Taliban enter Afghan capital as US diplomats evacuate by chopper
Taliban fighters drive an Afghan National Army (ANA) vehicle through the streets of Laghman province on August 15, 2021. — AFP pic
KABUL, Aug 15 —Taliban insurgents entered Afghanistan’s capital Kabul on Sunday as the United States evacuated diplomats from its embassy by helicopter and a government minister said power would be handed over to an interim administration.
The developments capped a lightning advance , who were ousted from Kabul 20 years ago by US-led forces after the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States.
A senior Afghan interior ministry official told Reuters the Taliban were coming “from all sides” into the capital but gave no further details. There were no reports of fighting.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement that the group was in talks with the government for a peaceful surrender of Kabul.
“Taliban fighters are to be on standby on all entrances of Kabul until a peaceful and satisfactory transfer of power is agreed,” the statement said.
Ali Ahmad Jalali, a U.S.-based academic and former Afghan interior minister, is likely to be named head of an interim administration in Kabul, three diplomatic sources said as Taliban fighters gathered around the city.
No major Taliban movement into Kabul had been detected yet, a senior US official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The collapse of the Afghan government defence has stunned diplomats - just last week, a US intelligence estimate said Kabul could hold out for at least three months.
There was no immediate word on the situation from President Ashraf Ghani. A palace official said he was in emergency talks with US peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad and top officials from the NATO transatlantic alliance.
Power would be handed over to a transitional administration, the government’s acting interior minister, Abdul Sattar Mirzakawal, said in a tweet on the Tolo news channel. “There won’t be an attack on the city, it is agreed that there will be a peaceful handover,” he said without elaborating.
The head of the Taliban’s political bureau, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, is heading to Kabul from Doha, a Taliban source in the Qatari capital said.
A tweet from the Afghan presidential palace account said firing had been heard at a number of points around Kabul but that security forces, in coordination with international partners, had control of the city.
Many of Kabul’s streets were choked by cars and people either trying to rush home or reach the airport, residents said.
“Some people have left their keys in the car and have started walking to the airport,” one resident told Reuters by phone. Another said: “People are all going home in fear of fighting.”
Afghans have fled the provinces to enter Kabul in recent days, fearing a return to hardline Islamist rule .
Early on Sunday, refugees from Taliban-controlled provinces were seen unloading belongings from taxis and families stood outside embassy gates, while the city’s downtown was packed with people stocking up on supplies.
Choppers at embassy
US officials said diplomats were being ferried by helicopters to the airport from its embassy in the fortified Wazir Akbar Khan district. More American troops were being sent to help in the evacuations after the Taliban’s surge brought the Islamist group to Kabul in a matter of days.
“Core” US team members were working from the airport, a US official said, while a Nato official said several European Union staff had moved to a safer, undisclosed location in the capital.
Earlier on Sunday, the insurgents captured the eastern city of Jalalabad without a fight, giving them control of one of the main highways into landlocked Afghanistan. They also took over the nearby Torkham border post with Pakistan, leaving Kabul airport the only way out of Afghanistan still in government hands.
“There are no clashes taking place right now in Jalalabad because the governor has surrendered to the Taliban,” a Jalalabad-based Afghan official told Reuters. “Allowing passage to the Taliban was the only way to save civilian lives.”
A video clip distributed by the Taliban showed people cheering and shouting “Allahu Akbar” - God is greatest - as a convoy of pickup trucks entered Jalalabad with fighters brandishing machine guns and the white Taliban flag.
After US-led forces withdrew the bulk of their remaining troops in the last month, the Taliban campaign accelerated as the Afghan military’s defences appeared to collapse .
President Joe Biden yesterday authorised the deployment of 5,000 US troops to help evacuate citizens and ensure an “orderly and safe” drawdown of military personnel. A US defence official said that included 1,000 newly approved troops from the 82nd Airborne Division.
The Taliban said its rapid gains showed it was popularly accepted by the Afghan people and reassured both Afghans and foreigners that they would be safe.
The Islamic Emirate, as the Taliban calls itself, “will, as always, protect their life, property and honour, and create a peaceful and secure environment for its beloved nation,” it said, adding that diplomats and aid workers would face no problems.
Biden said his administration had told Taliban officials in talks in Qatar that any action that put US personnel at risk “will be met with a swift and strong US military response.”
He has faced rising domestic criticism as the Taliban have taken city-after-city far more quickly than predicted. The president has stuck to a plan, initiated by his Republican predecessor, Donald Trump, to end the US military mission in Afghanistan by Aug. 31.
Biden said it is up to the Afghan military to hold its own territory. “An endless American presence in the middle of another country’s civil conflict was not acceptable to me,” Biden said yeserday. — Reuters
The developments capped a lightning advance , who were ousted from Kabul 20 years ago by US-led forces after the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States.
A senior Afghan interior ministry official told Reuters the Taliban were coming “from all sides” into the capital but gave no further details. There were no reports of fighting.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement that the group was in talks with the government for a peaceful surrender of Kabul.
“Taliban fighters are to be on standby on all entrances of Kabul until a peaceful and satisfactory transfer of power is agreed,” the statement said.
Ali Ahmad Jalali, a U.S.-based academic and former Afghan interior minister, is likely to be named head of an interim administration in Kabul, three diplomatic sources said as Taliban fighters gathered around the city.
No major Taliban movement into Kabul had been detected yet, a senior US official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The collapse of the Afghan government defence has stunned diplomats - just last week, a US intelligence estimate said Kabul could hold out for at least three months.
There was no immediate word on the situation from President Ashraf Ghani. A palace official said he was in emergency talks with US peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad and top officials from the NATO transatlantic alliance.
Power would be handed over to a transitional administration, the government’s acting interior minister, Abdul Sattar Mirzakawal, said in a tweet on the Tolo news channel. “There won’t be an attack on the city, it is agreed that there will be a peaceful handover,” he said without elaborating.
The head of the Taliban’s political bureau, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, is heading to Kabul from Doha, a Taliban source in the Qatari capital said.
A tweet from the Afghan presidential palace account said firing had been heard at a number of points around Kabul but that security forces, in coordination with international partners, had control of the city.
Many of Kabul’s streets were choked by cars and people either trying to rush home or reach the airport, residents said.
“Some people have left their keys in the car and have started walking to the airport,” one resident told Reuters by phone. Another said: “People are all going home in fear of fighting.”
Afghans have fled the provinces to enter Kabul in recent days, fearing a return to hardline Islamist rule .
Early on Sunday, refugees from Taliban-controlled provinces were seen unloading belongings from taxis and families stood outside embassy gates, while the city’s downtown was packed with people stocking up on supplies.
Choppers at embassy
US officials said diplomats were being ferried by helicopters to the airport from its embassy in the fortified Wazir Akbar Khan district. More American troops were being sent to help in the evacuations after the Taliban’s surge brought the Islamist group to Kabul in a matter of days.
“Core” US team members were working from the airport, a US official said, while a Nato official said several European Union staff had moved to a safer, undisclosed location in the capital.
Earlier on Sunday, the insurgents captured the eastern city of Jalalabad without a fight, giving them control of one of the main highways into landlocked Afghanistan. They also took over the nearby Torkham border post with Pakistan, leaving Kabul airport the only way out of Afghanistan still in government hands.
“There are no clashes taking place right now in Jalalabad because the governor has surrendered to the Taliban,” a Jalalabad-based Afghan official told Reuters. “Allowing passage to the Taliban was the only way to save civilian lives.”
A video clip distributed by the Taliban showed people cheering and shouting “Allahu Akbar” - God is greatest - as a convoy of pickup trucks entered Jalalabad with fighters brandishing machine guns and the white Taliban flag.
After US-led forces withdrew the bulk of their remaining troops in the last month, the Taliban campaign accelerated as the Afghan military’s defences appeared to collapse .
President Joe Biden yesterday authorised the deployment of 5,000 US troops to help evacuate citizens and ensure an “orderly and safe” drawdown of military personnel. A US defence official said that included 1,000 newly approved troops from the 82nd Airborne Division.
The Taliban said its rapid gains showed it was popularly accepted by the Afghan people and reassured both Afghans and foreigners that they would be safe.
The Islamic Emirate, as the Taliban calls itself, “will, as always, protect their life, property and honour, and create a peaceful and secure environment for its beloved nation,” it said, adding that diplomats and aid workers would face no problems.
Biden said his administration had told Taliban officials in talks in Qatar that any action that put US personnel at risk “will be met with a swift and strong US military response.”
He has faced rising domestic criticism as the Taliban have taken city-after-city far more quickly than predicted. The president has stuck to a plan, initiated by his Republican predecessor, Donald Trump, to end the US military mission in Afghanistan by Aug. 31.
Biden said it is up to the Afghan military to hold its own territory. “An endless American presence in the middle of another country’s civil conflict was not acceptable to me,” Biden said yeserday. — Reuters
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Déjà vu |
Deja Vu...
ReplyDeleteJust like in the 1970s when 5000 yo Bullyland sapoted the Cruel Khmer Rouge as they went about exterminating 2 million Khmers, now they are ready to sapot and recognize the Cruel Taliban, the same Taliban that destroyed the Bamiyan Buddhist Statues, the same Taliban that discriminates against women and young girls, who practice stoning and chopping off hands, public beheadings.....but then again Bullyland is the NAMBAR 1 practitioner of the Death Penalty so maybe no surprise there.
And Bullyland will help Taliban economically if they don't kacau kacau Xinjiang.
QUOTE
SCMP
China pledges support for Taliban in Afghanistan, but demands end to ETIM ties
Foreign Minister Wang Yi tells delegation there is no room for links with terror group it blames for Xinjiang attacks
Taliban spokesman says meeting in Tianjin covered political, economic and security issues as well as peace process
Catherine Wong
28 Jul, 2021
...China has pledged support for the Taliban’s role in Afghanistan’s reconstruction, while demanding that it cuts ties with the East Turkestan Islamic Movement – blamed by Beijing for attacks in its Xinjiang region.
Foreign Minister Wang Yi made the remarks during talks with a nine-member delegation led by the Taliban’s chief negotiator and co-founder Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar in the northern city of Tianjin on Wednesday.
It was the first time a senior member of the organisation had visited China since the Taliban’s capture of several key districts in Badakhshan and Kandahar provinces. Taliban fighters have taken control of around half the country up to its border with the Chinese region of Xinjiang, and US air strikes continue to support Afghan security forces....
....“The Taliban in Afghanistan is a pivotal military and political force in the country, and will play an important role in the process of peace, reconciliation and reconstruction there,” Wang said, according to a foreign ministry statement.
Wang said China would support Afghanistan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, but he also demanded the Taliban cut off any connection with the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM).
UNQUOTE
all your childish anti China propaganda won't hide the US scurrying off like rats, AGAIN - wakakaka
DeleteThis blurred mfer has zilch iota of the Khmer Rough raise&fall!
DeleteAll it has r just regurgitated anglosphere purviews that formed its bored daily opium.
Ditto too with its f*cked etim interpretation!
In 2002 Bullyland re-opened their Embassy in Kabul, after the Allied forces kicked out the Taliban. Under the free bodyguard protection of the Allied forces Beijing recognised the Afghan government (not the Taliban). Now they make U-Turn, abandon the democratically elected Afghan gomen, and and want to recognize the cruel Taliban pulak. Such Disloyalty and Betrayal.
DeleteTypical of TongSampah regurgitating the White Master's narrative...not a single independent thought or initiative of his own, and lazy to boot to do his own research, or more likely, conveniently echoed the West's exaggeration/lies to suit his own prejudice and fed into his implacable hatred of all things China/Chinese.
DeleteThere are blatant lies about the history of the Khmer Rouge massacre.
Cambodia is communist, and so is Vietnam. But the difference was that Cambodia is pro China and Vietnam was pro Soviet.
Soviet Union then carried out wholesale negative propaganda campaign on the Khmer Rouge, in full support of Vietnam and covered up a lot of its 10 years brutality there when Vietnam invaded Cambodia.
Guess this TongSampah can't do even simple maths, just only capable of keying into Google and vomit out " they went about exterminating 2 millions Khmers". Is it credible to kill 2 millions in 4 years, which effectively meant executing 1400 people per day everyday for 4 years ? Soon after the fall of Khmer Rouge, Cambodia's population has recovered to 8 million...so is it credible that there were 2 million infants born in these years, in spite of all the starvation and hardship, and many of the men in the family were died in the war ?
Wasn't the biased narrative based from the victor's perspective ? Are you so full of stinking garbage that you have not a single iota of curiosity to do just that little bit of research when common sense will tell you the maths just simply don't add up ? Haha...your lack of intellectual honesty suits you just fine alright....so that you could continue to peddle your lies and bias to the hilt, non stop, every day.
All the dead are counted on the head of Polpot, so as to further blacken his record. In politics, the defeated are always in the wrong. Of course Polpot carried out large scale 'cleaning' too during the Khmer Rouge period, but Lon Nol's army carried out massacres in rural Cambodia, and those who died in the American bombings, those who died in the Vietnam's invasion in 1979, those who were killed in the Heng Sam-rin purge campaign. Yes, all the dead were piled on the head of Polpot...that's why on his death bed, he muttered his last words : I don't have massacre, I'm just fighting'.
Btw, Heng Sam-rin is a member of the Khmer Rouge who opposed Polpot and was still elected Chairman of the Cambodian National Assembly in 2006.
The Khmer Rouge did not completely lose the support of the Cambodian people...that's why it could survive in the jungle for 20 years, with the local people's cooperation such as timely information and logistical support. Khmer Rouge did not surrender because of elimination by the government forces, but because of peace talk negotiation.
China, unlike the Greatest Terrorist Ameri~KKK~a, never shot a single bullet in foreign land or dropped a bomb these last 43 years. The latter, that imperialist hegemon, had killed more than 25 million since WW2 and displaced at the least 37 million people from their own land to become refugees, causing extreme suffering and depravation, but of course, all these are "good" for these non whites from shithole countries, as the Ameri~KKK~a is bringing them Democracy, Human Rights and Freedom. Hahaha
DeleteChina don't meddle in the internal affairs of other countries...it only wants to do trade and advocates peaceful co-existence.
After the failed 20 years 'misadventure' in Afghanistan, the DSA ( the Disunited States of America ) now once again leave like a thief in the night...Saigon all over again ! haha
Let's see how the Taliban pans out, now that they had taken Kabul with the former Afghan President having fled the country, also in the dead of night, LOL
So far, we see that the Taliban had reached out to Russia and China to explain their plans.
Russia explained to the Taliban that it is closely aligned with China...that Russia will 'take care' of security and the Chinese will provide economic aid.
A Taliban delegation visited China and met with the Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who said that China wanted the Taliban to "rule with moderation", and bring together all parties for a government of national unity. ( No bombings, no sanctions, no threats, no kidnappings, no wholesale killing of villagers, no slicing of children's throats...these are NOT Chinese style, hehe )
Well, the ball is now in the Taliban's court. The Taliban will have to decide how important is the Chinese aid for its new fledging government. Their treatment of women will be a barometer which the Chinese government will follow closely to gauge how extreme/moderate the new Taliban government is.
If the Taliban turns out to be extreme, then those cohorts the likes of US/UK/India and the West can go " We told you so !". ( although India has been committing genocide on the Muslims in Kashmir, bullied their other neighbours in a most atrocious manner and the West pretends to be deaf, dumb and blind ).
If the Taliban turns out to be moderate, then there will be a sort of peace (finally ) in that region and a victory for China's BRI Initiative.
Additional : The Taliban actually acting on their statements would be very good for them keeping power. Letting dissidents leave Afghanistan will reduce more killings; likewise, letting foreigners leave without making a big fuss would translate into a smoother administration.
Not killing too many civilians (lol) is good PR for the Taliban.
Letting women go to work and get educated is good for the economy and dispel the 'extremist' label. An improved economy for sure brings legitimacy to a government. This would be a prerequisite for foreign aid ( China's obviously, and latter on, from other countries too ).
It's a given that Ameri~KKK~a will be rooting for the Taliban to fail so that the Chinese will look bad. Which actually prove a point that these assholes never really cared about the people in Afghanistan anyway.
The amazing speed at which the Afghan army is collapsing only confirms the important role the Allied forces played for 20 years. They were Bodyguards to then entire nation, from the Cruel Taliban.
ReplyDeleteThe Taliban first came into power in the mid-1990s. Because they were harbouring terrorists like Osama bin Ladin they were kicked into hiding in the countryside in 2001 by the Allied forces, until 2021.
Now even after 20 years of foreign military protection, economic aid, training and building up their defences the Afghan army collapses in a matter of weeks. Useless cowards and bums.
I expect my children to be able to take care of themselves when they reach the age of 18. At 21 they must be on their own, sapot themselves. No more charity. Same for Afghanistan.
Now....where are the Arab and Islamic countries? Not One Poop or Peep from anyone of them. Will Malaysia offer any assistance like they are so eager to do for Palestinians? Any Bantuan Afghanistan from PAS? Afghans not important? No Jews involved so Not Important?
"The amazing speed at which the Afghan army is collapsing only confirms the important role the Allied forces played for 20 years. They were Bodyguards to then entire nation, from the Cruel Taliban"
DeleteWakakakakaka…
So simplistic a fart!
When a govt falls suddenly w/o foreign military supports, the sign IS very clear that that govt has no local supports!
Why no local supports?
Bcoz it's a puppet of foreign powers! Simple as that - even though histories have amble examples.
Yet, this blurred mfer can still twist a fact to vent his frustration of failed drmoNcratic chants.
Oooop…
"I expect my children to be able to take care of themselves when they reach the age of 18. At 21 they must be on their own, sapot themselves."
Wakakakakaka… wakakaka…
Haven't u heard of spoiled brat? No? Maybe u r just that perfect model of a blurred dickhead feeding on yr family heirloom.
Blurred mfer, how deranged can u be? Just after foaming in the mouth about Afghan must start to take care of themselves, u turn around looking for other sacrificial lambs for yr Afghanistan epitaph!
Bravo! A shining piece of demoNcratic hippo shit.
"the important role the Allied forces (@ US of A) played for 20 years." Wakakakaka
DeleteWhy were the US after 20 years in Afghanistan still unable to eliminate the Taliban? Don’t kid me with it was beyond their capability! With their abundant experience in modern warfare, more advance and vast supply of weapons, if they could “fished” out Saddam Hussein and captured Osama Bin Ladin and “assassinate” Qasem Soleimani in the enemy dens, US could easily finish off the Taliban and conclude their mission and leave Afghanistan a long ago.
My theory is that the US of A actually just couldn’t ‘care-less’ about peace in Afghanistan. A chaotic Afghanistan gave them the excuse to remain so that they can stay close to China because their more important and main target is China. I bet you they had been doing more espionage works on China and scheming evil plots such as training Islamic terrorists and sent them into Xinjiang, China to create chaos than paying attention to the Taliban while they were in Afghanistan. The reason why they scampered away now is because US of A is broke, ‘pokai’, bankrupt, they can’t pay the salary of their army anymore.
I haven't forgotten the Taliban destruction of the Buddha figures of Bamiyan.
ReplyDeleteThese Taliban are seriously mentally sick people.
Would u say the same for the nowadays German as of those during the Nazis period?
DeleteMfer, 20yr is a long time for people to change their aspiration & religious outlook! Especially those that have gone through a long & unjust war with thousands of their friends, family members died WITH THE HELPS OF FOREIGN POWERS!
Maybe u r thinking along the same line of Boris/Morrison that those pommie/ozzie soldiers have done no evil in their tour of wars in Afghanistan. They r making their countries PROUD - as in dirtying their hands with Afghan blood to please uncle Sam.
Commie Mfer, Germany thoroughly purged itself after WWII.
DeleteThe worst Nazi leaders hung by the neck, the Nazi party forbidden, Nazi symbols, Holocaust denial punishable by law.
Taliban are absolutely unrepentant, every indication shows they will return to their brutal methods.
https://www.reddit.com/r/InformedTankie/comments/mieych/fbi_whistleblower_sibel_edmonds_detailed_that_cia/
DeleteOld moneyed mfer, so Germany can thoroughly purged itself after WWII!
DeleteWhy can't the contemporary Taliban of Afghanistan?
More so after 20yrs of fightings with foreign powers invading their land!
What's yr proof of
"Taliban are absolutely unrepentant, every indication shows they will return to their brutal methods"
???
Yr f*cked anglosphere purviews of spurious humanitarianism as been regurgitated day&night by mfers, like u?
Just look at the recent news reports, many r from the normally biased western media, about the situation in many of the captured cities/provinces by Taliban.
No horrendous massacres of civilians & govt soldiers. No rampant rapes of women/girls. Many news showing lives as usual, though tense, in those captured/surrendered places.
U r just one hell of a hatred instigator, bending on to wallflower yr demoNcratic detractors' ultimate failures.
Bullyland Probably the only Foreign Embassy NOT evacuating Kabul, may move into the larger US one...ha ha ha...
ReplyDeleteQUOTE
China Preparing to Recognize Taliban if Kabul Falls: Sources
The move comes at the expense of the U.S., which has held up the Taliban’s international legitimacy as its remaining source of leverage while the militant group storms across Afghanistan.
By Paul D. Shinkman
Aug. 12, 2021
U.S. News & World Report
China Preparing to Recognize Taliban
China is prepared to recognize the Taliban as the legitimate ruler of Afghanistan if it succeeds in toppling the Western-backed government in Kabul, U.S. News has learned, a prospect that undercuts the Biden administration's remaining source of leverage over the insurgent network as it continues its startling campaign to regain control.
UNQUOTE
Wakakakakaka…
Delete"Biden administration's remaining source of leverage over the insurgent network"
U know how to read news? Or u have a f*cked sense of logic?
Who said US military remainings in Afghanistan during his presidency is not an option? & it’s the right and the responsibility of the Afghan people alone to decide their future and how they want to run their country.
So what's wrong for China to remain in Kabul in trying to built possible peaceful accords with the fighting fractions when all other previously spurious altruistic western allies have scrambled to flee the war-torn nation?
Perhaps, in yr sicked mind it's ONLY OK for yr altarized demoNcratic idols to start a bloody war. But it's not OK for China to help rebuilt that war-torn nation!