Afghanistan: Fighting rages as Taliban besiege three key cities

Fighting is raging around three major cities in southern and western Afghanistan as Taliban militants seek to seize them from government forces.

Taliban fighters have entered parts of Herat, Lashkar Gah and Kandahar.

They have made rapid gains in rural areas since it was announced almost all foreign troops would go by September.

But the fate of these key cities could be crucial amid fears of a humanitarian crisis and how long government forces will be able to hold out.

The fundamentalist Islamist militia is already thought to have captured up to half of all Afghanistan's territory, including lucrative border crossings with Iran and Pakistan.

• Mapping the advance of the Taliban in Afghanistan

In Lashkar Gah, insurgents were reportedly only a few hundred metres from the governor's office on Saturday - but had been pushed back by nightfall.

It was their second such attempt in as many days. The commander of Afghan forces said they had inflicted significant casualties on the militants on Friday.

Analysis by Secunder Kermani, BBC News

The Taliban's firm focus is now on Afghanistan's cities. The situation is fluid but Lashkar Gah, capital of Helmand province where many US and British soldiers lost their lives, looks the most vulnerable right now. Pro-Taliban social media accounts have uploaded videos of their fighters in the heart of the city.

Afghan special forces are being sent in to help push them back, but one local resident told us even if that does end up happening, the Taliban's advance is a powerful assertion of their strength.

The militants are understood to have taken up some positions in the homes of ordinary families, which will make it harder to dislodge them. More lengthy and bloody fighting looks to be ahead.

One MP in Kandahar told the BBC the city was at serious risk of falling to the Taliban, with tens of thousands of people already displaced and a humanitarian disaster looming.

Gul Ahmad Kamin said the situation was getting worse hour by hour, and the fighting within the city was the most severe in 20 years.

He said the Taliban now saw Kandahar as a major focal point, a city they want to make their temporary capital. If it fell, then five or six other provinces in the region would also be lost, Mr Kamin said.

He said the Taliban fighters were on several sides of the city and because of the large civilian population government forces would not be able to use heavy weaponry if the militants got fully inside.

•  EXPLAINER: Life in Afghanistan after America leaves
• 
  
• BACKGROUND: Who are the Taliban?
• 
  
• ANALYSIS: Was 20 years in Afghanistan worth it?
  

In Herat, a Tolo News reporter said clashes had intensified, with Taliban fighters entering southern parts of the economically important city.

There are reports of fighting in at least five different locations.

The US is still carrying out air strikes to support the Afghan forces, who have recaptured a district around the airport.

A guard outside a UN compound near the airport was killed on Friday in what the UN described as a deliberate Taliban attack.

Residents say few places in the city are safe and some people are taking up arms to defend themselves.

'Islamic emirate'

The EU's special envoy for Afghanistan, Tomas Niklasson, said he believed the war was set to get much worse.

He said he feared the Taliban way of thinking now was "something they had in the past - re-establishing... their Islamic emirate".

And the former head of the British Armed Forces, Gen David Richards, warned the international withdrawal could result in the collapse of the Afghan army's morale, leading to Taliban control and possibly a renewed international terrorist threat.

Humanitarian organisations have also warned of a major crisis in coming months as the Taliban continue their offensive - with a lack of food, water and services, and overcrowding in camps for the displaced.

US troops and their Nato and regional allies forced the Taliban from power in November 2001.

The group had been harbouring Osama Bin Laden and other al-Qaeda figures linked to the 11 September 2001 attacks in the US.

But despite a continued international presence, billions of dollars of support and training for the Afghan government forces, the Taliban regrouped and gradually regained strength.

In February 2020, then-US President Donald Trump and allies agreed to formulate a deal with the Taliban on the withdrawal of international combat forces.

This year, President Joe Biden announced the withdrawal would take place by September.

Excerpt from BBC News Homes......

 

Indians turn to crowdfunding to pay Covid bills

 Hospitalisations soared in India during a deadly second Covid wave. Now, hobbled by patchy insurance, Indians are turning to crowdfunding to pay the steep medical bills, reports Astha Rajvanshi.

Supraja Reddy Yeruva was unable to breathe properly for days after giving birth to her second child in June. The 27-year-old began showing Covid-19 symptoms during her pregnancy, shortly after visiting a hospital for a routine check-up.

Soon, she contracted a severe lung infection and was admitted in the ICU at a private hospital in the southern city of Hyderabad. A month on, she is still there.

With their six-year-old daughter and newborn son, her husband, Vijaya Yeruva, now anxiously waits for her recovery.

Mr Yeruva is also scrambling to pay a hefty medical bill of nearly 6m rupees (£58,636; $80,615) for his wife's treatment. And the amount goes up by the day.

He used his health insurance, maxed out his credit cards and borrowed from the bank. After exhausting every other option, the 35-year-old turned to Ketto, a crowdfunding platform, and launched a fundraiser.

An engineer with a steady, but modest, annual income of $1,076 (£775), Mr Yeruva said he never imagined asking strangers for money.

"I worked hard to support my family and never asked anyone for help," he said. "Even now, I'm embarrassed to tell people about this fundraiser."

His desperation reflects the plight of thousands of Indian families who now face the collateral damage from India's devastating second Covid wave: crushing medical debt.

Many have turned to crowdfunding to foot the hospital bills - and it has quickly emerged as a substitute for health insurance and government support.

Experts said three of the biggest crowdfunding sites - Ketto, Milaap and Give India - have collectively raised around $1.6bn with the help of 2.7 million donors so far.

Ketto, where Mr Yeruva launched his fundraiser, said it grew four times during both waves, raising more than $40m for some 12,000 Covid-relief campaigns.

"In many cases, crowdfunding became an alternate safety net to fill the existing gaps in the healthcare system," said Ravina Banze and Irfan Bashir, co-authors of the book, Crowdfunding: The Story of People.

Even before the pandemic, the greatest need for crowdfunding manifested in the lives of millions of sick people in India.

Out-of-pocket healthcare expenses drove 38 million into poverty in 2011-2012, according to a 2018 study by the British Medical Journal and the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI).

There's no data on how many more were pushed to financial ruin by medical debt during the pandemic, but a preliminary study by the Duke Global Health Institute and the PHFI estimates that two-thirds of India's self-employed and half of its salaried workforce could not afford to pay for critical care.

The burden falls heaviest on India's poorest, a group that last year increased by an additional 230 million Indians, according to researchers at Azim Premji University. More than 90% borrowed a median amount of $201 to pay off debts.

India's public spending on healthcare accounts for just 1.2% of its GDP - it's among the lowest in the world, with roughly two-thirds of Indians going without any health insurance.

"Having unexpected medical emergencies is a recipe for disaster when most people live under the constant threat of financial instability," Mr Bashir said.

In 2018, Prime Minister Narendra Modi promised free coverage to half a billion of India's poorest citizens by launching "Modicare", the world's biggest health insurance scheme.

But an analysis by Proxima Consulting found that only 13% of those eligible under the scheme were able to claim insurance when hospitalised for Covid treatment in public and private hospitals.

The scheme does not cover outpatient costs either, which make up for a large part of medical expenses.

In Nagpur city, Chinmayi Hiwase went from hospital to hospital for three days to beg for oxygen and a vacant bed for her 57-year-old father, Rajesh Hiwase. She thought her struggle with Covid was over.

But an MRI scan of her father later detected an auto-immune disorder and mucormycosis or "black fungus". The additional treatment, which includes daily injections costing $94 each, has added to the total cost of $33,633.

It's an unimaginable amount for the 25-year-old, who is a single child and recently graduated. "We were shocked when we saw the bills," she said.

Her father, who worked at a private engineering college, supported the family on an annual salary of $605.

Without health insurance, medical bills have eaten into Ms Hiwase's savings, forcing them to borrow money from friends and, eventually, start an online fundraiser.

So far, the family has raised $11,956, almost half the amount they requested. "I didn't realize how helpful [crowdfunding] could be," Chinmayi Hiwase said, sighing with relief.

"Crowdfunding has essentially given those individuals who can't afford private hospitals an opportunity to get themselves admitted," Ms Banze said.

Donors are often family and friends of those who start fundraisers, but there are also NGOs, celebrities and strangers, in India and abroad, who feel compelled to give.

But donations are often directed towards the most heart-wrenching stories or patients with strong social networks. Ms Banze and Mr Bashir worry that this fosters an environment where people are empathising only with the most severe cases.

"Not everyone is a great storyteller, and not everyone has the most extreme story," they said.

With half the country unable to access the internet, crowdfunding can also create "information asymmetry" by preventing those on the lowest rungs of society from tapping into its power.

Despite donations, Ms Hiwase's financial troubles are far from over. Loans still need to be repaid, and her father's treatment will also take a long time.

"We could barely afford an injection without the help of others," she said. "I don't know what those who don't have that kind of support would do."

In Hyderabad, Mr Yeruva is contemplating selling his assets and even his house to pay for his wife's treatment.

"It will take years for things to go back to normal, but I want to make sure our kids have their mother," he said.

Astha Rajvanshi is a freelance journalist and fellow at the Institute of Current World Affairs,based in Delhi.

Excerpt from BBC News Homes......

Covid: Sydney extends lockdown as other Australian cities reopen

 Sydney's lockdown has been extended by another month as Covid cases continue to rise.

Australia's largest city has been under stay-at-home orders since late June due to an outbreak of the Delta variant.

More than 2,500 people have been infected in Sydney's worst outbreak this year.

New South Wales - of which Sydney is the capital - reported 177 new cases on Wednesday, the most in a day since March 2020.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian said it was not possible for the city to exit lockdown on Friday as had been planned.

She announced further curbs on movement - including a 10km (6.5 miles) limit on essential shopping.

Victoria and South Australia both came out of lockdowns on Wednesday, after containing smaller outbreaks.

Sydney's five million residents had enjoyed a fairly normal lifestyle this year until the outbreak happened.

For most of the pandemic, Australia has kept infections relatively low by closing its borders and ordering hotel quarantine for arrivals.

State governments have plunged cities into rapid lockdowns to curb outbreaks, using aggressive contact tracing.

There have been over a dozen snap lockdowns in the past year.

But experts warn that restrictions in Sydney could last until September or even later.

Authorities say they cannot re-open until the transmission rate is back to near zero.

At least one in three cases from the past week had been infectious in the community. Reasons included undertaking critical work and grocery shopping.

The highly policed lockdown has fuelled discontent among some in the community.

Several thousand people staged "freedom" protests in Sydney, Melbourne and other cities on the weekend.

• Anger as half of Australians back in lockdown
• Sydney lockdown protesters condemned as selfish

It has also highlighted the nation's bungled vaccine programme, which began in February.

Just 16% of Australia's adult population is vaccinated.

Critics have blamed the low rate on the federal government's failure to secure more supplies of the Pfizer vaccine.

They also attribute it to confidence in the AstraZeneca vaccine being undermined by mixed messaging about its rare blood clot risk.

The national regulator has recently updated its guidance to urge Sydney residents to get the AstraZeneca jab, of which Australia has a large supply.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison apologised for his government's handling of the rollout last week, following months of criticism.

Excerpt from BBC News Homes......

Capitol riot: Policeman tells 6 January hearing he feared he would die

 A police officer who defended the US Capitol during a riot by Donald Trump supporters on 6 January has said he feared he would be crushed by the mob.

"This is how I'm going to die," a tearful Aquilino Gonell told a Congressional committee as an inquiry opened into the Washington DC attack.

Another officer, Harry Dunn, who is black, said he was racially abused.

At least 535 rioters have been arrested since the attack that left five dead, including one police officer.

Prosecutors have so far secured only a few convictions.

The assault led to the political impeachment and acquittal of Republican Mr Trump, who was accused by lawmakers of inciting the riot - a claim he has repeatedly denied.

• What to look for as inquiry begins
• Capitol riots: What we have learned six months on

The inquiry in the House Select committee is being conducted almost entirely by Democrats, after most Republicans boycotted the proceedings.

However, two Republicans - Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger - have broken ranks to join the investigation.

"If those responsible are not held accountable... this will remain a cancer on our constitutional republic," Ms Cheney said as the hearing began on Tuesday.

The nine-member select committee was formed after Republicans objected to an independent commission such as the one that investigated the 11 September 2001 attacks.

The panel - which has powers to summon witnesses - is expected to investigate the circumstances leading up to the riot and why law enforcement bodies were ill-prepared.

A 'medieval battlefield'

On Tuesday, four police officers described being beaten and assaulted by rioters who had come to disrupt the certification by Congress of President Joe Biden's election victory.

Officer Gonell described the scene as a "medieval battlefield".

Wiping away tears, he described returning home and pushing his wife away from him because of the amount of chemical irritant that had soaked into his uniform.

The Iraq War veteran went on to criticise Republicans for what he described as their "continuous shocking attempt" to "ignore or destroy the truth" about that day.

Asked by Ms Cheney about Mr Trump's claim that they were a "very loving crowd," Sgt Gonell hit back: "I'm still recovering from those hugs and kisses."

"If that was hugs and kisses, we should all go to his house and do the same thing to him."He later said that he did not mean for anyone to go to Mr Trump's home, and apologised for the "outburst".

Officer Dunn said he told several protesters that he had voted for Mr Biden.

"Does my vote not count? Am I nobody?" he told them, after they wrongly claimed that the election was fraudulent.

"That prompted a torrent of racial epithets," he testified. "One woman in a pink Maga [Make America Great Again] shirt yelled, 'You hear that, guys, this [expletive] voted for Joe Biden!"

"No-one had ever - ever - called me a [expletive] while wearing the uniform of a Capitol police officer."

'Those words are weapons'

Officer Michael Fanone slammed his fist on the desk as he accused Republicans of a "disgraceful" violation of their oaths of office.

Mr Kinzinger, one of the only Republicans who voted to impeach Mr Trump for his role in the riot, appeared to hold back tears as he criticised his colleagues.

"We still don't know exactly what happened. Why? Because many in my party have treated this as just another partisan fight. It's toxic and it's a disservice to the officers and their families," Mr Kinzinger said.

Officer Dunn said he did not fully process the racial comment until the following days.

"I was just trying to survive that day, and get home.

"When I was able to process it, it was so emotional. It was so disheartening and disappointing that we live in a country like that, where they attack you because of the colour of your skin.

"Just to hurt you. Those words are weapons."

Officer Daniel Hodges' lip trembled with emotion as he was shown a video of himself trapped in a doorway being pummelled by rioters, who he repeatedly referred to as "terrorists" during his testimony.

"To my perpetual confusion, I saw the Thin Blue Line flag, a symbol of support for police, more than once, as the terrorists continued to ignore our commands and attacked us," he said.

Excerpt from BBC News Homes......