Afghanistan: Angela Merkel believes that the international community must continue to “dialogue” with the Taliban – archyworldys

German Chancellor Angela Merkel ruled on Wednesday August 25 that the international community should continue “To dialogue with the Taliban”, returned to power a week ago, to preserve the social and cultural gains made possible by the presence of NATO troops, since 2001.

“Our goal must be to preserve as much as possible the changes we have made over the past twenty years in Afghanistan”, thus assured the Chancellor in front of the deputies of the Bundestag. “The international community must also dialogue on this with the Taliban”, she added, while the president Joe Biden confirmed the withdrawal of US troops on August 31.

“The Taliban are a reality in Afghanistan, continued M^me Merkel. This new reality is bitter, but we have to face it ”. Citing the progress made in the country since 2001, the Chancellor stressed that “Nearly 70%” of Afghans now had access to drinking water, when they were only 20% twenty years ago. She also insisted on infant mortality which, according to her speech, has halved in twenty years.

Towards the end of the airlifts

“In history, many things need a very long breath”, she stressed again, “This is why we must not forget Afghanistan and we will not forget it”. “I remain firmly convinced that no violence, no ideology can stop the aspiration for justice and peace”, hammered M^me Merkel.

Under pressure from G7 members, Biden had at one time considered extending evacuation operations beyond the deadline set by his administration. But on Monday the movement in power in Afghanistan had qualified of ” Red line ” any extension and warned of ” consequences ” if the announced date was not respected.

International operations to evacuate people from Kabul airport will therefore have to be stopped a few days before the deadline, in order to allow the American soldiers, who remained there to secure the airport, to leave. Thus, France has already announced that the rotations of its airlift will end on Thursday.

About 2,000 people have been evacuated from Afghanistan to France since Emmanuel Macron’s speech on August 16, government spokesman Gabriel Attal said on Tuesday. On Wednesday morning, two additional military flights landed at Roissy with more than 300 people on board, “Mostly Afghans”. In Europe, Poland has announced that it has already ended its evacuation operations.