As the US troops leave Afghanistan, Indian diplomats have temporarily closed the Indian Consulate in Kandahar amid increased Taliban violence, according to reports. The Indian diplomats in Kandahar have been evacuated by a special flight, according to sources. India’s embassy in Kabul is still operational. In the midst of peace talks with the US, the Taliban claims to control 85% of Afghanistan’s territory.
Consulate shut down, diplomats evacuated
Afghanistan’s president, Ashraf Ghani accused the Taliban of the ongoing violence in the country, in which 200 to 600 people are killed every day, according to reports. According to Tolo news, an Afghanistan media outlet, Ghani addressed a gathering in Khost province and urged the nation to stand together in support of independence, the republic, and coexistence. According to him, the Taliban should not accept the Durand Line as the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan, as Pakistan wants. In South Asia, the Durand Line runs over 2,670 kilometers (1,660 miles) between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
‘Who are the Taliban fighting for? If Afghanistan is destroyed and Afghans are killed, who will benefit?’ Ghani stated. Taliban announced on July 9 that it now controls 85% of Afghanistan’s territory. Shahabuddin Delawar, a key negotiator for the fundamentalist group, told reporters in Moscow that the controlled area now encompasses 250 of 398 districts. As US and NATO troops prepare to leave the Central Asian country, the Taliban is moving closer to re-establishing the Islamic Emirate in Afghanistan.
BBC reports that militants have successfully captured two-thirds of the country, including five districts in Herat. Meanwhile, a top Russian official revealed that militants have captured two-thirds of the territory near the Afghan-Tajik border. According to Delawar, the United States had to leave Afghanistan in 2020 due to the pact. It is not agreed with the United States that the Taliban will not attack administrative centers, though they will not take them ‘by force’.
Biden has largely resisted the notion that the US mission in Afghanistan has failed and said the mission will end on August 31. Earlier this week, the US abandoned Bagram airbase, a longtime staging area for US military operations in Afghanistan, without informing Afghan officials. According to the Pentagon, US forces have withdrawn 90% from Afghanistan.
‘We are ending the longest war in American history. I won’t send another generation of Americans to war in Afghanistan. We did not go to Afghanistan to build a nation. ‘Afghan leaders must come together and drive toward a future,’ Biden said. Despite Russia’s designation of the Taliban as a terrorist organization, Moscow has hosted several rounds of talks on Afghanistan, most recently in March. The Soviet Union fought a decade-long war in Afghanistan that ended with the withdrawal of Soviet troops in 1989.
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