The control of the country by the fundamentalist Taliban movement continues to frighten foreigners and tens of thousands of Afghans who feel threatened and want to travel abroad. People are still besieging the gates of Kabul Airport in the hope that they will be able to get inside and then aboard one of the predominantly military aircraft of the United States and its allies. The Pentagon announced on Sunday that the US government had activated 18 civilian aircraft for evacuation. In addition to the dead, there are many wounded in the crowds at the airport caused by the AP and the shooting of Taliban fighters.
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According to the head of the Taliban Advisory Board, Amir Khan Mutaki, the United States is responsible for the chaotic situation. “The whole of Afghanistan is secure, but there is anarchy at the (Kabul) airport run by the Americans,” Mutaki said. The leaders of the movement called the behavior of the Americans at the airport “tyranny”, although according to the AP it is the Taliban who beat people who tried to get out of the metropolis by air and shot at them in the last week. Taliban spokesman Muhammad Naim said on Sunday that the Taliban was negotiating with the United States and other countries.
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On Sunday, the US administration confirmed reports of some media about the danger of an attack on the airport or its surroundings by the terrorist organization Islamic State (IS). “The threat is real, it’s acute, it’s permanent,” White House security adviser Jake Sullivan told CNN. On Sunday, the Taliban only denied that an al-Qaeda terrorist organization was present in the country.
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Taliban commanders to meet with former governors and senior officials in more than 20 of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces in the coming days “We do not force any former government official to join us or show his loyalty. They have the right to leave the country if they wish, “a source from the Islamist movement told Reuters.
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The last forces of resistance against the Taliban in the Punjir Valley assure that they will not give up without a fight, but at the same time they believe in action. “We want the Taliban to realize that the way forward is only through negotiations,” said Ahmad Masud, the son of former leader Ahmad Shah Masoud, who fought against Soviet troops and the Taliban decades later in the 1980s. He also called for the formation of a government in Kabul that would include all Afghan ethnic groups.
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Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Sunday that the Taliban had established contacts with former Afghan President Hamid Karzai. According to Lavrov, the Taliban is still keeping its promise to stop fighting in Afghanistan and launch a nationwide dialogue. Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that the conflict in Afghanistan has a direct impact on the security situation in Russia. He criticized the proposals of some Western countries to send refugees from Afghanistan to neighboring Central Asian states near Russia.
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Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz is also worried about the refugees. He said in a television interview that the problem for his country is “accepting people who cannot be integrated”. According to him, over 40,000 Afghans already live in Austria, which has a population of 9 million.
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The situation in Afghanistan is provoking diplomatic efforts by the powers. The G7 group of advanced economies will meet on Tuesday to discuss the crisis in Afghanistan, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced on Sunday. One of his predecessors, Tony Blair, called Sunday a “tragic, dangerous and unnecessary” withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan, which eventually led to a surprisingly rapid takeover of the Taliban country after nearly 20 years of Allied presence.
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Czech President Miloš Zeman was again critical of the withdrawal of soldiers, when in an interview with the daily Blesk he described the departure from Afghanistan as a mistake of President Donald Trump and his successor Joe Biden. According to him, both have their own “inadequacy”. In this context, Zeman called for NATO reform and a redefinition of its enemy, which he said is international terrorism, and not, for example, Russia.
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