Afghans make a run for the border

•Thousands flee toward Pakistan and Iran •New government ready, Taliban tell Arab News

Thousands of Afghans made a run for the borders on Wednesday as Taliban militants cemented their grip on the country and finalized plans to form a government.

Kabul’s airport is out of action and Afghans fearful of Taliban reprisals are seeking safe passage overland into neighboring Iran, Pakistan and Central Asian states.

At Torkham, a border crossing with Pakistan just east of the Khyber Pass, a Pakistani official said: “A large number of people are waiting on the Afghanistan side for the opening of the gate.”

Thousands also gathered at the

Islam Qala post on the border with Iran. “I felt that being among Iranian security forces brought some kind of relaxation for Afghans as they entered Iran, compared with the past,” said one Afghan who crossed over.

Uzbekistan’s land border with northern Afghanistan remained closed but its government said it would assist Afghans in transit by air once flights resume.

The Taliban is talking with Qatar and Turkey about how to run Kabul airport, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said, but it could take days or weeks to finalize those negotiations.

More than 123,000 people were evacuated from Kabul in the Western airlift after the Taliban seized the city on Aug. 15, but tens of thousands at risk remained behind. Germany alone estimates that up to 40,000 have a right to be evacuated to Germany if they feel endangered.

Meanwhile, the new Taliban rulers faced the challenge of actually running the country. Their officials struggled to keep banks, hospitals and government machinery running, and long queues formed at banks in Kabul on Wednesday as people tried to withdraw savings. Prices in the bazaars have soared, the currency is sinking and inflation rising, and many offices and shops remain shut.

“Everything is expensive now, prices are going up every day,” said Kabul resident Zelgai.

The Taliban told Arab News on Wednesday that their leaders had concluded talks on forming a new government, which would be announced soon. The discussions were led by the group’s supreme leader, Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada,

and took place in Kandahar, Afghanistan’s second city and the group’s stronghold.

“In the near future, the nation will witness the formation of a new government and Cabinet ... the discussions for forming a new government have finished,” said Bilal Karimi, the Taliban’s deputy spokesman in Kabul. The government would be a “wide-ranging one with the presence of all parties in the new political system of Afghanistan,” he said.

But many Afghans remain skeptical. Abdul Qadeer Faqirzada, a spokesman for the National Resistance Forces, said: “The economic situation is in chaos, there is no rule of law and no government services, and it shows that the Taliban are unable to govern the country.”