Taliban have banned Afghans from going to US-controlled Kabul airport to flee the country

The Taliban announced on Tuesday that to avoid further chaos at Kabul airport, now Afghan citizens will not be able to get to the terminal, a move that will hamper attempts by the United States and other nations to evacuate vulnerable Afghan allies from the country.

“No Afghans are allowed to go to the airport“, declared the main spokesman of the insurgents, Zabihullah Mujahid, at a press conference in Kabul, which assured that” the crowd at the airport must return home “and that it will guarantee its safety.

Only foreigners will be able to get to the terminal, he added, in an attempt to end the chaos unleashed after the Taliban took power, with tens of thousands trying to leave the country in desperation over it. evacuation flights. However, Western countries have already evacuated most of their nationals and are targeting Afghans who have collaborated in their operations and fear reprisals from the new regime.

The spokesperson also He criticized US authorities for encouraging qualified Afghans to leave the country. “We need your talent”, said Mujahid, who hopes Afghanistan does not lose professionals in areas that could theoretically be most threatened by advancing insurgents.

Mujahid also said Afghan government workers should stay at home until security conditions in the country improve.

US-led troops have stepped up operations to expel thousands of people from Kabul, after the Taliban warned they would not allow the US to extend the deadline for a full withdrawal. This Tuesday, the spokesperson reiterated that the date would not be changed.

President Joe Biden has said he will stick to the schedule, but faces increasing international pressure to negotiate more time for evacuations.

Some 50,000 foreigners and Afghans have fled the country from Kabul airport since the Taliban took power nine days ago, according to the US government.

Many Afghans fear a repeat of the blunt interpretation of Sharia law that the Taliban applied when they were in power for the first time between 1996 and 2001, or that they will be punished for collaborating with the state-backed government -United for the past two decades.

The Taliban, who ended two decades of war with a surprising and swift defeat of government forces, publicly tolerated the evacuation effort.

(With information from EFE, AFP)

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