Headline Roundup • August 15th, 2023
Afghanistan Marks 2 Years Since Taliban’s Return to Power
Summary from the AllSides News Team
It has been two years since the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan, overtaking the former Afghan government as Western troops pulled out.
Life Under the Taliban: Most news coverage from left-rated sources, as well as some right-rated sources, focused on the Taliban, women’s rights, and an ongoing humanitarian crisis. While the Taliban celebrated its victory, AP (Lean Left bias) noted, “Women and girls pay the price.” In a letter published by The Guardian (Lean Left bias), the leaders of several aid organizations warned that insufficient foreign aid represented a “second withdrawal,” even as 15 million Afghans faced acute hunger. CBS News (Lean Left bias) highlighted thousands of Afghans trying to flee across the border into Pakistan.
Reflections on the U.S. Withdrawal: Some coverage, including most from right-rated outlets, focused on the U.S. withdrawal and evacuation. Fox News (Right bias) highlighted criticism of President Joe Biden from GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley, who said Biden’s withdrawal “betrayed our allies and emboldened our enemies.” An op-ed in The Federalist (Right bias) repeated past accusations that the Biden administration had “abandoned” Afghans who did not evacuate with U.S. forces.
Featured Coverage of this Story
Atef Aryan/AFP/Getty Images
When Zahra thinks back to her life before the summer of 2021, it seems like another reality.
As a student in Afghanistan, she had “lots of friends.”
“We were happy together,” she recalled. “We were studying, sometimes we were gathering together … we were riding bikes.”
Zahra, 20, doesn’t ride bikes anymore. Or go to school, or walk outside without covering her face, or see friends who have fled the country. All she can do, she says, is sit at home and worry about a future that has unraveled before her...
REUTERS/Ali Khara
Afghanistan's Taliban marked the second anniversary of their return to power on Tuesday, celebrating their takeover of Kabul and the establishment of what they said was security throughout the country under an Islamic system.
Scott Olson/Getty Images
Nikki Haley, a former South Carolina governor who is running for the 2024 presidency, said on Tuesday the world is "less safe" than it was two years ago before the U.S. military withdrew from Afghanistan, effectively handing over control of the country to the Taliban.
She also suggested President Biden should be personally held accountable for the withdrawal as 13 Americans – 11 Marines, one Army soldier and one Navy personnel – were killed during an attack on the Kabul airport in August 2021.
"Two years after the fall of Kabul and Joe Biden’s...
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