As when the Taliban last took power, the Panjshir Valley is the hub of resistance — and is led by a man named Massoud. This Massoud has no combat experience but is amassing allies and vows to fight.
Some Afghans are welcoming their new rulers, while many others remember the excesses of the harsh ideology the Taliban enforced when they last seized power in the 1990s.
The final evacuation flight brought to a close the longest war in U.S. history. The withdrawal leaves the future of Afghanistan in disarray and uncertainty under renewed Taliban rule.
A regional Islamic State affiliate is a major rival to the Taliban in Afghanistan. The U.S. says ISIS-K has long planned attacks on its personnel in the country.
CNN correspondent Clarissa Ward says educated Afghan women fear they will lose everything under Taliban rule. "Based on my experience with the Taliban, you can't expect them to change," she says.
The president told G-7 leaders that the U.S. is set to finish withdrawing from Afghanistan by Aug. 31 and asked the Pentagon and State Department for contingency plans if the deadline cannot be met.
What Beijing has offered the Taliban so far is an open hand and a hint of legitimacy. Taliban leaders have pledged to leave Chinese interests alone and not to harbor anti-China extremist groups.
Host Scott Simon shares the reaction of Zalmai Yawar, an Afghan who first served as a translator for NPR 20 years ago, to the country's return to Taliban control. Yawar now lives in the U.S.
In a scene repeated across Afghanistan, retreating government forces ditched billions of dollars' worth of U.S.-supplied military hardware, from assault rifles to Black Hawk helicopters.
The U.S. military spent years training Afghan soldiers to fight insurgents. Yet in a matter of days, the Afghan National Army collapsed, and the Taliban captured the country. What went wrong?
She practiced medicine in Mazar-e-Sharif. She wanted to serve her country. Her story offers a window into what the Taliban takeover may hold for Afghanistan's women.
Afghans have lived through Soviet and U.S. invasions, civil war, insurgency and a previous period of heavy-handed Taliban rule. Here are some key events and dates from the past four decades.
As the Taliban take over Afghanistan, women bureaucrats are risking their lives and freedom to not only save their country and people — but to maintain the rights of women and girls.
Two men — a reclusive 60-year-old mullah who is the Taliban's top commander and a high-profile, battle-hardened lieutenant — are the odds-on picks to form the new regime.
Suhail Shaheen, the Taliban spokesman in Qatar, tells NPR's Steve Inskeep about the group's plans for the country, which he says include allowing people to leave and no reprisals against enemies.
Zainab filled all the forms for a special immigrant visa but now can only watch as the Americans leave Afghanistan. Eight thousand miles away, all her husband can do is hope.
President Biden gave the order last week to send U.S. troops into Afghanistan as it became clear the Taliban were overrunning Afghan government forces on their way to taking the capital of Kabul.
The Pentagon has set a goal of evacuating 9,000 people a day from the country. Those coming to the U.S. need assistance, as do those remaining in Afghanistan.
It's been two decades since the Taliban had full control of Afghanistan. NPR's Mary Louise Kelly spoke to historian Carter Malkasian about who's running the Taliban now — and who's funding them.
President Biden addressed the nation after images from the airport in the Afghan capital showed desperate people fleeing before the Taliban advance. He said he stands by his decision to withdraw.
