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The Taliban declared the war in Afghanistan over after its fighters invaded the capital, Kabul, and President Ashraf Ghani fled the country.
Panic and fear gripped Kabul on Monday as heavily armed Taliban fighters took control of the abandoned presidential palace and Western countries rushed to evacuate their citizens. Hundreds of Afghans desperate to leave the country also flooded the Kabul airport.
A spokesperson for the Taliban Politburo told Al Jazeera the group did not want to live in isolation and said the type and form of the new government in Afghanistan would be clarified soon.
Mohammad Naeem also called for peaceful international relations.
“Thank God the war is over in the country,” he said.
“We have achieved what we were looking for, namely the freedom of our country and the independence of our people,” he added. “We will not allow anyone to use our land to target anyone, and we do not want to harm others.”
Here are all the latest updates:
US Army veteran says 44,000 Afghans outside Kabul must be evacuated
Matt Zeller, a US veteran of the Afghanistan war, said some 44,000 Afghans who assisted Washington during the 20-year conflict are outside Kabul and require urgent evacuation.
“US President Joe Biden must order the US military currently in Kabul to fully secure the airport. We then need to open a secure corridor so that we can begin to evacuate our Afghan and war allies out of Afghanistan, not only from Kabul, but from all the cities where they reside, ”said Zeller, who also co-founded No One. Left Behind, a nonprofit group that helps Afghan performers settle in the United States.
“There are 44,000 people who are outside Kabul and in other towns. The reports from them are horrible. There are public executions in Kandahar at the stadium. The women have been told they cannot leave their homes in Herat and the Taliban are going door to door in Mazar-i-Sharif looking for anyone who has worked with the US military. This is a report we are hearing in other cities, including Kabul.
Australian Prime Minister “devastated” by situation in Afghanistan
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he was “devastated” by developments in Afghanistan and said the cabinet national security committee would meet on Monday to review Australian operations outside Kabul.
Morrison said his government had already resettled 430 Afghans and their families who were working for Australia and planned to airlift those who remained there.
He called the situation in Afghanistan, especially for women and girls, “terrible”.
“Absolutely devastated about it. It’s a terrible situation, it’s a terrible situation, ”he told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. in Canberra.
Australia closed its embassy in Kabul in May and withdrew its last troops in June as US and NATO forces withdrew from the conflict in Afghanistan after 20 years.
Most Western diplomats have left Kabul, US official says
A US official told Reuters news agency that most Western diplomats have now left the Afghan capital.
“I can safely say that the majority of Western diplomatic personnel are now outside Kabul,” the unnamed official said. Some support staff remain, the official added.
Helicopters have been transporting diplomats from the city’s embassy district to Kabul airport since Sunday, when the Taliban entered the city.
A US Chinook helicopter flies over the city of Kabul, Afghanistan on Sunday, August 15, 2021. Taliban fighters entered the outskirts of the Afghan capital on Sunday, further tightening their grip on the country as panicked workers fled government offices and that the helicopters land at the US Embassy. (AP Photo / Rahmat Gul)
More than 60 countries call for safe departure of foreign nationals and Afghans
Dozens of countries around the world are calling on all those involved in the events in Afghanistan to respect and facilitate the departure of foreign nationals and Afghans who wish to leave the country.
More than 60 countries issued a joint statement on Sunday evening citing what they call “the deteriorating security situation” in Afghanistan.
The United States joins the international community in saying that Afghans and international citizens who wish to leave must be allowed to do so. Roads, airports and border crossings must remain open and calm must be maintained. https://t.co/lsNdsPETsW
– Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) August 16, 2021
The statement says those who hold power and authority across the country “bear the responsibility – and accountability – for the protection of human life and property, and the immediate restoration of security and order. civil ”.
He added: “Afghans and international citizens who wish to leave must be allowed to do so; roads, airports and border crossings must remain open and calm must be maintained.
“The Afghan people deserve to live in safety, security and dignity. We in the international community are ready to help them.
Taliban say “the war is over in Afghanistan”
A spokesperson for the Taliban’s political bureau has declared war on Afghanistan and called for peaceful relations with the international community.
“Today is a great day for the Afghan people and the Mujahedin. They have witnessed the fruits of their efforts and sacrifices for 20 years, ”Mohammad Naeem, spokesperson for the Taliban political bureau, told Al Jazeera.
“Thank God the war is over in the country.
Naeem said the type and form of the new regime in Afghanistan would be clarified soon, adding that the Taliban did not want to live in isolation and calling for peaceful international relations.
“We have achieved what we were looking for, namely the freedom of our country and the independence of our people,” he said. “We will not allow anyone to use our land to target anyone, and we do not want to harm others.”
United States to secure Kabul airport for departures
The Pentagon and the US State Department have said they are taking steps to secure Kabul International Airport to allow the safe departure of thousands of US and Allied personnel from Afghanistan via civilian and military flights.
In a joint statement on Sunday evening, the agencies said the US security presence would have expanded to nearly 6,000 troops over the next two days, with a “mission focused solely on facilitating” departures. They will also take care of air traffic control.
“Tomorrow and over the next few days, we will transfer out of the country thousands of US citizens who have resided in Afghanistan, as well as local staff of the US mission in Kabul and their families and other particularly vulnerable Afghan nationals,” said the press release.
“And we will speed up the evacuation of thousands of Afghans eligible for US special immigrant visas, nearly 2,000 of whom have already arrived in the United States in the past two weeks.”
“It’s shameful”: a former adviser denounces the departure of the president
Shafiq Hamdam, former adviser to Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, criticized Ghani’s decision to flee Afghanistan on Sunday amid the Taliban’s rapid advance on Kabul.
” It is shameful. It’s embarassing. People feel abandoned, people feel betrayed, ”Hamdam told Al Jazeera in Washington, DC.
“After so many years of effort and so many years of investment, he left a black mark in the history of democracy in Afghanistan. He himself escaped with his team and he did not think about the millions of people who live in misery, who live in uncertainty and who are now left behind, living under the Taliban regime.
Hamdam said the Taliban must prove that they will protect women.
“From tomorrow we must see women go to school, we must see women civil servants and teachers, like my mother, go to school and teach. This is what I want and this is what the world wants. And this is a test for the Taliban. To prove whether they have changed or not.
Hello and welcome to Al Jazeera’s continued coverage of the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan.
For all the key developments from yesterday, August 15, go here.
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