In an otherwise forgettable corner of western Germany, you drive round a corner and find yourself in America, complete with planes, jeeps and a lot of soldiers. Ramstein Air Base is the biggest part of a cluster of American facilities. Together, they make up the biggest community of Americans outside the United States. This is
World
The US has killed an Islamic State “planner” in retaliation for Thursday’s suicide bombing in Kabul. Captain Bill Urban, spokesman for US Central Command, said the US military had conducted a drone strike against an Islamic State member in Afghanistan’s Nangahar Province, which borders Pakistan. The strike killed one person and there were no known
Since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan the focus has been on the evacuation effort, as people scramble to leave a country which has been grappling with war for two decades. Western forces have now left the country and thoughts will turn to what a post-Western Afghanistan will look like, with the Taliban in control.
Concerns are mounting that the Taliban has gained access to vast amounts of personal information through former US military and Afghan government databases that could allow them to target civilians. It would be the first time the group has acquired the personal information of Afghan civilians on such a scale. Afghans are also racing to
An organised group of criminals based in East Asia have defrauded job seekers in the UK and worldwide after getting a scam app on to both the Google and Apple app stores. Working with victims who have tried to track down their scammers, Sky News has learnt they were operating from Cambodia, the Philippines and
The UK’s evacuation mission at Kabul’s airport has “a matter of hours” left and no more people will be called forward, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has said. Mr Wallace told Sky News the effort was into its “final hours” after the closure of the main processing centre at the Baron Hotel near the airport. He
Joe Biden has warned those behind the attacks at Kabul’s airport on Thursday: “We will not forgive, we will not forget, we will hunt you down and make you pay.” The US President was speaking after it emerged that 13 US service personnel were among the 72 people killed after two blasts and a gunfight
A major manhunt is under way in Thailand for a former senior police officer who allegedly killed a drugs suspect in custody while trying to extort money from him. Warrants were issued for the arrest of seven officers for murder after a video emerged of a man suffocating after plastic bags were put over his
A British Army surgeon has told of using his skills as a new father to settle a baby passed over barbed wire at Kabul airport, as an “unexpectedly high number” of children are being handed over to troops. Footage of the newborn girl being handed over the wall to US Marines at Hamad Karzai International
The UK’s evacuation flights from Afghanistan may have to stop this week after Boris Johnson failed to secure an extension to a US deadline for all western forces to leave. The Guardian newspaper reported late on Tuesday that the last Royal Air Force aircraft carrying Afghans to safety from Kabul airport could even be in
The G7 group of nations has agreed a “roadmap” for future engagement with the Taliban and will insist on the “safe passage” of people who want to leave Afghanistan beyond 31 August, Boris Johnson has said. The prime minister was speaking after a virtual G7 summit about the evacuation of people from Afghanistan. Mr Johnson
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has said it is “unlikely” the 31 August deadline to pull troops out of Afghanistan will be extended as it gets “more and more dangerous”. Speaking to Sky News, he said: “As we get closer it’s correct to say the security risk goes up, it gets more and more dangerous. “Add-on
It’s calmer outside the camp. The people, thousands of them, know that the processing that might get them on a flight to the UK can’t happen if there is a return to the chaos of the past few days. In the morning sun, people call to us as we walk, pleading for a pair of
British evacuations out of Afghanistan could not have happened without the US – and an extension depends on G7 talks with Joe Biden tomorrow, the armed forces minister has told Sky News. James Heappey said the mission to fly out thousands of British nationals and Afghans who worked for the British over the past 20
It’s only a gate. A big, reinforced iron gate protected by paratroopers, but nevertheless it is just a gate. On one side a rocky drive leads to a complex of apartments and offices and tree-lined streets filled with evacuees. On the other side, it is a vision of misery. There is a dusty, rubbish strewn
Seven people in the crowds near Kabul airport died amid the chaos of those fleeing the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, the Ministry of Defence has said. The MoD said in a statement on Sunday that “conditions on the ground remain extremely challenging but we are doing everything we can to manage the situation as safely
Nearly 4,000 Afghan and British nationals have been evacuated from Afghanistan, but fears remain many could be left behind as the US prepares to leave the country. Some 3,821 individuals have been rescued thanks to British efforts under Operation Pitting since 13 August, according to the Ministry of Defence, including 1,323 who have made it
The Taliban has begun to set out how it plans to run Afghanistan after its takeover, saying former government experts will be brought in and fighters will continue to demonstrate restraint. A Taliban official outlined on Saturday morning how separate teams will deal with internal security and the financial crisis that is set to impact
Every day the scene outside the British evacuation camp changes, every day it seems to get worse and this day there is a new sense of desperation. Collectively I think the thousands queuing outside in burning temperatures know that the clock is ticking on how long this airlift will go on for. Nobody is saying
Taliban fighters killed nine ethnic Hazara men after taking control of Afghanistan’s Ghazni province last month, Amnesty International has said. The killings, which took place between 4 and 6 July in the village of Mundarakht, Malistan district, saw six men shot and three others tortured to death. One man was strangled with his own scarf