Status: 08/15/2021 1:48 p.m.
The Afghan government has apparently offered the radical Islamic Taliban to relinquish power – a transitional government is to be set up. The Taliban had penetrated to the outskirts.
In view of the fact that the Taliban have advanced to the outskirts of the capital Kabul, the Afghan government has announced a “peaceful transfer of power”. “There will be no attack on the city,” said Interior Minister Abdul Sattar Mirsakwal in a recorded address. Accordingly, a “transitional government” is to be formed.
Possible candidate for interim government
According to diplomatic circles, Ali Ahmad Jalali is being discussed as a possible head of a transitional government. From 2003 to 2005 he was the Afghan interior minister and was also the Afghan ambassador to Germany. It is not yet clear whether the Taliban will approve Jalali’s appointment. But he is considered a compromise candidate that could potentially be accepted by all sides.
Taliban reach Kabul
daily news 10:00 a.m., August 15, 2021
According to several Afghan officials, the Taliban had advanced to three outskirts of Kabul that morning. In the meantime, the Afghan interior ministry said that the Islamists were attacking the city from all sides.
Residents from outskirts told AFP news agency that Taliban fighters were already in the urban area. “There are armed Taliban fighters in our neighborhood, but there is no fighting,” said a resident of an eastern suburb of the capital.
Taliban offer amnesties
A Taliban spokesman said on the Arab broadcaster Al Jazeera that the city is expected to be surrendered peacefully and that an amnesty is being offered to anyone who has worked for the government or for foreign forces.
Oliver Mayer, New Delhi, “There are chaotic and dramatic scenes that take place in Kabul.”
Tagesschau 2 p.m., August 15, 2021
The President’s Office had later announced that the situation was under control, although gunfire and shots could be heard. “The defense and security forces are working with the international units for the security of the city of Kabul and the situation is under control,” it said.
President Ashraf Ghani’s chief of staff, Matin Bek, wrote on the online service Twitter: “Don’t panic! Kabul is safe.”
A NATO official said several EU officials had been moved to a safe location in Kabul. The US began evacuating its embassy and helicopted diplomats to the airport.
On Sunday, Jalalabad fell in the east on the border with Pakistan, as did the provincial capitals Maidan Shahr and Chost.
Only yesterday the Taliban had also brought the northern Afghan metropolis Mazar-i-Sharif under their control. The Islamists had been attacking the city intensively for about a week. The Bundeswehr had its headquarters in Mazar-i-Sharif until June.