Fighters gathered in Panjshir Valley vow to resist Islamist takeover, but few believe they can pose a meaningful military challenge

Rights group says Islamist insurgents killed 9 members of Hazara minority, a Shiite group that in recent years has made major gains in education, social status

The US president has blamed his predecessor for committing him to a troop withdrawal deadline; experts say the full picture is more complicated

Kremlin maintained contacts with the insurgent group, even though it considers it a terror group; Russian FM says Moscow 'in no rush' to recognize Taliban as new rulers

Confusion reigns as paperwork issues and other problems keep many from being able to board planes out, though pace of flights still picks up with August 31 deadline looming

US president argues it's 'not rational' to have forces in Afghanistan if there are 'looming problems' elsewhere; claims there was no way to avoid the chaos of American withdrawal

Residents wave country's flag -- a new symbol of resistance -- in scattered rallies and face violent crackdown; grave economic crisis looms

Ads have been defaced on shops such as once-banned beauty parlors, which proliferated in Afghan capital after US toppling of Islamists in 2001

British officer says not all infants made it to safety; thousands stranded in no-man's land between Taliban fighters and Western troops

Taliban 2.0 is a hard sell for those with memories of the extremists' brutal 1996-2001 regime