Former Afghan President Hamid Karzai promised to resume peace talks in Afghanistan when he visited Doha. At the same time, Russia warned the United States not to transfer its troops from Afghanistan to neighboring countries, while the leader of the minority Republican Party in the United States Congress, Mitch McConnell, criticized the “recklessness and urgency” of the U.S. withdrawal process.
Abdullah Abdullah, chairman of the Afghanistan Reconciliation Commission who accompanied Karzai to Qatar on the 13th, said that the upcoming meeting with the Taliban movement in Doha is an opportunity to hold talks at different levels. He also added that the Taliban is ready. Good to meet this delegation from Kabul to Doha.
According to the negotiating delegation of the Afghan government, Karzai discussed obstacles in the peace process with Khalilzad, the US special envoy for Afghanistan in Doha.
Before leaving Kabul, Karzai told reporters that Afghanistan will soon start practical peace talks. He added, “So be patient, plan and move towards peace.”
Karzai urged the Afghan government not to waste the opportunity to achieve peace. He believes that everything built in Afghanistan in the past 20 years belongs to the people, not foreigners. He also emphasized, “Do not destroy any roads, bridges and facilities.”
On the other hand, Pakistani Foreign Minister Qureshi and Afghan Foreign Minister Mohammed discussed the peace process in Afghanistan during the meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Foreign Ministers Council in Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan.
Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement stating that Qureshi emphasized that Pakistan supports the establishment of a unified and peaceful Afghanistan, and called on Afghan leaders to seize this “historic opportunity when foreign troops withdraw from Afghanistan to reach a political settlement as soon as possible. Program”.
Republican Criticism
The minority Republican leader of the US Congress, Mitch McConnell, believes that the “recklessness and rush” of the U.S. military’s withdrawal from Afghanistan has become the source of the current international embarrassment. President Joe Biden continues to ignore that the Afghan government will fall in the hands of the Taliban Warning.
He also added, “The question now is not whether Al Qaeda will threaten us from Afghanistan, but when they will threaten us.”
McConnell said, “We are waiting for Russia to fill the vacuum left by our withdrawal from Afghanistan.”
Russian warning
On the other hand, Russia warned the United States not to transfer its troops withdrawn from Afghanistan to neighboring countries. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Ryabukov believes that Russia cannot accept such an arrangement.
Ryabukov added that Russia is discussing with the United States at all levels the issue of the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan and its impact.
At the same time, the U.S. Department of Defense (Pentagon) announced that it will continue to discuss with Afghanistan’s neighbors the option of launching attacks through its airspace to “fight terrorism.”
The US Department of Defense also announced that there are still hundreds of contractors in Afghanistan, some of which will provide support for the Afghan Air Force.
Air raids and attacks
At the same time, the Afghan Presidential Palace stated that President Ashraf Ghani has ordered the resumption of air raids and attacks on the Taliban movement across the country. In this regard, a reporter from Al Jazeera explained that such air strikes had been suspended two years ago to facilitate peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban movement.
The Afghan president and security officials have arrived in the northern Balkh province to assess the security situation and plan to meet with military and tribal leaders in the northern region to prevent the Taliban movement from advancing to the capital of Balkh province, Mazar-e-Sharif.
EU Foreign Policy Commissioner Josep Borrell called for the establishment of an international liaison group to be responsible for the work after the withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan.
Borel added at the monthly meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels that what is currently happening in Afghanistan is the result of the withdrawal of US and European troops from the country in the past few weeks.
Fight and attack
In the latest development on the evening of the 13th, the Afghan police confirmed that an explosion occurred during peak hours in the center of Kabul, killing 3 civilians and injuring 5 others. A security official told Al Jazeera reporters that three policemen were killed in an unidentified gunman attack in the eastern part of the capital.
Prior to this, the Taliban movement controlled some strategic locations in Bamyan Province and announced that it controlled parts of the southern part of the country.
According to Al Jazeera reporters, the Taliban movement is focusing on the central part of the country and separating the west from the east, cutting off government forces’ supply routes from Kabul to other regions.
According to Agence France-Presse, for security reasons, the French Embassy in Kabul asked its nationals to leave Afghanistan.
The reinforcements of special forces have arrived in Kandahar on the 12th in response to the expansion of the Taliban (Reuters)Fear of displacement
On the humanitarian front, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees warned on the 13th that due to the escalation of violence, more Afghans may flee their homes. The commissioner pointed out in a statement that “Afghanistan is on the verge of another humanitarian crisis. This is avoidable. It must be avoided.”
The UN refugee agency said that since January this year, about 270,000 people have been displaced in the country, bringing the total number of people forced to flee their homes to more than 3.5 million.
The agency also added that compared with the same period last year, the number of civilian casualties in the first quarter of 2021 increased by 29%.
Threat to Turkey
In this context, the Taliban issued a warning to Turkey in a statement, requesting Turkey not to leave its troops in Afghanistan after the international forces led by the United States have withdrawn from Afghanistan. The Taliban believe that such a poorly considered decision should be condemned, and that such provocative measures will definitely have a negative impact on the relations between the two peoples.
The Taliban movement stated that Turkey’s statement of preparing to retain its troops violated the Doha Agreement and explained that the United Nations and the international community agreed to withdraw all foreign troops within the framework of the agreement.
The Taliban also added that foreign troops staying in the country under any name or excuse will be regarded as “occupation”.
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