DThe Taliban’s actions in Kabul are no different from the many provincial capitals they have captured one after another in the past few days. One of her first trips was to the largest prison in the city. At least there they can expect to be seen as liberators. On Sunday, witnesses told FAZ by phone that hundreds of prisoners are believed to have left Pul-e-Charkhi prison.
As shown in the video, the white Taliban flag has been waving on a nearby traffic circle. The Taliban also opened the door to the Bagram detention center in northern Kabul, where the Americans maintained their largest base for nearly 20 years and imprisoned many radical jihadists. There are rumors of thousands of people being released; videos on the Internet document their departure. The Islamists added hundreds or even thousands of fighters in one fell swoop.
However, there were few signs on Sunday that the Taliban must fight for Kabul. At first, when they drove into the capital from all directions, no one seriously resisted. The Americans were chased shortly after the Al-Qaida attack on September 11, 2001. On the contrary, the Taliban spokesperson and the government of the de facto President Ashraf Ghani are engaged in an appeasement contest. The Minister of the Interior, Abdul Sattar Mirzakwal (Abdul Sattar Mirzakwal) spoke to the country in a recorded video message about the transitional government. This will not happen if the big city of Kabul is under attack. Taliban spokesperson Suhail Shaheen also assured civilians that they do not have to worry about violence. He announced in the afternoon that negotiations on the safe transfer of power were already underway.
There were rumors that Ghani was in Tajikistan
It was not long before the public learned that President Ashraf Ghani had fled abroad. “He left Afghanistan in a difficult time, and may God hold him accountable,” Abdullah Abdullah, chairman of the National Reconciliation High Commission and Ghani’s long-time rival, said in a video message. Before that, there were rumors that Ghani was in Tajikistan. If what a government official said at noon is still true, then Ghani first met with members of Congress at the US Embassy on Sunday. The official said that he had expressed his hope that the Taliban would agree to a two-week transfer deadline.
Obviously, Ghani does not believe this. As early as Saturday, many people in Kabul expected the president to resign after so many governors surrendered to the Taliban instead of remaining loyal to the central government. Instead, Ghani talked about the “remobilization” of government forces in a brief TV message. There was no such sign on Sunday.
On Saturday, Kabul was the last important city in the country not yet controlled by the Taliban. On Saturday, the Islamists also fell into the hands of Mazar-i-Sharif in the north. It was not until June that the Bundeswehr handed over its camp to the Afghan armed forces at a ceremony in the city, but the Taliban did not make any major resistance. Perhaps more important is the escape of the warlords Abdul Rashid Dostum and Atta Muhammad Noor, who are allied with the government and are more likely to rely on loyalty Of the army. They fled to Uzbekistan. “The fighting is meaningless,” the two provincial councils declared.
