Taliban advance: Biden approves $ 100 million in emergency aid for Afghan refugees

In view of the expected refugee movements due to the advance of the radical Islamic Taliban in Afghanistan, the US is providing one hundred million US dollars (around 85 million euros) in support in the areas of migration and displacement.

The funds are for "unexpected, urgent needs of refugees and migrants, victims of conflict and other people at risk because of the situation in Afghanistan," said a statement from the White House on Friday.

The funds are also intended to support former US aid workers in Afghanistan.

Around 20,000 Afghans, who worked in the country as interpreters for the US Army during the war, are now fearful of retaliation from the insurgents and have applied for special visas for the USA.

The money could be spent both bilaterally and through contributions to international organizations, nongovernmental groups, governments or US agencies, the statement said.

Tajikistan offers help

Afghanistan's neighbor Tajikistan has agreed to accept tens of thousands of Afghan refugees.

It is "currently possible to take in around 100,000 refugees from Afghanistan," said Emomali Ibrochimsoda of the Tajik Emergency Committee.

The refugees are to be accommodated on military training areas.

In the past few weeks, the country had already temporarily taken in more than a thousand Afghan soldiers who fled attacks by the Taliban.

Against the backdrop of the advance of the Taliban, the Tajik army held a major maneuver on Thursday.

Joint military exercises by Tajikistan and Russia are also planned in the Central Asian country at the beginning of August.

The Taliban want to control 90 percent of Afghanistan

The Taliban announced on Thursday that they now control 90 percent of Afghanistan's borders.

The Ministry of Defense in Kabul called this a "total lie".

Independent verification of the data is not possible.

Several Afghan MPs expressed concern about the state of the Afghan Air Force.

They called on the US to take steps to maintain and replenish ammunition stocks before they left.

The MP Hajji Ajmal Rahmani warned that a third of the 150 planes are currently not operational due to maintenance work.

Demand to stop deportation

In view of the situation, politicians of the Greens in the Bundestag renewed their demand for an end to the deportations to Afghanistan. "The federal government must finally stop deportations to Afghanistan," demanded the refugee policy spokeswoman Luise Amtsberg and foreign policy expert Omid Nouripour. The background to this is a new situation report from the Federal Foreign Office, which, according to a report by the newspaper taz, is playing down the situation in Afghanistan.

According to the taz, the confidential paper of the Federal Foreign Office continues to speak of safe areas for deportations, regardless of the latest developments. The stated “May status” could be a decisive reason for this. The current massive Taliban offensive only began in May, in which around 200 of the country's 388 districts have since been conquered. At the beginning of May, however, only 32 districts were still under the control of the Islamists. Doubts are also expressed in the “taz” report about the assertion by the Foreign Ministry that those seeking protection could “move to the larger cities”.

In parallel with the rapid withdrawal of US and other NATO troops from Afghanistan, the Taliban had conquered large parts of the country in recent months. Observers fear that the Islamists could regain power in the Hindu Kush after the international troops have withdrawn completely. The peace negotiations between the Taliban and the Afghan government in Doha have been stalled for months.