Afghanistan: UN adopts resolution for "safe" departures without protected area
According to the Pentagon, the airlift in place since August 14 has evacuated 122,000 people.
WAKIL KOHSAR AFP
Text by: RFI Follow
6 mins
The UN Security Council adopted on Monday a resolution setting in stone the “
commitments
” of the Taliban in favor of the “
safe
”
departure
of those who want to leave Afghanistan, without however demanding the protected zone mentioned by France .
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The text drafted by the United States, France and the United Kingdom was approved by 13 of the 15 members of the Security Council. Only China and Russia abstained. In the resolution, the Council says it “
expects
” that the Taliban will keep all its “
commitments
”, in particular as regards the “
safe
” and “
orderly
”
departure
from Afghanistan of “
Afghans and foreign nationals
”, after the withdrawal of the United States which must be completed on Tuesday.
On the other hand, it does not make any reference to
the protected area, mentioned by Emmanuel Macron
.
On Sunday, the French president had declared that Paris and London would plead at the UN for the creation of such a “safe zone” in Kabul, in particular to allow the continuation of “
humanitarian operations
”.
Principles and Warnings
Asked Monday, diplomats at the UN explained that it was not a protected area per se, but rather to hold the Taliban to account for their commitment to allow "
safe passage
" for the departing candidates. . "
This resolution is not operational, it is mostly about principles, key political messages, and warnings,
" one of the diplomats told reporters.
According to Richard Gowan, UN specialist at the conflict prevention organization International Crisis Group, the resolution "
sends at least a political message to the Taliban about the need to keep the airport open and to help the United Nations to channel the aid
”. But overall, "
the text is quite light
", and "
Macron was wrong to oversell the idea of a protected area at Kabul airport
", "
or in any case not to communicate very clearly
" , he told Agence France-Presse.
According to the resolution, the Security Council also “
reaffirms
” the importance of “
respect for human rights, including those of women, children and minorities
”, and “
encourages
” the establishment of an “
inclusive
political solution”.
”With a“
significant
”
participation
of women.
He also “
asks
” that Afghan territory not be used to “
threaten or attack
” other countries, nor to shelter “
terrorists
”.
Tension at its height
The gigantic airlift set up on August 14 to allow the evacuation of Western nationals and Afghans likely to suffer reprisals for having worked for foreign forces made it possible to exfiltrate 122,000 people, according to the latest figures released Monday by the Pentagon.
But since
Thursday's attack near Kabul airport
claimed by the Islamic State group in Khorasan (IS-K), the tension around the last phase of the evacuation operations has been at its height.
"
We are at a particularly dangerous time
," warned Pentagon spokesman John Kirby.
“
The threats are still real, current and often specific.
"
This Monday, IS-K claimed to have fired
six rockets at the airport
, which did not affect the evacuation operations which continued "
without interruption
", according to the White House.
A Taliban official at the scene of the shooting said the rockets were stopped by the airport's missile defense system.
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