As per an India Today report, local media put out images that showed the vandalisation of the tombstone tomb of the 'Lion of Panjshir.

شکستن شیشه مقبره مسعود در پنجشیر واکنش برانگیز شد

تصاویر تازه‌ی که در اختیار آماج قرار گرفته، حکایت از شکستن شیشه و سنگ مقبره فرمانده احمد شاه مسعود دارد. پیش ازین نشر این خبر واکنش‌های را همراه شده و برخی‌ها این کار طالبان را دشمنی با ارزش‌های یک قوم تلقی کرده‌اند.#آماج_نیوز pic.twitter.com/BVjVPdkSSv

— Aamaj News (@AamajN) September 9, 2021

A video of the same was shared by journalist Bashir Ahmad Qasani on Twitter.

امروز بیستمین سالروز شهادت قهرمان ملی شهید احمد شاه مسعود است. بیست سال در نبودش طالبان زادگاهش حاکم شدند و مقبره اش را ویران کردند. pic.twitter.com/aisJK62QUb — Bashir Ahmad Qasani (@AhmadQasani) September 8, 2021

The visuals triggered outrage on social media, with some users pointing out that the Taliban had smashed glass with Quranic verses on it, reported The Week.

The following verses were written on the glass on the stone of Ahmad Shah Massoud's tomb, which Taliban broke with disrespect:

in the name of God
And do not say, "Whoever kills in the way of God, the dead will not be resurrected, but they will not be warned." وَلَنَبْلُوَنَّكُمْ pic.twitter.com/9sNdpz1dl2

— PANJSHIR RESISTANCE (@PanjshirRes) September 8, 2021

Massoud, dubbed the “Lion of Panjshir” was an iconic and unifying figure for the Northern Alliance and Tajik minorities. Throughout the first Taliban regime, he led the Northern Alliance resistance against them. He was assassinated  on 9 September, 2001, just days before the 9/11 attacks.

According to India Today, Massoud's forces remained intact after his death and partnered with the US when it invaded Afghanistan weeks later, scattering Al-Qaeda, which orchestrated the 9/11 attacks, and driving the Taliban from power.

Along with other former warlords, they went on to form the core of the government and security forces that the US and its allies would spend the next two decades arming and training, at a cost of billions of dollars.

Those forces, which from the beginning were rife with corruption, collapsed in a matter of days earlier this month, as the Taliban captured most of the country less than three weeks before the US was set to withdraw its last troops.

His son Ahmad Massoud, joined by former Afghan Vice-President Amrullah Saleh, is now leading the Panjshir forces against the Taliban.

With inputs from agencies

The Climate Action Network (CAN) is a network of more than 1500 civil society organisations from over 130 countries that are working together to fight climate emergencies.

COP26 is a global climate summit that focuses on bringing together heads of state, climate experts and campaigners to agree on coordinated action to tackle climate change. It was originally scheduled to take place from 9-19 November 2020 in Glasgow, UK. However, on 28 May 2020, it was decided that the summit will be postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The COP Bureau announced “In light of the ongoing, worldwide effects of COVID-19, holding an ambitious, inclusive COP26 in November 2020 is no longer possible. Rescheduling will ensure all parties can focus on the issues to be discussed at this vital conference and allow more time for the necessary preparations to take place. We will continue to work with all involved to increase climate ambition, build resilience and lower emissions.”

They said the climate summit will be held in 2021 from 1-12 November in the same location - Glasgow, UK.

According to estimates, around 200 heads of state and governments are expected to attend the summit along with thousands of delegates, civil society members and members of the media.

The reason CAN asked that COP26 be postponed is because they believe it is impossible to hold a safe, inclusive and just global climate conference by November with such a large gathering. They also believe the pure logistics of the event, to make it safe, is insufficient due to the "failure to support the access to vaccines to millions of people in poor countries, the rising costs of travel and accommodation, including for quarantine in and outside of the UK and the uncertainty in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic."

It will also exclude, they believe, the delegates, campaigners, media personnel from countries that are a part of the UK’s 60 odd countries that are part of its ‘red list’.

Britain’s COP26 president, Alok Sharma, released a statement stating the country will fund the quarantine stays of those who are arriving from the red list countries. Ministers have also said that vaccines will be made available for any delegate who needs one, reported BBC.

He said that the Britain government is also offering to "fund the required quarantine hotel stays for registered delegates arriving from red list areas and to vaccinate accredited delegates who would be unable otherwise to get vaccinated."

However, delegates that applied for them are yet to get their jabs. The NGO group has made repeated requests to the UK Presidency for clarity around support for logistics and quarantine costs but the details have not been made public.

By excluding people from poor countries, CAN believes, it would have "serious and long-lasting implications" on the issues being discussed during these talks. Topics like climate finance, loss and damage and carbon market rules are just as important for developing countries as it is for the developed countries.

Tasneem Essop, CAN's Executive Director said, "Our concern is that those countries most deeply affected by the climate crisis and those countries suffering from the lack of support by rich nations in providing vaccines will be left out of the talks and conspicuous in their absence at COP26."

"There has always been an inherent power imbalance within the UN climate talks and this is now compounded by the health crisis," she added.

Environmental groups and civil society groups have no real power to influence the outcomes of this event however act as observers and advisors to poor countries.

Sharma also stated that they are working to ensure that the delegates have an "inclusive, accessible and safe summit" at Glasgow. However, he said that it is important that these talks take place as "climate change has not taken time off."

“Ensuring that the voices of those most affected by climate change are heard is a priority for the COP26 Presidency, and if we are to deliver for our planet, we need all countries and civil society to bring their ideas and ambition to Glasgow,” he added.

"A climate summit without the voices of those most affected by climate change is not fit for purpose," said Mohamed Adow, a longtime observer of the talks and director of the Nairobi-based think tank Power Shift Africa.

"If COP26 goes ahead as currently planned, I fear it is only the rich countries and NGOs from those countries that would be able to attend."

The UN rejected this demand and has stood in support of Britain carrying on with the COP26 summit as planned.

Farhan Haq, a spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said the scientifically established urgency of combatting climate change meant a further delay of COP26 “is no longer feasible," reported Reuters. "For now, no changes are planned, but we understand the concerns."

“The global scientific community has made clear that climate change is now a global emergency and only an urgent and major step up in climate action can keep the goals of the Paris Agreement within reach and protect the most vulnerable countries and communities from worsening climate impacts,” he added.

Haq said UN authorities and offices are working with the British government "to make COP as safe and inclusive as possible, including offering vaccines to all participants and paying for hotel quarantine costs where quarantine is required."

Recently, more than 220 leading journals published an editorial warning everyone that global warming cannot be put on the back burner while the world deals with the COVID-19 pandemic.

"In the past 20 years, heat-related mortality among people older than 65 years has increased by more than 50 percent," it read.

"Higher temperatures have brought increased dehydration and renal function loss, dermatological malignancies, tropical infections, adverse mental health outcomes, pregnancy complications, allergies, and cardiovascular and pulmonary morbidity and mortality."

The hearing was underway when Taliban spokesperson Zaibullah Mujahid in Kabul announced the caretaker Taliban regime with a council of ministers headed by Mullah Mohammad Hassan Akhund who has been a close associate of Mullah Omar, with two deputies including Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar. The 33-member Council of Ministers has over 11 Mullahs and nine Molavis.

At least six of the new Taliban ministers are products of Darul Uloom Haqqania seminary in Pakistan, which is also known as the "University of Jihad" producing record number of Islamist terrorists.

Four top ministers in the new Islamic Emirate regime are US-designated global terrorists with millions of dollars on their head. Among them, the chief of the Haqqani Network–Sirajuddin Haqqani–was the mastermind of the Indian embassy bomb blasts in Kabul in 2008, which killed 58 and injured 141. Haqqani, believed to be close to Pakistan ISI, was named the new Interior Minister of the Taliban regime.

In January 2008, Haqqani was also involved in the bomb blast at the popular Serena Hotel in Kabul, which killed six people including an American citizen. In November 2008, Haqqani was yet again involved in the kidnapping of The New York Times journalist David Rohde.

Tuesday was marked by protests across Kabul and many other provinces of Afghanistan with men and women coming out on the streets against the Taliban, chanting "Death to Pakistan" and "Support Panjshir". Similar protests were also witnessed in Washington DC, London and Tehran. Taliban terrorists opened fire on several such protesters in Kabul and Herat. At least four civilians were killed and eight injured in the Taliban firing on the protesters in Herat. Several women, activists and journalists were also manhandled and detained in Kabul.

Protests were sparked after photographs of Pakistan ISI chief Lt Gen Faiz Hameed who arrived uninvited in Kabul went viral. Protesters were also in rage after reports emerged of Pakistan military and intelligence agency helping the Taliban in attacking innocent civilians in Panjshir Valley using drones and aircrafts.

The protests have seen unprecedented participation of women and a special hate for Pakistan. Installation of a Taliban regime in Kabul is being seen as an attempt by Pakistan to have its proxy rule in the country.

In a chilling visual when the Taliban was controlling the protesters using firearms, a Taliban terrorist was seen flogging a woman at the protest. "In the seconds before the Talib flogs the woman, she stands, not moving away, looking directly at him as he angrily approaches. This is not the 90s: Afghans demand their rights. A Blitzkrieg of 11 days for territory is one thing. Winning Afghans — and peace — another" tweeted an angry Muska Dastageer, a lecturer at the American University of Afghanistan.

The new Taliban regime in Afghanistan is not a government but a reincarnation of Quetta Shura with territorial control. The new Mullah-Molavi regime of Kabul is of the Taliban, by the Taliban and for the Taliban with the direct blessings of Rawalpindi.

At its helm is Mullah Mohammad Hassan Akhund, who had personally sanctioned the destruction of the mammoth Bamiyan Buddha statue. Akhund who hails from Kandahar and has studied from Pakistan-based madrassas is believed to hate the West and the western culture and, in particular, the Northern Alliance (Mujahideen) to the core. The US intelligence records describe Akhund as "ineffective, subject to mood swings and difficult to work with". He was also believed to have confiscated the United Nations Special Mission to Afghanistan (UNSMA) building in Kabul in June 2001 after a specious lease dispute. Akhund who has earlier also been the Governor of Kandahar was designated a proscribed terrorist by the United Nations in January 2001.

The propaganda of an inclusive government was a sham to divert attention of the western media, in which Taliban was mighty successful. The image makeover of Taliban is for the outside world. Within, in its ideology, core principles, ideas and actions, the Taliban remains steadfast and committed as it was in its earlier brutal rule. The brutality however hasn't begun yet since Taliban wants international aid and recognition. One should expect a global diplomacy by Taliban in the coming weeks for trade, economic aid but above all legitimacy.

The Taliban regime hasn't come through democratic means, neither does it believe in any enshrined principles of democracy in the Afghan constitution. Pakistan used Doha peace talks as a smokescreen for the Taliban. The world cannot remain silent to the Pakistan-Taliban terror nexus, which may go beyond Afghanistan if it remains unchecked.

United States may have left Afghanistan but the wounds of the departure may remain fresh for a long time. Washington DC has still not realised the consequences of keeping a snake oil merchant nation of Pakistan as a close ally. Rawalpindi was celebrating when 13 coffins of American soldiers who died in Kabul bombing arrived on the US soil.

The US has remained a mute spectator to Pakistan deep state's links with Taliban, Al Qaeda and ISKP in the region. The oblivious state will be a strategic blunder in the long run. If this remains the foreign policy of United States, the day isn’t far when Biden will shake hands with Mullah regime of Afghanistan only to invade Afghan soil again to counter Pakistan’s fresh demons.

The video captured the moments where people who were passing by rushed, helped and rescued a couple from a burning car. The men in the video, who are risking their own lives, are seen running to save a man and woman who are reportedly in their 90s.

The horrifying incident took place just on Monday, 6 September on westbound lanes of Interstate 8 in Lakeside in East County San Diego, according to cbs8.com report. The rescue was captured on camera and posted online by San Diego County’s fire department.

Watch the video here:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Lakeside Fire District (LKS) (@lakesidefiredist)

In a video, the group of men can be seen pulling out the elderly couple as the fire blazes higher and stronger. As per the first responders, the passers-by saw the fire from a distance while driving along Interstate 8. On reaching close to the burning car, the men jumped into action and rescued the couple. “Is somebody in there?” can be heard in the beginning of the video. In the footage strong flames can be seen engulfing the trunk of the car. Seconds later, a bystander can be seen rushing towards it and then drags out an old man from the driver seat to safety. Further in the video, another passerby was seen pulling out an old woman from the passenger’s seat. There were around five people who were seen helping the pair. The clip was recorded by a woman identified as Marie Macrorie, who was passing by at that moment. Later on, the Lakeside Fire Protection District took to its social media handle and informed that the fire extended into the vegetation but was quickly contained by concerned officials. The fire ultimately destroyed the whole vehicle but a serious accident was prevented, the publication reported.

5 Good Samaritans from the @eastcountytlc pull a couple in their 90s from Phoenix out of their burning car on I-8 to safety on #LaborDay. The elderly couple is recovering from burns in the hospital along with 1 of the Good Samaritans who got burned on his arm. @CBS8 @LakesideFire pic.twitter.com/fDvePzB1A5

— Heather HOPE (@HopeNEWS8) September 8, 2021

Further, the law enforcement agency claimed that the elderly couple and one Samaritan from the group have been taken to the hospital with burn injuries. They are expected to recover soon. Reports state that the group of men are all from the East County Transitional Living Center in El Cajon. They were travelling together when they saw the car on fire.

As per an India Today report, Ali Maisam Nazary, head of foreign relations, NRF, and spokesperson for Ahmad Massoud said, "Both Commander Ahmad Massoud and Amrullah Saleh are very much in Afghanistan. They are in the country. They will never abandon their people. People are rising and taking on the terrorists who are now in Kabul."

The NRF has also refuted claims of losing ground in Panjshir saying that 60 percent of Panjshir is still under the NRF control. Spokesman Nazary said they made a 'tactical withdrawal' from the main road and would soon return.

As per a Hindustan Times article, Nazary told CNN that the Taliban have suffered heavy casualties.

"The current situation in Pajshir is a hit more complex than what is being reported. The Taliban haven't taken the province, they have only taken the main road and the provincial centre is located near the main road. So this is why they were able to hoist their flag," Nazary said on CNN Connect.

Led by the son of legendary resistance fighter Ahmad Shah Massoud — who was assassinated in 2001 by Al-Qaeda two days before the September 11 attacks — the National Resistance Front (NRF) remains defiant despite losing control of the Panjshir valley, the group’s spokesman said.

Nazary spoke to AFP after the Taliban announced an interim government made up of loyalist hardliners. “The narrative of a modern Taliban is over… there is no Taliban in favour of an inclusive government," he said.

According to sources, the NRF is trying to establish a parallel government in Afghanistan to oust the Taliban. "The resistance front acknowledged that they will establish a transitional democratic and legitimate government which is forged based on the votes of people and is acceptable to the international community," the resistance front was quoted by Khaama news as saying in a statement.

With agency inputs