Jaishankar talks to Blinken over evacuation hurdles amid chaos
The first Friday prayers after the Taliban takeover passed off uneventfully, but the Kabul airport was still in chaos as countries, including India, struggled to evacuate their citizens and loyal Afghans.
PM’s dig at taliban
Those who follow the ideology of creating empires out of terror can dominate for some time, but their existence is never permanent — Narendra Modi, Prime Minister Taliban to wait until August 31
An Afghan official has said the Taliban do not plan to make any decisions or announcements about the upcoming government until after the August 31 US complete withdrawal date passes
The situation at the airport was a repeat of the previous days as hundreds of Afghans converged there, adding to the chaos. There was sporadic firing in the air to disperse the crowds.
External Affairs Minister
S Jaishankar and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed the situation and agreed to continue close coordination over the matter. Jaishankar reportedly underlined the urgency of restoring airport operations in Kabul. After the Taliban’s strong arm suppression of protests on Independence Day in eastern Afghanistan over the past two days, Friday saw fighters from the Panjshir Valley taking over two districts — Pul-e-Hesar in northern Baghlan province where the demography also favours them and Deh-e-Saleh.
The Taliban’s reasonable face in Kabul on Friday maintaining that the T-20 cricket tournament will be permitted was at odds with reports of rounding up of people on the blacklist in Jalalabad and Herat and a UN report finding evidence of the group murdering nine Shia Hazaras in Ghazni province last month.
In Kabul, a woman presenter of the state-run TV complained that she was turned back without reason while Taliban checkpoints were screening people heading to the airport. Several Afghan Hindus and Sikhs who remained huddled in a Kabul basement were also turned back.
German state-supported media house Deutsche Welle reported the killing of a family member of its Afghan correspondent after the Taliban entered his house.
Jaishankar talks to Blinken over evacuation hurdles amid chaos
The reported house-to-house searches by the Taliban for Afghans who had worked with Westerners prompted foreign ministers to converse with each other. As Afghans critical of the Taliban scrubbed their digital identities, Facebook removed the ability to view and search “friends” list in Afghanistan. LinkedIn has also hidden the connections of anyone in the country.
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However, it was not clear whether the Hazara murders and the searches were ordered by the Taliban or the fallout of local settling of scores after the change of regime.
