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The United States and Germany have advised their nationals in Afghanistan to avoid traveling to Kabul airport, citing security risks as thousands gathered to try to flee the country near a week after the Taliban takeover.
Conditions outside Hamid Karzai International Airport have been chaotic amid the crush of people hoping to flee the Taliban takeover of the country a week ago.
“Due to the potential security threats outside the gates of Kabul airport, we advise US citizens to avoid going to the airport and avoid the airport gates at this time. , unless you receive individual instructions from a US government official to do so, ”one American said. a notice from the embassy said on Saturday.
The German embassy also advised its local citizens not to go to the airport, warning in an email that the Taliban were carrying out increasingly stringent checks around the airport.
The warnings did not provide any details of the danger, but a White House official confirmed later Saturday that aides had informed US President Joe Biden of “counterterrorism operations” in Afghanistan, including against the armed group ISIL ( ISIS).
“This morning, the president met his national security team… They discussed the security situation in Afghanistan and counterterrorism operations, including ISIS-K,” said a White House official.
Known as the Islamic State in Khorasan (IS-K or ISIS-K), the Afghan branch of ISIS has been in retreat since suffering heavy losses in 2019, but it retains the ability to conduct devastating attacks in urban areas, including Kabul.
A Taliban official, speaking to Reuters news agency, said security risks could not be ruled out but the group “aimed to improve the situation and provide a smooth exit” to those trying to leave over the weekend.
The Taliban are still trying to forge a new government and the group’s co-founder, Mullah Baradar, arrived in Kabul on Saturday for talks with other leaders.
The group’s meteoric advance across the country as US-led forces withdraw, coinciding with what German Chancellor Angela Merkel described on Saturday as the “breathtaking collapse” of the Afghan military , sparked fears of retaliation and a return to a harsh version of Islamic law. the Taliban exercised when they were in power 20 years ago.
Switzerland has postponed a charter flight from Kabul due to chaos at the airport.
“The security situation around Kabul airport has worsened considerably in recent hours. A large number of people in front of the airport and sometimes violent clashes hinder access to the airport, “the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Saturday.
The United States evacuated 2,500 Americans from Kabul over the past week, senior US officials said on Saturday, adding that Washington was fighting “time and space” to evacuate people from Afghanistan.
Army Major General William Taylor, with the United States Army Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a Pentagon briefing that 3,800 people had been evacuated on U.S. military and chartered flights departing from Kabul over the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of people evacuated under the current mission to 17,000. .
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said he did not have a “perfect figure” on the number of Americans remaining in the country.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell told AFP news agency it was “mathematically impossible” for the United States and its allies to evacuate tens of thousands of staff Afghan and their families before the August 31 deadline.
Borrell, speaking from Spain in a telephone interview, added that “we have complained” to Americans that their security at Kabul airport was too tight and hampered attempts by Afghans who worked for them. Europeans to enter.
Abdul Qahar Balkhi, of the Taliban Cultural Commission, admitted Kabul airport remains a hot spot, but told Al Jazeera the chaos was a problem created by the United States as it rushes to evacuate thousands of people.
“I think it is very unfortunate that people are rushing to the airport as they are right now… We have announced a general amnesty for everyone, in the security forces from the senior level to the junior level. This fear, this unfolding hysteria is unfounded, ”he said.
“Inclusive system”
Balkhi said talks to form a new government included discussions on whether the capital will stay in Kabul or move to the group’s birthplace, Kandahar.
“Consultations are ongoing, of course it will be an inclusive system, but I don’t have the details of who will be in government and who will not be in government,” he said.
The delay in forming a new government or even announcing who will lead a new Taliban administration underscores how unprepared the movement was for the sudden collapse of Western-trained forces it fought for years.
Balkhi said the Taliban leadership did not initially intend to enter Kabul.
“The developments were so rapid that everyone was taken by surprise. When we entered Kabul and it was not planned, we initially announced that we did not want to enter Kabul and that we wanted to achieve a political solution before entering Kabul and forming a joint and inclusive government. “, did he declare.
“But what happened was that the security forces left, gave up their places and we were forced to ask our forces to come in and take over the security.”
The Taliban, whose general leader Mullah Haibatullah Akhunzada has so far remained publicly silent, must also unite disparate groups within the movement whose interests may not always coincide now that victory is achieved.
The Taliban have sought to present a more moderate face since their return to power, saying they want peace and will respect women’s rights under Islamic law.
When in power from 1996 to 2001, guided by their interpretation of Islamic law, they prevented women from working or going out without wearing a wrap-around burqa and prevented girls from going to school.
The Taliban have reportedly raided homes, targeted assassinations and harassed government and civil society figures in recent days.
He denies the allegations but said he was investigating crime cases.
“Our top priority is discipline in our own ranks and not applying the laws to others, but applying it first to ourselves and then setting an example for the rest of society to follow suit.” the no, so… if our members are involved in such things, they will be the first to be sued, ”Balkhi said.
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