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Evacuation: Those Left In Afghanistan Complain Of Broken U.S. Promises

Published

3 years ago

September 2, 2021

Even in the final days of Washington’s chaotic airlift in Afghanistan, Javed Habibi was getting phone calls from the U.S. government promising that the green card holder from Richmond, Virginia, his wife and their four daughters would not be left behind, Associated Press reports.

He was told to stay home and not worry, that they would be evacuated.

Late Monday, however, his heart sank as he heard that the final U.S. flights had left Kabul’s airport, followed by the blistering staccato sound of Taliban gunfire, celebrating what they saw as their victory over America.

“They lied to us,” Habibi said of the U.S. government. He is among hundreds of American citizens and green card holders stranded in the Afghan capital.

Victoria Nuland, undersecretary of state for political affairs, would not address individual cases but said all U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents who could not get evacuation flights or were otherwise stranded had been contacted individually in the past 24 hours and told to expect further information about routes out once those have been arranged.

“We will communicate directly to them personalized instructions on what they should do, when they should do it, and how the United States government feels we are best positioned to help them do that,” added State Department spokesman Ned Price.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken praised the evacuation effort despite the scenes of thousands of people jammed outside the gates at Kabul’s airport. He said between 100 and 200 remained in Afghanistan, promising that any American who wants to leave Afghanistan would be taken out.

For some of those who remain, however, the trauma of trying for nearly two weeks to get onto a U.S. plane is still harrowing.

Habibi, an electrician who has lived in Richmond since 2015 on a special immigration visa, had returned to Afghanistan for a visit on June 22 — the first time his family had been back since 2019. Their return flight was to have been Aug. 31.

About Aug. 18, Habibi said he got an email from the U.S. government saying that his family — all green card holders except for their youngest, who has a U.S. passport — would be evacuated.

Subsequent emails said he should take his family to the airport. He obeyed, but the mad crush of people prevented him from getting near the gate on his first two attempts.

His daughter, Madina, who at 15 has flawless English and serves as the family spokesperson, said she and her younger sister were almost trampled at the airport. The family wrote back, “It’s too dangerous. We can’t go into the crowd,” she said.

The emails kept arriving, saying they should go to the airport, she said.

(AP)

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VIDEO: Villagers Give Nigerian Soldiers Heroic Welcome After Successful Operation

Published

9 mins ago

April 19, 2024

Editor

A heartwarming video of some villagers giving a heroic welcome to soldiers returning from a successful operation in the North East has been shared online.

The Nigerian Army shared the video online as the soldiers returning from their military operation were met with cheers and celebrations from local residents recently.

The Army wrote: “Heartwarming welcome accorded to Nigerian Army heroic troops in the Northeast region after a successful operation in Sambisa and Timbuktu Triangle during Operation Desert Sanity III. This video clip captures the genuine and heartfelt welcome extended by the local communities to the valiant troops in appreciation of their successful operation.”

Watch the video below…

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JUST IN: Court Clears Ex-AGF Adoke Of Money Laundering Charges

Published

2 hours ago

April 19, 2024

Editor

A Federal High Court in Abuja on Friday discharged and acquitted former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Adoke (SAN) of the money laundering charges brought against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

The presiding judge, Justice Inyang Ekwo, while delivering a ruling on a no-case submission filed by the former AGF, held that the EFCC failed to establish a prima facie (sufficient evidence) case against him.

“I find that there is no evidence to prove the alleged offences against the first defendant (Adoke),” the judge said.

However, Justice Ekwo ruled that Aliyu Abubakar, the second defendant, has to open his defence because he has a case to answer.

EFCC had preferred a 14 counts charge against Adoke and an oil mogul, Aliyu Abubakar.

In the charge, the anti-graft agency alleged that Adoke sometime in August 2013 in Abuja accepted a cash payment of the dollar equivalent of N300 million from Abubakar and thereby committed an offence punishable under section 16(2)(b) of the money laundering Prohibition Act 2011 as amended.

Details later…

News

Police Seal Off Benue APC Factional Secretariat

Published

2 hours ago

April 19, 2024

Editor

Armed policemen have sealed off the secretariat of the All Progressive Congress,APC, in Makurdi, the capital city of Benue State.

The party secretariat belongs to the Austin Agada-led APC Working Committee located along JS Tarka Way opposite the Railway Market in Makurdi.

There are two party secretariats in the capital city.

The other one belongs to Benjamin Omakolo’s team which is located along Kashim Ibrahim Way.

The Publicity Secretary of the Agada faction, Daniel Ihomun, said that the sealing off of their secretariat may not be unconnected with the inauguration of members of the zoning committee for the forthcoming local government election.

“We are to inaugurate members of the zoning committee for the coming local government election today at our secretariat only for the government to send policemen and their thugs to seal off the secretariat,” Ihomun said.

It was learnt that policemen and Armour Personnel Vehicle were deployed to the Agada-led office as early as 6am on Friday.

Efforts to get the reaction of the state Police Public Relations Officer, Catherine Anene, to ascertain the reason for the sealing off of the party secretariat were not successful as her phone rang out at the time of filing this report.

The Agada-led faction had constituted a 21-men zoning committee drawn from the three senatorial districts of the state and was expected to be inaugurated on Friday.

But in a swift response, the Omakolo-led team had in a statement issued by its Publicity Secretary, Terseer Agber, called on all party members and the general public to disregard the zoning committee constituted by the Agada-led committee.