The Taliban have started an assault on Afghanistan’s capital of Kabul on Sunday, the country’s Interior Ministry said. The city remains the only major urban area still under the control of the government of President Ashraf Ghani.
Several unnamed Afghan officials have confirmed to AP that the militants have been spotted in the outskirts of Kabul, in the Kalakan, Qarabagh, and Paghman districts.
The Taliban said it had instructed its fighters to refrain from violence in the capital and allow safe passage to those who choose to leave the city.
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Los talibanes empiezan a entrar en Kabul por todas partes, anuncia el Ministerio del Interior afgano
ReplyDeleteLos talibanes empezaron a entrar este domingo en la capital afgana, Kabul, comunicó el Ministerio del Interior del país.
DeletePor su parte, el líder del movimiento en Doha (Catar) señaló que los talibanes ordenan a los combatientes que se abstengan de cometer actos violentos en Kabul, que permitan el paso seguro a quien decida salir y que pidan a las mujeres que se dirijan a zonas protegidas.
Tres funcionarios afganos detallaron a AP que los combatientes se encuentran en los distritos de Kalakan, Qarabagh y Paghman. Además, las autoridades señalaron que los talibanes actualmente controlan todos los cruces fronterizos del país, dejando el aeropuerto capitalino como única ruta de salida.
Los insurgentes islamistas han tomado la mayoría de las principales ciudades afganas, mientras Estados Unidos y otros países occidentales se preparan para evacuar a sus diplomáticos y ciudadanos.
Taliban insurgents have launched an offensive on Kabul, having surrounded the Afghan capital, the country's Interior Ministry announced on Sunday.
DeleteAccording to the ministry, the terrorists are entering the capital from all sides.
The Office of the President of Afghanistan has taken to Twitter to say that the country's security and defence forces have the situation under control "in coordination with international partners".
The tweet added that gunfire was heard in several remote areas of Kabul.
Taliban fighters entered the outskirts of Afghanistan's capital Kabul from all sides on Sunday as panicked workers fled government offices and helicopters began landing at the US Embassy in the Afghan capital, further tightening the militants' grip on the country. Follow our live blog for all the latest developments.
DeleteEarlier Sunday, the Taliban seized the key eastern city of Jalalabad, just hours after seizing the northern anti-Taliban bastion of Mazar-i-Sharif, leaving Kabul as the besieged last stand of government forces.
ReplyDeleteThe US has continued holding peace talks between the government and the Taliban in Qatar this week, and the international community has warned that a Taliban government brought about by force would be shunned.
ReplyDeleteBut the Taliban appear to have little interest in making concessions as they rack up victories on the battlefield.
A source told Sputnik that the Taliban had already taken control of Kabul University and raised the group's flag in one of the city's districts.
ReplyDeleteUN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Saturday he was "deeply disturbed" by accounts of poor treatment of women in areas seized by the Taliban, who imposed an ultra-austere brand of Islam on Afghanistan during their 1996-2001 rule.
ReplyDelete“It is particularly horrifying and heartbreaking to see reports of the hard-won rights of Afghan girls and women being ripped away,” Guterres said.
The insurgent group issued a statement Sunday, claiming they have no plans to take the Afghan capital "by force".
ReplyDeleteA Taliban official told Reuters "we don't want a single innocent Afghan civilian to be injured or killed as we take charge, but we have not declared a ceasefire".
Taliban fighters have for now been ordered to remain at the entry points to Kabul, one of the group’s commanders – who is currently in the Qatari capital, Doha – told Reuters. The militants have not killed or injured anybody in the city, he insisted.
DeleteThe Taliban's remarkable gains over the past 10 days have led to amplifying criticism of Biden's decision to withdraw US troops by August 31.
ReplyDeleteBiden said this week he did not regret his decision to follow through with the withdrawal. He noted Washington has spent more than $1 trillion and lost thousands of troops since it entered this so-called "forever war" in 2021, and called on Afghanistan's army and leaders to step up.
But critics suggest he is cutting and running, to the detriment of US interests as well as Afghanistan itself: “President Biden’s decisions have us hurtling toward an even worse sequel to the humiliating fall of Saigon in 1975," Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Thursday.
According to media reports and unconfirmed videos circulating on social media, the district of Bagram has surrendered to the Taliban.
ReplyDeleteLet's be clear: Biden came to power promising to reassert US power. He overturned most Trump policies except the disastrous Taliban "deal". The greatest American policy disaster in a quarter century was enabled by Biden.
ReplyDeleteThe precipitous withdrawal of US forces is the "greatest American policy disaster in a quarter century" and contradicts his promise before entering the White House to "reassert US power", FRANCE 24 journalist and seasoned reporter on Afghanistan Leela Jacinto argues in the tweet
DeleteEl grupo subrayó en un comunicado que se estaban llevando a cabo conversaciones con la oposición para entrar en la capital de forma pacífica, de modo que, según ellos, el proceso de transferencia se llevaría a cabo en un entorno seguro y nadie saldría perjudicado.
ReplyDeleteAdemás, en la nota se instruye a los radicales que permanezcan a las puertas de Kabul y no intenten entrar en la ciudad. Se agrega, que, hasta el final del proceso de transferencia, la seguridad de la localidad dependerá de la otra parte. Los talibanes insisten en que no buscan vengarse de nadie y que todo el personal militar y civil estará a salvo.
DeleteEl Ministerio del Interior afgano promete un cambio de gobierno pacífico y que no habrá asalto a Kabul
ReplyDeleteActing Interior Minister Abdul Sattar Mirzakwal said Kabul will not be attacked and that the transition will happen peacefully.
DeleteHe assures Kabul residents that security forces will ensure the security of the city.
Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen told Al-Jazeera English the militants are “awaiting a peaceful transfer of Kabul city” after Afghan officials said the insurgents entered the capital’s outskirts.
DeleteHe declined to offer specifics on any possible negotiations between his forces and the government.
Britain is working to protect its citizens and help other eligible former UK staff to leave Afghanistan, the Home Office has said.
ReplyDelete"Home Office [interior ministry] officials are right now working to protect British nationals and help former UK staff and other eligible people travel to the UK," it said on Twitter.
VIDEOS show Taliban fighters lounging in luxurious ex-home of US-backed warlord as pundits blame grift for collapse of Afghan army
ReplyDeleteOfficial Taliban statement on situation in Kabul: Taliban has not entered Kabul, they will be on the outskirts but will not enter the city. There are ongoing discussions about the transition of power and security of Kabul is in the hands of the other side
ReplyDeleteThe Times’ diplomatic correspondent Catherine Philp looks at the Taliban’s source of revival.
ReplyDelete"The group’s revival has been funded in part by outside sources — including wealthy Gulf Arabs — but also by several lucrative revenue streams that the Taliban opposed in its earlier days but now embraced. Kidnapping for ransom was one; another was the drugs trade.
While in power the Taliban had outlawed opium production as unIslamic, even working with the Americans in their “war on drugs”.
Yet accompanying young British soldiers on an operation against the Taliban in 2007, by which time a full-blown insurgency was under way, I found village after village piled high with discarded poppy pods and stems, drained of their lucrative lactate.
Taliban Delegation Arrives at Presidential Palace for Negotiations, Reports Say
ReplyDeleteTransition of Power to Take Place Tonight in Presidential Palace in Kabul, Reports Say
DeleteIt is no secret that -- within Barack Obama's White House -- then VP Joe Biden was a fierce internal opponent of the 2009 American surge, driven by scepticism about the US's military engagement in Afghanistan.
ReplyDeleteNow he is in the top job, the disastrous situation in Afghanistan makes his pullout looks like "stubborn idiocy", FRANCE 24's Leela Jacinto says
Russia Has No Plans to Evacuate Embassy in Kabul, Reports Say
ReplyDelete
DeleteTaliban Guarantees Security of All Foreign Diplomatic Missions, Russian Foreign Ministry States
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The Taliban vowed to ensure not only the Russian Embassy's security, but of all foreign diplomatic missions, Russian Special Presidential Representative for Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov told Sputnik on Sunday.
"We received such assurances long ago. But not only for Russia. They guarantee the safety of everyone," Kabulov said.
The diplomat added that Moscow was not going to evacuate the diplomatic personnel from Kabul.
"I am in contact with our ambassador, they are working and closely watching the development of events", he added.
Reports: Former Interior Minister Ali Ahmad Jalali to be Appointed Head of Afghan Transitional Government
ReplyDeleteFinancial Times chief foreign affairs commentator Gideon Rachman pulled no punches lambasting Biden's withdrawal in a piece published Friday arguing that the US president's "credibility has been shredded in Afghanistan".
ReplyDelete"If Donald Trump were presiding over the debacle in Afghanistan, the US foreign policy establishment would be loudly condemning the irresponsibility and immorality of American strategy. Since it is Joe Biden in the White House there is instead, largely, an embarrassed silence," Rachman wrote.
"The US failure makes it much harder for Biden to push his core message that “America is back”. By contrast, it fits perfectly with two key messages pushed by the Chinese (and Russian) governments. First, that US power is in decline. Second, that American security guarantees cannot be relied upon," he continued.
"If the US will not commit to a fight against the Taliban, there will be a question mark over whether America would really be willing to go to war with China or Russia."...
Biden, last month: "The Taliban is not the North Vietnamese army. They’re not remotely comparable in terms of capability. There’s going to be no circumstance where you see people being lifted off the roof of the embassy of the United States from Afghanistan."
DeleteTaliban: Foreigners Should Either Leave Kabul if They Wish or Officially Register Their Presence
ReplyDeleteLa base aérea de Bagram, ubicada a unos 40 kilómetros al norte de Kabul, fue tomada este domingo por los talibanes, según el portavoz del movimiento, Zabihullah Mujahid.
ReplyDeleteConforme al portavoz del movimiento, los insurgentes liberaron a los presos que estaban en la instalación militar. "Todos los presos fueron puestos en libertad y trasladados a lugar más seguros", escribió Mujahid en su cuenta de Twitter. Asimismo, indicó que previamente los talibanes establecieron su control sobre la ciudad de Bagram.
La base aérea de Bagram fue durante cerca de 20 años la instalación militar más grande de EE.UU. en Afganistán. Fue abandonada por las tropas estadounidenses la noche del 5 de julio. Entonces, AP informó que el mando afgano supo de la retirada solo dos horas después de que la instalación fue abandona.
Afghan Troops Reportedly Surrender Bagram Airfield, Once Key US Airbase, to Taliban
DeleteThe base, which hosts up to 5,000 inmates (Taliban or Daesh militants*) has surrendered to Taliban forces, Bagram District Chief Darwaish Raufi told the press.
DeleteConfirmed: Taliban broke Bagram prison and released inmates.
DeleteLos talibanes anuncian que controlan todo Afganistán tras llegar a Kabul, mientras el Gobierno promete transición pacífica del poder
ReplyDeleteAlbania has accepted a US request to temporarily take in Afghan refugees seeking visas to
ReplyDeleteenter the United States, the country's Prime Minister Edi Rama has said.
Rama said the US had recently asked fellow NATO member Albania to assess whether it could serve as a transit country for a number of Afghan refugees whose final destination is the United States.
"We will not say 'No', not just because our great allies ask us to, but because we are Albania," Rama said on his Facebook account.
The Taliban's imminent takeover triggered fear and panic in Kabul among residents fearful of the group's hardline brand of Islam. Many streets in Kabul were jammed with cars and people trying to get home or to the airport, residents said. Police were taking off their uniforms and putting on shalwar kameez, said one resident, referring to traditional South Asian clothing.
ReplyDeleteNew York Times reporter Sharif Hassan describes the mood of Afghans on the streets of Kabul
Kabul is getting ready for Taliban, beauty parlours been painted in white to hide women posters.
DeleteTaliban Says Women Will Have Access to Education and Work, Will Be Able to Leave Home Alone
DeletePresident Ghani Urges Government Forces to Maintain Law and Order in Kabul Amid Transition
ReplyDeleteSweden to Reportedly Evacuate All Staff From Kabul Embassy on Sunday
ReplyDeleteTaliban spokesman unable to rule out return of barbaric punishments incl amputating hands/feet, stoning & public executions.
ReplyDelete"I can't say right now that's up to the judges in the courts and the laws. The judges will be appointed according to the law of the future government."
Several Top Afghan Officials, Including Ghani's Advisers Awaiting Evacuation at Kabul Airport
ReplyDeleteGermany's army is sending A400M transport aircraft to Kabul with 30 paratroopers each on board to evacuate embassy staff and their Afghan helpers as Taliban fighters surround the Afghan capital, Bild am Sonntag reported.
ReplyDelete“The Afghan state is not so much collapsing before our eyes as revealing itself as a fiction,” argued political analyst and former Portuguese Europe Minister Bruno Macaes in British magazine The New Statesman in a report from Afghanistan.
ReplyDelete"In Kandahar, I’m told, there were supposed to be 13,000 policemen. In reality, there are only 900. The remainder? They were never hired in the first place or they left owing to lack of payment, the funds siphoned elsewhere. Corruption is widespread, and so too is dejection. The Afghan president Ashraf Ghani is almost universally reviled."