The Taliban are pulling the siege ring around the capital Kabul and have now also taken control of Mazar-i-Sharif and Jalalabad. Apparently an evacuation campaign for the German embassy staff is to start on Monday.
Asadabad, Mazar-i-Sharif and now Jalalabad: the radical Islamic Taliban have now taken all major cities in Afghanistan except the capital Kabul. While the Taliban fighters were only around 50 kilometers away from Kabul at the weekend, the USA, Germany and other Western countries worked under high pressure to fly their citizens and local staff out. According to a newspaper report, German military transporters are due to arrive in Kabul on Monday.
Residents of Jalalabad said on Sunday that the capital of Nangarhar province had gone to the Taliban without a fight. In doing so, they confirmed corresponding claims made by the Taliban in online networks.
“We woke up this morning with lots of white flags for the Taliban across the city”said Ahmad Wali from Jalalabad. The Taliban had previously taken the important cities of Asadabad and Gardes and finally Masar-i-Sharif, the capital of Balkh Province and the largest city in northern Afghanistan. The Bundeswehr last had its largest field camp there.
Taliban only 50 kilometers from Kabul
After taking Pul-i-Alam, the capital of Logar province, the Taliban camped only around 50 kilometers from Kabul on Saturday. The Afghan warlords Abdul Raschid Dostum and Atta Mohammed Noor, whose militias were supposed to support the government troops in the fight against the Taliban in the north of the country, have since fled to Uzbekistan, as one of their aides reported.
US President Joe Biden announced that instead of the initially planned 3,000, around 5,000 US soldiers would be deployed to secure the departure of the embassy staff and countless local civilian workers. He warned the Taliban not to obstruct the mission. Attacks on US interests would be answered swiftly and forcefully.
At the same time, Biden defended his decision to withdraw the US military from Afghanistan after 20 years. He was the fourth US president to be responsible for this troop presence, he said. “I’m not going to pass this war on to a fifth president.”
The Bundeswehr is apparently flying to Kabul with military transporters
The Foreign Office and the Federal Ministry of Defense also want to get the embassy staff in Kabul, other German citizens and local staff out of the country quickly. For this purpose, military transporters of the German Air Force type A400M flew into the Afghan capital on Monday, reported the “Picture on sunday”. A hub for stopovers is expected to be set up in the Uzbek capital Tashkent. From there, the passengers should be brought to Germany by charter planes.
In view of the current risk situation, according to the report, a subsequent mandate for the Bundeswehr mission by the Bundestag is likely. “The top priority now is the safety of our embassy staff”said Federal Foreign Minister Heiko Maas (SPD) the “BamS”. “We are prepared for all scenarios.”
During their rule from 1996 to 2001, the Taliban introduced a strict interpretation of Islamic law in Afghanistan. Girls were excluded from education, women from working life. Crimes were punished with public flogging or executions. UN Secretary General António Guterres spoke on Friday of “appalling” Reports of human rights violations in Taliban-controlled areas. Tens of thousands of people fled the Taliban to Kabul.
Head of state Ashraf Ghani tried on Saturday in a televised address to reassure citizens. “I will not allow the imposed war against the population to claim more deaths”, he said. Be there “serious steps” initiated to remobilize the army. Also ran “Consultations” with political leaders and international partners about Afghanistan “Peace and stability” to secure.
According to the Kabul expert Sajed Naser Mosawi, Ghani seems to be running out of options: The head of state does not seem ready to “fight to the end”. Rather, Ghani apparently wants “some kind of agreement” achieve or even surrender. The US government had previously given the Afghan army one “Lack of resistance” accused.
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