LAST UPDATE | 25 Aug 2021
AS MANY AS 1,500 American citizens may still need to be evacuated from Afghanistan and the Taliban have pledged to allow some departures after US troops leave on 31 August, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said today.
Blinken told reporters that at least 4,500 American citizens of the 6,000 Americans who wanted to leave Afghanistan have already departed the country.
He said officials have been in “direct contact” with another 500 Americans who want to leave and were reaching out to the other 1,000.
Blinken also said the Taliban had agreed to allow Americans and “at-risk” Afghan nationals to leave after the August 31 withdrawal of US troops.
“The Taliban have made public and private commitments to provide and permit safe passage for Americans, for third country nationals and for Afghans at risk going forward past August 31,” he said.
The comments come after Germany’s ambassador to Afghanistan said the Taliban will continue to allow Afghans who have the right documents to leave Afghanistan after the United States’ withdrawal deadline.
Markus Potzel said on Twitter he had met with Taliban deputy chief negotiator Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai, who had “assured me that Afghans with legal documents will continue to have the opportunity to travel on commercial flights after 31 August”.
Afghans are facing an increasingly desperate race to escape life under the Taliban after President Joe Biden confirmed US-led evacuations will end next week.
The Royal Air Force still needs to airlift nearly 2,000 Afghan interpreters and other staff who worked for Britain out of Kabul as the evacuation operation enters its final days.
They have been assessed as eligible under the Afghan relocations and assistance policy and have passed security checks, but remain on the ground, the PA news agency understands.
The British Minister of Defence put the number of people it has airlifted out of Afghanistan since the Taliban swept to power at more than 10,000.
More than 70,000 people have been evacuated in total, but huge crowds remain outside Kabul airport hoping to flee the threat of reprisals and repression in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan.
Biden said yesterday that the United States would stick to his 31 August deadline to completely withdraw its troops despite warnings from European allies that not all vulnerable Afghans would able to leave by then.
“The sooner we can finish, the better… each day of operations brings added risk to our troops,” Biden said.
“We are currently on the pace to finish by August 31.”
Many Afghans fear a repeat of the brutal five-year Taliban regime that was toppled in 2001, and violent retribution for working with foreign militaries, Western missions and the previous US-backed government.
US-equipped Taliban
Now - Panjsher valley entrance gate pic.twitter.com/JTAtn2qmip
— Muslim Shirzad (@MuslimShirzad) August 24, 2021
The Taliban has been showing off its own “special forces” on social media, soldiers in new uniforms equipped with looted American equipment who contrast sharply with the image of the usual Afghan insurgent.
Pictures and videos of fighters in the so-called “Badri 313″ unit have been posted online for propaganda purposes to underline how the Taliban have better equipped and trained men at their disposal than in the past, experts say.
The soldiers are shown in uniforms, boots, balaclavas and body armour similar to those worn by special forces around the world – and unlike the shalwar kameez, turban and sandals of the traditional Taliban fighter.
A Western weapons expert who writes anonymously on Twitter under the pseudonym of Calibre Obscura said the unit would be no match for Western special forces, or those of India or Pakistan.
But “they are more effective than normal Taliban and certainly more than standard Afghan national army troops from a couple of weeks ago,” he told AFP.
Evacuations
Washington and its allies have been flying out thousands of such Afghans every day on hulking military transports, but it has become an increasingly difficult and desperate task.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said the UK will use “every hour” left to evacuate people from Afghanistan, as he declined to rule out British troops having to leave by the end of Friday.
Raab said Britain is working “as fast as we can” to maximise the number of people who can flee, saying 2,000 have been evacuated in the previous 24 hours.
The Afghan capital’s airport has been gripped by chaos as US-led troops try to maintain a secure perimeter for evacuation flights, surrounded by desperate Afghans.
Some have foreign passports, visas or eligibility to travel, but most do not. At least eight people have died in the chaos.
“Does anyone… ANYONE… have a contact inside the airport,” pleaded one American on a WhatsApp group set up to share information on how people can access the airport.
My guy worked for us 2010-15 and needs to get out with 5 of his family. This is real bad.
The Taliban have also been accused of blocking or slowing access for many trying to reach the airport, although they denied the charge again late last night.
Biden said the Taliban were taking steps to assist, but there was also an “acute and growing risk” of an attack by the regional chapter of the Islamic State jihadist group.
CIA Director William Burns flew to Kabul for a secret meeting with top Taliban leader Abdul Ghani Baradar, US media reported yesterday, the highest-level meeting so far between the US government and the new rulers of Afghanistan.
The New York Times said the spy chief was not there to negotiate an extension to the pullout deadline, but for general talks on “evacuation operations and terrorist threats”.
‘It will not be enough’
Despite the harrowing scenes at Kabul airport, the Taliban have ruled out any extension to next Tuesday’s deadline to pull out foreign troops, describing it as “a red line”.
“They have planes, they have the airport, they should get their citizens and contractors out of here,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said.
European nations have said they would not be able to airlift all at-risk Afghans before 31 August.
“Even if (the evacuation) goes on… a few days longer, it will not be enough,” German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas told Bild TV.
A hard withdrawal deadline presents a further complication that may reduce the number of daily evacuations.
The United States deployed fresh troops for evacuations.
That 6,000-plus contingent, as well as hundreds of US officials, 600 Afghan troops and the equipment, will have to be flown out.
To do that by 31 August, the Pentagon said operations would have to start winding down days in advance.
Taliban urge Afghans to stay
Following their lightning victory that stunned the world, the Taliban have so far been content to allow the US-led operation to continue, focusing instead on consolidating control and forming a government.
They have vowed a softer, more inclusive regime this time around, offering amnesty to opponents and assurances of rights to women.
But many Afghans remain fearful and sceptical.
In an attempt to assuage fears, the Taliban spokesman yesterday urged skilled Afghans to not flee, saying the country needed “expert” Afghans such as doctors and engineers.
But Zabihullah Mujahid added that women who work for the Afghan government should stay home until the security situation improves.
The Taliban have said women will be able to get an education and work, but within what they consider Islamic bounds.
Meanwhile, Afghanistan’s two Paralympic athletes have been safely evacuated from the country, and will not be competing in the Games.
The two taekwondo athletes, Zakia Khudadadi and Hossain Rasouli, were originally due to represent their country at the Tokyo Paralympics.
But with the swift fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban, the pair were among the tens of thousands trapped and unable to leave the country.
“Efforts have been made to remove them from Afghanistan, they are now in a safe place,” an International Paralympic Committee spokesman said today.
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