Germany is threatening Afghanistan with stopping financial support if the radical Islamist Taliban set up a caliphate. “We give 430 million euros every year. We will not give a cent more to Afghanistan when the Taliban have completely taken over this country, introduce the Sharia and this country becomes a caliphate, ”Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said on ZDF on Thursday.
State Department spokesman Ned Price also said the international community would not accept a new Afghan government that had come to power by force.
Completely unaffected by this, the radical Islamists yesterday captured the Afghan provincial capital Ghazni just 150 kilometers from the gates of Kabul and hours later the third largest city in the country, Herat. Ghazni is already the tenth provincial capital, Herat the eleventh, which will fall to the Islamists within a week.
Ghazni is strategically located on a central road connecting Kabul and Kandahar. The Afghan armed forces are increasingly cut off from reinforcements by land.
Herat near the border with Iran is the third largest city in Afghanistan. “We had to leave the city to prevent further destruction,” said security circles, which confirmed the Islamists’ statements.
When does Kabul fall?
The Taliban now control about two-thirds of Afghanistan. US intelligence agencies cannot rule out the possibility of isolating Kabul within 30 days and taking over within 90 days. In the past few days the Taliban had taken Kunduz and Faizabad, among others, and are now besieging Mazar-i-Sharif. If Mazar-i-Sharif were captured, the government would lose control of the north.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wants to discuss de-escalation with the Taliban leadership. “The latest developments and the situation of the Afghan people are really very worrying,” said Erdogan. “Maybe I’ll even be able to meet the person who is their leader.”
Erdogan had previously announced that he would hold talks with the Taliban about securing Kabul airport. Ankara had agreed to secure the international airport after the complete withdrawal of the international troops. However, Turkey is demanding diplomatic, financial and logistical support from the USA.
They announced that they would send 3,000 additional soldiers to Afghanistan and reduce their embassy staff.
Given the advance of the Taliban, Russia has announced financial support for the expansion of border posts in Central Asia. Moscow will support the ex-Soviet republic of Tajikistan with more than one million US dollars (more than 850,000 euros), said Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Oleg Syromolotov.
France and Denmark also announced yesterday that they would no longer be deported to Afghanistan.
