US senators introduce bill to impose sanctions on Taliban

A group of 22 Republican senators in the US on Tuesday introduced a legislation to impose sanctions on the Taliban in Afghanistan and foreign governments that support the organisation.

The Afghanistan Counterterrorism, Oversight and Accountability Act was introduced by Senator Jim Risch.

The legislation seeks a report from the secretary of state about his assessment of the role of Pakistan in supporting the Taliban from 2001-20 in the offensive that led to the toppling of the government of Afghanistan, and looking into Pakistan’s support for the Taliban offensive against Afghan resistance in the Panjshir valley . “We continue to see the grave implications of the Biden administration’s haphazard withdrawal from Afghanistan,” Risch said after introducing the bill on the Senate floor.

Landing rights denied to plane carrying Americans

The US department of homeland security (DHS) on Tuesday denied landing rights in the US for a charter plane carrying more than 100 Americans and US green card holders evacuated from Afghanistan, organisers of the flight said.

“They will not allow a charter on an international flight into a US port of entry,” Bryan Stern, a founder of non-profit group Project Dynamo, said of the department’s customs and border protection agency. Stern spoke to Reuters from aboard a plane his group chartered from Kam Air, a private Afghan airline, that he said had been sitting for 14 hours at Abu Dhabi airport after arriving from Kabul with 117 people, including 59 children. DHS did not respond to a request for comment.

Don’t fly drones in our airspace: Taliban warn US

The Taliban on Wednesday warned of consequences if the United States did not stop flying drones over Afghan airspace.

“The US has violated all international rights and laws as well as its commitments made to the Taliban in Doha with the operation of these drones in Afghanistan,” the Taliban said in a statement on Twitter.

An extraordinary meeting of the Group of 20 major economies to discuss Afghanistan will take place on October 12, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi said on Wednesday. “We have reached a point where we only need to worry about saving lives,” Draghi said.