As dozen of Taliban fighters took over the Presidential place in Afghanistan’s capital Kabul, they declared their victory over the Afghan government. One of the fighters declared that ‘our country has been liberated and the Mujahideen are victorious in Afghanistan.’ They declared that there will be no power-sharing between the two and that the Taliban will soon reconstruct and form an Islamic Government. As per the reports, the Taliban’s Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar is most likely to be Afghanistan’s new President.
The Afghan Interior Minister Abul Sattar Mirzakwal in his recorded speech stated that,
“The Afghan people should not worry … There will be no attack on the city and there will be a peaceful transfer of power to the transitional government.”
The locals have been asked not to leave their homes till 8 tomorrow morning. All the commercial flights have been canceled and banned from the Kabul airport. However, the airport is still under NATO control and only military aircraft will be allowed for take-off.
President Ghani Flees Country
Earlier on Sunday, President Ghani promised to make sure the security and law are in place and order for the citizen with full force. But later on the same day, the news that President Ghani had left the country with several members of the cabinet came as the Taliban entered the capital city of Kabul within a week of capturing major cities. As per news reports, the President is in Tajikistan and the armed group had been seeking resignation for a long time.
On the one hand, people have been angry and confused about President Ghani’s leaving, and on the other hand, many of the politicians have accused him of being unpatriotic and disgraceful. A former member of the National Security Council described this step as understandable yet it happened very quickly.
There have been reports of at least five people being killed at the Kabul airport as hundreds of people tried to enter planes to leave the country. US forces present at the airport fired in the air to control the crowd. Although the authorities did try to settle the people, yet they have failed to succeed.
As there are no aid agencies, and no government, the people are terrified as they have been abandoned and desperate to leave the country. Countries like Pakistan, China, and India have also sealed their borders as there have been reports of people trying to flee into these countries.
Embassies Shut
The NATO members including Britain, Italy, Denmark, Sweden, and Spain announced the evacuation of their embassy personnel. Britain has deployed around 600 troops to help evacuate 3,000 of its nationals. Canada has also suspended all the diplomatic operations in Afghanistan as the Canadian personnel is on their way back.
India has also come up with contingency plans to evacuate its officials. The G-17 Globe master military transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force has been kept on standby to help in understanding the evacuation missions.
Women to return home
Taliban fighters entered the offices of Azizi Bank in Kandahar and ordered the females working there to leave. These women were then escorted to their houses and were asked to never return to their jobs.
Since the rule of the Taliban from 1996 to 2001, women were not allowed to work and girls were not sent to attend schools. Women weren’t allowed to go alone and had to have a male relative to accompany them. The women who tried to do the opposite of the above were humiliated and beaten in public under the strict interpretations of Islamic Law.
Over the last 20 years, women have worked to change the situation to make the future better for them yet the present situation has been the biggest blow. Afghan women working in fields including journalism, healthcare, and law enforcement have been killed in a wave of attacks since peace talks began last year between the Taliban and the US-backed Afghan government. Once among the biggest achievements of the times can be now seen as changing dramatically.
The situation in Afghanistan has worsened. With no authorities present in the country, the people are finding it hard to feel secure. Although the Taliban has claimed that the transition will be peaceful and that the people have welcomed their presence in the country there have been zero reports to make these claims true. As the countries make sure evacuation of their people how the world now will be able to help Afghanistan just remains a question.
