While no major fighting or clashes have been reported from Kabul, most of the metropolitan population remains at home for fear of further developments. The AP recalls that the takeover of the city was accompanied by the release of prisoners from prisons and the looting of weapons depots. In addition, the older generation still remembers the previous Taliban government from 1996 to 2001, which was accompanied by stoning, limb amputations or public executions.
The situation at the airport has calmed down, the evacuation continues
Early on Tuesday morning, military flights evacuating diplomats and civilians from Afghanistan also resumed. It happened after thousands of people were removed from the runway of Kabul Airport, who were desperately trying to flee after the Taliban occupied the capital.
Arrivals and departures were blocked for several hours by crowds of Afghans on the airfield, who tried to leave the country at all costs. But the number of civilians at the airport thinned in the morning.
US forces took control of the airport on Monday, which remained the only remaining exit point from Afghanistan. The Taliban gained control of all land routes following its dramatic advance across the country during last week, culminating on Sunday as insurgents triumphantly flowed into Kabul and captured the capital without a fight.
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The flights stopped for most of Monday, when at least five people reportedly died, although it was not clear whether they had been shot or crushed in the run. A U.S. official told Reuters that two gunmen, apparently shooting at a crowd, had been killed by U.S. troops.
Biden criticized Afghan officials
Against the backdrop of panic and confusion in Kabul, US President Joe Biden on Monday evening defended the decision to withdraw US forces after twenty years of war.
Biden insisted he had to decide between asking US forces to fight indefinitely in the so-called Afghan Civil War or ending a resignation agreement negotiated by former Republican President Donald Trump. Biden criticized Afghan political leaders who fled the country and the reluctance of the Afghan army to fight.
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At the same time, Biden approved humanitarian aid of half a billion dollars to Afghan refugees on Tuesday under the Migration Act. Funds can reach Afghans through international organizations and charities or through US government agencies to help migrants.
A border barrier is supposed to help Turkey with the refugees
Turkey is building a barrier against the wave of refugees from Afghanistan on its border with Iran. However, according to the foreign correspondent of the Czech Television, Václav Černohorský, the preparation of the wall has not been a question of recent weeks or months; Turkey has been building it for years. It is now about half complete.
According to him, what is happening on the Iran-Turkish border has no direct connection with what has been happening in Afghanistan in recent days. As early as the end of June, there were reports that more Afghan refugees were crossing the Iranian border into Turkey than usual. “There was talk of hundreds to thousands of people a day,” says Černohorský.
According to the UN, most refugees from Afghanistan are registered in neighboring countries – about two and a half million in Pakistan and 800,000 in Iran. In Turkey it is about 120 thousand. However, it is estimated that between 200,000 and 600,000 Afghans actually live there. For most of them, it is only a temporary stop on the way to Europe.
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The Chinese minister criticized the American approach
China was the first country on Monday to express a willingness to establish “friendly relations” with the Taliban, AFP said. According to CNN, the Chinese Foreign Minister has also previously met with representatives of the radical movement, and at that time expressed his willingness to take an active part in the peace process and the reconstruction of the country.
“China does not tend to see Afghanistan as a source of opportunities; it’s almost exclusively about threatening, “said Andrew Small, an analyst at the German Marshall Fund in Washington. He said China had invested heavily in manufacturing and infrastructure in Central Asia, and the rise of Islamist militias could theoretically jeopardize its economic interests.
China’s state media portrays America’s departure from Afghanistan as “humiliating” or “total defeat,” writes CNN. Nevertheless, Beijing probably does not intend to replace the United States in the role of a peacemaker who would try to maintain order in Afghanistan.
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