KABUL, Afghanistan (PA) – CANBERRA, Australia – Australia evacuated the first 26 people, Australian and Afghan citizens, from Kabul since the Taliban invaded the Afghan capital, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Wednesday.
An Air Force C-130 Hercules plane landed at an Australian army base in the United Arab Emirates with the 26 people, a foreign official running for a foreign agency, Morrison said, while the others were Australians and Afghans.
“This is the first of what will be many flights, issue of authorization and weather and we noticed that at the end of this week there are not too favorable weather forecasts,” Morrison said.
Two Hercules aircraft and two larger C-17A Globemaster aircraft will perform evacuation flights.
Australia plans to evacuate 130 Australians and their families, as well as an undisclosed number of Afghans who worked for Australians and diplomats in roles as interpreters.
Australia’s purpose is to evacuate six hundred people, according to media reports. Morrison did not provide a number. ” Our purpose is to have as many as possible, as and as temporarily as possible,” he said.
___
MORE ON THE CRISIS IN AFGHANISTAN:
– The Taliban announce an “amnesty” and urge women to register with the government.
– Taliban encounter Afghan cities rebuilt in their absence
– U. S. agencies hide internet sites from Afghans left behind
– The Taliban in Afghanistan: what we know and what will happen next
– Biden: ‘Heartbreaking’ Afghan chaos remains after withdrawal
– Billions spent on the Afghan army ultimately benefited the Taliban
– Find more APs in https://apnews. com/hub/afghanistan
___
HERE’S WHAT’S ON THE OTHER SIDE:
WASHINGTONArray DC – President Joe Biden has spoken with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on stage in Afghanistan, marking his first call with any other world leader since the Taliban took over the country on Sunday.
The White House said in Monday’s conversation, Biden and Johnson “praised the bravery and professionalism of their military and civilian personnel” seeking to evacuate their country’s citizens and allies from the country.
The White House said leaders agreed on the need for close coordination with allies in the long run of aid and with Afghanistan now that the Taliban are in charge.
Johnson holds the chairmanship of the Group of Seven Rich Democracies, and the White House has announced it will convene a virtual assembly of the organization next week to discuss the way forward in Afghanistan.
___
WASHINGTONArray DC – U. S. Air ForceHe said his special investigations workplace is investigating an incident at Kabul airport on Monday in which several other people were killed when a bunch of Afghan civilians desperate to leave the country invaded a C-17 cargo plane while trying to shut down.
The air force did not specify how many people were killed and said human remains were discovered on the plane’s wheel long after it landed at al-Udeid airbase in the Gulf of Qatar state.
The videos of the incident, which added photographs of other people falling off the plane during takeoff, were widely viewed on social media and captured the initial chaos of a US-led evacuation that followed the Taliban’s takeover of the country.
The Air Force said the C-17 Globemaster III landed at Kabul airport to deliver aircraft for the evacuation effort. Before the team could unload the cargo, the aircraft was surrounded by a pile of Afghan civilians who had breached the security perimeter. it got worse, so the team to take off.
___
ROME – Italy’s minister promises that Italy will remain committed to selling and protecting human rights in Afghanistan, especially women’s rights, after the Taliban takeover and the evacuation of Western diplomats and army forces.
Italy, which this year holds the rotating presidency of the Group of 20 industrialized countries, is “the herbal forum” to publicize a procedure of collaboration between countries such as China, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, in addition to Europe, Minister Mario Draghi said. .
In an interview with state television RAI, Draghi paid tribute to the 54 Italian infantrymen killed and some 700 wounded by Italy’s 20-year involvement in the NATO-led project in Afghanistan and said Italy was looking for the future, not the past.
She said: “Italy’s long term is in the defense of human rights, the defense of women’s rights and the coverage of all those who have gone forward in recent years to protect the rights of people in Afghanistan. This will have to be done in every conceivable context.
He said the priority for Europe is to continue to welcome Afghans who have collaborated with the West and their families, those who have worked for women’s rights in Afghanistan, and to provide security to “prevent terrorist infiltration. “
Noting that a G20 ministerial assembly is scheduled for last month on women, as well as the leaders’ summit last October, Draghi said: “This year of our G20 presidency, we are fully committed to building the right seat for this collaboration.
___
BRUSSELS – The European Union is postponing draft laws on progressive aid to Afghanistan now that it has fallen into taliban hands, but is considering whether to increase humanitarian aid to the conflict-torn country.
EU foreign policy leader Josep Borrell said there may be “no progressive aid bills until we explain the situation” with Taliban leaders.
Speaking after chairing an assembly of EU foreign ministers on Tuesday, Borrell said the Taliban will have to respect UN Security Council resolutions and human rights to access funds.
Borrell says “humanitarian aid will continue, and maybe we will have an increase,” given the number of displaced Afghans, the ongoing drought and the effect of the coronavirus pandemic.
The 27-country bloc has pledged around 1,200 million euros ($1,400 million) in progress assistance to Afghanistan for the period 2021-2024.
___
PARIS – A flight with 41 evacuees from Kabul, in addition to French and other nationalities, landed Tuesday night at a Paris airport.
France evacuated several dozen people aboard an army plane after the Taliban seized force in Afghanistan. They were first taken to an army airbase in Abu Dhabi, and several of the passengers were later returned to France.
The French government did not provide the main points of the nationalities of the other people on the flight to Paris.
Defense Minister Florence Parly said that “there are still a few dozen Afghans who we believe we will have to evacuate as soon as possible and we are moving forward,” as well as bringing back French citizens.
The Interior Ministry said in a that “the scenario in Kabul remains complex. All state facilities and the French Embassy on the floor remain fully mobilized to make certain new flights as soon as possible. “
President Emmanuel Macron promised Monday that France would not abandon Afghans working for the country, from translators to kitchens, artists, activists and others threatened by the fall of the Afghan government.
France withdrew its last troops from Afghanistan in 2014 and has already evacuated more than 1,000 Afghans supporting French forces.
___
ISLAMABAD – Pakistan’s data minister said Tuesday that his country would take a decision on the popularity of a Taliban government in Afghanistan after consulting with regional and foreign powers.
Fawad Chaudhry told a news conference that Pakistan does not want to take any “unilateral decision” on the matter. He said Pakistan is satisfied that so far there has not been much violence and bloodshed in Afghanistan following the Taliban takeover.
Chaudhry made his comments two days after the Taliban invaded the Afghan capital of Kabul following a bombing that lasted more than a week.
Pakistan, one of the 3 nations that identified the Taliban government when it came into force in the 1990s.
The Taliban were driven out through the U. S. -led invasion following the terrorist attacks of September 2001. At the time, they were home to al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden, the leader of the network.
___
SOFIA, Bulgaria – Bulgaria’s leaders have signed a joint agreement saying Afghans deserve to be allowed to leave the country if they wish, the Balkan nation’s Foreign Ministry announced Tuesday.
This follows an emergency assembly of a national security council convened by Bulgarian President Rumen Radev to discuss measures to deal with increased migratory pressure on the Bulgarian-Turkish border.
He noted that all accommodation centers in Bulgaria are already crowded with immigrants from Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq.
Bulgaria saw thousands of migrants cross its territory and continue into Western Europe at the height of the migration crisis. Bulgaria has since erected a fence with razor ropes along up to 269 kilometers (167 miles) of border with Turkey. There is no fence on the border with Greece, however, army teams have been deployed to help police patrol the border.
Bulgarian public opinion has largely opposed the arrival of migrants and asylum-seekers over the course of waves of migrants.
___
THE HAGUE, The Netherlands – The Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court said he is closely following the occasions in Afghanistan and “is more involved with recent reports of an escalation of violence in the country. “
Prosecutor Karim Khan said Tuesday that he echoed perspectives expressed through the U. N. Security Council on incidents that he said “could constitute violations of foreign humanitarian law. “
It says they come with allegations of “extrajudicial executions in the form of revenge killings of detainees and surrendered persons, persecution of women and girls, crimes against youth and other crimes affecting the civilian population as a whole. “
The Hague-based court has already opened an investigation into crimes in Afghanistan since May 2003.
Khan says he calls on all parts of the country “to fully respect their obligations under foreign humanitarian law, adding that they ensure coverage of civilians. “I am ready to interact with all parties for this purpose.
___
GENEVA – Dozens of protesters held an outdoor demonstration at the United Nations compound in Geneva to demand respect for women, freedom of expression and other human rights in Afghanistan after the Taliban seized force in the country’s government.
Protesters on Tuesday called for women and women to continue schooling, which had been banned during the past Taliban regime in the 1990s, and waved banners such as “We need peace” and “Help Afghanistan get out. “
Several protesters dressed in red, green and black Afghan flags, which were replaced by a white Taliban flag in some official buildings in Afghanistan after insurgents tore overthrewing President Ashraf Ghani’s government. Many women took part in the demonstration.
Two women held up a sign that read: “The world deserves not to allow Afghanistan to be a criminal and a death trap for women. “
The demonstration took place at the foot of the iconic three-leeward chair in the open air of the United Nations complex in Geneva, a site that hosts demonstrations on a wide range of human rights complaints and concerns.
___
MOSCOW – Russia’s ambassador to Afghanistan said he had a “constructive” and “positive” meeting with Taliban representatives in Kabul to discuss the security of Russia’s diplomatic mission.
Tuesday’s assembly announced the day before through the Kremlin’s envoy for Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov, who also said the Taliban had already begun tracking the outer perimeter of the Russian embassy.
Ambassador Dmitry Zhirnov told Russian state television on Tuesday that the assembly was “exclusively faithful to the security of the embassy” and worried about “senior representatives of the city’s Taliban who agreed with the remnants of the self-dismantled Afghan national security forces. “
“The assembly is positive and constructive,” Zhirnov said. Representatives of the Taliban have said that the Taliban have the highest technical friendly (. . . ) with regard to Russia. They showed promises of security for the Embassy.
Russia designated the Taliban as a terrorist organization in 2003, but has since held several rounds of talks in Afghanistan, most recently in March, in which the group participates.
Moscow, which waged a 10-year war in Afghanistan that ended with the withdrawal of Soviet troops in 1989, made a diplomatic comeback as a mediator, getting Afghan factions into conflict as it fought with the United States to influence the country.
___
MOSCOW – Uzbekistan on Tuesday denied media reports that Afghan President Ashraf Ghani had taken refuge in Uzbekistan when the Taliban invaded Kabul over the weekend.
Ghani left the Afghan capital on Sunday and his fate has since been unknown, as denied by the former Soviet nations of Kazakhstan and Tajikistan.
Uzbekistan’s Foreign Ministry news firm Dunyo said Tuesday that media reports about ghani’s “alleged presence” as well as former Afghan warlords Abdul Rashid Dostum and Ata Mohammad Noor “and others” in Uzbekistan were,” according to the official. reports, true. “
In Stockholm, Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven said Tuesday that “it is known how the Taliban intend to rule the country. Unfortunately, the clients of the peace talks are very uncertain. “
“We will abandon the Afghan people,” he wrote on Instagram, “but Sweden will have to move some of its aid to Afghanistan after the Taliban have seised power. We will provide any help to the Taliban. “
Since 2013, Afghanistan has received Swedish aid.
___
WASHINGTON, DC – The Defense Department has said U. S. military commanders at Kabul airport are in contact with Taliban leaders as they coordinate the evacuation effort of U. S. and Afghan allies.
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told reporters at a briefing Tuesday that interactions with Taliban leaders will continue as the U. S. evacuates people and said there have been no additional hostile encounters with Taliban fighters at the airport.
Asked if U. S. commanders had an agreement with the Taliban for a ticket to the airport for Afghan allies and others waiting to be evacuated, Kirthrough said, “There are interactions at the airport, through our commanders, with Taliban leaders” outside the airport.
The government expects the speed of evacuations to increase so that up to 9,000 more people can be taken out of the country every day.
After the invasion of Kabul on Sunday and the takeover of the country, Taliban fighters are guarding the entrances and gates of Kabul airport.
___
LONDON – A Taliban spokesman has said Afghanistan will have the right to paint and will have knowledge at the university level.
Suhail Shaheen also told British Sky News in an interview Tuesday that British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and other world leaders have a “moral obligation” to rebuild a new Afghanistan.
“The British prime minister, all world leaders, will have to respect the aspirations of the Afghan people” and their economic development, Shaheen said in a video interview from Doha, Qatar.
He added: “It is their legal responsibility because they were guilty of the destruction of Afghanistan for 20 years. It is their ethical legal responsibility to rebuild Afghanistan as well and for others to start a new life and a new chapter. “
Shaheen said the Taliban intended to conclude the Doha peace agreement and were “committed to women’s rights to education and work. “She said women “can go to school from number one to higher education. It means university. That is our policy and we are running on it in every space that falls to us in Afghanistan. “
He added that the organization has already announced a general amnesty for all those who have worked in the collapsed government, with foreigners or in foreign embassies. “His property will be saved, his honor and his life will be saved. They shouldn’t worry. “
___
PRISTINA, Kosovo – Kosovo’s prime minister said Tuesday that the country will temporarily space Afghans threatened through the Taliban in the army’s peacekeeping project in the country.
Prime Minister Albin Kurti said that since mid-July, two from Kosovo and the United States had been coordinating their efforts to house several threatened Afghans.
President Vjosa Osmani said Monday that a month earlier, U. S. President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken had sought transitory shelter for the local corps of Afghan workers working with U. S. forces.
Kurti said in an interview with The Associated Press that “by hosting some of the refugees from Afghanistan, we are offering a little help in exchange for a massive contribution that the United States has made to our country and other people and after the war. “
Kurti gave figures on where they will be housed due to security concerns. Kosovar Albanians fled in a mass exodus in 1999, amid a brutal war between Kosovar Albanian separatist rebels and Serb forces. The war ended after a 78-day U. S. -led NATO. the air crusade drove out Serbian troops and a peacekeeping force intervened.
Kosovo declared its independence in 2008, which is recognized by western top leaders but through Serbia and its allies, Russia and China.
___
KABUL, Afghanistan – Afghanistan’s vice president says that after President Ashraf Ghani fled to the Taliban in Kabul over the weekend and his whereabouts are unclear, the vice president is the country’s “legitimate” interim president.
Amrullah Saleh made the comment on Twitter on Tuesday. He cited that the Afghan letter allowed him to claim it. He wrote that he was “contacting all leaders to download their and consensus. “
Today, Afghan leaders, former President Hamid Karzai and peace council leader Abdullah Abdullah, have been negotiating with the Taliban since the fall of Kabul.
___
BERLIN – Ahead of Tuesday’s assembly of EU foreign ministers, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas told reporters in Berlin that ministers would talk to each other about how to get EU citizens and local Afghan staff out of the country.
Mass said they will also talk about how to deal with the Taliban in the long term and maintain stability in the region in the face of imaginable flows of refugees fleeing Afghanistan. exercising force in Afghanistan will be judged by your actions. “
The German foreign minister added that “we will have our perspectives, that is, on the stability of the region. Neighboring countries will certainly face new refugee movements. “
Maas added that “in one position we have told the UNITED NATIONS that we are in a position to help with the humanitarian care of these other people in neighbouring countries; however, eventually we will want to have a non-unusual European technique for this. “
___
COPENHAGEN, Denmark – Danish Defense Minister Trine Bramsen said that at the request of the United States, Denmark would help other Afghan army planes outdoors.
“We are now in a scenario where we can take out our own and help our allies,” Bramsen said. “Beforehand, we will have army aircraft in the domain so we can (now) help our allies. “
The Danish resolution became a time when civilian aircraft no longer took off from Kabul International Airport while the army aspect continued to operate.
“On Sunday, we were one of the first (nations) to take action from the military,” he said.
Denmark was able to help Norway get its diplomats out of Afghanistan on Monday, as well as those in the Danish embassy.
It was not clear whether all Danish citizens had been evacuated. Danish Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod said he “can assure you that we will do everything humanly imaginable to help with the evacuation. It’s really vital for us,” adding “but some things aren’t. “in our hands. “
___
BERLIN – German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said that in addition to the 125 evacuees who were evacuated from Kabul on Tuesday, another hundred people were waiting for the next German army dispatch plane to send them out of the country.
Maas said two more planes were due to land later in the day, adding that the German army workers corps on the floor had secured a secure gateway to the airport that other people on the German government’s evacuation list can use to enter.
After invading Kabul on Sunday and taking the country, Taliban fighters are now also guarding airport entrances and gates in the Afghan capital.
Meanwhile, Hungary’s Foreign Ministry showed that more than 26 Hungarians were waiting to be evacuated to Afghanistan.
The news site Hvg. hu reported Tuesday that the 26 Hungarians in the past had provided personal security to the Dutch embassy in Kabul, but were now stranded in the city.
On the news site Index. hu, the Hungarian Foreign Ministry showed the report, saying that Hungary “had already agreed with one of our army allies to take out the Hungarian team of 26 people,” and that it was constantly following the process.
The ministry also said other Hungarian citizens in Afghanistan had called for help, but did not reveal their numbers or the main points of their whereabouts for security reasons. any Hungarian citizen in Afghanistan.
___
LONDON – A British official tasked with Britain’s evacuation of between 6,000 and 7,000 people from Afghanistan has said Taliban commanders at Kabul airport did not attempt to disrupt the effort.
Royal Navy Vice Admiral Ben Key said “pragmatic, tactical and low-level” talks had to take a stand with the Taliban as access points to the airport.
While he admitted it has only been a day and a part since the evacuation began, Key told BBC Radio that the Taliban so far have to “accept and perceive what we are looking to achieve. “
The UK government is asking other people to come to the airport as they are offered a flight. There, they will have to be able to enter the airport compound through the Taliban. mandatory security checks before taking them to the airfield where they await their flight back to the UK.
Britain is going to evacuate 4,000 British citizens and Afghan allies who have helped over the more than 20 years.
___
BRUSSELS – NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg blames the failure of Afghanistan’s leadership for the immediate collapse of the country’s armed forces, but says the alliance will also have to uncover flaws in its military education effort.
Stoltenberg said that “Afghan political leaders did not stand up” and that “this failure of Afghan leaders led to the tragedy we are witnessing today. “
His comments came here after he chaired an assembly of NATO envoys on Tuesday to discuss the security implications of the Taliban’s crushing victory in Afghanistan.
NATO has led foreign security efforts in Afghanistan since 2003, but ended combat operations in 2014 to educate national security forces.
Referring to how the Afghan armed forces withered in the face of the Taliban offensive, Stoltenberg said “it’s a surprise how quickly the collapse collapsed and how quickly it happened. “
He says that “there are classes to learn” in NATO.
___
MOSCOW – Russia’s most sensible diplomat said Tuesday that Moscow is “in no hurry” to recognize the new Taliban government in Afghanistan and called for an inclusive discussion among all political forces in the country.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Russia “like all other countries” and “is in no hurry to recognize” the Taliban government. At the same time, Lavrov noted “encouraging signs from the Taliban, who affirm their preference for having a government with the participation of other political forces. “
Her comments came as the Taliban in Kabul declared an “amnesty” across Afghanistan and suggested that women sign up for their government. Lavrov also said Moscow supported “the initiation of an inclusive national debate with the participation of all political and devout forces in Afghanistan. “
Russia designated the Taliban as a terrorist organization in 2003, but has since held several rounds of talks in Afghanistan, most recently in March, in which the group participates.
Moscow, which waged a 10-year war in Afghanistan that ended with the withdrawal of Soviet troops in 1989, made a diplomatic comeback as a mediator, getting Afghan factions into conflict as it fought with the United States to influence the country.
___
SKOPJE, North Macedonia – North Macedonia will provide transit shelter to 186 Afghan refugees before they are transferred to the United States or other countries.
The skopje government said Monday night that the resolution referred to Afghans concerned about democratic adjustments in their country or working for foreign organizations and agencies, but did not say when they should arrive.
Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani said the first organization of six refugees, mostly women and children, are relatives of staff at the UN workplace in Kabul, while the rest come with members of the circle of relatives or staff of charitable, human rights and civic organizations. as journalists. The government did not say when they should arrive.
Afghans will be accommodated in motels, resorts and hotels, at the expense of foreign organizations such as the United States.
North Macedonia’s government said Tuesday that up to 75 of the country’s 75 citizens had been evacuated by U. S. military aircraft from Kabul to Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
Of the 14 more in Kabul, 11 will be evacuated later on Tuesday, Osmani said, while the other 3 said they would do so in Afghanistan for the time being.
___
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – A senior Taliban official met with a Qatari official leaving the country for Afghanistan.
Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar met on Tuesday with Qatar’s foreign minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani.
A said the two “reviewed the most recent political and security developments in Afghanistan, emphasizing the desire to protect civilians, intensifying desired efforts to achieve national reconciliation, postulating a comprehensive political settlement and a nonviolent power movement. “
___
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – A high-level hostess in Afghanistan said she remained hidden in a relative’s home, too scared to stop by the house or paintings after reports that the Taliban had a list of hounds and had knocked on some of its doors after breaking into Kabul over the weekend.
The 29-year-old woman, who is in Kabul, says her father told her to stay hidden until the security scenario cleared up. She spoke to The Associated Press by phone Tuesday and declined to call for fear of retaliation.
The scenario of women in Afghanistan is unclear, she said. “I don’t in the Taliban,” he said.
She said Afghan women have made wonderful progress over the years, but she doesn’t think the Taliban will be satisfied with that progress. She said one of her friends, a presenter for the Afghan national TV channel, Mili TV, called her in tears after the station told her on Tuesday to stay home and not to return to the paintings until she was notified.
___
PRAGUE – The Czech army transport plane has taken off from Kabul and is heading for Prague.
Czech Defense Minister Lubomir Metnar said Czech Ambassador to Kabul Jiri Baloun and Afghans who worked with the Czech army on NATO missions with their families are among those on board.
Metnar thanked the infantrymen for doing everything possible to get as many people as possible on board.
Czech Foreign Minister Eva Davidova said there were 87 other people on board, in addition to two citizens of other European Union countries and an unspecified team member.
During the flight to Kabul, the plane had to land in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Monday, and may not continue to the Afghan capital until Tuesday, as evacuation flights came to a halt after others desperate to flee the country flooded afghanistan’s runway. capital.
Monday’s first evacuation flight transported Czech and Afghan citizens to Prague.
Its European Union member, Slovakia, has still been given the green light for its army dispatch plane to land in Kabul due to chaos at the airport, Foreign Minister Ivan Korcok said Tuesday.
___
SHAMAN, Pakistan – Hundreds of Pakistani and Afghan citizens entered Pakistan on Tuesday from the key Shaman border crossing in southwest Pakistan, witnesses and said.
However, they said they included two suspected militants recently released from Pul-e-Charkhi and Bagram prisons through the Afghan Taliban. The tariffs imposed on them through the Afghan government were unclear.
No government official without delay to comment, however, the government said it allowed all Pakistanis and Afghans to be stranded in Afghanistan.
One of the alleged activists, Abdul Qadoos, told The Associated Press that he spent six years in the criminal Pul-e-Charkhi until the Taliban let them pass after capturing the facility. through the Taliban.
One man, Hafiz Abdul Hadi, spent 10 years in criminal Bagram before his release through the Taliban, according to his close relative, Ameen Ullah, who went to look for him. Relatives of the men pointed the finger at the Taliban when they welcomed them. to Pakistan.
___
TIRANA, Albania – Albania waits Tuesday to host the first Afghans who worked with western army peacekeepers in Afghanistan and are now threatened by the Taliban.
Government sources, who spoke anonymously under the regulation, said some three hundred Afghans are expected to arrive later wednesday night or early Wednesday on an army plane and will be accommodated at the student campus in the capital, Tirana, and at some hotels in the nearby port city of Durres, west.
U. S. Ambassador to Tirana Yuri Kim met with Albanian Foreign Minister Olta Xhacka and said the scenario was transforming and that the main points about the timing and figures were not yet known.
“We were deeply moved by the gesture of the Albanian people, the resolution to give a safe haven to those who want it most,” he told reporters.
Kim said that “the Afghans will come here temporarily with the concept that they will move to the United States for a final Array agreement . . . it’s a matter of remedy (visa requirements). “
Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama said Sunday that he had responded definitively to the U. S. government’s request to Albania to serve as a “transit point for several Afghan political migrants who have the United States as their final destination. “
___
WASHINGTON, DC – A senior U. S. defense officialU. S. He has said plans are underway to space thousands of Afghans in 3 U. S. military installations. U. S.
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said Tuesday that up to 22,000 Afghans and their families can be housed at the facility. Kirby identified more express locations.
Thousands of Afghans who have helped the U. S. as interpreters and in other roles desperately sought to leave Afghanistan before the government fell into the hands of the Taliban this weekend, in the shadow of the Aug. 31 deadline for the withdrawal of U. S. forces.
Kirby told ABC’s “Good Morning America” that the U. S. Departments of Defense and State were working in combination to evacuate as many Americans and Afghans as you can imagine and as temporarily as you can imagine.
Kirby says several thousand U. S. service members now arriving in Afghanistan will be there for the next two weeks for evacuation.
___
BERLIN – German Chancellor Angela Merkel told reporters in Berlin that she will meet later Tuesday with the head of the United Nations refugee firm on the stage of other people in Afghanistan who need to leave the country because of the volatile scenario.
Merkel said Tuesday she wanted to talk to Filippo Grandi, the U. N. High Commissioner for Refugees, about “safe opportunities for refugees in the vicinity” of Afghanistan.
Merkel said “it is a weakness of our EU that we have not created a non-unusual asylum policy. “The German chancellor has already said that the aim of aid to potential Afghan refugees is to help neighbouring countries such as Pakistan obtain Afghan immigrants. .
___
PARIS – France evacuated dozens of people from Kabul aboard an army plane after the Taliban seized force in Afghanistan.
Tuesday morning’s flight took the evacuees to an army air base in Abu Dhabi, and several of the passengers were sent back to France.
The French military did not specify whether afghans or other citizens were among the dozens of other people they brought in on the night flight. France withdrew its last troops from Afghanistan in 2014 and has already evacuated more than 1,000 Afghans supporting French forces.
Images released by the army showed French troops controlling their weapons and guarding the plane at Kabul airport, while others verified the documents of those who boarded the flight.
President Emmanuel Macron promised Monday that France would not abandon Afghans working for the country, from translators to cooks, artists, activists and others potentially threatened by the fall of the Afghan government.
___
BERLIN – Germany suspended progress assistance to Afghanistan after the Taliban seized the country.
German Development Minister Gerd Mueller told the Daily Rheinische Post on Tuesday that “state aid is suspended lately. “
Mueller added that all German and foreign workers from the German progression company GIZ had left the country and that Germany is now seeking to evacuate local Afghan personnel.
German news firm dpa reported that Afghanistan has been the country that has won the most German aid for progression in the world.
The firm said the German government had planned to provide about €250 million ($294 million) in progression aid in 2021, but that the cash had been disbursed.
Other monetary aid, not directly related to progress aid, would have included for police education or humanitarian aid. It was not without delay that much of this aid had already been given to Afghanistan. Dpa said that in total, all German monetary aid to Afghanistan. Afghanistan would have amounted to 430 million euros in 2021.
___
GENEVA – The United Nations is urging the Taliban to keep their “promises,” adding pledges to grant amnesty to former Afghan officials, be inclusive and allow women to stay in school.
“The Taliban have made a number of statements that seem to be reassuring,” U. N. human rights spokesman Rupert Colville told reporters Tuesday, “but their movements speak louder than words, and it’s very early now, it’s very fluid. “
He said the Taliban “must be honored. “
“Naturally, given their past, those statements were met with some skepticism,” Colville added. “However, promises have been made and whether they are revered or damaged will be examined in depth. “
Colville alluded the day before to comments through U. N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres about “terrifying reports” of human rights abuses and restrictions on rights – especially those of women and women – in spaces captured through the Taliban in recent weeks.
He also called on U. N. member states to “use their influence” with the Taliban in the lives of civilians.
___
GUELPH, Canada – Talks to expand a long-term Afghan government beyond Taliban members continue in Kabul.
Officials close to Tuesday’s talks expect “good news” within a day or two. They spoke on condition of anonymity because so far no one has sought to have the main points of the negotiations revealed to the media.
Senior Taliban leader Amir Khan Muttaqi has already held several rounds of talks with Kabul’s political leaders Abdullah Abdullah, who once led the country’s negotiating council, and former President Hamid Karzai.
At least one circular of conversations took position overnight. The discussion seemed about how a Taliban-dominated government would respond to rights acquired over the more than 20 years.
The announcements of a general amnesty and an exhortation to women to return to painting to imply that progress could have been made.
Muttaqi, a former higher education minister from the Taliban’s last reign, began making contacts with Afghan political leaders even before President Ashraf Ghani secretly escaped from the presidential palace this weekend. Ghana’s departure left a devastating void that the Taliban in the city tried to fill.
Muttaqi had approached U. S. -allied warlords before the Kabul collapse, initiating the procedure of greater inclusion within his government.
The ongoing talks aim to bring non-Taliban leaders into the government, adding Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen, who previously said it would be an “inclusive Afghan government. “
Shaheen had told the Palestinian Authority in the past that a government would be announced once the negotiations were over.
-Kathy Gannon in Guelph, Canada