(KABUL, Afghanistan) — Sitting in a Taliban press conference Tuesday was a thoroughly surreal moment to cap seven long days of almost unimaginable firsts.
This time two weeks ago, I was reporting from London on the Taliban assaulting three major cities. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley was saying that while the Taliban seemed to have the “strategic momentum,” their victory wasn’t certain.
This time a week ago, still marooned in London, I foolishly told Amy Robach on “Good Morning America” that it was hard to imagine a worse picture in Afghanistan as the Taliban seized their ninth provincial capital.
On Tuesday, I joined hundreds of local journalists packed into the hall of the Afghan media center in Kabul as the enigmatic Zabihullah Mujahid descended the stairs in hushed silence to hold the Taliban’s first public press conference in almost 20 years.
Anyone who’s been following events in Afghanistan will know of him. He has over 300,000 followers on Twitter. Anyone who has reported on the country has probably spoken to him on the phone. Yet, every call seemed to be with a different sounding Mujahid to the point where many wondered if he really existed or whether it was just a pseudonym for any Taliban spokesman.
But Tuesday, the somber-looking, black-turbaned voice of the militants had his coming out presser.
There are many known unknowns here, to borrow a phrase from the recently departed U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who famously turned down a Taliban offer to surrender in December 2001.
The first and most-pressing question went to a female journalist from Al Jazeera English. Mujahid clearly understands the optics, even if someone had to nudge him to receive her question first. Most women and girls are in effect confined to their homes right now — at least half the population too afraid to go out. Just let that sink in.
“What assurances can you give to women and girls that their rights will be protected?” the reporter asked.
“Women will be afforded all their rights,” Mujahid said. “Whether it is at work or other activities, because women are a key part of society, and we are guaranteeing all their rights.”
And then came the all important caveat, “Within the limits of Islam.”
He was asked more than once about this key issue, and for good reason given the militants’ appalling track record on blocking girls from schools, women from the workplace and even dictating that they can only leave home with a male family member and must be fully clad in the oppressive, all-encompassing burqa.
He was never more specific about what he is promising other than vague assurances that fail to inspire confidence. But the militants know they have a small window to prove to the country and the world that they have changed.
I was speaking Tuesday evening to a diplomat from a Middle Eastern nation with some influence here. He said they have been trying to impress on the Taliban that you can be a good Muslim country and women can enjoy full rights. He said they had been told that if you just say “haram, haram, haram” (meaning “forbidden”) all the time to people, then you will drive them away from Islam. But he also conceded the Taliban mindset will take a lot of adjusting.
Mujahid said clearly, “The ideology is the same,” but added they have learned from experience. The militants have been in public relations overdrive since taking power over the weekend. They have said they will protect all minorities. They have met with the country’s small Sikh community and reached out to the Shia Hazara community with guarantees they won’t interfere with them.
They issued a general amnesty on Tuesday, inviting women to take part in public life. A spokesman said he doesn’t want women to be victims and instructed fighters not to enter people’s homes. Foreigners are welcome to stay; they want good relations with the outside world.
In summary, the Taliban is giving every impression they have changed without giving meaningful specifics on how. To be fair, they seized power even faster than they expected but they have also had years to formulate a meaningful posture on key issues. The political leadership that has been in exile for years and now moved back to Afghanistan has certainly given lip service to lessons learned. But its fighters often have an unreconstructed view and areas they have controlled for some time suggests there are many reasons to worry.
I asked about the Afghan special immigrant visa applicants, the people who risked their lives to help the U.S.-led mission here. Thousands of them have been promised flights out but many of them are also trapped at home in fear with no means to get to the airport, even if there were flights ready for them. Some Taliban checkpoints are only allowing foreigners through and these men and women rightly fear for their lives.
“We are assuring the safety of all those who have worked with the United States and allied forces whether as interpreters or any other field that they have worked with them,” he told me. Again, no specifics on how they would be allowed to get to the airport.
No discussion on burqas for women or beards for men. We were told that this will be resolved by the new government (or emirate).
The first time I came to Kabul was on foot and bicycle in November 2001. It still stands as a journalistic high witnessing the liberation of an entire city. Women threw back the veil for the camera proclaiming their freedom, men shaved their beards, music was played and the capital celebrated.
In the 20 years since then, the city has been transformed and around half the population has never known life under the Taliban. But today there is a darkness and a sadness that has descended. The young women on the hotel reception have disappeared. The music has stopped playing and Afghans now wait with more sadness than hope to see whether the future is going to be as awful as the past.
(GEORGIA) — Georgia’s State Election Board appointed a bipartisan independent performance review panel on Wednesday to investigate potential violations of election law by officials in Fulton, the state’s largest county — a move that could lead to the takeover of the county Registration and Elections Board.
Under SB 202, the election code overhaul that Republican Gov. Brian Kemp enacted in March amid protests and outrage from Democrats and voting rights activists, members of the state legislature can now request a performance review of their respective county’s local election board. The county reviews could lead to what critics have called a state “takeover” of local election branches.
Once the Fulton County review is complete, if at least three members of the State Election Board determine that the review finds at least three violations in the last two general election cycles that have not been “sufficiently remedied,” and that there is “clear and convincing evidence” that within the last two years, the county has shown “nonfeasance, malfeasance, or gross negligence” in election administration, a temporary election superintendent will be appointed by the Board to replace the multi-person local board of elections for at least nine months.
If the Board votes to appoint a superintendent after reviewing the panel’s written report, that superintendent will assume all the local board’s responsibilities, which include hiring and firing power as well as certifying elections.
The Board was legally required to appoint the review panel because enough state representatives and senators — all Republicans — from Fulton County asked for it. But while county Board of Commissioners Chairman Robb Pitts acknowledged that, he also blasted the development.
“It is still outrageous to see the Big Lie and demands of conspiracy theorists continue to progress. This is the result of a cynical ploy to undermine faith in our elections process and democracy itself – it is shameful partisan politics at its very worst,” Pitts said in a statement to ABC News.
Stacey Abrams, founder of Fair Fight Action, also decried the move as “partisan,” submitting testimony to the Board saying appointing the review panel “endangers our democracy.”
But Kemp, who’s staunchly defended the new law, backed it, tweeting, “Fulton County has a long history of mismanagement, incompetence, and a lack of transparency when it comes to running elections – including during 2020. I fully support this review.”
The three-member review panel is made up of Stephen Day, a Democratic member of metro Atlanta’s Gwinnett County elections board; Ricky Kittle, the Republican chairman of rural Northwest, Georgia’s Catoosa County elections board; and Ryan Germany, general counsel in Raffensperger’s office. Along with the secretary, Germany was heard rebuffing former President Donald Trump’s false allegations of rampant voter fraud in a recording of the now-infamous Jan. 2 phone call in which Trump demanded Raffensperger “find” exactly enough votes to overturn the election in Georgia.
Fulton County, a Democratic stronghold and home to most of Atlanta and a little over 10% of Georgia’s registered voters, was at the center of election conspiracy theories that allies and supporters of Trump, as well as the former president himself, spread about the 2020 presidential election. Those included one the secretary of state’s office debunked numerous times alleging there were “suitcases” of mysterious ballots that showed up during the counting process in the county.
Just last month, Trump in a statement again targeted the November election in Fulton County as a “total fraud,” citing baseless allegations from a group fighting in court to review the county’s absentee ballots in order to claim the county “stuffed the ballot box.”
But while there is no evidence of election fraud or tampering in the county in any of the 2020 elections, managerial and administration issues that often trickle down to voters, like hours-long lines, have been documented for years leading up to November.
Former Voter Protection Director for the Democratic Party of Georgia Sara Tindall Ghazal, the lone Democrat serving alongside three Republicans on the State Election Board, spoke to that during Wednesday’s meeting.
She said the three-member review panel will face “tremendous political pressure on both sides to come to preordained conclusions” in this investigation.
“The narrative driving this pressure has been influenced by disinformation surrounding the November 2020 election, but the fact remains that Fulton County voters have reported numerous problems for far longer than November 2020, particularly surrounding registration and absentee ballots,” she said.
While she urged the panel to “resist” partisan pressure and said she believed the members would, she also urged Fulton officials to take the review as “an opportunity to have fresh eyes on their systems and their procedures and identify areas of improvement.”
Since SB 202’s passage, it was expected that Fulton County would be the first test of the new law. In June, GOP lawmakers representing Fulton formally requested the review in letters obtained by ABC News, with state senators calling it “a measure of last resort.”
“The public record clearly demonstrates ample evidence which calls into question the competence of [Fulton’s] local election official regarding the oversight and administration of elections.. with state law and regulations,” that letter concluded.
(NEW YORK) — T-Mobile confirmed that the personal information of millions of current and prospective customers was compromised in a recent “highly sophisticated cyberattack.”
Some of the data accessed by hackers includes first and last names, dates of birth, social security numbers, and drivers license or ID information. The company said no phone numbers, account numbers, passwords or financial information, including credit or debit card details, were compromised.
The cell phone carrier said the access point bad actors used to illegally gain entry to its servers was located and closed, but the company’s investigation into the breach is ongoing.
“Our preliminary analysis is that approximately 7.8 million current T-Mobile postpaid customer accounts’ information appears to be contained in the stolen files, as well as just over 40 million records of former or prospective customers who had previously applied for credit with T-Mobile,” the company said.
Moreover, the company confirmed that some 850,000 active T-Mobile prepaid customer names, phone numbers and account PINs were also exposed. No customers of Metro by T-Mobile, formerly Sprint prepaid, or Boost had their names or PINs exposed.
T-Mobile said it’s offering two years of free identity protection services with McAfee’s ID Theft Protection Service to customers who are affected, and is recommending all T-Mobile postpaid customers proactively change their account PINs.
The company also said it’s also launching a web page on Wednesday with additional information to help customers protect themselves.
“We take our customers’ protection very seriously and we will continue to work around the clock on this forensic investigation to ensure we are taking care of our customers in light of this malicious attack,” the company said. “While our investigation is ongoing, we wanted to share these initial findings even as we may learn additional facts through our investigation that cause the details above to change or evolve.”
The breach at T-Mobile comes in the wake of multiple high-profile cybersecurity attacks this year that have targeted meat processors, oil pipeline operators and more. In May, President Joe Biden signed an executive order aimed at modernizing the federal government’s response to cyberattacks.
(HILLSBOROUGH, Fla.) — Just a week into the school year, some 8,400 students in and 307 employees of the Hillsborough County Public Schools district in Florida have been isolated or quarantined as districts across the state grapple with COVID-19.
Hillsborough is the seventh-largest school district in the U.S., with more than 213,000 students.
In total, there were 1,695 COVID-19 cases among students and staff, according to the Tampa-area district’s COVID-19 dashboard.
The district is requiring masks for students, but parents can opt-out their children. To date, at least 28,000 parents have opted out, district officials told ABC News.
The district has scheduled an emergency school board meeting Wednesday to discuss how to respond to the crisis.
District officials said they’re providing PPE and sanitation stations for each classroom, and have installed MERV-13 filters at each school.
“As we work to create the safest environment for our students and staff, we also must abide by the governor’s executive order, as well as emergency rules from the Department of Health and state Board of Education. This requires our district to preserve a parent’s right to choose to wear a face covering in school,” a spokesperson for the district told ABC News. “The Governor has been clear that if school districts do not abide by this order, they could face financial consequences.”
Last month, Gov. Ron DeSantis issued an emergency order giving parents the final say over masks for kids in school. At a press conference last month, he said Florida students shouldn’t be “muzzled,” adding, “We need them to be able to breathe.”
Elizabeth Devolder pulled her two children, who are in fifth and second grade, out of school to voluntarily quarantine them due to the “terrifying” rising number of virus cases.
“Although they were not immediately exposed, and they’re not required to quarantine, I felt like why do we have to wait for our kids to get sick before we take action?” she said to ABC Tampa affiliate WFTS.
The district is offering face-to-face instruction as well as virtual classes for the 2021-22 academic year.
The Bay Area of Florida has seen an uptick in virus cases. In Pinellas County, 361 cases among students and staff have been reported this school year, while in Sarasota 227 have been reported and in Manatee that figure stands at 480, according to those districts’ respective dashboards.
Mounting COVID-19 cases in schools are a rising concern as communities head back to in-person learning, especially as children under the age of 12 are not yet eligible for vaccines.
Florida currently has the country’s highest COVID-19 case rate. The state reported 151,415 new cases from Aug. 6 to Aug. 12 and 286 deaths, with a new-case positivity rate of 19.3%, according to its latest weekly COVID-19 report. And cases among children are up, with over 31,700 new cases reported last week among those 19 years old or younger.
(HILLSBOROUGH, Fla.) — Just a week into the school year, over 10,000 students and staff in the Hillsborough County Public Schools district in Florida have been isolated or quarantined as districts across the state grapple with COVID-19.
Hillsborough is the seventh-largest school district in the U.S., with more than 213,000 students. As of Wednesday, 10,384 students and 338 staffers are isolated or under quarantine, the district told ABC News.
In total, there were 1,805 COVID-19 cases among students and staff, according to the Tampa-area district’s COVID-19 dashboard.
The district is requiring masks for students, but parents can opt their children out. To date, at least 28,000 parents have opted out, district officials told ABC News.
The district held an emergency school board meeting Wednesday to discuss how to respond to the crisis.
In the heated gathering people shared points both for and against a mask mandate.
One mother of a student yelled, “Have any children died?” as a result of the virus. Some people in the audience shouted back that children have. Parents against masks argued that face coverings prevent kids from smiling at each other and communicate with their peers and teachers.
A wife of a teacher said during the meeting that her husband is immunosuppressed and suggested the district enforce masks just as they enforce girls adhere to a dress code that bans spaghetti straps. One high school student told the anti-maskers, “This tiny piece of cloth is not taking away your freedom. … Grow up.”
District officials said they’re providing personal protective equipment and sanitation stations for each classroom, and have installed MERV-13 air filters at each school.
“As we work to create the safest environment for our students and staff, we also must abide by the governor’s executive order, as well as emergency rules from the Department of Health and state Board of Education. This requires our district to preserve a parent’s right to choose to wear a face covering in school,” a spokesperson for the district told ABC News. “The Governor has been clear that if school districts do not abide by this order, they could face financial consequences.”
Last month, Gov. Ron DeSantis issued an emergency order giving parents the final say over masks for kids in school. At a press conference last month, he said Florida students shouldn’t be “muzzled,” adding, “We need them to be able to breathe.”
Elizabeth Devolder pulled her two children, who are in fifth and second grade, out of school to voluntarily quarantine them due to the “terrifying” rising number of virus cases.
“Although they were not immediately exposed, and they’re not required to quarantine, I felt like why do we have to wait for our kids to get sick before we take action?” she told Tampa ABC affiliate WFTS.
The district is offering face-to-face instruction as well as virtual classes for the 2021-22 academic year.
The Bay Area of Florida has seen an uptick in virus cases. In Pinellas County, 521 cases among students and staff have been reported this school year, while in Sarasota there have bee 227 reported and in Manatee that figure stands at 480, according to those districts’ respective dashboards.
Mounting COVID-19 cases in schools are a rising concern as communities head back to in-person learning, especially as children under the age of 12 are not yet eligible for vaccines.
Florida currently has the country’s highest COVID-19 case rate. The state reported 151,415 new cases from Aug. 6 to Aug. 12 and 286 deaths, with a new-case positivity rate of 19.3%, according to its latest weekly COVID-19 report. And cases among children are up, with over 31,700 new cases reported last week among those 19 years old or younger.
(KABUL, Afghanistan) — Watching the news about Afghanistan has become heart-breaking for ex-refugee and now-U.S. citizen Shabnam, who could only give her first name for the security of her family in Afghanistan.
She told ABC News that her siblings and extended family, like many Afghan citizens, are planning their escape out of the country. She said she’s losing her voice spending days on the phone with her family back home.
“People are just hopeless and helpless,” Shabnam, who left Afghanistan in 2011 after a Taliban attack forced her to flee the country, said.
The once-ousted militant group has taken over control over the Afghan capital and other major cities after the withdrawal of U.S. forces from the country. Many citizens fear what could come of their country and their livelihood in the Middle Eastern nation.
Now, many in the U.S. said they are left scrambling for ways to help their families back home.
“These two days back-to-back, I received calls from home and everybody thinks that I have a superpower that I can help them and bring them, but I don’t. I can’t do anything for them,” Shabnam said.
Women in the country fear that the Taliban will revert to oppressive tactics they used when they ruled in the 1990s, Shabnam said, like keeping women in the home, out of work and out of schools.
“It was a nightmare for me,” Shabnam said of the 90s in Afghanistan. The Taliban has claimed it will guarantee women’s rights under a new regime, but Shabnam and many others do not believe it. “They claim they are changing, but I know they are not. They are just waiting for the U.S. troops to get out of the country.”
Many also fear that the Taliban will retaliate against people with connections to America, who have worked with the U.S. or Afghan government, or who have criticized the Taliban, according to Krish Vignarajah, the president and CEO of the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service in Maryland.
Deena, who will also only be named for the security of her family back in Afghanistan, said she feels helpless. She is a first-generation American whose parents fled Afghanistan after the Soviet Union invaded in 1979, and she said she yearns for ways to help her family trapped in Kabul looking for a way out.
In the videos of Afghan citizens racing to get on airplanes and escape the growing Taliban presence in Kabul, she pictures her own family.
“People have lived through the Taliban regime before and people would rather hang on to airplanes and fall to their deaths than stay,” Deena said. “Everyone’s scared. They don’t know what to expect. They haven’t been going to work. Everything has been shut down. They have children and they’re worried.”
Deena is one of 150,000 people with Afghan heritage in America, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. In the last 20 years, backed by Western forces, she and her family say they have seen the Afghan government progress and modernize.
“They were pursuing their dreams, they’re becoming doctors and lawyers and artists,” Deena said. “Everything is just going to be taken away from them, all of their hard work and their efforts.”
They fear the Taliban takeover will turn back the clock on this — sparking violence, restrictions and oppression.
“My uncle, the last time I spoke to him, was like, ‘We’re leaving the house. We’re not going to be staying here. We don’t have power right now. We’re safe, pray for us,’” Deena said. “They don’t want history to repeat itself and unfortunately, everyone’s given up on them.”
Vignarajah said her organization has been flooded with incoming messages pleading for help.
Many have been left with the tough decision between staying in their homes or venturing out into the Taliban-controlled streets on the way to the airport. Some face death threats, she said, and retribution from militant groups.
The process for refugee resettlement can be lengthy, Vignarajah said, taking up to months or years to get through the bureaucratic red tape.
“We’re deeply concerned, knowing for those left behind, they face death threats and retribution from the Taliban,” Vignarajah said.
To help, many Afghan Americans and refugees with family back home say raising awareness, call legislators and representatives and volunteer for organizations that help refugees.
“Our hands are tied,” Deena said. “Being someone in the United States who’s in this position and seeing what’s happening over there and hearing the voices of my family members and how scared they are and how devastated they are — It’s a really difficult position to be in.”
(NEW YORK) — A former employee of convicted swindler John Ruffo has come forward with a rare home video showing the wanted fugitive before he disappeared more than 20 years ago.
The VHS video recording, which was filmed in 1995, shows Ruffo talking and strumming a guitar while socializing at the home of Jodylynn Bachiman, a family friend who worked for Ruffo as an office assistant at his New York City computer firm in the 90s.
The U.S. Marshals, who have been hunting Ruffo for almost three decades, say the video shows Ruffo at a time when he was committing one of the largest bank frauds in U.S. history.
The Marshals’ manhunt for Ruffo is the subject of a new season of the ABC News podcast, “Have You Seen This Man.” The podcast tells the story of his swindle and tracks the global search for Ruffo, which has been re-invigorated in recent months as the Marshals have followed new leads in the decades-old case.
Ruffo was arrested in 1996 after authorities say he negotiated more than $350 million in loans for a bogus business project. He pleaded guilty to a raft of federal charges in 1998 and received a 17-year sentence. But on the day he was scheduled to report to prison, he vanished.
The Marshals consider the newly uncovered video recording of Ruffo to be significant, even if it comes from before his escape, because it offers a rare chance to see and hear the man who now sits on the agency’s Top 15 Most Wanted list. The only other known videos of Ruffo do not include his talking at length, according to the Marshals.
Senior inspector Chris Leuer, who is overseeing the case with Deputy U.S. Marshal Danielle Shimchick, told ABC News, “a home video is something we rarely receive.”
“It can provide us with a ton of information about our fugitive as their guard isn’t up,” Leuer said. It’s just them acting normal in a safe environment.”
Bachiman said she found the video while searching through old belongings.
“[Ruffo] would always come over and play the guitar. Always. And my son loved it,” she said.
Bachiman spent several years working for Ruffo’s firm. She was arrested in 1996 when the FBI first exposed the scheme, but was later cleared of any charges or allegations of wrongdoing.
“Now looking back, it’s traumatic,” Bachiman said, of that time. “It haunts you no matter how much time goes by.”
(WASHINGTON) — The Biden administration is prepared to begin rolling out booster shots for many Americans the week of Sept. 20, the nation’s top health officials announced Wednesday, citing data that show the effectiveness of Pfizer and Moderna vaccines against COVID-19 diminishes over time.
In a joint statement by the US Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and others, the officials cited the threat of the delta variant and noted “we are starting to see evidence of reduced protection against mild and moderate disease.”
Health care workers and nursing home residents will be first in line.
“Based on our latest assessment, the current protection against severe disease, hospitalization, and death could diminish in the months ahead, especially among those who are at higher risk or were vaccinated during the earlier phases of the vaccination rollout,” the officials wrote. “For that reason, we conclude that a booster shot will be needed to maximize vaccine-induced protection and prolong its durability.”
The CDC has long maintained that the vast majority of people hospitalized for COVID-19 are unvaccinated. There is evidence though that the numbers of vaccinated hospitalizations is growing, particularly for health care workers and nursing home residents who received their shots eight months ago.
“We are prepared to offer booster shots for all Americans beginning the week of September 20 and starting 8 months after an individual’s second dose. At that time, the individuals who were fully vaccinated earliest in the vaccination rollout, including many health care providers, nursing home residents, and other seniors, will likely be eligible for a booster,” according to the federal statement.
For now, the upcoming boosters will be aimed at people who received the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines only. But officials say they anticipate authorizing boosters for people who got the Johnson & Johnson vaccines too. The first J&J vaccines weren’t administered until March, and the Biden administration says it expects more data on the effectiveness of that vaccine in a few weeks.
The administration says vaccines are still working and are the best assurances against severe illness or death.
“Nearly all the cases of severe disease, hospitalization, and death continue to occur among those not yet vaccinated at all,” the officials wrote.
Among those signing the statement were CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky, FDA Administrator Dr. Janet Woodcock, Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murth and Dr. Anthony Fauci, President Joe Biden’s chief medical advisor and director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease.
(KABUL, Afghanistan) — Chaos has enveloped Kabul after Afghanistan’s government’s collapsed and the Taliban seized control, all but ending America’s 20-year campaign as it began: under Taliban rule.
As the crisis intensifies, with images from Kabul showing Afghans storming the airport tarmac and climbing onto military planes after the U.S. assumed control of the airport, President Joe Biden briefly left Camp David to address the nation from the White House on Monday.
Biden is back in Washington on Wednesday and will sit down with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos for an exclusive one-on-one interview at the White House, the president’s first interview since the withdrawal from Afghanistan.
The Pentagon said that 6,000 U.S. troops have been deployed to the country’s capital as the military races to evacuate people from an increasingly chaotic Kabul. Despite criticism, the Biden administration is sticking by its decision to withdraw troops from the country by Aug. 31, ending America’s longest war.
Here are some key developments. All times Eastern:
Aug 18, 9:58 am
Former Afghan president in United Arab Emirates on ‘humanitarian grounds’
The United Arab Emirates Foreign Ministry has confirmed in a statement that former Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani is in the United Arab Emirates, days after fleeing his home country.
Ghani and his family left Kabul on Sunday as the Taliban surged closer to the presidential palace. The Taliban ultimately overtook the building and has claimed the formation of the “Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.”
Aug 18, 8:39 am
Few answers from Biden administration on Afghanistan despite pressure
Days removed from the Taliban’s takeover of Kabul and after a lengthy news conference with national security adviser Jake Sullivan, there is still little clarity on how conditions degraded so quickly in Afghanistan.
When ABC News Correspondent Stephanie Ramos asked Sullivan about reports that Biden administration officials were informed the Taliban could overwhelm the country, the national security adviser denied seeing it.
“I’m not actually familiar with the intelligence assessments you’re describing,” said Sullivan.
The administration plans to conduct an evaluation of the calamity once evacuations are completed.
“We’ll look at everything that happened, in this entire operation, from start to finish, and the areas of improvement where we can do better,” Sullivan told reporters Tuesday. “Where we can find holes or weaknesses and plug them as we go forward” that analysis will be shared.
Lawmakers are also putting pressure on the Biden administration for answers. Republicans on the House Armed Services Committee penned a letter to Biden demanding withdrawal plan details, plainly accusing the president of not having a concrete plan.
“For months, we have been asking you for a plan on your withdrawal from Afghanistan. You failed to provide us with one and based on the horrific events currently unfolding in Afghanistan, we are confident that we never received your plan because you never had one,” the letter reads. “The security and humanitarian crisis now unfolding in Afghanistan could have been avoided if you had done any planning.”
Aug 18, 7:52 am
Trauma injuries on the rise in Afghanistan, WHO warns
Months of violence in Afghanistan “have taken a heavy toll” on the country’s people and fragile health system, the World Health Organization warned Wednesday.
“As a result of the recent conflict, trauma injuries have increased, requiring scaled up emergency medical and surgical services,” Dr. Ahmed Al-Mandhari, the WHO’s regional director for the Eastern Mediterranean, said in a statement.
In July, some 13,897 conflict-related trauma cases were received at 70 WHO-supported health facilities in Afghanistan, compared with 4,057 cases during the same time last year, according to the WHO.
In Kabul and other areas where people have fled to seek safety and shelter, field reports indicate rising cases of diarrhea, malnutrition, high blood pressure, COVID-19-like symptoms and reproductive health complications. The country’s hospitals were already facing shortages in essential supplies amid the coronavirus pandemic, Al-Mandhari said.
Attacks on health care infrastructure and staff also remain a major challenge. From January to July, 26 health facilities and 31 health care workers were affected, while 12 workers were killed, according to the WHO.
“Delays and disruptions to health care will increase the risk of disease outbreaks and prevent some of the most vulnerable groups from seeking life-saving health care,” Al-Mandhari said. “There is an immediate need to ensure continuity of health services across the country, with a focus on ensuring women have access to female health workers.”
“The people of Afghanistan need support and solidarity today more than ever,” he added. “The gains of the past 20 years cannot be turned back.”
Aug 18, 7:40 am
ABC to interview Biden Wednesday
Biden will sit down with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos one-on-one on Wednesday at the White House for the president’s first interview since the withdrawal from Afghanistan.
The interview will air on ABC’s World News Tonight on Wednesday and Good Morning America on Thursday.
Aug 18, 6:23 am
Taliban delegation meets with former Afghan president in Doha
A high-level Taliban delegation has met with Afghanistan’s former president, Hamid Karzai, and the head of the High Council for National Reconciliation, Abdullah Abdullah, in Qatar’s capital and assured them of security, a Taliban source told ABC News on Wednesday.
The Taliban has said there is a general amnesty for all in Afghanistan, including former government officials, and that no one should flee the country.
Aug 18, 5:51 am
UK to take in 20,000 Afghan refugees over 5 years
The United Kingdom announced Tuesday a plan to welcome 20,000 Afghan refugees over five years.
The resettlement program will prioritize women, children and religious minorities.
“We have an enduring commitment to the Afghan people, and we will honour it,” British Prime Minister Boris Johnson wrote on Twitter. “A new resettlement scheme will create a safe and legal route for those in most need to come and live safely in the UK.”
While addressing members of parliament on Wednesday morning, Johnson said his government has so far secured the safe return of 306 U.K. nationals and 2,052 Afghan citizens as part of the resettlement program, with a further 2,000 applications for Afghan nationals completed “and many more being processed.” An additional 800 British troops will be deployed to Afghanistan’s main international airport in Kabul to “support this evacuation operation,” according to Johnson.
“We are proud to bring these brave Afghans to our shores — and we continue to appeal for more to come forwards,” he said.
Aug 17, 11:55 pm
US Embassy destroyed some Afghans’ passports during evacuation
Last week when the U.S. Embassy in Kabul ordered staff to destroy sensitive material, including documents, passports were destroyed as well.
During the evacuation, embassy personnel destroyed the passports of Afghans that had been submitted for visa processing, according to a Democratic lawmaker’s office.
Rep. Andy Kim, D-NJ, has been compiling requests for assistance for Afghans on the ground, with his office funneling pleas for help through an email address. In the email’s response note, obtained by ABC News, it says, “Passports that were in the Embassy’s possession have been destroyed. Currently, it is not possible to provide further visa services in Afghanistan.”
A State Department spokesperson acknowledged that was true, but called it “standard operating procedure” during an evacuation and said it “will not prevent people who are otherwise eligible for evacuation from traveling.
Aug 17, 9:38 pm
House Armed Services Committee Republicans request Biden’s plan for Afghanistan
Republicans on the House Armed Services Committee sent a letter to Biden requesting information about his “plan” for Afghanistan.
“For months, we have been asking you for a plan on your withdrawal from Afghanistan. You failed to provide us with one and based on the horrific events currently unfolding in Afghanistan, we are confident that we never received your plan because you never had one,” the letter says.
“The security and humanitarian crisis now unfolding in Afghanistan could have been avoided if you had done any planning. Pretending this isn’t your problem will only make things worse. We remain gravely concerned the void left in Afghanistan will be rapidly filled by terror groups. The Taliban now control the country. Al Qaeda used Afghanistan to plot and execute the 9/11 attacks and other acts of terrorism,” the letter continues. “You cannot let this happen again.”
Notably, Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo. — a member of the committee — has also signed the letter.
Cheney appeared on ABC’s This Week Sunday and said that Biden “absolutely” bears responsibility for the Taliban’s rapid takeover of Afghanistan, as does former President Donald Trump and his administration.
“What we’re watching right now in Afghanistan is what happens when America withdraws from the world,” Cheney told ABC This Week co-anchor Jonathan Karl. “So everybody who has been saying, ‘America needs to withdraw, America needs to retreat,’ we are getting a devastating, catastrophic real-time lesson in what that means.”
(KABUL, Afghanistan) — Chaos has enveloped Kabul after Afghanistan’s government’s collapsed and the Taliban seized control, all but ending America’s 20-year campaign as it began: under Taliban rule.
As the crisis intensifies, with images from Kabul showing Afghans storming the airport tarmac and climbing onto military planes after the U.S. assumed control of the airport, President Joe Biden briefly left Camp David to address the nation from the White House on Monday.
Biden is back in Washington on Wednesday and will sit down with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos for an exclusive one-on-one interview at the White House, the president’s first interview since the withdrawal from Afghanistan.
The Pentagon said that 6,000 U.S. troops have been deployed to the country’s capital as the military races to evacuate people from an increasingly chaotic Kabul. Despite criticism, the Biden administration is sticking by its decision to withdraw troops from the country by Aug. 31, ending America’s longest war.
Here are some key developments. All times Eastern:
Aug 18, 11:51 am
One Afghan family’s harrowing account of getting to Kabul’s airport
“Khan,” a computer scientist who worked with a U.S. contractor on the mission in Afghanistan and whose name is being withheld to protect his identity, boarded a U.S. military aircraft on Wednesday with his 3-year-old son and wife, who is 35 weeks pregnant, according to his lawyer.
It was their third attempt to reach the Kabul airport after they picked up their Special Immigrant Visas on Saturday, hours before the U.S. embassy shuttered.
The chaos on Sunday kept them away, and on Tuesday, there were too many Taliban fighters to get close to the gates. Khan spent several hours on Wednesday trying to reach multiple gates.
The north gate was mobbed, with U.S. troops firing warning shots into the air or deploying tear gas to disperse the crowds, according to his lawyer, who was on FaceTime with him.
There were hours when it seemed like Khan and his family wouldn’t be able to get through, forcing him to consider trying alone and leaving them behind, his lawyer told ABC News’ Conor Finnegan, but “ultimately, it was his persistence that got them in.”
Once inside the airport, the process was efficient, his lawyer said. Two of her clients and their families were on flights within 30 minutes of being processed and entering the airport.
But the chaos outside is horrific, and Afghans are receiving conflicting correspondence from the U.S. embassy — some being told to shelter in place, others given specific instructions on which gates to proceed to — but that situation changing rapidly too, his lawyer said.
Aug 18, 11:01 am
Taliban seen forcefully patrolling area near Kabul airport
Thousands were still outside the airport in Kabul as the U.S. continues its evacuation efforts Wednesday and the Taliban patrolled the surrounding streets, only allowing foreigners through and occasionally firing warning shots, ABC News Senior Foreign Correspondent Ian Pannell reported.
The Taliban on Tuesday promised an “amnesty” for those who worked with the U.S. government and said it would allow for their safe passage to the airport, but on the ground on Wednesday, members of the Taliban were seen whipping Afghan civilians.
As many as 11,000 Americans and tens of thousands of Afghans still are desperately trying to leave the country. The U.S. said late Tuesday it had evacuated 3,200 people from Afghanistan including all U.S. Embassy personnel except for a core group of diplomats. Officials have said they plan to launch one flight per hour to hopefully evacuate up to 9,000 people each day.
Still, the situation remains tense across Afghanistan, with the international community paying close attention to the Taliban’s every move.
Outside of Kabul, about 90 miles away in the eastern city of Jalalabad, anti-Taliban protesters were met with violence from fighters after replacing the Taliban flag in the city’s main square with the Afghan national flag, The Associated Press reported.
Aug 18, 9:58 am
Former Afghan president in United Arab Emirates on ‘humanitarian grounds’
The United Arab Emirates Foreign Ministry has confirmed in a statement that former Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani is in the United Arab Emirates, days after fleeing his home country.
Ghani and his family left Kabul on Sunday as the Taliban surged closer to the presidential palace. The Taliban ultimately overtook the building and has claimed the formation of the “Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.”
Aug 18, 8:39 am
Few answers from Biden administration on Afghanistan despite pressure
Days removed from the Taliban’s takeover of Kabul and after a lengthy news conference with national security adviser Jake Sullivan, there is still little clarity on how conditions degraded so quickly in Afghanistan.
When ABC News Correspondent Stephanie Ramos asked Sullivan about reports that Biden administration officials were informed the Taliban could overwhelm the country, the national security adviser denied seeing it.
“I’m not actually familiar with the intelligence assessments you’re describing,” said Sullivan.
The administration plans to conduct an evaluation of the calamity once evacuations are completed.
“We’ll look at everything that happened, in this entire operation, from start to finish, and the areas of improvement where we can do better,” Sullivan told reporters Tuesday. “Where we can find holes or weaknesses and plug them as we go forward” that analysis will be shared.
Lawmakers are also putting pressure on the Biden administration for answers. Republicans on the House Armed Services Committee penned a letter to Biden demanding withdrawal plan details, plainly accusing the president of not having a concrete plan.
“For months, we have been asking you for a plan on your withdrawal from Afghanistan. You failed to provide us with one and based on the horrific events currently unfolding in Afghanistan, we are confident that we never received your plan because you never had one,” the letter reads. “The security and humanitarian crisis now unfolding in Afghanistan could have been avoided if you had done any planning.”
Aug 18, 7:52 am
Trauma injuries on the rise in Afghanistan, WHO warns
Months of violence in Afghanistan “have taken a heavy toll” on the country’s people and fragile health system, the World Health Organization warned Wednesday.
“As a result of the recent conflict, trauma injuries have increased, requiring scaled up emergency medical and surgical services,” Dr. Ahmed Al-Mandhari, the WHO’s regional director for the Eastern Mediterranean, said in a statement.
In July, some 13,897 conflict-related trauma cases were received at 70 WHO-supported health facilities in Afghanistan, compared with 4,057 cases during the same time last year, according to the WHO.
In Kabul and other areas where people have fled to seek safety and shelter, field reports indicate rising cases of diarrhea, malnutrition, high blood pressure, COVID-19-like symptoms and reproductive health complications. The country’s hospitals were already facing shortages in essential supplies amid the coronavirus pandemic, Al-Mandhari said.
Attacks on health care infrastructure and staff also remain a major challenge. From January to July, 26 health facilities and 31 health care workers were affected, while 12 workers were killed, according to the WHO.
“Delays and disruptions to health care will increase the risk of disease outbreaks and prevent some of the most vulnerable groups from seeking life-saving health care,” Al-Mandhari said. “There is an immediate need to ensure continuity of health services across the country, with a focus on ensuring women have access to female health workers.”
“The people of Afghanistan need support and solidarity today more than ever,” he added. “The gains of the past 20 years cannot be turned back.”
Aug 18, 7:40 am
ABC to interview Biden Wednesday
Biden will sit down with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos one-on-one on Wednesday at the White House for the president’s first interview since the withdrawal from Afghanistan.
The interview will air on ABC’s World News Tonight on Wednesday and Good Morning America on Thursday.
Aug 18, 6:23 am
Taliban delegation meets with former Afghan president in Doha
A high-level Taliban delegation has met with Afghanistan’s former president, Hamid Karzai, and the head of the High Council for National Reconciliation, Abdullah Abdullah, in Qatar’s capital and assured them of security, a Taliban source told ABC News on Wednesday.
The Taliban has said there is a general amnesty for all in Afghanistan, including former government officials, and that no one should flee the country.
Aug 18, 5:51 am
UK to take in 20,000 Afghan refugees over 5 years
The United Kingdom announced Tuesday a plan to welcome 20,000 Afghan refugees over five years.
The resettlement program will prioritize women, children and religious minorities.
“We have an enduring commitment to the Afghan people, and we will honour it,” British Prime Minister Boris Johnson wrote on Twitter. “A new resettlement scheme will create a safe and legal route for those in most need to come and live safely in the UK.”
While addressing members of parliament on Wednesday morning, Johnson said his government has so far secured the safe return of 306 U.K. nationals and 2,052 Afghan citizens as part of the resettlement program, with a further 2,000 applications for Afghan nationals completed “and many more being processed.” An additional 800 British troops will be deployed to Afghanistan’s main international airport in Kabul to “support this evacuation operation,” according to Johnson.
“We are proud to bring these brave Afghans to our shores — and we continue to appeal for more to come forwards,” he said.
Aug 17, 11:55 pm
US Embassy destroyed some Afghans’ passports during evacuation
Last week when the U.S. Embassy in Kabul ordered staff to destroy sensitive material, including documents, passports were destroyed as well.
During the evacuation, embassy personnel destroyed the passports of Afghans that had been submitted for visa processing, according to a Democratic lawmaker’s office.
Rep. Andy Kim, D-NJ, has been compiling requests for assistance for Afghans on the ground, with his office funneling pleas for help through an email address. In the email’s response note, obtained by ABC News, it says, “Passports that were in the Embassy’s possession have been destroyed. Currently, it is not possible to provide further visa services in Afghanistan.”
A State Department spokesperson acknowledged that was true, but called it “standard operating procedure” during an evacuation and said it “will not prevent people who are otherwise eligible for evacuation from traveling.
Aug 17, 9:38 pm
House Armed Services Committee Republicans request Biden’s plan for Afghanistan
Republicans on the House Armed Services Committee sent a letter to Biden requesting information about his “plan” for Afghanistan.
“For months, we have been asking you for a plan on your withdrawal from Afghanistan. You failed to provide us with one and based on the horrific events currently unfolding in Afghanistan, we are confident that we never received your plan because you never had one,” the letter says.
“The security and humanitarian crisis now unfolding in Afghanistan could have been avoided if you had done any planning. Pretending this isn’t your problem will only make things worse. We remain gravely concerned the void left in Afghanistan will be rapidly filled by terror groups. The Taliban now control the country. Al Qaeda used Afghanistan to plot and execute the 9/11 attacks and other acts of terrorism,” the letter continues. “You cannot let this happen again.”
Notably, Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo. — a member of the committee — has also signed the letter.
Cheney appeared on ABC’s This Week Sunday and said that Biden “absolutely” bears responsibility for the Taliban’s rapid takeover of Afghanistan, as does former President Donald Trump and his administration.
“What we’re watching right now in Afghanistan is what happens when America withdraws from the world,” Cheney told ABC This Week co-anchor Jonathan Karl. “So everybody who has been saying, ‘America needs to withdraw, America needs to retreat,’ we are getting a devastating, catastrophic real-time lesson in what that means.”
