Kabul, Afghanistan/Washington DC, US
Reuters
Western nations struggled on Friday to ramp up the pace ofevacuations from Afghanistan after reports of Taliban reprisals, as US President Joe Biden insisted that the chaos following the American troop withdrawal had not diminished Washington’s international credibility.
Facing a torrent of criticism at home and abroad for his handling of the withdrawal and the subsequent swift Taliban takeover, Biden said every American who wanted to would be evacuated, and that about 18,000 people had been airlifted out since July.
“I have seen no question of our credibility from our allies,” Biden told reporters after making a speech from the White House. “[I] have not seen that. As a matter of fact, the exact opposite I’ve got…we’re acting with dispatch, we’re acting, committing to what we said we would do.”
US Marines stand guard at an Evacuee Control Checkpoint at Hamid Karzai International Airport, Kabul, Afghanistan, in this photo taken on 20th August. PICTURE: Sgt Victor Mancilla/US Marine Corps/Handout via Reuters
US evacuation flights from Kabul’s airport had stopped for more than six hours on Friday while US authorities looked for countries willing to accept people fleeing Afghanistan, but they resumed later in the day.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg described the situation outside Kabul airport as “very dire and difficult,” as several member countries pressed for evacuations to continue beyond Biden’s 31st August deadline.
FRANKLIN GRAHAM CALLS FOR DAY OF PRAYER FOR THE PEOPLE OF AFGHANISTAN
Franklin Graham, who has been sharply critical of President Biden’s pullout from Afghanistan, has called for a day of prayer for the people of Afghanistan on Sunday.
Graham, the president and CEO of Samaritan’s Purse, the international Christian relief and evangelism organisation, as well as the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, said the situation in Afghanistan is dire.
“There is no hope for these people to get out safely – apart from a miracle from the hand of God – and that’s what we need to pray for,” said Graham.
He was joined in his call for prayer by his youngest son, Edward, who is now working for Samaritan’s Purse and served in six combat deployments with US Army Special Operations Forces in Afghanistan.
“I spent years there and lost many friends,” said Edward Graham. “There are many Afghan people that I love. This is a manmade disaster and there isn’t a person or an organization that can fix this. Only God can deliver us from this crisis.”
This is not the first time the evangelical preacher has called for prayer. Prior to the 2020 presidential election, he organised a mass prayer march from the Lincoln Memorial to the steps of the US Capitol. He has done so on numerous other occasions.
Graham, a frequent White House guest and sometime adviser to former President Donald Trump, has sharply criticised the chaotic evacuation of troops, personnel and others helpful to the 20-year war effort from Kabul, the capitol.
“Do you miss President Trump yet?” he wrote on Facebook on 16th August. “I do.”
He then criticised what he said was a lack of planning for safely evacuating Afghans and others, especially Christians.
“The blood of this nation will be on the hands of the Biden/Harris administration,” Graham wrote. “And on top of these tragedies – how can any country in the world trust America now? Our enemies are laughing at us. May God have mercy on the United States of America.”
Samaritan’s Purse is partnering with other groups that are working to help people get out of the country. It was not clear immediately what exactly the group was doing there.
– YONAT SHIMRON, RNS
Biden said he could not predict what the final outcome would be in Afghanistan, where the United States and has led a 20-year war with its allies. But he promised to work with other countries to set “harsh conditions” for any cooperation or recognition of the Taliban, based on their human rights record.
“They’re looking to gain some legitimacy, they’re going to have to figure out how they’re going to retain that country,” he said. “And there’s going to be some harsh conditions, strong conditions we’re going to apply that will depend on…how well they treat women and girls, how they treat their citizens.”
Thousands of desperate Afghans clutching papers, children and some belongings thronged Kabul airport where gun-toting Taliban members urged those without travel documents to go home. In and around the airport, at least 12 people have been killed since Sunday, NATO and Taliban officials said.
Former government officials told harrowing tales of hiding from the Taliban as armed gunmen went from door to door. One family of 16 described running to the bathroom, lights off and children’s mouths covered, in fear for their lives with the militants at their door.
“Those who may be in danger have no clear way out,” UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) spokesperson Shabia Mantoo said, urging neighbouring countries to keep borders open.
The speed with which the Islamist group conquered Afghanistan, as foreign troops were withdrawing, surprised even their own leaders and left power vacuums.
Biden reiterated his contention that the US-funded and -armed Afghan military had been expected to put up more of a fight.
“The overwhelming consensus was that…[the Afghan Government forces] were not going to collapse. The Afghan forces, they were not going to leave. They were not going to just abandon and they would put down their arms and take off,” Biden said.
The Taliban called for unity, asking imams at Friday prayers to persuade people not to leave. Residents in Kabul and four other cities said attendance was low, though prayers passed off without incident.
Protests, “despite a gun”
A witness said several people were killed in the eastern city of Asadabad on Thursday when the Taliban fired on a protest. There were similar shows of defiance in two other eastern cities – Jalalabad and Khost – coinciding with celebrations of Afghanistan’s 1919 independence from British control.
“The Taliban are facing the new reality of Afghanistan that Afghans are not the same Afghans of 20 years ago,” Barakat Rahmati, Afghanistan’s deputy ambassador to Qatar, told Reuters.
“Afghans, inclusive of men and women, held protests in Kabul despite a Taliban gun being pointed to them. They are holding protests against injustice. They are defending their identity and their flag.”
The US State Department announced that nearly a dozen countries, from Europe to the Middle East, would allow flights with people evacuated from Kabul to land.
In Britain, media said several senior officials were on holiday as the debacle erupted and that spy chiefs may face a grilling over intelligence failings. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab countered that the government had been working “tirelessly” on evacuations.
Germany said on Friday it was sending helicopters to help, amid reports that one of its citizens had been wounded.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said other countries should not impose their own values. Beijing, too, said the world should support, not pressure, Afghanistan.
Taliban fighters march in uniforms on the street in Qalat, Zabul Province, Afghanistan, in this still image taken from social media video uploaded on 19th August and obtained by Reuters
The Taliban ruled with an iron fist from 1996-2001, enforcing a harsh version of Islamic law, before being toppled by US-led forces for sheltering al-Qaeda militants behind the 11th September attacks on New York and Washington.
This time they are seeking to present a more moderate face.
The group said it wants peace, will not take revenge against enemies and will respect women rights within Islamic law.
There are immediate fears for the Afghan economy, with foreign grants and aid set to slow, funds and assets trapped abroad and GDP predicted to slump. Hundreds of bureaucrats are unpaid for two months, a Taliban official said.
