ZABIHULLAH MUJAHID

A government spokesman's assurances came after dozens of U.S.-trained Afghan pilots were evacuated from Tajikistan in a U.S.-brokered deal, months after they sought refuge from the Taliban there.

A top Taliban official on Wednesday urged former Afghan military pilots to remain in the country, saying they were protected by a national amnesty and would not face arrest. The comments by chief government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid came amid reports that more than 140 U.S.-trained Afghan pilots and crew members left Tajikistan in a U.S.-brokered evacuation Tuesday, three months after they sought refuge there from a Taliban takeover of Afghanistan. Afghan air force pilots played a key role, alongside their U.S. counterparts, in the 20-year war against Taliban insurgents that ended with the departure of foreign troops in late August.

Five attackers were also killed. It was one of the most brazen ISIS attacks yet since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan.

An ISIS attack at a hospital in Afghanistan's capital city of Kabul has left seven people dead and 16 wounded.

A senior Taliban official says a group of Islamic State militants set off an explosion at the entrance to a military hospital in the Afghan capital.

President Biden, speaking at the end of the G-20 summit in Rome, said China and Russia 'didn't show up' on climate change commitments. Russia and China are sending senior officials to the two weeks of climate meetings in Glasgow, Scotland. (Nov. 1)

"We can completely guarantee security for the Afghan people," a Taliban commander told CBS News, days after a mosque bombing killed more than 50 people.

As the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan spirals out of control under Taliban rule, the militant group tells CBS News "the U.S. should release our money, so we can save more children."

The Taliban have ruled out cooperation with the U.S. to contain extremist groups in Afghanistan.

The blast happened during Friday prayers in northern Afghanistan. It was not immediately clear how many had been killed and wounded and no group has yet claimed responsibility.

The United States and Pakistan have held difficult talks over the path forward in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan at a time when relations between the two countries are shaky.

Afghanistan’s Taliban leaders have met with U.K. officials for the first time since taking power, a move the group hopes will pave the way for the country to refill cash-starved coffers as it teeters on the brink of economic collapse.

The Taliban have doubled down on their hard-line trajectory in a third round of Afghanistan government appointments that encompassed a host of men named to deputy positions.

Taliban forces have raided an Islamic State affiliate’s hideout in the Afghan capital and killed several insurgents, hours after a bombing outside a mosque.

The bomb targeted the Eidgah Mosque, where a memorial service was being held for the mother of Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

The Taliban say at least five civilians have been killed by a bomb blast at the entrance of a mosque in the Afghan capital of Kabul.

A bomb exploded in the entrance of a mosque in the Afghan capital on Sunday leaving a “number of civilians dead,” a Taliban spokesman said. The bomb targeted the sprawling Eidgah Mosque in Kabul, where a memorial service was being held for the mother of Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, who later tweeted the attack had claimed civilian lives. Taliban fighters were not been harmed in the attack, Taliban spokesman Bilal Karimi told the Associated Press.

Outcry followed the Taliban's earlier announcement of an all-male lineup. A government spokesman held out the possibility of adding women to the Cabinet at a later time, but gave no specifics.

The Taliban have expanded their interim Cabinet by naming more ministers and deputies, but failed to appoint any women.

The friction between pragmatists and ideologues in the Taliban leadership has intensified since the group formed a hard-line Cabinet last week that is more in line with their harsh rule in the 1990s than their recent promises of inclusiveness.

New interim Prime Minister Mullah Hasan Akhund led the government when the Taliban ruled from 1996-2001. All the new officials appeared to be Taliban.

The Taliban's interim government for Afghanistan is all men and stacked with veterans of their hard-line rule from the 1990s and the 20-year battle against the U.S.-led coalition.

The United States is confirming for the first time that it has helped a U.S. citizen and family members to escape Afghanistan through an overland route to a neighboring country.

The Taliban’s lightning blitz across the country took less than a week to overrun some 300,000 Afghan government troops.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid issued a statement Monday, saying Panjshir was under the control of the Taliban. Experts doubted that resistance to the Taliban in Panjshir could last long-term.

The Taliban say they have seized the last province not in their control after their blitz through Afghanistan last month.

Afghan female filmmakers who fled the Taliban are begging the world to not forget the Afghan people and to support its artists.

Taliban officials “expect” President Joe Biden to reopen the U.S. Embassy in Kabul despite U.S. insistence that future diplomatic relations will depend on Taliban behavior.

KABUL, Afghanistan — The Taliban said that a U.S. airstrike targeted a suicide bomber in a vehicle Sunday who wanted to attack the Kabul international airport amid the American military’s evacuation there. After an Islamic State affiliate’s suicide attack that killed over 180 people, the Taliban increased its security around the airfield as Britain ended its evacuation flights Saturday. The rocket attack meanwhile struck Kabul’s Khuwja Bughra neighborhood, said Rashid, the Kabul police chief who goes by one name. Meanwhile, the family of a folk singer north of Kabul say the Taliban killed him. The Taliban say they have since retaken those areas, though neighboring Panjshir in the Hindu Kush mountains remains the only one of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces not under its control.

U.S. officials say a drone strike has blown up a vehicle carrying “multiple suicide bombers” from Afghanistan’s Islamic State affiliate before they could attack Kabul’s international airport.

Twin bombings strike Kabul, Afghanistan

The Taliban have condemned the explosions at Hamid Karzai International Airport, which left a number of people dead and more injured.

At least 13 people are killed and 15 are injured, including Americans, in twin suicide attacks outside Kabul airport, U.S. and Russian officials say.

A Taliban spokesman claimed Wednesday that there is "no evidence" that Osama bin Laden was behind the Sept. 11, 2001, World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks, despite overwhelming evidence linking the late al Qaeda leader to the planning of the incident.

The airport in Kabul is under the threat of an "imminent attack," possibly within "hours" on Thursday, according to a British defense official.

Several countries urged people to avoid the airport, where Belgium said there was a threat of a suicide bombing.

Taliban spokesman claims they want to 'forget what happened in the past' in New York Times interview

The Taliban is urging Afghans to stay in their home country as tens of thousands of them flee from their rule.

President Biden aims to stick to Afghanistan troop withdrawal deadline, despite pressure from G-7 allies to continue evacuations from Kabul. Taliban warns against extension.

Mohammad Ismail via ReutersThe British-educated son of one of Afghanistan’s most revered anti-Taliban warlords is the last holdout against the Taliban, staking his claim in the Panjshir Valley about 100 miles north of Kabul. Ahmad Massoud, along with a few hundred well-equipped fighters, pilots, and Amrullah Salehl—Afghanistan’s former vice president, who has claimed the Afghan presidency after Ashraf Ghani fled on August 15—make up the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan (NRF) that Massoud

Women are not to go to work until procedures are in place to ensure their safety, a spokesman says.

Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said Tuesday that Afghans should stop attempting to reach Kabul's international airport, and reiterated that the militant group would not agree to extend the Aug. 31 deadline for U.S. troops to withdraw.Why it matters: The evacuation effort has ramped up significantly over the last 48 hours, but given Mujahid's statement that "we are not in favor of allowing Afghans to leave" the window to complete the operation could soon begin to close.Stay on top of the

Biden has previously said he may consider extending the departure date past Aug. 31 but has yet to do so.

Here are this morning's top stories.

Sharply divided leaders of the Group of Seven industrialized democracies have clashed over U.S. President Joe Biden’s insistence on withdrawing from Afghanistan by August 31 in the face of the Taliban takeover.

A firefight outside Kabul’s international airport has killed an Afghan soldier.

Taliban websites that delivered the victorious insurgents’ official messages to Afghans and the world at large in five languages have gone abruptly offline, indicating an effort to try to squelch them.

Different groups adopt different interpretations of Sharia law, and the Taliban wants the world to believe theirs has changed.

The Taliban face a major challenge in cementing control of Afghanistan: Money.

ReutersThe Taliban leadership seemingly promised blanket amnesty to those who worked with Westerners during the 20-year American-led war. “Let me remind you that we forgive everyone, because it is in the interest of peace and stability in Afghanistan,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told the world this week, adding, “All the groups that were confronting us are all forgiven.”Afghans Escape Taliban to Quaint Italian Town—Only to Face Far-Right WrathBut apparently no one told their blood-thir

Different groups adopt different interpretations of Sharia law, and the Taliban wants the world to believe theirs has changed.

Drugs like opium, meth and hashish remain the Taliban's largest single source of income and have a "destabilizing and corrupting effect" in Afghanistan, U.N. officials tell CBS News.

As the Taliban negotiates with senior politicians and government leaders following its lighting-fast takeover of Afghanistan, U.S. social media companies are reckoning with how to deal with a violent extremist group that is poised to rule a country of 40 million people.

Evacuations from Kabul's Hamid Karzai International Airport picked up pace on Wednesday after a frenzied and deadly start to the week.

The Taliban says it won't hurt women, while U.S. military commanders are working with Taliban to allow Americans and some Afghans to evacuate.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said Tuesday that the country’s women would embrace sharia law.

The Taliban have vowed to respect women’s rights, forgive those who fought them and ensure Afghanistan does not become a haven for terrorists.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the killing of Dawa Khan Menepal, the director of Afghanistan's Government Information Media Center.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the killing of Dawa Khan Menepal, the director of Afghanistan's Government Information Media Center.

The Taliban have shot and killed the director of Afghanistan’s government media center after ambushing him in the capital, Kabul.

The Taliban ambushed and killed the director of Afghanistan's government media center on Friday in the capital, Kabul, the latest killing of a government official just days after an assassination attempt on the country's acting defense minister. The slaying comes amid significant Taliban advances. In a major but symbolic victory, the Taliban on Friday appeared to have taken their first provincial capital — the city of Zaranj in southern Nimroz province.

At least 8 people were killed and 20 injured in the attack, which happened in a heavily guarded area and was claimed by the Taliban.

The Taliban are pressing on with their surge in Afghanistan and say they have seized a strategic border crossing with Pakistan.

The Taliban are pressing on with their surge in Afghanistan, saying they seized a strategic border crossing with Pakistan on Wednesday — the latest in a series of key border post to come under their control in recent weeks. The development was the latest in Taliban wins on the ground as American and NATO troops complete their pullout from the war-battered country. On Tuesday, an Afghan official said a senior government delegation, including the head of the country’s reconciliation council, would meet the Taliban in Doha, Qatar, to jump-start the long-stalled peace talks between the two sides.

Officials say the Taliban’s march through northern Afghanistan has gained momentum with the capture of several districts from fleeing Afghan forces.

Afghan government spokesmen say a bomb has exploded near a school in west Kabul, killing at least 25 people, many them young students

Afghan authorities say a bomb exploded near a girls’ school in a majority Shiite district of west Kabul on Saturday, killing at least 30 people, many of them young pupils between 11 and 15 years old.

Afghan officials say gunmen have killed a former TV presenter as he was travelling in the southern city of Kandahar.

FILE - In this Sept. 12, 2020 photo, a Taliban delegation arrive to attend the opening session of the peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban in Doha, Qatar. On Jan. 31, 2021, Rasul Talib, a member of the Afghan governments peace negotiating team warned the Taliban that if they dont resume peace talks in Qatar soon, the government could recall the team before a deal is reached. Talib said in a press conference the team is waiting for the return of the Taliban leadership to Doha, Qatar, where a second round of peace talks began this month but has made little progress. (AP Photo/ Hussein Sayed, File)KABUL – A member of the Afghan government's peace negotiating team Sunday warned the Taliban that if they don't resume peace talks in Qatar soon, the government could recall the team before a deal is reached. Meanwhile, the Afghan peace negotiating team praised President Biden’s administration for its decision to review the U.S.-Taliban peace deal, saying the deal favors the Taliban.

Gunmen fired on a car in northern Kabul on Sunday, killing two women judges who worked for Afghanistan's high court and wounding the driver, a court official said. It was the latest attack in the Afghan capital during peace talks between Taliban and Afghan government officials in Qatar. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)KABUL – Gunmen fired on a car in northern Kabul on Sunday, killing two women judges who worked for Afghanistan's high court and wounding the driver, a court official said. It was the latest attack in the Afghan capital during peace talks between Taliban and Afghan government officials in Qatar. The Taliban and the Afghan government earlier this month resumed peace talks in Qatar.

Afghan Journalist Rahmatullah Nikzad poses for photograph in Kabul, Afghanistan, July 29, 2019. Nikzad , a prominent local journalist was shot dead by unknown assailants in Afghanistan's central Ghazni province on Monday, Dec. 21, 2020. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)KABUL – A prominent local journalist was shot dead by unknown assailants in Afghanistan's central Ghazni province on Monday — the fourth to be killed in the war-ravaged nation in just two months. Nekzad, who headed the Ghazni Journalists' Union, was well known in the area. The Afghan Journalists' Safety Committee said seven media personnel have been killed this year.

Tariq Arian, spokesman for the Interior Ministry, said 45 people were also wounded in a late afternoon blast in Bamiyan city in Bamiyan province. Mohammad Reza Yusuofi, spokesman for the provincial police chief in Bamiyan, said there were two bombs that exploded in quick succession. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack and Zabihullah Mujahid, Taliban spokesman, said the group was not involved. The Islamic State group affiliate in Afghanistan has declared war on the country’s minority Shiite Muslims — and Bamiyan is a mostly Shiite province. The U.S. blamed the IS affiliate for an attack on a maternity hospital earlier this year that killed 24 new mothers and infant babies.

FILE - In this March 9, 2020 file photo, Washington's peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad, attends Ashraf Ghani's inauguration ceremony at the presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan. The U.S. signed a peace deal with the Taliban in February to end 19 years of war in Afghanistan. Khalilzad has sought to stress the economic benefits of the peace deal throughout his tour. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid denied contacts with Al-Qaida in the Indian Subcontinent, saying the insurgents were committed to the peace deal. The peace deal called for the Afghan government to free 5,000 Taliban prisoners, in exchange for the Taliban releasing 1,000 government personnel.

KABUL/PESHAWAR, PAKISTAN (Reuters) - A U.S. citizen has been kidnapped in Afghanistans eastern Khost province, according to media reports on Thursday. American current affairs magazine Newsweek reported that a 57-year old U.S. contractor was abducted last week in Khost, citing unnamed U.S. officials. Newsweek reported that U.S. officials believed a Taliban-linked group, the Haqqani network, had orchestrated the abduction. A Taliban leader who declined to be named told Reuters they had kidnapped an American in Khost but did not provide further details. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told Reuters they knew of media reports of the abduction but were not aware of it and were checking with their commanders.