf Ghani appeared aware of or prepared for the immediate danger of the entire country falling to insurgents, a transcript reviewed by Reuters shows.

United Nations chief Antonio Guterres warned Tuesday of a looming "humanitarian catastrophe" in Afghanistan as he urged countries to provide emergency funding following the departure of US forces.

Celebratory gunfire resounded across the Afghan capital yesterday as the Taliban took control of the airport following the withdrawal of the last US troops, marking the end of a 20-year war that left the Islamist group stronger than it was in 2001.

The story of how 148 Afghan female students of a university in Bangladesh managed to flee the Taliban-controlled Kabul can be used as the plot of a Hollywood thriller.

Japan’s defence ministry is seeking an annual budget increase that will add to past hikes to expand military spending over a decade by almost a sixth, as it looks to counter the growing strength of neighbouring China.

When Ezmarai Ahmadi returned home from work on Sunday evening in Kabul, the usual gaggle of squealing children were waiting to greet him -- his sons and daughters, and a slew of nieces and nephews.

‘War on terror’: On October 7, 2001 -- less than a month after the September 11 attacks that killed around 3,000 people in the US -- President George W Bush launches “Operation Enduring Freedom” in Afghanistan.

America’s longest war ended ignobly, in the dead of night in Afghanistan.

Indian Ambassador to Qatar Deepak Mittal today met the head of the Taliban’s political office Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai in Doha -- the first official contact between India and the Taliban.

The 148 Afghan students of Asian University for Women (AUW) in Chattogram, who were stranded in their country following the Taliban takeover, have been safely evacuated from Kabul in US military planes.

When Ezmarai Ahmadi returned home from work on Sunday (Aug 30) evening in Kabul, the usual gaggle of squealing children were waiting to greet him - his sons and daughters, and a slew of nieces and nephews.

Kabul airport is without air traffic control services now that the US military has withdrawn from Afghanistan, and US civil aircraft are barred from operating over the country unless given prior authorization, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said on Monday.

The United States completed the withdrawal of its forces from Afghanistan on Monday, ending 20 years of war that culminated in the militant Taliban's return to power.

A Taliban spokesman yesterday said a US drone strike targeting a suspected suicide bomber in Kabul on Sunday resulted in civilian casualties, and condemned the US for failing to inform the Islamist group before ordering the strike.

The Taliban has assured 100 countries that it will continue to allow foreigners and Afghans with foreign travel papers to leave the country “in a safe and orderly manner,” even after the US troop withdrawal ends today, the countries said in a statement Sunday.

Islamic State militants fired a volley of rockets at Kabul’s rapidly emptying international airport on Monday, with just hours left before a deadline for US forces to withdraw at the end of America’s longest war.

As evacuations from Kabul wind down in coming days, "a larger crisis is just beginning" in Afghanistan and for its 39 million people, the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR said on Monday, appealing for support.

US anti-missile defences intercepted as many as five rockets that were fired at Kabul's airport early on Monday morning, a US official said, as the United States rushed to complete its withdrawal from Afghanistan to end its longest war.