Afghanistan: Taliban are close to Kabul

The Taliban in Afghanistan seem unstoppable. The radical Islamic militias are only a few kilometers from the capital, Kabul. President Ghani addressed the population in a TV address.

After conquering the province of Logar, the Taliban are just outside the gates of the capital, Kabul. Hoda Ahmadi, a MP from the province, told the AP news agency that the Taliban had taken control of the entire area south of Kabul, including the provincial capital, Pul-i-Alam. Provincial officials have been arrested. Taliban fighters had also reached the district of Tschar Asjab in the capital province. From there it is another eleven kilometers to Kabul.

Another member of parliament, Hamida Akbari, told the dpa news agency that there was fighting over the city of Maidan Schar, 35 kilometers from Kabul. The Taliban had conquered a large part of Maidan Wardak province, also south of Kabul.

Heavy fighting in Mazar-i-Sharif

At the same time, the radical Islamic insurgents launched an offensive on Mazar-i-Sharif in the north, where the Bundeswehr had its headquarters until June. Balkh province spokesman Munir Ahmad Farhad said Masar-i-Sharif was being attacked by the Taliban from several directions. There is heavy fighting in the outskirts. As recently as Wednesday, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani flew to Mazar-i-Sharif to mobilize defenders of the city.

Televised address by President Ghani

Today he made a televised address to the population. Ghani announced a “remobilization” of the armed forces. This has top priority. He also wants to discuss the situation with regional leaders and international partners, said Ghani. There is a responsibility that the country is not destroyed any more. He wanted a political solution to secure “peace and stability” for Afghanistan.

With the US and NATO troop withdrawal set to begin later this month, the Taliban have made large territorial gains in Afghanistan and captured many provincial capitals, including Herat and Kandahar, the country’s second and third largest cities. 18 of the 34 provinces are under their control.

Tens of thousands of civilians have already fled the Taliban. The Taliban ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001 with a harsh interpretation of Islamic law, the Sharia. Women were only allowed to leave their homes under certain conditions, and music was forbidden.

US allegations

The US government accused the Afghan leadership and the security forces of a lack of combat readiness in view of the advance of the Taliban. It is “worrying” to see that the political and military leadership did not have the “will” to oppose the advance of the militant Islamists, said US Defense Department spokesman John Kirby, CNN. The US could not have foreseen the “lack of resistance” by the Afghan armed forces.

The Afghan security forces are superior to the Taliban in terms of equipment, training and troop strength and have their own air force, Kirby said. Referring to the US government’s financial support for the security forces, he added, “Money cannot buy a will.” The political and military leadership of the Afghans is responsible for this.

Röttgen considers one-sided deduction to be a mistake

The chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the Bundestag, Norbert Röttgen, called for the West and the Bundeswehr to intervene against the Taliban advancing in Afghanistan. “You shouldn’t watch how people who were connected to us for a long time are slaughtered by the Taliban, how girls and women lose all hard-won rights again,” said the CDU politician to the editorial network Germany. “The unilateral and hasty withdrawal from Afghanistan was a mistake,” said Röttgen.

Habeck calls for airlift for local workers

Green co-leader Robert Habeck called for more commitment from the federal government for people who have supported the Bundeswehr or German ministries in Afghanistan as local staff. “It now needs an airlift to bring these people out of mortal danger,” said Habeck of the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”. “It’s a question of loyalty. We mustn’t let them down, time is running out.”

Baerbock for European preparations for refugees

Green Chancellor candidate Baerbock warned in the Deutschlandfunk against a repetition of failures during the Syrian civil war and called for concerted action to take in refugees from Afghanistan by all 27 EU members. The European countries were fatally unprepared that people would have to leave their country in such a dramatic situation, said Baerbock.