Afghanistan crisis live updates: 'Afghan evacuee flights halted from two key bases'

The United States on Friday dodged the ignominy of having Taliban install its government on the 20th anniversary of 9/11 after Russia reportedly rained on the extremists' party by declining to attend the inauguration in Kabul. Reports that the Taliban was all set to embark on a provocative gesture seen as poking America in the eye were contested by a spokesman for the terrorist outfit who called it rumors, even as the US prepared to mourn the nearly 3,000 people who were killed on 9/11 by terrorists who found safe haven in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan in the 1990s.

The Taliban have executed the brother of Amrullah Saleh, the former Afghan vice president who became one of the leaders of anti-Taliban opposition forces in the Panjshir valley, his nephew said on Friday. The news that Saleh's brother Rohullah Azizi was killed came days after Taliban forces took control of the provincial centre of Panjshir, the last province holding out against them.

The Taliban takeover in Afghanistan has 'hearted and emboldened' extremists and could lead to the return of major 'al-Qaida-style' attack plots against the West, the head of Britain's domestic intelligence agency said on Friday. MI5 Director General Ken McCallum said the UK could face 'more risk' because of the withdrawal of NATO troops and the overthrow of the internationally backed Afghan government.