Afghanistan Taliban Crisis HIGHLIGHTS: PM Modi, German Chancellor Angela Merkel Discuss Unfolding Security Situation
Afghanistan Crisis HIGHLIGHTS, August 23, Monday: Taliban said on Sunday that “hundreds" of its fighters were heading to Panjshir Valley, one of the few parts of Afghanistan not yet controlled by them
New Delhi (PTI): India on Monday evacuated over 70 people, including its citizens and a group of Afghan Sikhs and Hindus, from Kabul to Dushanbe in Tajikistan in an IAF aircraft while another batch of near-equal strength is planned to be taken out of the Afghan capital to the Tajik city at the earliest, people familiar with the developments said.
Separately, India brought back 146 of its nationals to Delhi in four different commercial flights from the Qatari capital Doha, days after they were evacuated from Kabul by NATO and American aircraft.
With Monday's evacuation, the number of people brought back to Delhi has gone up to around 730 since August 16 when the first group was airlifted from Kabul, a day after the Taliban seized control of the Afghan capital city.
The people cited above said the evacuees, who were taken to Dushanbe, are likely to be brought back to Delhi from the Tajikistan capital in a civilian aircraft on Tuesday.
India has stepped up efforts to evacuate its citizens as well as its Afghan partners from Kabul in view of the deteriorating security situation in the Afghan capital and other parts of the country after the Taliban swept to power last week.
Thousands of Afghans have been crowding around the Kabul airport for nearly a week, in a desperate attempt to flee the country fearing the Taliban's brutality.
The people cited above said most of the 146 Indians brought back from Doha were employees of western companies and organisations that were operating in Afghanistan.
It was the second batch of Indians that was brought home from Doha. A total of 135 Indians were flown back to Delhi from the Qatari capital in a special flight on Sunday.
Out of the second batch of Indians who returned home from Doha, 104 people were brought back in a Vistara flight, 30 by a Qatar Airways flight and 11 of them returned by an Indigo flight.
One person returned by an Air India flight, they said.
India on Sunday evacuated 392 people including two Afghan lawmakers in three different flights under the evacuation mission amid a continued scramble by various countries to rescue their citizens from Kabul.
The Taliban seized control of Kabul on August 15 after taking over almost all key towns and cities following the withdrawal of the US forces.
Within two days of the Taliban's capture of Kabul, India evacuated 200 people, including the Indian envoy and other staffers of its embassy in the Afghan capital.
The first evacuation flight brought back over 40 people, mostly staffers at the Indian embassy on August 16.
The second aircraft evacuated around 150 people including Indian diplomats, officials, security personnel and some stranded Indians from Kabul on August 17.
India carried out the evacuation missions in coordination with the US and several other friendly countries.
Spoke to (German) Chancellor Angela Merkel this evening & discussed bilateral, multilateral & regional issues, including recent developments in Afghanistan. Reiterated our commitment to strengthening the India-Germany Strategic Partnership, PM Narendra Modi said.
PM Modi & German Chancellor Merkel discussed the unfolding security situation in Afghanistan & its implications on the region & the world. They emphasised the importance of maintaining peace & security, with the most urgent priority being repatriation of stranded people, PMO informed
The two leaders also discussed issues on the bilateral agenda, including cooperation in COVID-19 vaccines, development cooperation with a focus on climate & energy, & fostering trade & economic relations, PMO added.
"I thank the Indian govt, PM Narendra Modi, MEA, & Indian Air Force. The situation in Afghanistan is unimaginable. There is no government. President has not been there for 10 days. We had high hopes of peace process, but nothing happened": Afghan MP Anarkali Kaur Honaryar told ANI in Delhi.
"Many people in Afghanistan don't have travel documents. We had to wait from 12 midnight to 10 am in the hot weather. There were incidents of firing around the airport every day. 3-4 people died daily," she added.
"20 years ago, Taliban used to think that Sikhs & Hindus were not entitled to any rights as they're not Muslim. When a Taliban spox addressed media for first time, he didn't mention Sikhs & Hindus. It is uncertain whether they'll have any rights in future," the Afghan MP said.
The Taliban on Monday warned there would be "consequences" if the United States and its allies extend their presence in Afghanistan beyond next week, as chaos continued to overwhelm Kabul airport, news agency AFP reported.
Islamabad (PTI): Pakistan's interior minister on Monday said that the Afghan Taliban have assured the government that it would not allow their soil to be used against it by Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan militants, amidst reports that several hardcore TTP terrorists have been released in Afghanistan after the insurgents seized Kabul.
The TTP, commonly known as Pakistani Taliban, is a banned militant group based along the Afghan-Pakistan border. It has carried out a number of major terror attacks across Pakistan and reportedly been using Afghan soil to plot terrorist attacks in this country.
Addressing a press conference, Pakistan interior minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said that the government has taken note of the reports that the Afghan Taliban have set free some TTP militants, including its leading commander Maulvi Faqir Mohammad, after taking over the war-torn country, and it is in "full contact" with the Taliban on the issue.
"The related (Afghan) authorities there have been told to control those who have done terrorism in Pakistan. The Afghan Taliban have reassured (us) that Afghanistan's land will not be allowed to be used in any case by the TTP," he said.
The minister's remarks came amidst a media report that Pakistan has handed over to the Afghan Taliban a list of most wanted terrorists linked to the TTP, who were still active in Afghanistan.
According to The Express Tribune report, the list was shared with the Afghan Taliban leadership recently after they took control of Kabul.
"We have taken up the issue with them (Afghan Taliban). We have given them a list of wanted TTP terrorists operating from Afghanistan," the report said, quoting an unnamed senior Pakistani official familiar with the development.
Besides, Afghan Taliban chief Haibatullah Akhundzada has reportedly set up a three-member commission to investigate Islamabad's complaints that the TTP was using Afghanistan to plot cross-border terrorist attacks.
Pakistan destroyed the infrastructure of the TTP through successive operations in the tribal areas since 2014. It is believed that most of the operatives ran across the border to Afghanistan and still live there and also use the Afghan soil to plan and launch cross border attacks.
According to a report prepared for the United Nations Security Council in July, the TTP has about 6,000 trained fighters on the Afghan side of the border and the Afghan Taliban despite their distrust carry on with relations mainly as before.
The TTP had supported the Afghan Taliban in their fight against the previous Afghan government backed by the United States.
Floor Leaders of political parties would be briefed by EAM Dr S Jaishankar on the present situation in Afghanistan, on 26th August at Parliament House Annexe in Delhi: Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi
The government has activated foreign missions near Afghanistan to speed up evacuation of stranded Indian citizens and Afghan nationals, including Hindus and Sikhs, from the war torn country, the government officials said here on Monday.
They also said that Indian authorities have been coordinating with the Indian embassies in Tajikistan and Qatar to facilitate the evacuations of Indian and Afghan nationals from there and asked them to provide all support such as transport, stay and other necessary assistance.
Japan will send three Self-Defense Forces (SDF) planes to Afghanistan to evacuate Japanese nationals and local staff who worked for the country's embassy and other organisations, the top government spokesperson said on Monday.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato said the government will first send one C-2 transport aircraft on Monday and two C-130s on Tuesday to Afghanistan for the evacuation mission, reports Xinhua news agency.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar informed on Monday that keeping in view of developments in Afghanistan, PM Narendra Modi has instructed that MEA brief Floor Leaders of political parties. Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Parlhad Joshi will intimate further details.
3 Sri Guru Granth Sahib & 46 Indian passport holders to arrive in India today. We thank GoI & PM for helping Hindus-Sikhs in Afghanistan. We're in touch with minority people in Kabul who wish to be evacuated: Manjinder S Sirsa, Pres, Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Mgmt committee & SAD leader
Two more evacuation flights are expected to land from Kabul on Monday with the total number of Indians evacuated from Afghanistan in the excess of 700. Already, six flights, a mixture of Indian Air Force and Air India, have completed their missions with the evacuation starting on August 16.
An Afghan security force member was killed and three others were wounded when a firefight between Afgan forces and unknown assailants broke out at Kabul airport, Germany’s Armed Forces said.
A firefight broke out between unidentified gunmen, Western security forces and Afghan guards at the North Gate of Kabul airport on Monday, Germany's armed forces said, as thousands of Afghans and foreigners thronged the airport, seeking to flee Taliban rule, as reported by Reuters
Afghanistan's ambassador to Sri Lanka criticises countries for evacuating their own nationals leaving Afghans behind.
President Biden said Sunday that the U.S. military is “executing a plan” to move stranded Americans to the Kabul airport in greater numbers, including through an expansion of a safe zone around the facility and by creating conduits for people to access the compound “safely and effectivelly", according to The Washington Post.
“Our first priority in Kabul,” Biden said in remarks at the White House, “is getting American citizens out of the country as quickly and as safely as possible.”
146 people evacuated from Afghanistan arrive in Delhi on various flights.
One of them Sunil says, "We left on Aug 14. A US Embassy's flight took us to Qatar where we stayed at Army base. US Embassy spoke with Indian Embassy after which people from Indian Embassy came to take us"
Taliban has issued a warning to US and Britain and said that both the countries will have to withdraw their troops from Afghanistan by 31st August and the evacuation process should end. Taliban has said that the countries may face serious consequences if the process even extends for a day. US president Joe Biden has also said that he is hopeful the evacuation mission to bring back the Americans will end by August 31st.
The Taliban said on Sunday that “hundreds" of its fighters were heading to the Panjshir Valley, one of the few parts of Afghanistan not yet controlled by the group, AFP reported.
Since the Taliban overran Afghanistan, flickers of resistance have begun to emerge with some ex-government troops gathering in the Panjshir, north of Kabul, long known as an anti-Taliban bastion.
“Hundreds of Mujahideen of the Islamic Emirate are heading towards the state of Panjshir to control it, after local state officials refused to hand it over peacefully," the group wrote on its Arabic Twitter account.
President Joe Biden said he still hopes to complete the "heartbreaking" evacuation from Afghanistan by the end of the month but warned of potential terrorist attacks against the crowded Kabul airport
The United States has "completely surrendered" to the Taliban and abandoned its allies in Afghanistan, Indian-American politician and former US envoy to the United Nations Nikki Haley said Sunday, quoted PTI
"They're not negotiating with the Taliban. They've completely surrendered to the Taliban. They surrendered Bagram Air Force Base, which was a major NATO hub. They surrendered $85 billion worth of equipment and weapons that we should have gotten out of there," Haley told CBS News in an interview.
She slammed the Biden Administration's withdrawal policy from Afghanistan.
Background
Afghanistan Crisis HIGHLIGHTS, August 23, Monday: Evacuations from Kabul continued in full swing. With US troops in charge of the Hamid Karzai International airport, countries are scrambling to get their citizens out of Afghanistan.
Over 300 Indian citizens were airlifted from Kabul airport on three separate flights on Sunday. Another flight with more than 150 passengers is expected to land in New Delhi on Monday morning.
The Taliban said on Sunday that “hundreds" of its fighters were heading to the Panjshir Valley, one of the few parts of Afghanistan not yet controlled by the group, AFP reported.
Since the Taliban overran Afghanistan, flickers of resistance have begun to emerge with some ex-government troops gathering in the Panjshir, north of Kabul, long known as an anti-Taliban bastion.
Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Sunday said that the international community should remain engaged with Afghanistan to help it come out of the current situation. During a conversation with the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs & Security Policy/Vice President of the European Commission Josep Borrell, Qureshi shared Pakistan's perspective on the evolving situation in Afghanistan.
Qureshi underlined that the highest priorities remained ensuring safety and security as well as protection of the rights of all Afghans, Pakistan's Foreign Office said in a statement. Qureshi said that the current situation in Afghanistan required sustained international engagement.
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