Taliban invited Angela Merkel to visit Afghanistan | “We would be very happy to see you,” spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said.

Taliban have invited German Chancellor Angela Merkel to visit Afghanistan, assuring her of a “warm welcome”insurgent group spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid reported. Mujahid’s statements were made after Merkel would propose Sunday, hold talks with the Taliban to continue evacuations in Afghanistan.

“We want an absolutely safe environment here in Afghanistan, an environment accepted by all countries of the world and in which heads of state and government believe in. They should visit us, and Angela Merkel will be received in a particularly warm way. We would be very happy to see you“Mujahid said in an interview conducted by the German newspaper picture.

The spokesperson for the Islamist group stressed that the Taliban have already contacted the German authorities and that a German special envoy has visited their political office in Doha. “I’m sure they passed our message on to Ms Merkel,” he remarked. Mujahedin, who expressed his desire to develop good relations with Germany as they need help in the areas of health, education and infrastructure.

Merkel asserted in recent days that following the withdrawal of the United States from Afghanistan, Civilian routes must be opened for the evacuation of German citizens and Afghan personnel and their families. “We must discuss with the Taliban how we can get the people who worked for Germany out of the country and bring them to safety,” the foreign minister said at a press conference on Sunday.

“Of course we have to talk to them (the Taliban), because now they are the ones to refer to,” Merkel added. In his evacuation operation, the German army managed to expel around 4,600 people from the country, including 3,850 Afghans and around 400 Germans, while the rest correspond to other nationalities.

German government estimates number of Afghans awaiting rescue at around 40,000, among the collaborators of NGOs and other organizations, activists or journalists, as well as their families. For the evacuation by military planes an airlift was organized between Kabul and Uzbekistan, after which these people were transported to Germany by the airline Lufthansa.

The government of Uzbekistan was ready to maintain collaboration with Berlin, always on the condition that the evacuees did not stay on its territory but were transferred to Germany or to other countries.