According to eyewitnesses, the Taliban have started their attack on Kabul. An evacuation campaign for the German embassy staff is to start on Monday.
In view of the fact that the Taliban have advanced to the outskirts of the capital, Kabul, the Afghan government has one “peaceful transfer of power” announced. “There will be no attack on the city”Interior Minister Abdul Sattar Mirsakwal said in a recorded address on Sunday. Accordingly, one should “Transitional government” are formed.
Before that, the radical Islamic Taliban had advanced to the outskirts of the Afghan capital Kabul and, in some cases, also penetrated into urban areas. A spokesman for the Islamists said on Twitter that their fighters had instructions to stop at the city gates and not to enter the city. However, residents of the outskirts of Kabul told the AFP news agency that Taliban fighters were already in the urban area. “There are armed Taliban fighters in our neighborhood, but there is no fighting”said a resident of an eastern suburb of the capital.
Mirsakwal called on people in the video not to fall victim to propaganda. “People don’t need to worry, the city is safe”he explained. Anyone who causes disorder in the city is treated in accordance with the law. Shortly before, Taliban spokesman Sabiullah Mujahid had told the BBC that he could confirm that there were talks with the presidential palace about a peaceful takeover. The head of the High Council for National Reconciliation, Abdullah Abdullah, is organizing this.
Meanwhile, the United States, Germany, and other Western countries worked hard to get their citizens and local workers out. According to a newspaper report, German military transporters are due to arrive in Kabul on Monday.
Taliban take Mazar-i-Sharif and Jalalabad
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.
After taking Pul-i-Alam, the capital of the Logar province, the Taliban camped only around 50 kilometers from Kabul on Saturday before moving on to the capital in the morning. 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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