In Afghanistan, the Taliban alone in command – archyde

This is not the victory the Taliban expected. Entering Kabul on August 15, they thought they would guarantee peace after forty years of war, but the violence resumed with attacks by the Islamic State (IS) organization. They hoped to inspire confidence, but thousands of Afghans continue to want to leave the country, while the airlift organized by the United States and its allies ends on Tuesday, August 31. They thought they could get the country back on track, but anger is already raging in the cities, where the economy is at a standstill. They did not doubt the unity of the movement, and they saw the emergence of internal rivalries.

The departure of the Americans from Afghanistan, after twenty years of presence in this country, will have been chaotic until the last hour. Sunday afternoon, the Kabuli population still believed that a new explosion, not far from the airport, had struck civilians, where tens of thousands of candidates had gathered for two weeks. The US military, however, quickly confirmed that it was a strike by one of its drones on a vehicle driven by an IS suicide bomber who the Pentagon said was threatening to detonate it near the soldiers. foreigners still present. Less than 4,000 American soldiers would remain on site out of the 5,800 sent to secure the evacuation operation.

The day before, in retaliation for the August 26 attack, which killed more than a hundred people, including 13 American soldiers and two British soldiers, the United States had already carried out a similar strike. National security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Sunday that the targets “Were operators and organizers involved in the transport and manufacture of explosive devices”. Two were killed and one injured. They belonged, he added, to the jihadist movement, whose Islamic State branch in Khorasan (EI-K) claimed responsibility for the attack. He stays “300 Americans or less” to be evacuated, said Secretary of State Antony Blinken on the same day.

As evacuations near their end at the airport, armed Taliban have taken possession of land and buildings adjacent to the terminals and the tarmac, according to witnesses on the spot, joined by The world. They cordoned off the entire perimeter and the crowds gathered at the airport entrance gates disappeared. Now, they also filter all passengers, often escorted by bus. “We have lists given by the Americans (…). If your name is on the list, you can skip ”, assured Agence France-Presse (AFP) a Taliban official.

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