Only a few hundred US soldiers are said to be in Afghanistan by September. The advance of the Taliban, however, is now causing US President Biden to increase the quota again. He still holds on to the trigger.
In view of the Taliban’s dramatic territorial gains, the US armed forces are immediately relocating around 3,000 additional soldiers to the airport in Kabul. It is about supporting an orderly reduction in the US embassy staff, said Defense Department spokesman John Kirby. In addition, the US will move up to 4,000 more soldiers to Kuwait and 1,000 to Qatar – if reinforcements are needed. The withdrawal of US soldiers from Afghanistan should be completed by August 31, Kirby said on Thursday (local time). Great Britain also wants to send around 600 additional soldiers to help repatriate the British from Afghanistan.
Taliban are conquering more and more provincial capitals
The militant Islamist Taliban have meanwhile taken control of three other provincial capitals, two of which are very important. First they conquered Gasni, only 150 kilometers from the capital, Kabul, in the southeast. Gasni has about 180,000 inhabitants and is located on the important ring road that connects the largest cities in the country. Then the Taliban took over Herat, the third largest city in the west of the country, from which it is only about 130 kilometers to the Iranian border. An estimated 600,000 people live there. Ultimately, the Islamists took over the small provincial capital Kala-e Nau in Badghis province in the northwest.
The Taliban fighters brought 12 of the 34 provincial capitals under their control in less than a week. Further Taliban attacks were also reported from the southern cities of Kandahar and Lashkargah in the south. They are said to have already captured the prison in Kandahar and the police headquarters in Laschkargah. According to initially unconfirmed reports, Kandahar is said to be largely under Taliban control.
US soldiers are supposed to secure the departure of embassy personnel
In view of the dramatic events, the US government decided to reduce the staff of the embassy in Kabul to the bare minimum. The approximately 3,000 soldiers who are to be relocated from the Middle East to Kabul within one to two days are to ensure the departure of the personnel. This could also include securing convoys to and from the airport, it said. In addition, the soldiers are supposed to help out former Afghan employees of the US authorities and the military who want to get to safety from the Taliban. They are to be brought to the USA, where they will be able to restart after a visa has been issued.
“This is a time-limited mission with a very limited mandate,” said Pentagon spokesman Kirby. The reinforcement is a precautionary measure given the Taliban’s recent advance, Kirby said. The same applies to the positioning of the other soldiers in the region. The up to 4,000 soldiers who are due to arrive in Kuwait in the coming week belong to a task force of an airborne division from the US state of North Carolina.
Withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan almost complete
US President Joe Biden ordered the withdrawal in the spring. At that time, around 2,500 US soldiers were still in the country. By the beginning of the week, the withdrawal was more than 95 percent complete. As of September, only a few hundred soldiers were to remain to secure the embassy. Now, in view of the territorial gains of the Taliban, Biden’s government is making an U-turn – probably for a limited time. The US government repeatedly emphasizes that the Afghan security forces are superior to the Taliban in terms of their training, troop strength and equipment. “But they must also want to fight,” Biden said about this week.
The US government also warned the Taliban that the international community would not recognize a new Afghan government if it had seized power by force. This will also be expressed in a joint statement with international partners, including Germany, said Foreign Ministry spokesman Ned Price. A violent takeover of power would isolate Afghanistan internationally, which would also stop aid payments, he stressed. With a view to the negotiations between the Taliban and the Afghan government in the emirate of Qatar, Price appealed to all parties to agree on a common political process for the future of the country.
Maas threatens to stop development aid
The EU foreign affairs representative Josep Borrell also threatened the Taliban with isolation if they were to seize power in Afghanistan by force. Foreign Minister Heiko Maas (SPD) also warned the Taliban on Thursday against establishing a caliphate in the country. Then there will be “not a cent” of German development aid, which is currently around 430 million euros per year, said Maas. The US government has earmarked US $ 3.3 billion in aid for Afghanistan in the 2022 draft budget.
Meanwhile, a top Republican criticized Biden’s policies as having failed. Unless Biden “changes course quickly, the Taliban are well on their way to securing a major military victory,” warned Senate Republican minority leader Mitch McConnell. Biden had to promise more aid to the Afghan forces “immediately”, including continued air support after the US troops withdrew on August 31, he demanded. “If that doesn’t happen, al-Qaeda and the Taliban could celebrate the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks by burning down our embassy in Kabul,” warned McConnell.
“Unpredictable situation for the west”
Terrorism expert Peter Neumann believes that, despite the advance of the Taliban, an acute emergence of terror camps from other organizations is unlikely. “The Taliban would be stupid if, after their military victories, they would allow terror camps by groups like Al-Qaeda or the so-called Islamic State,” Neumann told the newspapers of the Funke media group. The Taliban focused on Afghanistan. “More than before, they want their power to be recognized, also internationally. And they want to attract investments into the country, for example from Iran, Pakistan or China.” Nevertheless, the situation for the West is not very predictable.
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