Afghanistan Archives - Northwest Public Broadcasting

Northwest Soldier Tries To Save Afghan Teammates From Taliban

By Anna King January 8, 2022

Team 11 was a group working with the U.S. Army Special Forces to clear IEDs in Afghanistan operations. Photo Courtesy of Tom Kasza Team 11 Afghanistan Listen Read Winter is bearing down hard in Afghanistan. The country is heading toward famine. And men who worked for the U.S. government clearing IEDs are being hunted by… Read More

Helping Afghan Refugees In The Tri Cities

By NWPB News October 14, 2021

Picture of the American and Afghanistan flags

The Tri Cities area will see 40 Afgham refugees resettled there. What are organziations are doing to assist them? Continue Reading Helping Afghan Refugees In The Tri CitiesRead More

Chief Guantánamo Prosecutor Announces Surprise Retirement Before 9/11 Trial Starts

By NPR News July 10, 2021

Army Brig. Gen. Mark Martins, Guantánamo's chief prosecutor, addresses the media on Oct. 19, 2012, at the end of a week of pretrial hearings for the five alleged architects of the 9/11 attacks. Martins announced his retirement this week. Michelle Shephard/Toronto Star via Getty Images

Less than two months before the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, the chief prosecutor of the alleged 9/11 conspirators announced his surprise retirement Thursday, making a trial in the case appear increasingly unlikely. Read More

President Biden Defends Decision To Pull U.S. Troops From Afghanistan Despite Resurgent Taliban

By NPR News July 9, 2021

President Biden addresses the situation in Afghanistan on Thursday at the White House. He insisted a Taliban takeover of the country is not inevitable and expressed confidence in Afghan security forces. Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

As security conditions deteriorate in Afghanistan, President Biden is defending his decision to pull U.S. troops out of America's longest-running war. Biden announced the decision in April, and he insisted Thursday that he will stick to it, even as the consequences of that withdrawal become more and more stark. Read More

President Biden Says U.S. Troops To Withdraw From Afghanistan By Sept. 11 – 20 Years After Attack

By NPR News April 13, 2021

Marine Gen. Frank McKenzie, (center) is shown visiting Kabul, Afghanistan in January 2020. The Biden administration said it plans to complete a draw down of U.S. troops in the country by Sept. 11. CREDIT: Lolita Baldor/AP

President Biden will withdraw all remaining U.S. troops from Afghanistan by Sept. 11, the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks that prompted America's involvement in its longest war, a senior administration official told reporters on Tuesday. Read More

U.S. Defense Secretary Goes To Afghanistan Amid Questions Over Withdrawal Date

By NPR News March 21, 2021

Lloyd Austin, U.S. secretary of defense, visits the National Cemetery in Seoul, South Korea, on Thursday. On his Asia tour, the defense chief made an unannounced visit to Afghanistan. CREDIT: SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg via Getty Images

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin landed in Kabul on Sunday, amid uncertainty over how long American forces will stay in the country. Continue Reading U.S. Defense Secretary Goes To Afghanistan Amid Questions Over Withdrawal Read More

White House Orders Thousands Of U.S. Troops Withdrawn From Afghanistan And Iraq

By NPR News November 16, 2020

A U.S. soldier stands at a spot struck by Iranian missiles in January at Ain al-Asad air base in Iraq's Anbar province. The attack was in retaliation for the U.S. drone strike that killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani. The U.S. is drawing down 2,500 troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Qassim Abdul-Zahra/AP

The American troop presence will decline in Afghanistan from 4,500 to 2,500, and in Iraq from 3,000 to 2,500. Senior military leaders reportedly oppose the move. Continue Reading White House Orders Thousands Of U.S. Troops Read More

U.S. Reaches ‘Reduction In Violence’ Deal With Taliban In Afghanistan

By NPR News February 15, 2020

U.S. Marines stand guard during the change of command ceremony at Shorab military camp in Afghanistan's Helmand province in January 2018. CREDIT:; Massoud Hossaini/AP

The step is meant to serve as an initial confidence-building measure and would last for seven days. A more formal agreement could be signed in the coming weeks. Continue Reading U.S. Reaches ‘Reduction In Violence’ Deal With Read More

U.S. Gold Star Families Sue Defense Contractors, Alleging They Funded The Taliban

By NPR News December 28, 2019

n this Dec. 25, 2019 photo, an Army carry team moves a transfer case containing the remains of U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael Goble, at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware. The U.S. Special Forces soldier died in Afghanistan while seizing a Taliban weapons cache. CREDIT: Alex Brandon/AP

Eight multinational corporations have been accused of making "protection payments" to terrorists, so that their businesses would be left alone. Continue Reading U.S. Gold Star Families Sue Defense Contractors, Alleging They Read More

President Trump Announces Resumption Of Talks With Taliban During Surprise Visit To Afghanistan

By NPR News November 28, 2019

President Trump addresses U.S. troops Thursday, Nov. 28, 2019 during a surprise visit to Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan. Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty ImagesOlivier Douliery/AFP via Getty ImagesPresident Trump addresses U.S. troops Thursday during a surprise visit to Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan. Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images

"The Taliban wants to make a deal," President Trump said during his trip to Bagram Airfield, where he met with U.S. troops. "If they do, they do, and if they don't, they don't. That's fine." Continue Reading Read More

Anger Grows In Afghanistan Over Civilian Deaths By U.S., Afghan Forces

By PBS Newshour October 6, 2019

Men carry a coffin of one of the victims after a drone strike, in Khogyani district of Nangarhar province, Afghanistan September 19, 2019. CREDIT: Parwiz/Reuters

Increasing civilian deaths in stepped-up U.S. airstrikes and operations by Afghan forces highlight the conundrum the U.S. military and its Afghan allies face, 18 years into the war: How to hunt down their Islamic State group and Taliban enemies, while keeping civilians safe and on their side. Read More

President Trump Fires John Bolton In Final Break After Months Of Internal Policy Division

By NPR News September 10, 2019

National security adviser John Bolton talked to reporters outside the White House. The hawkish former U.N. ambassador is stepping down. CREDIT: Evan Vucci/AP

The national security adviser caught the president's attention for his aggressive stance as a Fox News commentator but strayed from favor after pushing too hard against Trump's wishes. Continue Reading President Trump Read More

Sec. Of State Pompeo: ‘President Trump Ultimately Made The Decision’ To Hold Taliban Talks

By NPR News September 8, 2019

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaking at the National Convention of The American Legion in Indianapolis in August 2019. Michael Conroy/AP

The secretary of state was on the Sunday news talk shows a day after Trump tweeted that a secret meeting to be held at Camp David between leaders of Afghanistan at the Taliban was canceled. Continue Reading Sec. Of State Read More

Trial Date Set For Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, 4 Others Charged In September 11 Attacks

By NPR News August 30, 2019

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, seen shortly after his capture during a 2003 raid in Pakistan, is accused of masterminding the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people. CREDIT: AP

A U.S. military court judge in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, has set a trial date of Jan. 11, 2021, though a number of other deadlines would need to be met for the trial to begin then. Continue Reading Trial Date Set For Khalid Sheikh Read More

‘American Taliban’ John Walker Lindh Set To Be Released From Federal Prison

By NPR News May 22, 2019

This image from television footage shows John Walker Lindh in Afghanistan on Dec. 1, 2001. Lindh was a Taliban soldier who was captured at that time. Having served 17 years of a 20-year sentence, he is scheduled to be released from a U.S. federal prison on Thursday. In the coming years, dozens of Americans linked to extremist groups are in line to be released from U.S. prisons. Associated Press

Lindh has served 17 years of a 20-year sentence for being a Taliban soldier. In the coming years, dozens of Americans linked to extremist groups are in line to be released from U.S. prisons. Continue Reading ‘American Read More

U.S. Strips Visa From Intl. Criminal Court Prosecutor Pursuing War-Crime Inquiry

By NPR News April 5, 2019

International Criminal Court prosecutor Fatou Bensouda's office has previously said it found reasonable basis to believe U.S. personnel "committed acts of torture" and other crimes. Continue Reading U.S. Strips Visa From Intl. Read More

He’s A U.S. Citizen And Marine Veteran Who Served In Afghanistan. ICE Tried To Deport Him

By NPR News January 17, 2019

Federal immigration authorities took Jilmar Ramos-Gomez, a U.S. citizen and veteran, into custody to face possible deportation. CREDIT: Courtesy ACLU of Michigan

Last month federal immigration authorities took Jilmar Ramos-Gomez into custody to face possible deportation. He was born in Grand Rapids, Mich., served in the Marines and saw combat in Afghanistan. Continue Reading Read More

A Utah Town Remembers Its Mayor, Killed In Action In Afghanistan

By NPR News November 5, 2018

Major Brent Taylor CREDIT: UTAH NATIONAL GUARD

A U.S. soldier was killed Saturday in Kabul, Afghanistan, in what authorities are calling an insider attack. The soldier was Major Brent Taylor, and he was both an officer in the Utah National Guard and the mayor of North Ogden, Utah. Continue Read More

Seattle Marine Killed in Afghanistan

By Sueann Ramella February 2, 2012

A 23-year-old Seattle soldier died in Helmand Province in Afghanistan. SEATTLE — A Marine sergeant from Seattle was killed this week in Afghanistan. An improvised explosive device killed 23-year-old Will Stacey in Afghanistan’s Helmand province. His parents, Robert and Robin Stacey, are historians at the University of Washington. They issued a statement Read More