In Afghanistan

The Taliban are finally beginning to consolidate power in Afghanistan.

The group is appointing government ministers as it attempts to form a functional apparatus.

The first appointment was an open mockery to the United States - Mullah Abdul Qayyum Zakir as a Defense Minister.

Zakir is a former Guantanamo Bay prisoner between 2001 and 2007.

The Taliban on Sept. 6 claimed total control over Afghanistan, saying they had won the key battle for the Panjshir Valley, the last remaining holdout of resistance against their rule.

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The Taliban said on Sept. 6 they had captured the last pocket of resistance in Afghanistan, the Panjshir Valley, as the top U.S. diplomat flies to Qatar to try and handle the aftermath of the chaotic American withdrawal.

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Taliban fighters advanced deep into the last holdout province of Panjshir on Sept. 5, as the top U.S. general warned Afghanistan faces a wider civil war that would offer fertile ground for a resurgence of terrorism.

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Ljubljana – A group of five Afghans who worked with the EU delegation in the country has arrived in Slovenia along with their family members, the Foreign Ministry has confirmed for the STA. In all, 19 Afghans have thus arrived in Slovenia after withdrawing from the country in the wake of the Taliban taking over.

The Taliban are due to form a government within days despite fighting in Afghanistan's Panjshir Valley where forces battling the hardline Islamists say they are enduring "heavy" assaults.

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Daily life seems to have changed in Kabul after the Taliban took control of the administration in Afghanistan at a faster rate than any Western officials expected.

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The Taliban on Sept. 1 paraded some of the military hardware they captured during their takeover of Afghanistan, as a team from Qatar landed at the trashed airport in Kabul - a first step towards getting the facility back up and running as a lifeline for aid.

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As he pointed out, he was in the operational center of the company where he worked, and around 11, 12 o'clock, they received information that the Taliban entered Kabul on August 15 without firing a bullet.

Turkey may consider operating the airport servicing Afghanistan's capital Kabul if the conditions are suitable and it is requested to do so, the Turkish minister of national defense said on Aug. 30.

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