AFGHAN PRESIDENT IN URGENT TALKS AS TALIBAN TAKE KEY TOWN NEAR KABUL
Qatar, which has been hosting so far inconclusive peace talks between the Afghan GOVERNMENT AND THE TALIBAN, SAID IT HAD URGED THE INSURGENTS TO CEASE fire.
Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani held urgent talks with local leaders and international partners on Saturday as Taliban rebels pushed closer to Kabul, capturing a town south of the capital that is one of the gateways to the city.
The United States and Britain rushed in troops to help evacuate their embassies after the militants captured town after town as U.S. and other foreign forces that have backed the government withdrew.
Many Afghans have fled from the provinces to the capital, driven out by fighting and fearful of a return to hardline Islamist rule, as resistance from Afghan government forces crumbles.
“As your president, my focus is on preventing further instability, violence, and displacement of my people,” Ghani said in a brief televised address, adding that he was consulting government, elders, politicians and international leaders.
He gave no sign of responding to a Taliban demand that he resign as a condition for any talks on a ceasefire and a political settlement, saying his priority remained the consolidation of the country’s security and defence forces.
“Serious measures are being taken in this regard,” he said, without elaborating.
Qatar, which has been hosting so-far inconclusive peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban, said on Saturday it had urged the insurgents to cease fire during a meeting with their representatives on Saturday.
Earlier the Taliban, facing little resistance, took Pul-ealam, capital of Logar province and 70 km (40 miles) south of Kabul, according to a local provincial council member, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity.
The town is a staging post for a potential assault on Kabul. Its capture came a day after the insurgents took the country’s second- and thirdbiggest cities. The Taliban says it is close to capturing Maidan Shahr, another town close to Kabul.
An Afghan government official confirmed on Friday that Kandahar, the biggest city in the south, was under Taliban control as U.s.-led international forces complete their withdrawal after 20 years of war.
Kandahar’s loss was a heavy blow to the government. It is the heartland of the Taliban - ethnic Pashtun fighters who emerged in 1994 amid the chaos of civil war. It is also close to the town of
Spin Boldak, one of the two main entry points into Pakistan and a major source of tax revenues.
EVACUATIONS
American troops have begun flying in to Kabul to help in the evacuation of embassy personnel and other civilians, a U.S. official said on condition of anonymity.
The Pentagon has said two battalions of Marines and an infantry battalion will arrive in Kabul by Sunday evening, involving about 3,000 troops. An infantry brigade combat team will move to Kuwait to act as a quick reaction force for security in Kabul if needed.
The Czech Republic said it was evacuating its two diplomats on Saturday and Italy said it would evacuate its embassy if necessary.
Some embassies have begun to burn sensitive material ahead of evacuating,
diplomats said.
Many people in the capital were stocking up on rice and other food as well as first aid, residents said.
Visa applications at embassies were running in the tens of thousands, officials said, and Washington was
asking countries to temporarily house Afghans who worked for the U.S. government.
A U.S. defence official said before the fall of Pul-e-alam that there was concern that the Taliban could make a move on Kabul within days.
“Kabul is not right now in an imminent threat environment, but clearly ... if you just look at what the Taliban has been doing, you can see that they are trying to isolate Kabul,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said.
The explosion in fighting has raised fears of a refugee crisis and a rollback of gains in human rights, especially for women. Some 400,000 civilians have been forced from their homes this year, 250,000 of them since May, a U.N. official said.
Canada said it would resettle more than 20,000 vulnerable Afghans including women leaders, human rights workers and reporters to protect them from Taliban reprisals. read more
Of Afghanistan’s major cities, the government still holds Mazar-i-sharif in the north and Jalalabad, near the Pakistani border in the east, in addition to Kabul.
The speed of the Taliban’s gains has led to recriminations over the U.S. withdrawal, which was negotiated last year under the administration of President Joe Biden’s Republican predecessor, Donald Trump.