Af govt to ‘remobilise’ forces against Taliban

KABUL: Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani vowed on Saturday to prevent further bloodshed, as Taliban fighters closed in on Kabul after routing his armed forces over the past 10 days.

The Taliban, facing little resistance, captured all of Logar province, just south of the capital and detained local officials, said Hoda Ahmadi, a lawmaker from the province. She said the Taliban have reached the Char Asyab district, just 11km (7 miles) south of Kabul. The capital of the province, Pul-e-Alam, is a staging post for a potential assault on Kabul.

In a recorded address to the nation – his first since the Taliban launched their sweeping offensive – Ghani said he wanted to stop the violence “as a historic mission”. “I will not let the imposed war on people cause more deaths,” he said.

A Pentagon spokesperson said on Friday “Kabul is not right now in an imminent threat environment, while acknowledging that Taliban fighters were “trying to isolate” the city.

The president gave no hint he would resign or take responsibility for the calamitous military collapse, but said the armed forces could be “remobilised” and consultations were taking place to try to help end the war.

He offered few specifics on what his administration was planning, with government control over Afghanistan all but collapsed, but the presidential pal

“As your president, my focus is on preventing further instability, violence, and displacement of my people. I will not let the imposed war on people cause more deaths,"

said in his

first address in weeks

The US, Britain, Germany, Denmark and Spain, among other countries are scrambling to airlift their nationals out of Kabul ahead of a feared all-out assault, with insurgents camped just 50 km outside of Kabul

Canadian immigration minister Marco Mendicino said the country would resettle more than 20,000 Afghans including women leaders, human rights workers and reporters to protect them from Taliban reprisals

It is horrifying to see reports of the hard-won rights being ripped away from them. This is the moment to halt the offensive: UN Secy-Gen Antonio Guterres