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The President of Afghanistan is in talks with local and world leaders to discuss the situation in the country.
The troubled Afghan President Ashraf Ghani resolutely defended the capital Kabul, but “is seeking help from the international community.” For his people, this vague guarantee meant aggravating the uncertainty and fear they already live in.
In a televised speech to the nation on Saturday, Ghani said that he is in talks with local and world leaders to discuss the situation in countries where the Taliban are approaching Kabul after making amazing territorial gains-most of them in the (northern) region. They are hostile-filling the vacuum left by the departure of the US and NATO forces.
The Taliban control two-thirds of this war-torn country, and they encountered little resistance in their march to the capital. They occupied Pule Alam, the capital of Logar Province, 70 kilometers south of Kabul, which provided them with a key transit point for possible attacks on Kabul.
Hundreds of people fled the fighting and took refuge in Kabul, a city with a population of 4.6 million. The government is struggling to cope with the influx of people. Thousands of people fly to different countries through the Capital International Airport. The United States and other countries have sent troops to help evacuate their embassies and allies in Afghanistan. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is worried that Afghanistan is “out of control.” The specter of a government collapse or a country falling into a civil war is faintly visible.
But Ghani said: “As your president, my focus is to prevent further instability, violence and displacement of my people.” He did not imply that he would succumb to the Taliban’s request for him to resign in order to conduct any ceasefire and political settlement negotiations. He said that “re-integration of security and national defense forces is our top priority, and serious measures are being taken in this regard.”
The country’s second and third largest cities have been occupied by the Taliban. Now only Kabul can defend government forces that have disappeared elsewhere. I talked to media and human rights defenders in Afghanistan, and they said that the situation in Kabul is tense but calm.
“President Joe Biden has set August 31 as the deadline for the complete withdrawal of combat troops. Let us see if the Taliban decided to enter Kabul before or after that. If the Taliban did not resist, it might not be the case, but if By doing so, they are worried that there will be a lot of civilian bloodshed. We hope that the transition will be as peaceful as in Herat,” said an anonymous reporter from Kabul.
“Logar Province has been occupied by the Taliban. Simedan Wardak Province may also fall into their hands. Among the major cities in Afghanistan, in addition to Kabul, the government also controls Mazar-i-Sharif in the north and the border with Pakistan in the east. Jalalabad. Despite this, the fighting in Mazar-i-Sharif is still raging,” he said.
Civil society, politicians and government officials are all anxious about their future.
“Human rights and women’s rights defenders, the media, politicians and government officials do have fears. But it depends on how the situation develops here. The Taliban are not as harsh as they used to be recently,” said a female human rights activist who asked not to be named.
In a tweet, Secunder Kermani, a BBC correspondent in Afghanistan, said: “Ghani will certainly not step down. Regarding negotiations on mobilizing security forces with the Taliban, the government’s position looks very worrying… many people [are] More worried about the prospect of fierce fighting in Kabul than the complete takeover of the Taliban (though they do not support it)”.
Waqar Mustafa is a journalist and commentator based in Pakistan.
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