Monday ” 23″ Aug” 2021″Aljazeera
The armed group warns of ‘consequences’ if the foreign troops delay their withdrawal over the ongoing evacuation of citizens and vulnerable Afghans.
The Taliban will not agree to an extension of the evacuation mission from Afghanistan, a spokesman for the group told Al Jazeera.
The move would mean “extending occupation” and that is “a red line”, Suhail Shaheen, a member of the Taliban delegation in Doha, the capital of Qatar, said on Monday.
US President Joe Biden said on Sunday that the “hard and painful” airlift of Americans and tens of thousands of others from Afghanistan’s capital is accelerating, but he would not rule out extending it beyond the August 31 deadline he set before the Taliban’s swift takeover.
The airport has been the scene of chaos since the Taliban seized the Afghan capital on August 15 as US and international forces try to evacuate citizens and vulnerable Afghans. A NATO official has said that at least 20 people have died in and around the airport in the past week.
An Afghan security guard has been killed in a firefight between unknown gunmen and Afghan forces at the north gate of Kabul airport, the German military said, as thousands thronged the airport, seeking to flee Taliban rule.
Three more people were injured in the gun battle on Monday morning that has also involved German and United States forces, the German military said on Twitter.
Germany says about 5,000 waiting to evacuate Kabul
Germany’s top military commander says he believes that about 5,000 people are waiting at the Kabul airport to be flown out.
General Eberhard Zorn said Monday the figure has declined from about 7,000 at the weekend.
He says: “We are now trying internationally to reduce this number as far as possible to make room for others … and above all, ultimately to cushion somewhat the precarious accommodation and waiting situation there.”
Jordan says will let 2,500 Afghans pass through on way to US
Jordan has agreed to allow 2,500 Afghan citizens to pass through the kingdom as they fly to the United States, the foreign ministry said.
It did not say when the arrangement, agreed with Washington on humanitarian grounds, would come into force.
Russia warns of civil war but will not ‘intervene’ in Afghanistan
Russia warned of the risk of a civil war in Afghanistan but said that it does not intend to intervene.
Potentially, there is a “risk of a renewed civil war in Afghanistan,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday, according to the Interfax agency.
“Of course, no one intends to intervene in these events,” Peskov said.
Russia is watching the Taliban’s takeover in Afghanistan with concern. Among other things, it fears that fighters in Central Asia could penetrate into former Soviet territory.
Peskov said the current situation posed “additional danger and threats”.
Germany looking at evacuations after Kabul airport closes
Germany is looking into ways to evacuate people from Afghanistan beyond the window of opportunity to fly them out of Kabul airport, a foreign ministry spokesman says.
“As long as the situation on the ground allows, we want to keep the air bridges active and evacuate people from Kabul airport,” the spokesman told a regular government news conference in Berlin.
“However, we are already thinking beyond this period and are already trying to find solutions for the time after(wards),” he said, adding that Germany was talking with the Taliban about enabling as many people as possible to leave Afghanistan
