Afghanistan current affairs, news, discussion and update

[Counter-Errorist]

Pakistan to help Taliban-Turkey talks over Kabul airport: PM Imran​

Syed Irfan Raza
Published August 13, 2021 - Updated about 9 hours ago

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Thursday Pakistan would influence the Taliban for holding direct talks with Turkey to secure Kabul International Airport after US troops completely exit the conflict-hit Afghanistan by August 31.

Regarding the impression that US President Joe Biden is not giving due importance to him, Prime Minister Khan said he was not waiting for the president’s telephone call.

“We will be trying the best thing for Turkey and Taliban to have a face-to-face dialogue, so that both could talk about the reasons to secure the Kabul airport,” he said while talking to foreign media persons at PM House (partly reported in Thursday’s issue).

He was responding to a question by a reporter about the government’s position after Turkey proposed a new joint mission involving itself, Pakistan and Hungary to protect the Kabul airport.



The prime minister mentioned his meeting with Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar on Wednesday, during which they also discussed security situation in the region, including Afghanistan.

“We will also talk to the Taliban and use our influence [for a meeting with Turkish government],” he said.

Mr Khan said the Afghan government was getting extremely critical about Pakistan, thinking that it had “some magic powers” to persuade the Taliban.

He said in fact, persuading the Taliban had become more difficult.

“Now, our leverage on the Taliban is miniscule as they think that they have won against the Americans,” he said.

About the controversy over President Biden’s phone call, the prime minister said: “I keep hearing that President Biden hasn’t called me. It’s his business. It’s not like I am waiting for any phone call.”

The prime minister’s comments come days after National Security Adviser Moeed Yusuf had said Pakistan had other options if Mr Biden continued to ignore its leadership.

Pakistan, the PM said, would deal with any government in Afghanistan, “elected or selected” by its people.

“An inclusive government would be the best. But if the Taliban do a forceful military takeover, the result will be a civil war and a nightmare for Pakistan,” he added.

The prime minister said Islamabad was “worried” about the law and order situation in Afghanistan because any civil war could result into a direct impact on Pakistan in the shape of an influx of refugees.

To a question on China’s future role in Afghanistan, he said China being an emerging power and a neighbour would have its part in rebuilding of the war-torn country.

He explained that the Taliban were a Pakhtun-majority group and hence there would be spillover effects in Pakistan’s Pakhtun majority areas.

“It happened in 2003/2004 that our Pakhtun areas reacted to what was happening in Afghanistan and Pakistan lost 70,000 people in that because we supported the Americans.

“So there is a likelihood that we will again have problems in our Pakhtun areas,” the premier explained. He added that close to three million people had also been internally displaced from the tribal areas.

Prime Minister Khan pointed out that Pakistan already housed three million registered Afghan refugees with more unaccounted for. “Our economy is just recovering [so] we don’t want another inflow of refugees,” he said.

Pakistan’s entry in the US-led war on terror in 2001 led to a “civil war in the tribal areas”, the prime minister said, explaining that as a result, the militant organisations formed to wage jihad against the Soviet Union turned against Pakistan.

Replying to a question on the extent of Pakistani influence over the Taliban, the premier said that even back in 2001, when Pakistan recognised the Taliban government and was “most influential”, the group had still refused to hand over Osama bin Laden (to the US).

“So even then Pakistan’s influence was not all-encompassing.”

Prime Minister Khan said he had tried to persuade the senior Taliban leadership during their visit to Pakistan earlier this year to come to a political settlement but they had refused to talk to President Ashraf Ghani.

He said he had suggested an interim government in 2019 before the Afghanistan presidential election but “the Afghan government was very critical about this remark [...] Once President Ghani got elected and the Taliban were excluded, it was always going to be a problem from then onwards since he insisted they talk to him while they didn’t recognise him or the elections”.

“Now the Afghan government is extremely critical about Pakistan [and] they think we have some magical powers that we will make the Taliban do whatever we want [them] to do,” the premier said, adding that the Afghan government didn’t realise that Pakistan’s leverage was “minuscule and diminished” since the American withdrawal.

He said it became extremely difficult to persuade the Taliban once the US gave a date for withdrawal and the Afghan government was now blaming Pakistan for the situation in Afghanistan.

Busy day
Prime Minister Khan spent a busy day on Thursday as after inaugurating Terbela Dam expansion project, he held a meeting with the visiting Foreign Minister of Iraq Dr Fuad Hussein. The PM appreciated Baghdad’s resolute efforts to rebuild the country and wished well for the upcoming parliamentary elections in Iraq.

Discussing various aspects of bilateral relations, the prime minister underscored the importance accorded by Pakistan to further deepening and broadening mutual cooperation with Iraq in diverse fields.

On Afghanistan, Prime Minister Khan reiterated that there was no military solution and that a negotiated political solution was the only way forward. He outlined Pakistan’s consistent support for an inclusive, broad-based and comprehensive political settlement. While reaffirming Pakistan’s resolve to support Afghan peace process, he urged the international community to reinforce these efforts as peace in Afghanistan was a shared responsibility.

Thanking the prime minister for extending warm hospitality to his delegation, Foreign Minister Hussein conveyed cordial greetings of the Iraqi leadership. He affirmed Iraq’s desire to forge stronger relationship with Pakistan in pursuance of the vision of the leadership of the two countries.

On behalf of the Iraqi prime minister, Mr Hussein conveyed invitation to Imran Khan to visit Iraq.

Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin, Minister for Energy Mohammad Hammad Azhar, Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmed Baber Sindhu and Azad Jammu and Kashmir Prime Minister Sardar Abdul Qayyum Niazi also met the prime minister and discussed important matters.

Why would the Taliban need Turkey to defend the airport? And defend against whom? This is a silly proposal at best.

 

[Khafee]

Why would the Taliban need Turkey to defend the airport? And defend against whom? This is a silly proposal at best.

Some needs to ask Imran khan, why is he worried about Turkish interests, more than Pakistan's?

Best to let IEA & Turkey sort it out on thier own.

 

[Counter-Errorist]

 

[Khafee]

Former Afghan ambassador says Ashraf Ghani to blame for Afghanistan's 'rapid collapse'​

Aug 13 2021

• Afghan forces unsure whether they were fighting to protect the state or to ensure Ghani stays in power for another term, he says.
• Peace settlement not possible with Ghani as president, says Zakhilwal.
• Statement comes after Taliban take control of more territory, with the capture of Herat being termed as a major blow for Afghanistan's security forces.

---

Omar Zakhilwal, former ambassador of Afghanistan to Pakistan, blamed Ashraf Ghani for the country's "rapid collapse" as the Taliban continue to make swift advances and conquer more territory.


In a series of tweets, Zakhilwal blamed Ashraf Ghani's misuse of authority, rampant corruption for reducing the Afghan state to "personal fiefdom".

The former ambassador lashed out at the Afghan president, saying that he had spent years on promoting his image as the "greatest leader" Afghanistan ever had and the "second-most intellectual person in the world".




He listed some of Ghani's failed tactics during his rule, mainly excessive repeated violation of the constitution, nepotism, instilling political and national divisiveness, deliberate politicisation and "demoralisation of state institutions, political conspiracies, sabotaging of successive opportunities".




He said due to Ghani's self-promotion, the Afghan security forces today were unsure whether they were fighting to protect the state or to ensure Ghani stays in power for another term.




"The fall of dozens of districts and provincial capitals to Taliban across Afghanistan every week without much of a fight lately is largely resulted of that confusion[sic]," he continued.










Zakhilwal pointed out that a peace settlement was not possible with Ghani as the president, considering he was mainly responsible for the Afghanistan ceding more territory to opposition forces.






Taliban seize Herat, Kandahar after fierce battle
His statement comes after the Taliban took control of more territory, with the capture of Herat being termed as a major blow for Afghanistan's security forces.

The insurgents also detained veteran commander Mohammad Ismail Khan after they seized Herat, a provincial official said Friday, adding that they had promised not to harm him and other captured officials.

A Taliban spokesman confirmed that Khan, who had been leading fighters against the Taliban in recent weeks, was in their custody.

Khan is one of Afghanistan's most prominent warlords. Known as the Lion of Herat, he battled Soviet occupiers in the 1980s and was a key member of the Northern Alliance whose US-backed forces toppled the Taliban in 2001.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid confirmed that Khan had been detained.

The capture of the second-biggest city of Kandahar in the south and Herat in the west after days of clashes are a devastating setback for the government as the deadly Taliban insurgency turns into a rout of the security forces.

"The city looks like a front line, a ghost town," provincial council member Ghulam Habib Hashimi said by telephone from Herat, a city of about 600,000 people near the border with Iran.

"Families have either left or are hiding in their homes."

Referring to the southern economic hub of Kandahar, a government official told Reuters: "Following heavy clashes late last night, the Taliban took control."

The defeats have fuelled fears the US-backed government could fall to the insurgents as international forces complete their withdrawal after 20 years of war.

A US defence official cited US intelligence as saying this week that the Taliban could take Kabul within 90 days.

The UN World Food Programme sees food shortages in Afghanistan as "quite dire" and worsening, a spokesperson said, adding the situation had all the hallmarks of a humanitarian catastrophe.

Of Afghanistan's major cities, the government still holds Mazar-i-Sharif in the north and Jalalabad, near the Pakistani border in the east, in addition to Kabul.

 

[Khafee]

More isolated than ever, Afghanistan’s president clings to office.​

• Published Aug. 13, 2021
• Updated Aug. 14, 2021, 4:01 a.m. ET

President Ashraf Ghani of Afghanistan at the White House in June.
Credit...Pete Marovich for The New York Times

Several of his close political associates have surrendered to the Taliban without a fight, or fled into exile. His army has all but collapsed and the warlords he was counting on have proved ineffectual, or are bargaining for their lives.

Afghanistan’s president, Ashraf Ghani, is more isolated than ever, facing pressure to step aside — and not just from the Taliban. His dominion is shrinking by the day. He rules the capital, Kabul, two other cities in the north and east, and pockets in the interior.
Yet Mr. Ghani is stubbornly clinging to power.

On Wednesday he flew to one of his loyalist redoubts, the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif, in attempts to rally pro-government forces. On Thursday, officials said he spoke by phone with Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III. On Friday he was said to be leading a national security meeting in the Kabul presidential palace.

The Afghan president’s options appear limited. He has little discernible support at home or from his former foreign backers. Street demonstrations supporting his army quickly fizzled out.

Thousands of his soldiers, surrendering en masse, have decided Mr. Ghani is not “worth fighting for,” Omar Zakhilwal, a former finance minister, tweeted Friday.

Far from hinting at resignation, the president has only suggested that he would not run for re-election if the Taliban agreed to elections. Their battlefield rampage appears to have made the offer irrelevant. As his country slips away and provincial capitals fall, Mr. Ghani and his advisers have said little, sometimes even refusing to acknowledge the losses.

Even Mr. Ghani’s substantial corps of bodyguards, said to number in the thousands, poses a potential threat. Many are from villages now controlled by the Taliban.

Leading Afghanistan is a dangerous business. For more than a century, most Afghan rulers have either been killed or died in exile, the Boston University anthropologist Thomas Barfield points out.

Still, if — as seems increasingly likely — Mr. Ghani is deposed by the Taliban, he can lay claim to a singular distinction. “This will be the first insurgency that has ever driven a Kabul government from power, that has also had the backing of a foreign power,” said Mr. Barfield.

The last time the Taliban seized control, in 1996, one former ruler wound up swinging from a lamppost in downtown Kabul and the other fled hundreds of miles to the north to govern a postage-stamp rump state for five years.

Mr. Ghani shows no signs that the cruel lessons of the past sway him any more than the uncertain present and fearful future.
“He’s hunkering down,” said Torek Farhadi, a former Afghan presidential adviser. “He’s refusing to admit the reality. The news is relayed to him through a filter.”

“Trusted lieutenants surrendered just this morning,” said Mr. Farhadi, referring to the recent capitulations of governors Mr. Ghani appointed in Ghazni and Logar provinces.

“He’s at risk from his own bodyguards,” said Mr. Farhadi. “This is how it happens in Afghanistan. The last days of any leader are like this.”
Mr. Ghazni’s youthful finance minister, Khalid Payenda, fled the country several days ago.

Leadership characteristics that in the past merely aggravated his fellow citizens — Mr. Ghani’s refusal to delegate authority or listen to others more knowledgeable than himself, especially on military matters — are now proving lethal to the Afghan state.

“He is isolated, confused, and deeply mistrustful of everyone,” said Tamim Asey, a former deputy minister of defense. “He doesn’t know how to reverse this. I don’t see signs that he has a program.”

Unless a compromise can be reached, Mr. Asey said, “I would say that Kabul could become a blood bath very soon.”

The Taliban have said that the fighting will not end unless Mr. Ghani is removed. As the “polarizing figure” in Mr. Farhadi’s words, Mr. Ghani has “demeaned the Taliban time and time again, saying, ‘you are the stooges of the Pakistanis.’” In return, the Taliban see him as the “stooge” of the Americans.

Analysts place much of the blame for the current disaster on the head of Mr. Ghani, a former World Bank anthropologist and published author with an outsized faith in his own intellect.

The Americans tried to construct republican institutions on Afghan soil, but they proved to be a flimsy facade. Instead, Mr. Ghani personalized power to disastrous effect.

“He needed the militias in the north and west,” yet showed contempt for their leaders. On Friday a key militia leader in the western city of Herat, Ismail Khan, surrendered to the Taliban.

Mr. Ghani “did not take advice from anybody,” said Mr. Barfield, of Boston University. “If he had delegated power to the military, it might have been saved. Now, it’s a case of reality biting.”

Adam Nossiter is the Kabul bureau chief.

 

[Khafee]

Taliban take key city close to Kabul as U.S. troops arrive to assist evacuations​

August 14, 2021
Last Updated 12 minutes ago

• Pul-e-Alam, 70 km from Kabul, falls to rapid Taliban advance
• Town's capture follows fall of key cities Kandahar, Herat
• 3,000 U.S. troops to arrive in Kabul by Sunday

 

[Khafee]

Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin are calling on
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani to resign and allow formation of a transitional government,
according to reporter Camelia Entekhabifard.

A senior U.S. State Department official denied that report, according to Christina Ruffini.
Senior state department official denies this report. https://t.co/P1l7XB4q2F
— Ruffini (@EenaRuffini) August 12, 2021

With security rapidly deteriorating in Afghanistan, the United States is sending additional
troops into the country to help evacuate some personnel from the embassy in Kabul, a U.S.
official said Thursday.

The troops will provide ground and air support for the processing and security of
Americans being sent to the Kabul airport, said the official, who spoke on condition of
anonymity in order to discuss a plan not yet made public.

The move suggests a lack of confidence by the Biden administration in the Afghan
government’s ability to provide sufficient diplomatic security in the capital as the Taliban
mounts an offensive that has rapidly conquered key cities in recent days.

BREAKING: The Taliban have captured Afghanistan’s third-largest city, witnesses say. The seizure of Herat
marks the biggest prize yet for the Taliban, which has taken 11 of 34 provincial capitals as the American
military mission nears an end. https://t.co/lgV9S6ukQn
— The Associated Press (@AP) August 12, 2021

More Details:

U.S. sending troops to Afghanistan

Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin are calling on Afghan President Ashraf Ghani to resign and allow formation of a transitional government, according to reporter Camelia Entekhabifard. A senior U.S. State Department official denied that report, according to...

www.ajc.com

 

[Khafee]

Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin are calling on
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani to resign and allow formation of a transitional government,
according to reporter Camelia Entekhabifard.

View attachment 18153

A senior U.S. State Department official denied that report, according to Christina Ruffini.
Senior state department official denies this report. https://t.co/P1l7XB4q2F
— Ruffini (@EenaRuffini) August 12, 2021

With security rapidly deteriorating in Afghanistan, the United States is sending additional
troops into the country to help evacuate some personnel from the embassy in Kabul, a U.S.
official said Thursday.

The troops will provide ground and air support for the processing and security of
Americans being sent to the Kabul airport, said the official, who spoke on condition of
anonymity in order to discuss a plan not yet made public.

The move suggests a lack of confidence by the Biden administration in the Afghan
government’s ability to provide sufficient diplomatic security in the capital as the Taliban
mounts an offensive that has rapidly conquered key cities in recent days.

BREAKING: The Taliban have captured Afghanistan’s third-largest city, witnesses say. The seizure of Herat
marks the biggest prize yet for the Taliban, which has taken 11 of 34 provincial capitals as the American
military mission nears an end. https://t.co/lgV9S6ukQn
— The Associated Press (@AP) August 12, 2021

View attachment 18154

More Details:

U.S. sending troops to Afghanistan

Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin are calling on Afghan President Ashraf Ghani to resign and allow formation of a transitional government, according to reporter Camelia Entekhabifard. A senior U.S. State Department official denied that report, according to...

www.ajc.com

News leaked by Afg Govt says, President Ghani is being asked to resign by the US. US State Dept denies it.

Meaning = Ghani is saving face, in light of his imminent resignation.

 

[Khafee]

Taliban seize more Afghan cities, assault on capital Kabul expected​

August 14, 2021

• Taliban capture Kandahar, Herat, Lashkar Gah
• Afghan forces give up some territory without a fight - officials
• U.S. tells embassy staff to burn sensitive material
• U.N. warns of 'humanitarian catastrophe'
• Veteran anti-Taliban commander captured in Herat

KABUL, Aug 13 (Reuters) - Taliban insurgents have seized Afghanistan's second- and third-biggest cities, local officials said on Friday, as resistance from government forces crumbled and fears grew that an assault on the capital Kabul could be just days away.


A government official confirmed that Kandahar, the economic hub of the south, was under Taliban control as U.S.-led international forces complete their withdrawal after 20 years of war.

Herat in the west also fell to the hardline Islamist group.


"The city looks like a frontline, a ghost town," provincial council member Ghulam Habib Hashimi said by telephone from the city of about 600,000 people near the border with Iran.

"Families have either left or are hiding in their homes."

A U.S. defence official said there was concern that the Taliban - ousted from power in 2001 after the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States - could make a move on Kabul within days.

President Joe Biden's administration on Thursday announced plans to send 3,000 additional troops to help evacuate U.S. embassy staff, and the Pentagon said most would be in Kabul by the end of the weekend. Britain also confirmed the start of a military operation to support the evacuation of its nationals.


"Kabul is not right now in an imminent threat environment, but clearly ... if you just look at what the Taliban has been doing, you can see that they are trying to isolate Kabul," Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said on Friday.

The White House said Biden was receiving regular briefings from his national security team on efforts to remove U.S. civilians.

The U.S. embassy in the Afghan capital informed staff that burn bins and an incinerator were available to destroy material including papers and electronic devices to "reduce the amount of sensitive material on the property," according to an advisory seen by Reuters.

A State Department spokesperson said the embassy was following standard procedure to "minimize our footprint."


The United Nations has said it would not evacuate its personnel from Afghanistan but was relocating some to Kabul from other parts of the country. Many other Western embassies and aid groups said they were bringing some staff home.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that "Afghanistan is spinning out of control" and urged all parties to do more to protect civilians.

"This is the moment to halt the offensive. This is the moment to start serious negotiation. This is the moment to avoid a prolonged civil war, or the isolation of Afghanistan," Guterres told reporters in New York.

Afghan First Vice President Amrullah Saleh said after a security meeting chaired by President Ashraf Ghani that he was proud of the armed forces and the government would do all it could to strengthen resistance to the Taliban.

 

[Khafee]

Taliban seize province near capital, attack northern city​

By AHMAD SEIR, RAHIM FAIEZ and JOSEPH KRAUSS
17 minutes ago

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The Taliban seized a province just south of Afghanistan’s capital and launched a multi-pronged assault early Saturday on a major city in the north defended by powerful former warlords, Afghan officials said.

The insurgents have captured much of northern, western and southern Afghanistan in a breakneck offensive less than three weeks before the United States is set to withdraw its last troops, raising fears of a full militant takeover or another Afghan civil war.

The Taliban captured all of Logar and detained its provincial officials, Hoda Ahmadi, a lawmaker from the province, said Saturday. She said the Taliban have reached the Char Asyab district, just 11 kilometers (7 miles) south of the capital, Kabul.

The Taliban also attacked the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif from several directions, setting off heavy fighting on its outskirts, according to Munir Ahmad Farhad, a spokesman for the provincial governor. There was no immediate word on casualties.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani delivered a televised speech on Saturday, his first public appearance since the recent Taliban gains, in which he vowed not to give up the “achievements” of the 20 years since the U.S. toppled the Taliban following the 9/11 attacks.

“We have started consultations, inside the government with elders and political leaders, representatives of different levels of the community as well as our international allies,” he said. “Soon the results will be shared with you,” he added, without elaborating further.

The president had flown to Mazar-e-Sharif on Wednesday to rally the city’s defenses, meeting with several militia commanders, including Abdul Rashid Dostum and Ata Mohammad Noor, who command thousands of fighters.

They remain allied with the government, but during previous rounds of fighting in Afghanistan, warlords have been known to switch sides for their own survival. Ismail Khan, a powerful former warlord who had tried to defend Herat, was captured by the Taliban when the insurgents seized the western city after two weeks of heavy fighting.

Residents of Mazar-e-Sharif expressed fear about the security breakdown.

“The situation is dangerous outside of the city and inside the city,” Mohibullah Khan said, adding that many residents are also struggling economically.

“The security situation in the city is getting worse,” said Kawa Basharat. “I want peace and stability. The fighting should be stopped.”

The Taliban have made major advances in recent days, including capturing Herat and Kandahar, the country’s second- and third-largest cities. They now control 18 of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces, leaving the Western-backed government in control of a smattering of provinces in the center and east, as well as Kabul and Mazar-e-Sharif.

The withdrawal of foreign forces and the swift retreat of Afghanistan’s own troops — despite hundreds of billions of dollars in U.S. aid over the years — has raised fears the Taliban could return to power or the country could be shattered by factional fighting, as it was after the Soviet withdrawal in 1989.

The first Marines from a contingent of 3,000 arrived on Friday to help partially evacuate the U.S. Embassy. The rest are set to arrive by Sunday, and their deployment has raised questions about whether the administration will meet its Aug. 31 withdrawal deadline.

The Taliban meanwhile released a video announcing the takeover of the main radio station in the southern city of Kandahar, renaming it the Voice of Sharia, or Islamic law.

In the video, an unnamed insurgent said all employees were present and would broadcast news, political analysis and recitations of the Quran, the Islamic holy book. It appears the station will no longer play music.

It was not clear if the Taliban had purged the previous employees or allowed them to return to work. Most residents of Kandahar sport the traditional dress favored by the Taliban. The man in the video congratulated the people of Kandahar on the Taliban’s victory.

The Taliban have used mobile radio stations over the years, but have not operated a station inside a major city since they ruled the country from 1996-2001. At that time, they also ran a station called Voice of Sharia out of Kandahar, the birthplace of the militant group. Music was banned.

The U.S. invaded shortly after the 9/11 attacks, which al-Qaida planned and carried out while being sheltered by Taliban. After rapidly ousting the Taliban, the U.S. shifted toward nation-building, hoping to create a modern Afghan state after decades of war and unrest.

Earlier this year, President Joe Biden announced a timeline for the withdrawal of all U.S. troops by the end of August, pledging to end America’s longest war. His predecessor, President Donald Trump, had reached an agreement with the Taliban to pave the way for a U.S. pullout.

Biden’s announcement set the latest offensive in motion. The Taliban, who have long controlled large parts of the Afghan countryside, moved quickly to seize provincial capitals, border crossings and other key infrastructure.

Tens of thousands of Afghans have fled their homes, with many fearing a return to the Taliban’s oppressive rule. The group had previously governed Afghanistan under a harsh version of Islamic law in which women were largely confined to the home.

___

Rahim reported from Istanbul and Krauss reported from Jerusalem.

 

[Khafee]

Analysis: As Taliban advances, China lays groundwork to accept an awkward reality​

August 14, 2021
Last Updated an hour ago

Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi meets with Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, political chief of Afghanistan's Taliban, in Tianjin, China July 28, 2021.
Li Ran/Xinhua via REUTERS

BEIJING, Aug 14 (Reuters) - A series of photos published last month by Chinese state media of Foreign Minister Wang Yi standing shoulder to shoulder with visiting Taliban official decked out in traditional tunic and turban raised eyebrows on the country's social media.

Since then, China's propaganda machinery has quietly begun preparing its people to accept an increasingly likely scenario that Beijing might have to recognize the Taliban, the hard line Islamist movement that is rapidly gaining territory in Afghanistan, as a legitimate regime.

"Even if they can't control the whole country, they would still be a significant force to reckon with", an influential social media commentator known to be familiar with China's foreign policy thinking wrote on Thursday. The commentator, who goes by the pen name Niutanqin, or "Zither-Playing Cow", made the remarks on his WeChat channel.

On Friday, the Global Times, a major state-backed tabloid, published an interview with the leader of an Afghan opposition party who said "the transitional government must include the Taliban".

The Taliban's momentum as U.S. forces withdraw is awkward for China, which has blamed religious extremism as a destabilizing force in its western Xinjiang region and has long worried that Taliban-controlled territory would be used to harbour separatist forces.

But China also hews to a policy of non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries.

It has also drastically tightened security in Xinjiang, hardening its borders and putting what UN experts and rights groups estimate were at least a million ethnic Uyghurs and other Muslims in detention centres that China describes as vocational training facilities to help stamp out Islamist extremism and separatism.

Last month's meeting in the northern Chinese city of Tianjin followed a similar visit by a Taliban delegation in 2019, but comes as the group is much more powerful, with Wang saying he hoped Afghanistan can have a "moderate Islamist policy".

"Isn't this the same Taliban that blew up the Buddhas of Bamiyan in front of world media? Shouldn't we have a bottom line?" a Chinese netizen commented on the Twitter-like Weibo below a news clip showing Wang standing next to a Taliban official.

PRAGMATIC CHINA
In dealing with the Taliban, an increasingly powerful China may be able to leverage the fact that, unlike Russia or the United States, it has never fought them.

When the Taliban were last in power between 1996-2001, China had already suspended relations with Afghanistan, having pulled out its diplomats in 1993 following the outbreak of civil war.

"This is us being pragmatic. How you want to rule your country is largely your own business, just don't let that affect China," said Lin Minwang, a South Asia expert with Shanghai's Fudan University.
"When a major Asian power like China shows it recognizes Taliban's political legitimacy by meeting them so openly, it is giving the Taliban a big diplomatic win," Lin said.

State media published at least two analytical stories this week highlighting that Afghanistan had been the "graveyard of empires" and cautioning China not to be mired in the "Great Game", reinforcing a message that China harbours neither the intentions of sending troops into Afghanistan nor the illusion that it can fill the power vacuum left by the United States.

After their meeting with Wang, the Taliban said they hope China can play a bigger economic role.

"This shows that China might have dangled promises of economic aid and investment to a post-war Afghanistan as a carrot to encourage both sides to stop fighting and reach a political settlement," said Zhang Li, a professor of South Asian studies at Sichuan University.

The risks to China of regional instability were highlighted last month when 13 people, including nine Chinese workers, were killed in Pakistan in a suicide bombing on a bus. China is building massive infrastructure projects in Pakistan under its Belt & Road initiative.

"China's number one priority is for the fighting to stop, as chaos breeds religious extremism and terrorism," Zhang said.

Reporting by Yew Lun Tian Editing by Tony Munroe and Kim Coghill

 

[Khafee]

Marine vanguard lands in Kabul as US speeds up evacuations​

By ROBERT BURNS, MATTHEW LEE and ELLEN KNICKMEYER
today


WASHINGTON (AP) — The first forces of a Marine battalion arrived in Kabul at week’s end to stand guard as the U.S. speeds up evacuation flights for some American diplomats and thousands of Afghans, spurred by a lightning Taliban offensive that increasingly is isolating Afghanistan’s capital.

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said “elements” of a battalion were now in Kabul, the vanguard of three Marine and Army battalions that the U.S. was sending to the city by the end of the weekend to help more Americans and their Afghan colleagues get out quickly.

The Taliban, emboldened by the imminent end of the U.S. combat mission in the country, took four more provincial capitals Friday, heightening fears they would move soon on the capital, which is home to millions of Afghans. “Clearly from their actions, it appears as if they are trying to get Kabul isolated,” Kirby noted at a Pentagon briefing.

The Pentagon also was moving an additional 4,500 to 5,000 troops to bases in the Gulf countries of Qatar and Kuwait, including 1,000 to Qatar to speed up visa processing for Afghan translators and others who fear retribution from the Taliban for their past work with Americans, and their family members.


The remainder — 3,500 to 4,000 troops from a combat brigade of the 82nd Airborne Division — were bound for Kuwait. Kirby said the combat troops would be a reserve force on standby “in case we need even more” than the 3,000 going to Kabul.

The temporary buildup of troops for U.S. evacuations highlights the stunning pace of the Taliban takeover of much of the country, less than three weeks before the U.S. is set to officially end nearly 20 years of combat in Afghanistan.

President Joe Biden has remained adamant about ending the U.S. mission on Aug. 31, insisting the American and NATO mission that launched on Oct. 7, 2001, has done what it could to build up a Kabul-based Afghan government and military that could withstand the Taliban when Western troops finally withdrew.

Friday’s latest significant blow was the Taliban capture of the capital of Helmand province, where American, British and other allied NATO forces fought some of the bloodiest battles in the past 20 years. Hundreds of Western troops died there during the course of the war, in fighting that often succeeded in knocking back Taliban fighters locally, only to have the Taliban move back in when a Western unit rotated out.

The State Department said the embassy in Kabul will remain partially staffed and functioning, but Thursday’s decision to evacuate a significant number of embassy staff and bring in the thousands of additional U.S. troops is a sign of waning confidence in the Afghan government’s ability to hold off the Taliban surge. The Biden administration has not ruled out a full embassy evacuation.

The U.S. had already withdrawn most of its troops, but had kept about 650 troops in Afghanistan to support U.S. diplomatic security, including at the airport.

The Biden administration warned Taliban officials directly that the U.S. would respond if the Taliban attacked Americans during the stepped-up deployments and evacuations.

Americans are preparing a military base abroad to receive and house large numbers of those Afghan translators and others as their visa applications are processed. The Biden administration has not identified the base, but earlier was talking with both Kuwait and Qatar about using U.S. bases there for the temporary relocations.

As of Thursday, the U.S. had flown 1,200 Afghans — former American employees and their families whose visas are farthest along in the approval process — to Fort Lee, Virginia.

State Department spokesman Ned Price said the U.S. soon will have evacuation planes flying out daily, for those Afghan translators and others who manage to reach the Kabul airport despite the fighting.

The number of Afghans flown out under the special visa program is going to ”grow very quickly in the coming days,” Price said Thursday.

The viability of the U.S.-trained Afghan army was looking increasingly dim. A new military assessment says Kabul could come under Taliban pressure as soon as September and, if current trends hold, the country could fall to the Taliban within a few months.

Shortly before Price’s announcement of the evacuation of some embassy staff, the embassy urged U.S. citizens to leave immediately — reiterating a warning it first issued Saturday.

The latest drawdown will further limit the ability of the embassy to conduct business, although Price maintained it would still be able to function. Nonessential personal had already been withdrawn from the embassy in April after Biden’s withdrawal announcement that same month, and it was not immediately clear how many staffers would remain on the heavily fortified compound. As of Thursday, there were roughly 4,200 staffers at the embassy, but most of those are Afghan nationals, according to the State Department.

Apart from a complete evacuation and shuttering of the embassy, Price said other contingency plans were being weighed, including possibly relocating its operations to the airport.

Britain also was sending 600 troops to Afghanistan on a short-term basis to help its nationals leave the country.

Canada was sending special forces to help Canadian staff leave Kabul, a source familiar with the plan told The Associated Press. That official, who was not authorized to talk publicly about the matter and spoke on condition of anonymity, did not say how many special forces would be sent.

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Associated Press writer Rob Gillies in Toronto contributed to this report.

 

[Counter-Errorist]

Former Afghan ambassador says Ashraf Ghani to blame for Afghanistan's 'rapid collapse'​

Aug 13 2021

• Afghan forces unsure whether they were fighting to protect the state or to ensure Ghani stays in power for another term, he says.
• Peace settlement not possible with Ghani as president, says Zakhilwal.
• Statement comes after Taliban take control of more territory, with the capture of Herat being termed as a major blow for Afghanistan's security forces.

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Omar Zakhilwal, former ambassador of Afghanistan to Pakistan, blamed Ashraf Ghani for the country's "rapid collapse" as the Taliban continue to make swift advances and conquer more territory.


In a series of tweets, Zakhilwal blamed Ashraf Ghani's misuse of authority, rampant corruption for reducing the Afghan state to "personal fiefdom".

The former ambassador lashed out at the Afghan president, saying that he had spent years on promoting his image as the "greatest leader" Afghanistan ever had and the "second-most intellectual person in the world".




He listed some of Ghani's failed tactics during his rule, mainly excessive repeated violation of the constitution, nepotism, instilling political and national divisiveness, deliberate politicisation and "demoralisation of state institutions, political conspiracies, sabotaging of successive opportunities".




He said due to Ghani's self-promotion, the Afghan security forces today were unsure whether they were fighting to protect the state or to ensure Ghani stays in power for another term.




"The fall of dozens of districts and provincial capitals to Taliban across Afghanistan every week without much of a fight lately is largely resulted of that confusion[sic]," he continued.










Zakhilwal pointed out that a peace settlement was not possible with Ghani as the president, considering he was mainly responsible for the Afghanistan ceding more territory to opposition forces.






Taliban seize Herat, Kandahar after fierce battle
His statement comes after the Taliban took control of more territory, with the capture of Herat being termed as a major blow for Afghanistan's security forces.

The insurgents also detained veteran commander Mohammad Ismail Khan after they seized Herat, a provincial official said Friday, adding that they had promised not to harm him and other captured officials.

A Taliban spokesman confirmed that Khan, who had been leading fighters against the Taliban in recent weeks, was in their custody.

Khan is one of Afghanistan's most prominent warlords. Known as the Lion of Herat, he battled Soviet occupiers in the 1980s and was a key member of the Northern Alliance whose US-backed forces toppled the Taliban in 2001.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid confirmed that Khan had been detained.

The capture of the second-biggest city of Kandahar in the south and Herat in the west after days of clashes are a devastating setback for the government as the deadly Taliban insurgency turns into a rout of the security forces.

"The city looks like a front line, a ghost town," provincial council member Ghulam Habib Hashimi said by telephone from Herat, a city of about 600,000 people near the border with Iran.

"Families have either left or are hiding in their homes."

Referring to the southern economic hub of Kandahar, a government official told Reuters: "Following heavy clashes late last night, the Taliban took control."

The defeats have fuelled fears the US-backed government could fall to the insurgents as international forces complete their withdrawal after 20 years of war.

A US defence official cited US intelligence as saying this week that the Taliban could take Kabul within 90 days.

The UN World Food Programme sees food shortages in Afghanistan as "quite dire" and worsening, a spokesperson said, adding the situation had all the hallmarks of a humanitarian catastrophe.

Of Afghanistan's major cities, the government still holds Mazar-i-Sharif in the north and Jalalabad, near the Pakistani border in the east, in addition to Kabul.

Time and time again, the same mistake is repeated in Afghanistan. It's an area fractured by hardened ethnic lines solidified across history. The only glue holding it all together is Islam. Every superpower occupying it starts by eroding away this glue and ends up surprised why everything falls apart.

Even Dr. Najib realized this reverting to himself as Najibullah, too little, too late for him.

 

[AliYusuf]

Time and time again, the same mistake is repeated in Afghanistan. It's an area fractured by hardened ethnic lines solidified across history. The only glue holding it all together is Islam. Every superpower occupying it starts by eroding away this glue and ends up surprised why everything falls apart.

Even Dr. Najib realized this reverting to himself as Najibullah, too little, too late for him.

Also Ghani never really wanted the Afghan Taliban to be totally subdued or eliminated. He wanted them around as the bogey man. This made it easier for him to persuade the Americans to keep on funding the whole show and provide the protective umbrella. While he himself engaged in some of the most wanton acts of sustained and unabashed corruption and nepotism. He and his cronies piled on millions of dollars from the US Financial Assistance and consolidated to the Afghan nation's detriment and governance system.

That is why most of the troops in the ANA don't consider risking their necks, for keeping such a corrupt and inept leader in power, as being worth it.

 

[Counter-Errorist]

Also Ghani never really wanted the Afghan Taliban to be totally subdued or eliminated. He wanted them around as the bogey man. This made it easier for him to persuade the Americans to keep on funding the whole show and provide the protective umbrella. While he himself engaged in some of the most wanton acts of sustained and unabashed corruption and nepotism. He and his cronies piled on millions of dollars from the US Financial Assistance and consolidated to the Afghan nation's detriment and governance system.

Yes, they widely propagated Taliban an extension of Pakistan Army, hoping to portray Pakistan as an invading force and use it as a galvanizing element. It failed, because Afghans knew who the Taliban were. They lived in their midst. Ghani and friends are practically tourists outside Kabul.