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Imran Khan said, “It is harder to throw off the chains of cultural enslavement. What is happening in Afghanistan now, they have broken the shackles of slavery”

The Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, according to Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, is “breaking the chains of slavery”. The Pakistan-backed group took over Kabul yesterday, setting off concerns about the return of the hardline system which deprived many sections, especially women, of civil rights in terms of education, jobs and marriage.

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Talking about English as a medium of education and the subsequent absorption of culture, Imran Khan said, “You take over the other culture and become psychologically subservient. When that happens, please remember, it is worse than actual slavery. It is harder to throw off the chains of cultural enslavement. What is happening in Afghanistan now, they have broken the shackles of slavery”.

Panic reigned in the war-torn nation as the Taliban reconquered Afghanistan in the space of 10 days and took control of Kabul on Sunday — more than two weeks before the August 31 deadline for complete pullout of the US troops.

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President Ashraf Ghani fled the country, conceding that the terrorists have won the 20-year war.

The astonishingly quick collapse of the government, with the Taliban taking over the presidential palace on Sunday night, had triggered panic in Kabul. Last evening, chaos reigned at the Kabul airport, where thousands of Afghans gathered, desperate to leave the country.

Gunshots were heard as the people jostled to get into the few remaining aircraft. The Afghan airspace has been closed.

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While most fear retaliation by Taliban, especially in cases of support to the US invasion and occupation, there are concerns about the loss of hard-won civic rights over the last 20 years.

The United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has urged Taliban and all other parties “to exercise utmost restraint in order to protect lives and ensure that humanitarian needs can be addressed,” the UN said in a statement.

He was “particularly concerned about the future of women and girls, whose hard-won rights must be protected,” the statement added.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Kashmir Today staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

With inputs from NDTV

New York: The UN Security Council will hold an emergency meeting on Afghanistan on Monday morning at the request of Estonia and Norway.

Council diplomats said Sunday that UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will brief council members on the latest situation following the Taliban takeover of the capital, Kabul.

The UN chief on Friday had urged the Taliban to immediately halt their offensive in Afghanistan and negotiate “in good faith” to avert a prolonged civil war.

He also said he is “deeply disturbed by early indications that the Taliban are imposing severe restrictions in the areas under their control, particularly targeting women and journalists.

SRINAGAR, AUG 15: Taliban commander Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar will become the new president, as Afghan President Ashraf Ghani tenders his resignation as the government surrenders to Taliban forces in Kabul, Times Now reported.

Afghan Interior Minister Abdul Sattar Mirzakwal earlier announced on Sunday that there would be a “peaceful transfer of power” to the interim government in Afghanistan. The announcement follows a statement from the Afghan Taliban saying they would not enter the federal capital, Kabul, until the transfer of power.

“The Afghan people need not worry,” the interior minister said in a pre-recorded statement. The city will not be attacked and power will be peacefully transferred to the interim government.

A Taliban spokesman says Taliban fighters will not enter the capital, Kabul, and have been told to wait at the city’s entrances. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement posted in his tweet that “the Islamic Emirate has instructed all its fighters to stop at the entrances to Kabul and not try to enter the city.”

A Taliban spokesman said in a statement that “our fighters are not entering the city and we want a peaceful transfer of power.” The statement, issued in Pashto, announced a general amnesty and assured everyone that no retaliation would be taken against anyone. (PTK)

Two sources said that President Ashraf Ghani has left the country after the Taliban entered the city on Sunday.

According to the sources, his close aides have also left the country along with him.

Earlier in the day, acting defense minister Bismillah Mohammadi said that the president has handed the authority of solving the crisis in the country to political leaders.
Mohammadi said that a delegation will travel to Doha on Monday for talks on the country’s situation.

The delegation includes key political leaders, including Younus Qanooni, Ahmad Wali Massoud, Mohammad Mohaqiq among others.

Sources close to the Taliban said that it has been agreed that Ghani will resign after a political agreement and hand the power to a transitional government.

Afghans have said that they seek a political settlement and an end to the ongoing violence in the country.

The Taliban have released a statement online saying they have instructed their forces not to cross the gates of Kabul and take the city by force.

Instead, they say, “negotiations are underway to ensure that the transition process is completed safely and securely, without compromising the lives, property and honor of anyone, and without compromising the lives of Kabulis.”

They also released another statement trying to reassure banks, merchants and other entrepreneurs that their property, money and institutions will not be distrubed by the armed group.

Despite the online assurances, people continue to leave the city streets and try to find ways to head home.

With inputs from Agencies

Taliban leader says group’s fighters were ordered to allow safe passage to anyone looking to leave Kabul

The Taliban have begun entering Kabul, Afghanistan’s interior ministry and the armed group said, with Taliban Source confirming to the same.

The development on Sunday came just hours after the group seized control of the key eastern city of Jalalabad, securing critical roads connecting the country to Pakistan.

A Taliban leader in Doha, which has been the site of years-long peace negotiations between the Afghan government and the group, said fighters on Sunday were ordered to refrain from violence and offer safe passage to those wishing to leave Kabul.

It is unclear whether the government of President Ashraf Ghani will mount a counteroffensive or capitulate.

President Ghani still in Afghanistan: Source

A source close to President Ashraf Ghani has denied reports that he has fled the country, saying the president spent most of the morning in the garden of his residence in the ARG Presidential Palace with the the first lady.

News18

Taliban fighters entered the outskirts of Kabul on Sunday as panicked workers fled government offices and helicopters began landing at the U.S. Embassy in the Afghan capital, further tightening the militants’ grip on the country. Three Afghan officials told The Associated Press that the fighters were in the districts of Kalakan, Qarabagh and Paghman in the capital. The militants themselves didn’t acknowledge the advance, though they earlier took Jalalabad, near a major border crossing with Pakistan, the last major city other than Kabul not under their control.

The insurgents took control of the key eastern city of Jalalabad on Sunday, just hours after the seizing the northern anti-Taliban bastion of Mazar-i-Sharif — furthering an astonishing rout of government forces and warlord militias achieved in just 10 days.

Taliban fighters on Saturday had captured the key northern Afghan city of Mazar-i-Sharif and closed in on Kabul, as US President Joe Biden sent more troops to evacuate American personnel and their allies. Just before residents confirmed the fall of Mazar-i-Sharif, once an anti-Taliban bastion, beleaguered Afghan President Ashraf Ghani addressed the nation, vowing to prevent further bloodshed, despite the rout suffered by Afghan forces over the last 10 days.

But Ghani — who went to Mazar-i-Sharif just days ago to rally his faltering troops — gave no hint in his speech that he would take responsibility for the calamitous military collapse or resign. Kabul has effectively become the besieged last stand for government forces, who have offered little or no resistance elsewhere.

News18 had earlier reported that Taliban have reached a district of Kabul, 10 kms away from the main city, with the United States and other countries scrambling to airlift their nationals to safety ahead of a feared all-out assault.

As a new wave of US military personnel landed to oversee the evacuation of embassy employees and thousands of Afghans who worked for US forces and now fear Taliban reprisals, Biden said more soldiers would follow.

“I have authorized the deployment of approximately 5,000 US troops” to oversee both the evacuations and the final withdrawal of US forces after 20 years on the ground, Biden said after meeting with his national security team. That represented an influx of 1,000 troops, from the roughly 1,000 already on the ground, and 3,000 soldiers ordered in a few days ago, a US defense official said.

In his first address to the nation since the Taliban launched their sweeping offensive, which was recorded, Ghani said he wanted to stop the violence. “I will not let the imposed war on people cause more deaths,” he said, appearing sombre and sitting before an Afghan flag.

Ghani said the armed forces could be “remobilized” and consultations were taking place to try to help end the fighting, but offered few specifics on what his administration was planning. The presidential palace later said “a delegation with authority should soon be appointed by the government and be ready for negotiation”. Further details were not immediately available.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Kashmir Today staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)