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DOHA, Qatar (AFP) — US Secretary of State Antony Blinken mentioned Tuesday that the Taliban had reiterated a pledge to permit Afghans to freely depart Afghanistan following his assembly with Qatari officers on accelerating evacuations.
US President Joe Biden has confronted mounting stress amid experiences that a number of hundred folks, together with Individuals, had been prevented for every week from flying out of an airport in northern Afghanistan.
The Taliban informed the USA that “they may let folks with journey paperwork freely depart,” Blinken informed a information convention in Doha the place he and Protection Secretary Lloyd Austin met their Qatari counterparts.
“We are going to maintain them to that,” he mentioned.
Qatar mentioned that Kabul airport, largely closed for the reason that conclusion of Washington’s chaotic withdrawal from the nation on the finish of August, would reopen quickly, doubtlessly opening an vital hall for Afghans in search of to go away.
“The complete worldwide neighborhood is trying to the Taliban to uphold that dedication,” Blinken mentioned, referring to a UN Safety Council decision that urged secure passage.
Biden’s senior cupboard members had dinner on arrival Monday with Qatar’s ruler Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani the place they expressed Washington’s because of Doha for its help with the Afghanistan airlift.
‘Extraordinary assist’
Qatar was the transit level for practically half of the greater than 120,000 folks evacuated from Afghanistan within the remaining days of the 20-year US warfare because the Taliban took over.
Doha is the Taliban’s worldwide diplomatic base though Blinken’s aides mentioned he has no plans to satisfy them as Washington as a substitute waits to guage the group’s actions in energy to find out the extent of engagement.
The US on Monday facilitated the evacuation of 4 Individuals by land from Afghanistan, the primary departures organized by Washington for the reason that navy pullout.
A State Division official mentioned the Taliban had been conscious of the operation and didn’t intervene.
However non-governmental organizations say that some 600 to 1,300 folks — together with women and US residents — are caught on the airport within the northern metropolis of Mazar-i-Sharif.
Newly launched satellite tv for pc photos present six industrial airplanes at Mazar-i-Sharif airport in northern Afghanistan that aren’t being allowed to depart by the Taliban. Americans and Afghan interpreters are reportedly ready to board the flights. ????: @Maxar pic.twitter.com/Ov7kB3z5VP
— Daniel Lippman (@dlippman) September 5, 2021
Marina LeGree, the founder and govt director of a small American non-governmental group energetic in Afghanistan, informed AFP that the Taliban are usually not letting anybody by way of.
US officers say they not management the airspace in Afghanistan and that the primary airport in Kabul, which the US navy seized in August for evacuations, is in disrepair.
Qatari technical groups have deployed to Kabul to evaluate the viability of the airport and start to organize it for a return to operation to permit evacuations and the arrival of badly wanted humanitarian provides.
Blinken in his assembly with the Gulf state’s ruler hailed “Qatar’s extraordinary assist in facilitating the secure transit of US residents, our companions, and different Afghans at-risk,” the State Division mentioned.
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