“Kabul does not face an imminent threat”, it is with these words that the spokesman of the Pentagon John Kirby tried to reassure his compatriots, while the situation in Afghanistan worsens hour by hour.
Faced with the lightning advance of the Taliban – who are now trying to isolate Kabul – the United States is still trying to save face. “The United States is ready to evacuate from the Afghan capital by air” thousands of people a day “, added the spokesperson at a press conference.
Evacuations en cascade
Faced with the danger, many countries have announced a disaster evacuation of their nationals and diplomats. Denmark and Norway announced on Friday the temporary closure of their respective embassies in Kabul and the evacuation of all their employees, while Finland will evacuate up to 130 Afghans who worked for it, given the fighting there.
“The Danes in Afghanistan must immediately leave the country. The situation is very serious, ”warned Jeppe Kofod, the kingdom’s foreign minister, during a press briefing.
A decision followed by Spain which in the evening announced “the start of the repatriation of the staff of the embassy, the Spaniards who remained in the country, and the Afghans and their families who worked alongside us”. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares said he was studying all eventualities “including that of emptying the embassy if necessary”.
For its part, Germany announces to reduce its diplomatic staff to the “absolutely necessary minimum”. While London, through Boris Johnson pledged “not to turn your back on Afghanistan”, calling on the West to work with Kabul, to “exert pressure” through diplomatic channels “to prevent the country” does not become a breeding ground for terrorism again ”.
Biden under the weight of an avalanche of criticism
The US government grappling with the Afghan crisis faces its first storm. Joe Biden faces an avalanche of criticism. The Biden administration has “delivered, as was predictable, an entire country to terrorists,” thundered Republican leader in the House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy on Friday.
Even if he half-heartedly acknowledges that the withdrawal was launched by Donald Trump after twenty years of war, opened in response to the attacks of September 11, the latter accuses the Democratic President of having precipitated the crisis by “botching” this operation.
The day before, his Senate counterpart Mitch McConnell had also blasted a “foreseeable disaster” by calling on him to support the Afghan army against the Taliban with, in the first place, air support.
“The Afghan lives destroyed or lost will remain a part of the democratic legacy” of the Democrat, the Washington Post said in an editorial Thursday.
Andrew Wilder, an expert on Afghanistan and member of the think tank “US Institute of Peace”, told reporters on Friday that he was, like many, “surprised by the speed at which the situation has changed” in this country, deploring a withdrawal that is neither “structured or responsible”.
“It’s hard not to conclude that it was not the American withdrawal but rather the way we withdrew that played a crucial role in all of this. “
Taliban not inclined to compromise
In a joint statement, the United States, Pakistan, the European Union and China said they would not recognize any government in Afghanistan “imposed by force”.
The Taliban may not be at all inclined to compromise, as the authorities offered them on Thursday in disaster “to share power in exchange for an end to violence,” according to a government negotiator at the Doha talks, who demanded anonymity.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has so far rejected calls for the formation of an unelected provisional government including the Taliban. But his turnaround is likely to be very late.
The progression of the Taliban comes at a high human cost. At least 183 civilians were killed and 1,181 injured, including children, in a month in Lashkar Gah, Kandahar, Herat and Kunduz, according to the UN.
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