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Afghan government collapses as Taliban sweeps in, U.S. sends more troops to aid chaotic withdrawal
KABUL — Taliban fighters took control of Kabul on Sunday, delivering the militant Islamist group authority over all of Afghanistan as the Western-backed government collapsed, President Ashraf Ghani fled, and the long-dominant American presence appeared to be coming to an abrupt and chaotic end after nearly 20 years. The takeover of the sprawling capital city had been years in the making but was ultimately accomplished in a single day. Insurgent fighters, fresh off their conquests in each of Afghanistan’s provincial hubs over the previous week, faced little to no resistance as they entered the city through its major traffic arteries Sunday morning. By evening, Taliban members were giving television interviews in the lavish presidential palace, just hours after Ghani had departed Afghanistan. A desperate exodus was underway at the airport, with thousands of people clamoring to board flights. And the Pentagon was speeding in additional troops to assist with the withdrawal of U.S. personnel after the American flag was lowered from a now-abandoned embassy. The footage of rifle-toting Taliban fighters occupying the presidential palace and rolling up the Afghan national flag stood as a defining image of a failed U.S. effort to transform Afghan society at the cost of a trillion dollars and thousands of lives lost. “Decades from now, these images will be invoked as a vivid example of the limits of U.S. power, and of its inability to fight modern wars effectively or to end them on favorable terms,” said Michael Kugelman, an Afghanistan scholar at the Wilson Center.
Asked about comparisons to the United States’ departure from Vietnam in 1975, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on ABC News’s “This Week” that “this is manifestly not Saigon.” But the frenzied rush to the exits exuded anything but the calm and orderly withdrawal the administration had promised. As the Taliban encircled and then entered Kabul on Sunday, U.S. personnel at the embassy in Afghanistan relocated to the airport along with acting U.S. ambassador Ross Wilson, who left the sprawling U.S. compound with the American flag. In a briefing to lawmakers, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the airport had been reopened to commercial flights. But many Americans and Afghans seeking to flee said they were turned away and told flights had been canceled. Accounts circulated on social media of chaotic scenes at the airport, as foreigners and Afghans desperately sought to flee the country. A video on Snapchat showed crowds massing on the tarmac Sunday night, as people were pulled into what appeared to be a military cargo plane. Officials said they hoped the Taliban would allow them to continue flights over the next several days. The Pentagon is expected to deploy another 1,000 troops to Afghanistan from a brigade combat team with the 82nd Airborne Division, resulting in a total of 6,000 U.S. troops on the ground at Kabul International Airport. In a joint statement, the Pentagon and State Department said the United States would be transferring out thousands of Americans and Afghans “over the coming days” and was taking over air traffic control at the airport. A U.S. defense official said Sunday night that the U.S. military was taking charge of security at the airport. Some other forces, including Turks, remained, the official said. On Capitol Hill, Republicans blasted what they called a “chaotic retreat” following the Biden administration’s decision to withdraw remaining U.S. troops, though most refrained from calling for a return to war. Blinken took to the Sunday TV shows to defend the Biden administration’s decision to withdraw, arguing that the Taliban’s current offensive would have happened even if U.S. forces remained in Afghanistan. “If the president had decided to stay, all gloves would’ve been off, we would’ve been back at war with the Taliban, attacking our forces, the offensive you’ve seen throughout the country almost certainly would’ve proceeded,” Blinken told NBC News. Blinken did not directly answer the question of how the United States failed to anticipate the speed of the Taliban’s takeover. As of last week, the U.S. military had estimated a collapse could take 90 days. In June, American officials had forecast a collapse in six to 12 months. Instead, it took 10 days, with provincial capitals falling one after the next. Emerging as the undisputed winner of America’s longest war, Taliban co-founder Abdul Ghani Baradar struck a conciliatory tone in a video statement recorded in Doha. “We have reached a victory that wasn’t expected … we should show humility in front of Allah,” said Baradar, head of the Taliban’s political bureau. “Now it’s about how we serve and secure our people and ensure their future to the best of our ability.” But with the Taliban’s takeover complete, there was deep apprehension that the group’s brutal tactics — for which it was known during its five years in power before being ousted by the U.S.-led invasion after 9/11 — would soon return. U.N. Secretary General António Guterres issued a statement saying the events raised “deep concern,” especially when it comes to the future of women and girls. The U.N. Security Council was set to hold an emergency meeting on Afghanistan on Monday morning. Ghani did not appear publicly on Sunday. But on his Facebook page, he posted a message explaining that the Taliban had given him no choice but to depart the country. “In order to avoid a flood of blood, I thought it was best to get out,” he said. Footage from Al Jazeera from inside the presidential palace late Sunday showed Taliban leaders with long beards and turbans seated around a wooden table, as militants wielding assault rifles stood behind them. Some lounged on gilded chairs. The Taliban “wants a participatory government with various components of the Afghan people,” Qari Salahuddin, the Taliban’s central security official, told Al Jazeera Arabic. He said arrangements were underway for the return of the movement’s leaders to Kabul. In messages apparently distributed to Kabul residents via the messaging group WhatsApp, the group proclaimed that “we are in charge of security for Kabul.” “The Islamic Emirate assures you that no one should be in panic or feeling fear,” one message said. “Taliban is taking over the city without fighting and no one will be at risk.” Meanwhile, Afghan leaders who have been the Taliban’s nemesis for the past two decades issued pleas for the group to refrain from retributory violence. High Council for National Reconciliation Chair Abdullah Abdullah announced the formation of a new “coordination council” with former Afghan president Hamid Karzai and former warlord-turned-politician Gulbuddin Hekmatyar to deal directly with the Taliban in Kabul. The Taliban has not responded publicly to the group, but U.S. officials assume that the militants are equally interested in preventing violence as they consolidate their control. There is no sense among those officials that a power-sharing government is being discussed. Rather, the Taliban was expected to set the terms and the council would facilitate its nonviolent takeover. | |||||||||||||||||
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