Afghanistan: meeting of heads of state of Central Asia, the advance of the Taliban worries the sub-region

Afghan security forces in Herat province, July 9, 2021 (Image illustration).

REUTERS - JALIL AHMAD

Text by: RFI Follow

5 mins

The heads of state of the five former Soviet republics in Central Asia met Friday, August 6 in Turkmenistan for a summit whose discussions should be dominated by concerns about the advance of the Taliban in neighboring Afghanistan.

Publicity

Read more

The summit, which is being held in the seaside town of Avaza, on the shores of the Caspian Sea, comes as the Taliban try to take control of several large besieged cities, after having seized over the last three months vast rural territories and key border posts, during a lightning offensive launched in favor of the withdrawal of American forces and their allies.

Turkmen President Gourbangouly Berdymoukhamedov noted that the situation in Afghanistan was " 

the issue that concerns us all

 ", according to remarks broadcast on television, while receiving his Tajik counterpart Emomali Rakhmon.

A meeting which is held while we learned this Friday of the assassination of the head of the communication service of the Afghan government during the prayer in Kabul.

A few days ago, the Taliban promised to target government officials.

Russian military exercises

The summit also takes place as Russia, a regional power, is holding

joint military exercises with Tajikistan and Uzbekistan

on the Afghan border. The chief of staff of the Russian army, Valéri Guérassimov, arrived in Uzbekistan Thursday, estimated that " 

the main threat for the region of Central Asia comes today from the Afghan side

 ", questioning the " 

withdrawal hasty foreign forces

 ' of the country.

If

the Taliban

assure that they do not threaten the other countries of Central Asia and have established official contacts with Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, experts believe that a very deteriorated security situation in Afghanistan constitutes a threat in itself for any the region.

The Avaza summit is a rare example of diplomacy between the five ex-republics of Central Asia - Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan,

Tajikistan

and Kyrgyzstan - without supervision by foreign powers such as Russia, China or the United States. .

Fights in the cities

On the ground, the Taliban's advance is materialized by numerous fighting in urban areas, which have left many dead and wounded, especially in the cities of Lashkar Gah, in the south of the country, in Kandahar or even in Herat in recent days. .

This hinders the work of humanitarian organizations, " 

since it affects much denser areas, in terms of populations"

, indicates Eloi Fillion, head of the delegation of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Afghanistan, joined by

Justine Maurel

of international service.

►Also read: Afghanistan: "The Taliban have a strategy of encircling cities to bring them down"

" 

This obviously implies much more destruction of civilian infrastructure, whether they are necessary for the production of electricity, for the water supply, for example, or for the provision of services necessary for the survival of the populations. , like the medical service, for example

”

, continues the humanitarian at the microphone of

RFI

.

Access to healthcare is becoming more complicated.

"Either people are forced to move from their homes to flee the fighting, or they are blocked, without being able to access health structures,"

says Eloi Fillion.

Newsletter

Receive all international news directly in your mailbox

I subscribe

Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application

google-play-badge_FR

• Afghanistan

• Turkmenistan

• Taliban