KABUL — The Taliban on Sunday blamed the United States
for the chaotic evacuation of tens of thousands of Afghans and foreigners from
Kabul, one week after the hardline Islamist group
returned to power in a rapid
victory that stunned the world.
اضافة اعلان
The United States has warned of security threats and the
European Union admitted it was "impossible" to evacuate everyone at
risk from the Taliban, who have vowed a softer version of their brutal rule
from 1996 to 2001.
But terrified Afghans continue to try to flee, deepening a
tragedy at Kabul airport where the United States and its allies have been
unable to cope with the huge numbers of people trying to get on evacuation
flights.
"America, with all its power and facilities ... has
failed to bring order to the airport. There is peace and calm all over the
country, but there is chaos only at Kabul airport," Taliban official Amir
Khan Mutaqi said.
Britain's defense ministry said Sunday seven people had died
in the crowds, without giving further details.
A journalist, who was among a group of fleeing media workers
and academics fortunate enough to reach the airport on Sunday, described
desperate scenes of people surrounding their bus on the way in.
"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 ahead of us had to
shoot in the air to make them go away."
Britain's Sky News on Saturday aired footage of at least
three bodies covered in white tarpaulin outside the airport. It was not clear
how they had died.
Other journalists at the scene have reported people being
crushed, while others were dehydrated and terrified.
Harrowing videos have emerged of babies and children being
passed to soldiers over razor-wire fences and men clinging to the outside of
departing planes.
During the distress of evacuation, an Afghan woman went into
labor on a US Air Force flight and gave birth to a baby girl in the plane's
cargo bay moments after landing at a base in Germany, the Air Mobility Command
tweeted.
'Impossible' deadline
The crisis in Afghanistan has led to mounting criticism of
the US and its Western allies, which this year pressed on with the withdrawal
of troops from Afghanistan as the government and security forces struggled to
contain rising Taliban violence.
G7 leaders will discuss the situation in a virtual summit on
Tuesday, Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced.
"It is vital that the international community works
together to ensure safe evacuations, prevent a humanitarian crisis and support
the Afghan people to secure the gains of the last 20 years," Johnson
tweeted.
As the bungled evacuations continued, Joe Biden described it
as "one of the largest, most difficult airlifts in history"
The US, which has thousands of troops trying to secure
Kabul airport, has set a deadline to complete the evacuations by August 31.
On Sunday, the defense ministry enlisted the help of several
major airlines in transporting people who have been flown to US bases in the
Gulf and Europe back to America.
There are up to 15,000 Americans and 50,000 to 60,000 Afghan
allies who need to be evacuated, according to the Biden administration.
Countless others fear repression or reprisal attacks under
the Taliban and are also trying to flee.
The US government warned its citizens to stay away from the
airport, with a White House official later saying Biden had been briefed on
security threats, including from Daesh.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell gave a bleak
assessment of whether the airlift would succeed.
"They want to evacuate 60,000 people between now and
the end of this month. It's mathematically impossible," he told AFP.
Borrell added that "we have complained" to the
Americans that their airport security was overly strict and hampering attempts
by Afghans who worked for the Europeans to enter.
Taliban government
The Taliban meanwhile have been focusing on forming a
government.
The group's co-founder Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar has flown
into Kabul and plans to meet militant leaders, elders, and politicians, an
official told AFP.
Among them are leaders of the Haqqani network, a
US-designated terrorist organization with $1-million bounties on its
leadership..
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