© Associated Press
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Fighters from the Taliban who defeated the Afghan government have cut off the airport in Kabul – currently operated by the United States – and do not allow Afghans to continue to flow to the terminals.
This comes hours after the chaos and panic at the entrance of the movement in Kabul prompted thousands of people want to leave the country with evacuation flights and virtually stop planes from taking off.
Earlier in the day, there were casualties, including people who fell from planes. Until recently, the United States did not allow evacuation flights to take off.
In this situation, the first of three German evacuation planes initially failed to land in Kabul and was diverted to the airport in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
The transport plane circled for over an hour before changing course. The Foreign Ministry in Berlin confirmed that the problem is the inability of flights to leave the airport. Later, however, the plane landed.
Footage of Afghans trying to escape by clinging to a US military plane as he tried to leave the runway appeared on the Internet. It is unknown at this time whether NATO and coalition aides in the 1920s will be able to leave the country until the US withdrawal; British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace, critical of the withdrawal admitted today through tears that most likely some will have to be abandoned.
Guardian sources claimthat the West has practically 2 weeks to complete the evacuation, as in this period the United States will be completed and will withdraw the troops sent specifically for this purpose.
There will be new negotiations tomorrow
It remains unknown what the Taliban-led government will look like. Former mujahideen leader and former prime minister Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, former head of state Hamid Karzai and the head of the Supreme Council for National Reconciliation, Abdullah Abdullah, traveled to Doha to meet with the Taliban. This means that radical Islamists still continue to publicly seek compromise with other forces before announcing their vision for the future government.
However, one of the unknowns dropped out after former Afghan Interior Minister Ali Jalali announced that his name was never considered as a transitional president. The other most frequently mentioned is that of the Taliban co-founder and their deputy leader, Abdul Ghani Baradar.
The UN Security Council tonight called on Afghans to negotiate a “unified, inclusive and representative government” that includes “full, equal and substantial participation of women”. The Taliban, who gained notoriety for public executions, hand-cutting and stoning of adulterers during their 1996-2001 rule, say they have changed and are ready for an “inclusive Islamic government”.
“Extremists will try to take advantage”
Meanwhile, international reactions have continued since the Taliban seized power. French President Emmanuel Macron also commented on the topic, according to which extremists will try to take advantage of the chaos and a new wave of refugees in Europe may follow. “Afghanistan should not become the safe haven for terrorists it once was,” Macron added in an address to the nation. “This is a challenge to peace and international stability, against a common enemy.”
The return of the Taliban is a “failure for the international community,” Minister Wallace said. In the words of the British representative, “now is not the time” to recognize the Taliban as an official government, and the international community “did not understand that things cannot be settled from today to tomorrow.” Wallace, who also disagreed with the US withdrawal last week, said Britain’s involvement in the conflict in Afghanistan, which cost the lives of 457 British troops in 20 years of intervention, “no longer counts for anything”.
Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden again defended his decision to withdraw from Afghanistan, as the other decision was to increase the US military on the ground. The head of state assured that the United States would continue to assist in the evacuation of all allies in Afghanistan, and if the Taliban attacked “our allies, we will retaliate.”
He recalled that Washington’s mission in Afghanistan has never been to build the Afghan state and society, and the decision cannot be left to the next president. At the same time, he acknowledged that the Afghan government had disintegrated faster than he had expected.
He says Washington is currently working on 6,000 troops to help withdraw American civilians and their allies; to evacuate Afghans who have worked with the United States or who are at risk because of the Taliban; thousands of Americans living in Afghanistan; to select Afghans at risk who can obtain visas.
Hours after Moscow’s ambassador to Kabul stressed the calm since the Taliban came to power, it was announced that he would meet with their representatives. According to Kremlin envoy to Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov, the goal is the issue of security at the Russian embassy in Kabul. It is currently provided by Taliban fighters. The ambassador also said that the recognition of the new Afghan government “will depend on its actions”.
Turkey does not want Kabul airport
Turkey, meanwhile, has abandoned plans to take control of Kabul airport after NATO’s withdrawal from Afghanistan, but is ready to provide technical support and security assistance if the Taliban so request, Reuters reported, citing two unnamed sources. by the Turkish security forces.
In light of the “complete chaos” at the airport, “the process of taking control by Turkish troops … was automatically abandoned,” one source said. “However, in the event that the Taliban request technical support, Turkey could provide technical support at the airport,” the source, who requested anonymity, said.
Control of the international airport was a task requested by Turkey, which Ankara was negotiating to take over after the full withdrawal of the United States from Afghanistan.
However, the Pentagon said tonight that the Turkish and other military were helping efforts to continue the evacuation.
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