The Taliban continue this Thursday to control the surroundings of Kabul airport, where the complex evacuation operations are continuing laboriously, but the United States accused them of obstructing access to Afghans who wish to leave the country.

Tens of thousands of people have tried to flee Afghanistan since the radical Islamist movement took power on Sunday, after an expeditious military campaign that allowed it in ten days to enter the capital.

Afghans struggle to reach the airport

These Afghans, who still remember their previous regime, between 1996 and 2001, and their catastrophic record in terms of respect for human rights, have no confidence in the multiple assurances given in recent days by the Taliban. They have sought to present themselves in a much more benevolent light, promising not to seek revenge and even saying they have pardoned former government officials. But for many Afghans and for the international community, mistrust remains. If the Taliban do allow American citizens access to Kabul airport, it seems that they "prevent Afghans who wish to leave the country from reaching the airport," lamented Wendy Sherman, number two in the department of US state.

The United States expects them "to allow all American citizens, all third country nationals and all Afghans to leave if they wish, in a safe manner and without harassment," he said. she adds.

The triumph of the Taliban had triggered a monster panic at Kabul airport.

A human tide rushed towards what is the only way out of Afghanistan on Monday.

The United States sent 6,000 military personnel to secure Kabul airport and remove some 30,000 Americans and Afghan civilians who worked for them and feared for their lives.

The US military has already evacuated more than 3,200 people, including US personnel, and nearly 2,000 Afghan refugees.

Other Western countries, including France and the United Kingdom, have also carried out evacuations.

"Many differences"

Heavily criticized in the United States and abroad for his management of the withdrawal of American troops after 20 years of war, considered hasty, President Joe Biden estimated Wednesday that a certain form of "chaos" was inevitable anyway. On Tuesday, a spokesman for the Taliban, Zabihullah Mujahid, assured that they had learned from their first exercise of power, before being driven out in 2001 by a coalition led by the United States, and that there would be "many differences" in the way they run their country. They then imposed an ultra-rigorous version of Islamic law. Women could neither work nor study, and thieves and murderers faced terrible punishments.

But not everyone is convinced that they have changed.

"I am desperately trying to leave," said an Afghan thirty-something who worked for a German NGO on Wednesday.

“Yesterday (Tuesday) I went to the airport with my children and my family, the Taliban and the Americans were shooting at people, but, despite that, they kept moving forward because they knew a worse situation that death awaited them outside, ”he said.

Presenting themselves as more moderate, the Taliban seem to receive a less hostile international reception than two decades ago when only three countries (Pakistan, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia) had recognized their regime, although no one has yet gone so far. there for now.

Policy consultations

China, Russia, Turkey and Iran have sent them opening signals. But the Western countries, Germany, the United States, France and the United Kingdom in particular, are more reluctant and wait to judge "on the acts". The Taliban, whose co-founder and number two, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, returned to Afghanistan on Tuesday, held political consultations in Kabul on Wednesday with prominent Afghan figures. They released footage showing former Afghan President Hamid Karzai with Anas Haqqani. He was participating in negotiations with the Afghan government in Doha, which never led to any outcome.

But he is above all the younger brother of Sirajuddin Haqqani, the head of the eponymous network, described as terrorist by Washington, who also has the status of number two within the Taliban.

The latter also met with former vice-president Abdullah Abdullah, according to the monitoring group of Islamist sites SITE.

These negotiations were welcomed by ex-President Ashraf Ghani, who fled to the United Arab Emirates on Sunday.

"I wish the success of this process," he said in a video message posted on Facebook, claiming to be "in talks to return to Afghanistan".

But the United States considered that Ashraf Ghani, who had succeeded Hamid Karzai in 2014, is "no longer a person who matters in Afghanistan".

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  • Evacuation

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  • Afghanistan

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