The notorious detention centre built by the Americans inside the huge Bagram military base is a terrifying place even when empty. It’s known locally as Afghanistan‘s Guantanamo. Those who were held here feared they’d never leave. Many who did leave have never been the same since. We’re the first Western television team to get inside the
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For 20 years now, New Yorkers have woken up to this day – to relive, to remember. Some find themselves forced to, others want to. In a church yard – just yards from Ground Zero – a group gathered as a bell rang out. Five strikes, repeated four times, the traditional firefighters’ salute to the
The Taliban fighters we are with are on a charm offensive. “We have changed. We have changed a lot,” one of them tells us. “Praise God, our behaviour is very good now…we are polite, our manners are good and our behaviour is much improved. We’re much better than the last government. Kabul is safe now.
The head of MI5 has said terrorist attacks on UK soil will likely happen on his watch and that his officers and the police have foiled six “late-stage” plots during the pandemic. Ken McCallum revealed the number of terrorist plots the Security Service has to deal with has grown since the September 11 attacks on
The British embassy’s new tenants in Kabul cannot understand why the diplomatic staff have not returned since the Taliban took control. “Why don’t they come back?” one of the Taliban commanders escorting us asks. He knows we are British and pushes us further. I wonder briefly whether he’s taunting us. After a 20-year war in
Twenty years on from the September 11th terror attacks, the Taliban are back in power in Afghanistan. After being driven out by US forces following 9/11, the US commitment to withdraw from the country ahead of the two-decade anniversary has resulted in Islamist rule there once again. Despite Taliban promises to keep al Qaeda and
The Taliban says it will allow 200 Americans and other civilians to leave Afghanistan on charter flights, according to a US official. The official, who spoke to Reuters on the condition of anonymity, said the Taliban were pressed to allow the departures by US Special Representative Zalmay Khalilzad. The flight is expected to depart on
Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam has told a court he is “a soldier of Islamic State”. Abdeslam is among 20 men on trial accused of being involved in the 2015 atrocities at the Bataclan music theatre and other venues. The so-called Islamic State (IS) terrorist attacks, which took place on 13 November 2015, killed 130
Donald Trump’s deal with the Taliban was a “catastrophe”, according to a former secretary-general of NATO. Anders Fogh Rasmussen told Sky News that agreeing a leave date with the militants allowed them to “wait us out”. He was speaking for Sky’s new documentary, Collapse: Retreat from Afghanistan, which details the final days of the coalition’s
Survivors and relatives of those who lost their lives during the terrorists attacks in Paris in November 2015 are hoping for justice as France’s biggest criminal trial in history begins. Members of an IS cell armed with assault weapons and explosive vests targeted a football stadium, bars and cafes and the Bataclan music venue, killing
The Taliban has appointed several old guard members to Afghanistan’s caretaker government. Among those appointed to the new interim cabinet as interior minister is Sarajuddin Haqqani, who is on the FBI’s most-wanted list. Interim prime minister Mullah Hasan Akhund had headed the Taliban government in Kabul during the last years of its rule. Image: The
The Taliban is claiming it now controls the whole of Afghanistan after taking complete control of Panjshir province, the last area in Afghanistan being held by resistance forces. A spokesman for the group, Zabihullah Mujahid, issued a statement saying the area had been “completely conquered” and a “number of people” were killed while the “rest
Soldiers in Guinea claim they have dissolved the government of President Alpha Conde and its constitution, as well as closed all land and air borders. The announcement on state television comes after hours of gunfire around the presidential palace in the capital Conakry, sparking fears of a coup attempt. But the defence ministry said an
Angelina Jolie has said the crisis in Afghanistan is “not a slip-up” and that her thoughts are with women and girls across the country. Jolie, who works as a special envoy for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, says she does not believe the Taliban can “turn back the clock” so Afghanistan is as it
The Taliban has broken up women’s rights protests in Kabul by firing shots into the air and using teargas and tasers, witnesses say. Women marched through the Afghan capital for a second day in a row on Saturday demanding their freedoms are guaranteed under the new Islamist regime. The demonstrations began peacefully with a number
The man who stabbed seven people at a New Zealand supermarket has been named as Ahamed Samsudeen. The 32-year-old had been assessed by authorities as such a high risk that he was being monitored by up to 30 police officers in the weeks leading up to the attack. Samsudeen, who had arrived in New Zealand