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Kabul airport gates closed, crowds cleared after deadly attack

All the gates of Kabul airport were closed early Friday following a deadly attack a day earlier, and the crowds outside the airport have cleared, according to witnesses.

At least 90 Afghans and 13 U.S. service members were killed in twin assaults in Kabul on Thursday.

The first explosion struck a gate of the Kabul airport, while the second occured in a nearby military base used by coalition forces in the past.
 

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The blasts, reportedly caused by suicide bombers, were believed to be the work of an affiliate to the Islamic State.

The Taliban, which took control of Kabul on Aug. 15, condemned the bombing outside the Kabul airport.

U.S. President Joe Biden vowed retaliation in the wake of the incidents.

Biden said he had ordered U.S. military commanders to “strike ISIS-K assets, leadership and facilities,” stopping short of elaborating on the specifics.

The assaults occurred after Western nations warned of a terrorist attack at the airport as thousands of people gathered waiting for evacuation flights to leave the country.

As the Aug. 31 deadline looms for U.S. troops to withdraw from Afghanistan, the U.S. has been scrambling to evacuate Americans and its Afghan partners from the country.

Published : August 28, 2021

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https://www.nationthailand.com/international/40005379

Spain halts evacuations from Afghanistan

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said that more Afghans still need to be evacuated, and the Spanish government was “looking for ways to continue to evacuate the Afghans who have cooperated with us and their families who we have not been able to get out.”

The Spanish government said on Friday that it had concluded its operation to evacuate Spaniards and Afghans who had worked with Spanish authorities in Afghanistan.
 

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The last Spanish flight from Kabul was due to land at the military airport at Torrejon de Ardoz in Madrid Friday evening, taking the number of Afghans evacuated by the Spanish to 2,206, according to Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.

Sanchez said that more Afghans still need to be evacuated, and the Spanish government was “looking for ways to continue to evacuate the Afghans who have cooperated with us and their families who we have not been able to get out.”

He also called for the European Union to “work together” to help the refugees.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez attends a joint news conference with Latvian Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins (not seen in the picture) in Riga, Latvia, on July 7, 2021.

Published : August 28, 2021

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https://www.nationthailand.com/international/40005376

Yemeni school children begin new semester in “rubble school”

On every school day, students need to climb through holes on broken walls and shaking staircases to reach their classroom, which is no better than a cave.

 For six years in a row, school children at the Shuhada-Alwahdah school in Ibb province, west Yemen, have to start their semesters inside a “rubble school.”

The only building of the Shuhada school was hit during an airstrike in 2015. Half of the building collapsed to the ground, with the other half tilting, stubbornly fighting against gravity.

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Six years later, nothing changed. The building remained almost the same, maybe tattier, as the day it was bombed.

On every school day, students need to climb through holes on broken walls and shaking staircases to reach their classroom, which is no better than a cave.

There are no windows, doors, chairs, or desks. Students have to cram together and squat on the concrete ground as the class goes.

But they still consider themselves the lucky ones. Over 2 million school-age girls and boys are now out of school as poverty, conflict and lack of opportunities disrupt their education, according to a recent report issued by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

A child is standing in front of a half-collapsed teaching building at Shuhada-Alwahdah school in Al-Radhmah district in Ibb province, about 190 km south of the Houthi-held capital Sanaa, Yemen, on Aug. 14, 2021.

Amjad al-Riashi, 13, is one of the students at the Shuhada school. He said his love for school and education has not been abated by rubble and the slanted roof.

“Devastating our school did not stop my love for education but made me determined to study hard,” al-Riashi said, adding many of his classmates shared his opinion.

“Education, for us, is a privilege. We should make the best of it,” the teenager said.

Arif al-Shami, the school principal, said there was no military presence inside the school when it was bombed. Over the years, thousands of schools have been destroyed and abandoned as the civil war continues with no end in sight.

School children enter a half-collapsed teaching building at Shuhada-Alwahdah school in Al-Radhmah district in Ibb province, about 190 km south of the Houthi-held capital Sanaa, Yemen, on Aug. 14, 2021.

Shami said he tried to find funds for the past six years to rebuild the school but to no avail. What’s worse, the school is already struggling to find enough money for daily costs, such as textbooks, electricity, and even the teachers’ salaries.

The principal said the teachers have not received their salaries in years, and many of them have been forced to quit to find other jobs that can keep their families afloat.

“We beseech humanitarian organizations to help us renovate the school, rebuild the building and provide the students with school textbooks,” Shami said, adding the school cannot run for long if no help comes.

Also in the UNICEF report, the UN agency said two thirds of teachers in Yemen have not received regular salaries in more than four years, which “puts around 4 million additional children at risk of disrupted education or dropping out as unpaid teachers quit teaching to find another financial source for providing their families.”

Yahya al-Hujaily is one of the few teachers who are still giving classes for the students daily. He said he stuck to his job only because he still believed education is the most important social responsibility.

“Despite the protracted war, despite whatever happened to educational facilities and the suspension of our salaries, we will not stop teaching our children even if it has to be done under trees or inside rubble. Because education is essential for life,” Hujaily said, standing in front of rustic rebars jutting out from cement blocks. 

School children sit on the ground inside a half-collapsed teaching building at Alwahdah school in Al-Radhmah district in Ibb province, about 190 km south of the Houthi-held capital Sanaa, Yemen, on Aug. 14, 2021.

Published : August 28, 2021

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https://www.nationthailand.com/international/40005372

UN Security Council condemns attacks near intl airport in Kabul

“Deliberately targeting civilians and personnel assisting in the evacuation of civilians is especially abhorrent and must be condemned,” the members of the Security Council said in a statement.

The United Nations Security Council on Friday strongly condemned the attacks near the Kabul airport on Thursday with dozens of civilians and military personnel killed and injured.

Through a press statement, the members of the Security Council condemned “in the strongest terms the deplorable attacks,” which were claimed by the Islamic State in Khorasan Province, an Afghan affiliate of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant.

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They expressed their deepest sympathy and condolences to the families of the victims, and wished a speedy and full recovery to those who were injured.

The members “recalled that all parties must respect their obligations under international humanitarian law in all circumstances, including those related to the protection of civilians,” the statement said.

They reaffirmed that terrorism in all forms and manifestations constitutes one of the most serious threats to international peace and security, said the statement. “Deliberately targeting civilians and personnel assisting in the evacuation of civilians is especially abhorrent and must be condemned.”

They underlined the need to hold perpetrators, organizers, financiers and sponsors of these reprehensible acts of terrorism accountable and bring them to justice, and urged all states, in accordance with their obligations under international law and relevant Security Council resolutions, to cooperate actively with all relevant authorities in this regard.

Published : August 28, 2021

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https://www.nationthailand.com/international/40005370

UK records another 38,046 COVID-19 cases

The total number of coronavirus-related deaths in Britain now stands at 132,243.

nother 38,046 people in Britain have tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 6,666,399, according to official figures released Friday.

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The country also reported another 100 coronavirus-related deaths. The total number of coronavirus-related deaths in Britain now stands at 132,243. These figures only include the deaths of people who died within 28 days of their first positive test.

Meanwhile, the latest figures showed that infections were higher in the week leading up to Aug. 20 than in the corresponding week of the second wave.

Around one in 70 people in private households in England had COVID-19 in the week to Aug. 20, up from one in 80 in the previous week, according to the latest estimates from the Office of National Statistics (ONS).

“Cooler autumn weather, leading to increased indoor social mixing, is likely to drive further increases in the coming weeks. The end of summer holidays and return of people to work and education, without clear guidance on physical measures to avoid transmission such as mask wearing or social distancing, is also likely to push up infection rates,” said Dr Simon Clarke, associate professor in University of Reading.

“This time, the vaccine programme is keeping down the number of hospitalizations and deaths but increasing numbers of community infections still translate into growing numbers of very sick COVID patients, and an unnecessarily high burden on the NHS (National Health Service),” said the expert in cellular microbiology.

More than 88 percent of people aged 16 and over in Britain have had their first dose of vaccine and about 78 percent have received both doses, the latest figures showed.

To bring life back to normal, countries such as Britain, China, Germany, Russia and the United States have been racing against time to roll out coronavirus vaccines. 

Published : August 28, 2021