Taliban Blame US For Airport Chaos As Afghans Face ‘Impossible’ Race To Flee

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KABUL: The Taliban on Sunday accused the United States of being responsible for the chaotic evacuation of tens of thousands of Afghans and foreigners from the capital, a week after the return to power of the outright Islamist group with a quick victory that stunned the world. The United States warned of security threats and the European Union admitted it was “impossible” to evacuate all those at risk from the Taliban, who swore a milder version of their brutal regime from 1996 to 2001. But terrified Afghans continue to try to flee, exacerbating a tragedy at Kabul airport where the United States and its allies have been unable to cope with the large numbers of people trying to get on flights to ‘evacuation. “America, with all its power and facilities (…) has failed to restore order in the airport. There is peace and calm throughout the country, but there is no chaos than at Kabul airport, “said Taliban official Amir Khan Mutaqi. Britain’s Defense Ministry said on Sunday that seven people had died in the crowd, without giving further details. A reporter, who was among a group of other media professionals and academics lucky enough to make it to the airport on Sunday for a flight, described desperate scenes of people surrounding their bus at the entrance. “They were showing us their passports and shouting ‘take us with you … please take us with you’,” the journalist told AFP. “The Taliban fighter in the truck in front of us had to shoot in the air to get them to leave.” British channel Sky News on Saturday broadcast images of at least three bodies covered with a white tarpaulin outside the airport. We didn’t know how they died. Journalist Stuart Ramsay, who was at the airport, called the deaths “inevitable” and said people were “crushed” while others were “dehydrated and terrified”. The footage was the last footage of utter desperation, after video of a baby being lifted over a wall at the airport and horror scenes of people hanging from departing planes. The United States, which has thousands of troops trying to secure the airport, has set a deadline to complete evacuations by August 31. But there are as many as 15,000 Americans and 50,000 to 60,000 Afghan allies who must be evacuated, according to the Biden administration. Countless others fear repression under the Taliban and are also trying to flee. US President Joe Biden described the evacuation operations as “one of the most important and difficult airlifts in history”. The situation was further complicated on Saturday when the US government warned its citizens to stay away from the airport due to “security threats”. No specific reason was given, but a White House official later said Biden had been briefed on security threats, including from the jihadist group Islamic State. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell gave a grim assessment of the success of the airlift. “They want to evacuate 60,000 people by the end of this month. It is mathematically impossible,” he told AFP. Borrell added that “we complained” to the Americans that their airport security was too tight and hampered attempts by Afghans who were working for European entry. On Saturday, the Pentagon said 17,000 people had been withdrawn since the operation began on August 14, including 2,500 Americans. Thousands more left on other foreign military flights. The Taliban have been publicly content with the US military overseeing the airlift, while focusing on forming a government. The group’s co-founder, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, flew to Kabul and planned to meet with jihadist leaders, elders and politicians in the coming days, an official told AFP. Among them are the leaders of the Haqqani Network, a terrorist organization nominated by the United States with $ 1 million bounties on its leadership. The Taliban stunned the world when they invaded Kabul last week, ending two decades of war, with virtually no opposition from government forces that had been trained and equipped by the US-led alliance. However, there have since been flares of resistance with ex-government troops rallying in the Panjshir Valley north of Kabul, long known as an anti-Taliban stronghold. One of the leaders of the movement, called the National Resistance Front, is the son of the famous anti-Taliban commander Ahmad Shah Massoud. The NRF is ready for a “long-term conflict” but is also still seeking to negotiate with the Taliban over an inclusive government, its spokesperson Ali Maisam Nazary told AFP in an interview. “The conditions for a peace deal with the Taliban are decentralization, a system that guarantees social justice, equality, rights and freedom for all.

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