Taliban, embassies prepare for evacuation near the gate of Kabul

New Delhi: The Afghan Taliban tightened their territorial hold around the country’s capital Kabul on Saturday (August 14, 2021) as US Marines return to oversee emergency evacuation and refugees rush to safety.

With Afghanistan’s second and third largest cities falling into the hands of the Afghan Taliban, Kabul is effectively besieged. Taliban fighters are camping just 50 kilometers (30 miles) from Kabul, and the development has prompted several countries, including the US and India, to evacuate their citizens from the Afghan capital, AFP reports.

In a recent development, the United States has made a last-minute decision to send 3,000 US troops to Afghanistan to help partially evacuate the US embassy. Officials have stressed that the mission of the newly arrived troops is limited to assisting embassy personnel and airlift of Afghan allies.

Meanwhile, other countries including Britain, Germany, Denmark and Spain also announced the withdrawal of personnel from their respective embassies on Friday. The Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs said on Friday that Switzerland would withdraw its three remaining staff in Kabul “as soon as possible” if the security situation in Afghanistan worsens.

Thousands of Kabul residents have taken refuge in Kabul in recent days, AFP reports. “We don’t know what’s going on,” a resident, Khairdin Logari, told AFP.

Read more about the Taliban here: History of Taliban

Additionally, in his first and strongest appeal to the Islamic terrorist group, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was “deeply disturbed by early indications that the Taliban were imposing severe sanctions in areas under their control, particularly to women and journalists.” Targeting.”

“It is particularly appalling and heartbreaking to see reports of hard-won rights for Afghan girls and women,” Guterres said.

“This is the moment to stop the offensive,” Guterres said. “This is the moment to start a serious conversation. This is the moment to escape a prolonged civil war or the isolation of Afghanistan.”

Read also: Is Taliban now seeking India’s support? Appreciated the country for helping Afghanistan

The swift and widespread impact of the Taliban’s progress has rattled Afghans and the US-led coalition, which invested billions in the country nearly 20 years ago after toppling the Taliban in the wake of the September 11 attacks.

Despite frantic evacuation efforts, the US is insisting that a complete takeover of the Taliban is not inevitable.

Acknowledging that the Taliban is “trying to isolate” the capital city, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said on Friday, “Kabul is not yet in an imminent threat environment.”

Kirby also said that by Sunday most of the troops helping to evacuate people would be out of Afghanistan and “will be able to move thousands of people per day”.

Meanwhile, Abdul Nafi, a resident of Kandahar, told AFP the city was calm after government forces abandoned it. “I came out this morning, I saw white Taliban flags in most of the city squares,” he said. “I thought it might be the first day of Eid.”

Additionally, pro-Taliban social media accounts have claimed vast loot of war captured by Taliban insurgents.

(with agency input)

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