Three Afghan cities are now under siege by the Taliban.
Fierce fighting is raging on the outskirts of Kandahar, Herat and Lashkar Gah, and Afghan government forces are fighting desperately to retain control.
The Islamist guerrilla group has in recent weeks conquered about half of the country’s provinces, according to the BBC.
And now the Afghans are fleeing.
Many are terrified that the fundamentalists will once again take control of the war-torn country.
– I have not yet met anyone who does not want to leave the country. Everyone wants to leave the country, says Astrid Sletten, who is country manager for NRC in Afghanistan.
Failed peace project
Next month marks 20 years since the United States and other NATO countries entered Afghanistan.
Originally, the goal was to take out al-Qaeda, which was behind the terrorist attacks in the United States on September 11, 2001. But soon the plans became more ambitious.
Afghanistan, which had been marked by war for over 20 years, was to have peace and democracy.
– One can probably say that it was too ambitious to believe that one could revolutionize and democratize this country in such a short time, says Arne Strand at Christian Michelsen’s institute.
Now that most of the foreign forces have withdrawn, the Taliban have launched a huge offensive against the government army. Strand believes the situation in the country is very precarious, but hopes the Taliban will show restraint and return to the negotiating table.
– They know, and the international community has told them very clearly, that if they take power and introduce the regime that was before, there will be no assistance from abroad, he says to TV 2.
– Afghan refugees in Khazana refugee camp on the outskirts of Peshawar in Pakistan. Photo: Muhammad Sajjad / AP
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Fear the worst
Astrid Sletten of the Norwegian Refugee Council says that people in Kabul are not as optimistic.
– There is a deep and intense fear among the Afghans that the civil war will only get worse, she says to TV 2.
At least 30,000 Afghans are already fleeing every week, according to the UN. This is despite the fact that several of the neighboring countries have made it clear that they do not want to accept refugees.
Sletten believes the numbers could be much higher in the time to come.
– It could be millions. There are 37 million Afghans and very many of them will move.
The plain now encourages the countries in Europe to prepare for major incursions in the time to come.
– Norway and other European countries must improve their reception capacity. Because where should all the newcomers live? Where will they stay?
– Can be a bloodbath
Prime Minister Erna Solberg does not believe the situation in Afghanistan will lead to as many asylum seekers as in the peak year of 2015. At that time, more than 33,000 came to Norway, much due to the war in Syria.
Solberg also believes that Norway has built up a good emergency preparedness system to cope with sudden refugee flows.
– We have a contingency system that is in place to be able to gear up faster if more people come here. But the most important thing we do is to help the countries in the immediate area to deal with those who flow out, says Solberg to TV 2.
Sletten, for its part, fears that this refugee crisis may be far worse than in 2015.
– I think we are facing one of the biggest refugee crises in history. What is happening in Afghanistan can be a bloodbath, Sletten says to TV 2.
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