The Taliban has said it will not allow Afghans to flee the country in evacuation flights anymore and warned the United States (US) to stick to its August 31 deadline for withdrawing troops from Afghanistan.
On Tuesday, Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid told reporters that they were “not allowing the evacuation of Afghans anymore.” Saying that the group is “not happy” with the evacuations, Mujahid urged the US not to “encourage” people to leave Afghanistan. “The road, which goes to the airport, is blocked. Afghans cannot take that road to go to the airport, but foreign nationals are allowed to take that road to the airport,” he said. Mujahid added that doctors, academics, and the “educated elite […] should not leave the country” and asked them to work in Afghanistan in “their specialist areas.”
Mujahid also reiterated that the Taliban would not allow an extension of the August 31 deadline for the withdrawal of the US troops. “The United States should evacuate all its people by August 31. Extension of this date would be a unilateral decision and against our agreement with them,” he said.
His comments come as several Western countries, including Britain and France, have called for an extending troop presence in Afghanistan to continue evacuating their citizens and Afghans fleeing the Taliban. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has urged US President Joe Biden to consider extending the deadline.
On the other hand, Biden reiterated that the US would withdraw all troops from Afghanistan by the end of the month. He confirmed his position during Tuesday’s virtual G7 leaders’ summit. Biden said he is “determined to ensure that we complete our mission,” and this “depends upon the Taliban continuing to cooperate and allow access to the airport.” “We are currently on a pace to finish by August 31. The sooner we can finish, the better. Each day of operations brings added risk to our troops,” Biden said. He noted that the longer US forces stay in the country, the “risk of an attack by a terrorist group known as ISIS-K, an ISIS affiliate in Afghanistan” will grow.
Moreover, Biden stressed that the US, the United Kingdom, the G7, and NATO “agreed that we would stand united in our approach” to the Taliban. “We agreed the legitimacy of any future government depends on the approach it now takes to uphold their international obligations, including to prevent Afghanistan from being used as a base for terrorism,” he said.
A joint statement released by the G7 after Tuesday’s summit read: “We express our grave concern about the situation in Afghanistan and call for calm and restraint to ensure the safety and security of vulnerable Afghan and international citizens, and the prevention of a humanitarian crisis.” It added that the G7’s “immediate priority is to ensure the safe evacuation of our citizens and those Afghans who have partnered with us and assisted our efforts over the past twenty years, and to ensure continuing safe passage out of Afghanistan.”
Since the Taliban seized control of Afghanistan on August 15, thousands of Afghan civilians have tried to flee the country, fearing a repressive rule. Concerning this, the US has stepped up its efforts to evacuate Afghan and American citizens stuck in the country. According to the Pentagon, tens of thousands of people have already been evacuated from Afghanistan.
Taliban Bans Afghans From Fleeing Country on Flights, Rejects Evacuation Extension
The Taliban has said that it will not allow Afghans to flee Afghanistan in evacuation flights anymore. It also rejected efforts to extend the evacuation deadline beyond August 31.
August 25, 2021
SOURCE: REUTERS