On August 24, 2021, the evacuation flight in Kabul, Afghanistan continued, and people who wanted to flee the country were waiting near Hamid Karzai International Airport. (Photo: Haroon� Sabawoon/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
- The Taliban will not agree to extend the time for evacuation of Afghans, although European countries have stated that they will not be able to airlift Afghans in danger before the deadline.
- The Taliban also told the United States to stop evacuation of skilled Afghans.
- US President Joe Biden is facing increasing pressure to negotiate more withdrawal time.
The Taliban said on Tuesday that they would not agree to extend the imminent deadline for evacuation of Afghans from Kabul airport, even if Western countries say they have run out of time.
European countries have stated that they will not be able to airlift Afghans in danger before the August 31 deadline. US President Joe Biden is facing calls from all corners to extend the evacuation window.
But at a press conference in the capital Kabul, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid stated that the Islamic organization would not agree to the extension and told the United States to stop evacuation of skilled Afghans.
On August 24, 2021, Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid (C) delivered a speech during a press conference in Kabul, Afghanistan. (Photo: Sayed Khodaiberdi Sadat/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Mujahid also said that female staff of the Afghan government should stay at home until the country’s security situation improves.
After the Taliban warned them that they would not allow the United States to extend the deadline for a complete withdrawal, the US-led military has stepped up its efforts to evacuate thousands of people from Kabul.
President Biden has stated that he will abide by the timetable, but is facing increasing pressure and needs to negotiate more time for evacuation.
Germany said on Tuesday that Western allies simply cannot send all Afghans in need of protection out of Kabul before the deadline.
Foreign Minister Heiko Maas told Bild TV:
Even if the (evacuation) lasts until August 31, or even a few more days, it will not be enough for us or the people in the United States who want to fly out.
Earlier France stated that if the United States adheres to the deadline, it will have to end its evacuation from Kabul Airport on Thursday, while Spain stated that it will not be able to rescue all Afghans serving the Spanish mission.
At the same time, the UK has indicated that it will postpone the virtual G7 summit later on Tuesday.
According to the US government, since the Taliban took power nine days ago, about 50,000 foreigners and Afghans have fled the country from Kabul Airport.
On August 23, 2021, several people, including children, arrived from Afghanistan at Torrejón de Ardoz Air Base in Madrid, Spain. (Photo: A. Perez Meca/Europa Press via Getty Images)
Many Afghans worry that the cruel interpretation of Sharia law implemented by the Taliban when they first came to power from 1996 to 2001 will repeat itself, or that they will retaliate against the US-backed government for the past two decades.
The Taliban, which ended a two-decade war with an astonishingly rapid defeat of government forces, have openly tolerated evacuation operations.
But on Tuesday, Mujahid reiterated the warning issued by the Taliban earlier on extending the airlift.
He also said that the Americans are taking engineers and other “Afghan experts” out of Afghanistan.
“We ask them to stop this process,” he said.
On August 22, 2021, near the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, water and food distributed by Turkish soldiers were among the biggest victims evacuated when the temperature exceeded 35 degrees and thirst. Thousands of people continue to wait around the airport in Kabul, the capital. (Photo from Aykut Karadag/Anadolu Agency, from Getty Images)
As Biden withdrew almost all American troops from Afghanistan, following an agreement reached between then President Donald Trump and the Taliban, the Taliban achieved an amazing victory.
However, after the fall of Kabul, Biden was forced to redeploy thousands of soldiers to oversee the airlift.
According to the “Washington Post” report, US CIA Director William Burns A secret meeting in Kabul on Monday With Taliban co-founder Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar (Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar), although no details were reported, neither the CIA nor the Taliban confirmed this.
The hurried departure from Kabul triggered a tragic scene where at least eight people died.
Some people were crushed to death, and at least one youth football player fell from the plane and died.
The German Ministry of Defense said on Monday that an Afghan soldier was killed in an exchange of fire with an unidentified attacker and three others were injured.
Spanish Defense Minister Margarita Robles said that the security situation is deteriorating.
“The Taliban have become more aggressive, gunshots have continued, and violence has become more pronounced,” she said in an interview with news station Cadena Ser.
Frankly speaking, the situation is dramatic, and as time goes by, it gets worse because people realize that time is running out.
The Taliban have repeatedly claimed to be different from their incarnations in the 1990s and declared amnesty for government troops and officials.
But an intelligence assessment conducted for the United Nations stated that militants were pursuing former government officials and those who cooperated with the United States and NATO forces from house to house.
In the capital and other cities, the former insurgents showed a certain sense of calm. Their fighters patrolled the streets and stationed at checkpoints.
The Taliban also intend to suppress the last notable Afghan military resistance formed by former government forces in the Panjshir Valley in the northern part of the Afghan capital.
Panjshir has long been known as an anti-Taliban fortress.
One of the leaders of the movement, known as the National Resistance Front, is the son of the famous anti-Taliban commander Ahmed Shah Masood.
