NATO withdrawal from Afghanistan: With civilians against the Taliban

The US and its NATO allies have withdrawn their last soldiers from the Bagram base. In the fight against the Taliban, the population is now on their own again – and is equipping civilians with weapons.

Everything was top secret and no one was informed when the US soldiers left their base in Bagram. Bagram was the largest US military base in Afghanistan. It is more than 50 kilometers from the capital Kabul – at times up to 30,000 troops were stationed there.

NATO officially began its withdrawal on May 1st. Since then, the Taliban have launched many offensives and captured around 100 districts in the country. Especially in the north, the Taliban are on the advance, that was the area where the Bundeswehr was deployed, which withdrew completely from Afghanistan on Tuesday. The Afghan army has major problems keeping the Taliban in check.

“Always took up arms in difficult times”

A few days ago the Defense Minister of Afghanistan even called on civilians to take up arms: “I say to all of our patriots: Stand by our soldiers – everywhere in the country. The Afghan government is ready to support you with everything you can to help yourself defend. ”

Thousands of men answered the call in Mazar-i-Sharif alone. Warloards and party leaders have distributed weapons. Ordinary men with bazookas and Kalashnikovs are now standing on the outskirts to defend Mazar-i-Sharif against the Taliban.

Ashmatullah is the greatest here and seems to be in charge of the small group. He’s actually a taxi driver, but fighting – they could all do that here, he says proudly. The Afghans have that in their blood: “We have been at war for 40 years, our fathers laid down their weapons 20 years ago and we went to school. But our fathers are warriors of God, they taught us how to fight . In difficult times, we Afghans have always taken up arms. ”

NATO only left behind “chaos”

The men point into the distance and explain where the front lines are. The Taliban would be three kilometers away, the Afghan troops shortly before it, and here they formed the last front. In sandals, dirty shirts and with weapons that their fathers had used in the fight against the Soviets.

And now? Although the NATO troops had been in their country for almost 20 years, they would now only leave chaos, says Ashmatullah: “In the name of NATO you have spent your money here, tried your weapons and sold them here. And now you go here Head over heels and leave a cold war behind. You came to end terror, but instead of defeating the terrorists, there are a lot more of them here now. ”

Taliban want to return to power

The Taliban have welcomed the withdrawal of US troops from their largest base in Afghanistan. One of their spokesmen, Zabihullah Mujahid, said: “This is a good step. Because the foreign troops were here in the country, the conflict in our country has continued for so long. Now we Afghans can make our own decisions and determine the future among ourselves.”

If the Taliban had their way, they would come back to power and probably set up another Islamic emirate in Afghanistan.