Taliban consolidate control in Afghanistan’s capital; thousands remain stranded

The Taliban consolidated their management of the Afghan capital Tuesday as many shops reopened, site visitors police returned to their posts and a senior official from the Islamist motion arrived for contacts with political leaders affiliated with the fallen Afghan republic.

1000’s of Afghans employed by Western embassies in Kabul remained stranded within the metropolis, unable to enter the airport for evacuation flights. Army flights resumed because the U.S. despatched extra troops to safe the airport, however entry remained tough because the Taliban erected checkpoints on the entrances, turning individuals away. Some evacuation flights had been leaving near-empty because of this.

Taliban brokers continued looking the places of work and houses of Afghans affiliated with Western governments and organizations, accumulating proof. On the new checkpoints that sprang up within the metropolis, they inspected residents’ smartphones for illicit content material—and for communications in English.

In Kabul, the Taliban, who proclaimed the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan once they first seized the nation in 1996, have up to now kept away from the sort of radical actions that introduced world-wide condemnation up to now. They issued an amnesty for presidency officers and on Tuesday allowed feminine presenters on tv channels.

The one identified execution because the capital’s Sunday takeover was of Abu Omar Khorasani, the previous head of Islamic State in South Asia, who was taken by the Taliban from an Afghan authorities jail and killed on the spot, in accordance with officers. A photograph of his physique was later posted on social media.

Former Afghan President Hamid Karzai, former chief peace negotiator Abdullah Abdullah and former Islamist warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, who initially allied himself with the Taliban however then reconciled with Kabul, have all remained within the Afghan capital after President Ashraf Ghani and most of his authorities fled the nation on Sunday.

Mr. Hekmatyar, in an interview with the British Broadcasting Corp.’s Pashto service, stated the Kabul-based politicians wished to speak about sharing energy with the Taliban, however didn’t have any particulars about how that will work. A extra inclusive authorities—not like the Taliban’s Islamic Emirate—may get hold of worldwide recognition and worldwide help.

Haroun Rahmini, an assistant professor of legislation on the American College of Afghanistan, which has suspended operations, stated now that the Taliban are completely dominant, any new authorities that emerges will probably be of their selecting, reasonably than a extra impartial interim setup. He stated it was unclear whether or not the Taliban could be beneficiant of their triumph.

“The non-Taliban facet doesn’t have any leverage to pressure something,” he stated. “But when the Taliban exclude their opposition, in the event that they don’t attempt to develop the home base of their assist, they could be laying the seeds for a resistance to emerge towards them.”

Not like within the Nineteen Nineties, the place important pockets of Afghanistan remained outdoors Taliban management, significantly within the Panjshir Valley and northeastern Badakhshan province, the Islamist motion this month seized the whole nation and faces no organized armed opposition. Just one outstanding member of the deposed authorities, former Vice President Amrullah Saleh, has vowed to actively resist Taliban rule.

Plans to renew power-sharing negotiations in Doha, Qatar, the place the Taliban’s political workplace relies, have stalled up to now, partly due to unrest at Kabul’s airport. 1000’s of determined Afghans have flocked to the airport’s neighborhood, lots of them with out visas or passports, hoping to get overseas.

A member of the republic’s negotiating group stated efforts had been beneath approach to get Mr. Karzai and Dr. Abdullah to Doha as quickly as attainable. In the meantime, Amir Khan Muttaqi, a member of the Taliban’s prime management council and a former data minister of their pre-2001 authorities, arrived within the Afghan capital for dialogue, Western officers and pro-Taliban accounts stated. Footage on social media additionally confirmed him inspecting the places of work of an Afghan state tv channel, which resumed broadcasts and Tuesday had a feminine presenter—clad in a decent black veil however exhibiting her face—interview a Taliban consultant.

The Taliban’s chief spokesman, Zabiullah Mujahid, stated he would maintain the group’s first press convention in Kabul later Tuesday.

Earlier than the Taliban’s victory, the U.S. and different international locations had been making an attempt to persuade the Taliban and the Afghan political representatives to kind an interim administration, composed of individuals from either side. That initiative by no means labored, partly as a result of Mr. Ghani rejected Taliban calls for to resign first, and partly as a result of the Taliban stalled discussions a few highway map to such an settlement, taking part in for time as their army offensive intensified.

This story has been printed from a wire company feed with out modifications to the textual content