Taliban set deadline for Western forces to leave

The situation in rapidly evolving in Afghanistan, and the Taliban are warning US to leave in time.

 Taliban set deadline for Western forces to leave

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• The story: Just before an emergency G7 meeting on Afghanistan, the Taliban warned there would be “consequences” if an extension is sought to the August 31 deadline for the US-led troop withdrawal.
• Warning: Taliban spokesperson Dr Suhail Shaheen said that the month-end deadline was a “red line”, as any extension would imply an extended occupation of the country. President Biden announced that on 31 August they would withdraw all their military forces. The  Taliban were responding to Joe Biden’s message that said the evacuation was going to be “hard and painful” and that “a lot could still go wrong”.

1. Biden had then said that US troops might stay beyond their August 31 deadline to oversee the evacuation. Britain has also urged the United States to extend its evacuation effort in Kabul past the August 31 deadline. That has spooked the Taliban.
2. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid addressed a press conference of Muslim clerics, urging the US to push back against “western propaganda about the Taliban” and said the US was undermining their rule by sending planes and offering Afghans asylum.

• Taliban versus local militia: In the meantime, the Taliban forces recaptured three districts in northern Afghanistan that fell to local militia groups. The districts of Bano, Deh Saleh, Pul e-Hesar in Baghlan province were taken by local militia groups in one of the first signs of armed resistance to the Taliban since their seizure of the capital Kabul on August 15.

1. Taliban forces cleared the districts and were established in Badakhshan, Takhar and Andarab near the Panjshir valley. The Twitter account of spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid was openly sharing these facts.
2. Forces loyal to Ahmad Massoud, son of the anti-Soviet mujahideen commander Ahmad Shah Massoud, established themselves in the Panjshir valley, a mountainous area northwest of Kabul which resisted the Taliban before 2001.
3. Massoud's forces include remnants of regular army and special forces units. He has called for negotiations to form an inclusive government for Afghanistan but has promised to resist if Taliban forces try to enter the valley.
4. The Taliban had warned that hundreds of fighters were heading towards Panjshir.

• Japan's position: Japan will send three military aircraft to Afghanistan starting Monday to evacuate Japanese citizens and local staff as security deteriorates following the Taliban takeover. Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi said the planes will pick up Japanese nationals and Afghans who worked for the Japanese Embassy and development agencies. Japan had closed its Kabul embassy on August 15 and set up a temporary office in neighboring Turkey (but local employees at the embassy and other Japan-related organisations remain in Afghanistan.
• Pakistan urges political agreement: In an interesting move, Pakistan urged the Taliban and other leaders in Afghanistan to try to reach an “inclusive political settlement” as soon as possible. Pakistan Foreign Minister (Shah Mahmood Qureshi) issued the appeal. He is visiting Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Iran to discuss the situation in Afghanistan. Qureshi found the Taliban talking to Afghan leaders, including former president Hamid Karzai, a good signal. He said Pakistan will continue to play its role for a "peaceful and politically negotiated solution" of the Afghan issue.
• EXAM QUESTIONS: (1) Explain the major phases that policymakers need to take India through, over next 40 years, to make it a climate action leader in the world. (2) Explain the three major challenges India will face in the future, due to climate change. What will agriculture face? Explain.
  

#Taliban #Afghansitan #Terrorism #US #Pakistan #China

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