The Taliban agree to allow foreign nationals and Afghans with travel authorization to leave Afghanistan.
The Taliban have assured 100 countries that they will continue to allow foreigners and Afghans with foreign travel documents to leave the country “in a safe and orderly manner,” even after the US troop withdrawal ends on Tuesday, the countries said in a statement. released on Sunday.
The group of 100 nations includes the United States, Great Britain, France and Germany.
“We have received assurances from the Taliban that all foreign nationals and any Afghan national with travel authorization from our countries will be able to proceed safely and in an orderly manner to exit points and travel outside the country,” the statement said.
“We are all committed to ensuring that our citizens, nationals and residents, employees, Afghans who have worked with us and those who are at risk can continue to travel freely to destinations outside of Afghanistan,” added the statement, which was also signed by the Union. European and NATO.
The group said it would continue to issue travel documents to “designated Afghans,” adding that “we have the clear expectation and commitment from the Taliban that they can travel to our respective countries.”
China and Russia were not among the signatories to the document.
Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser to US President Joe Biden, said early Sunday that any American who chooses to stay “is not going to be trapped in Afghanistan.”
The United States has “a mechanism to remove them” if they choose to leave in the future, Sullivan added on Fox News, without elaborating.
“The Taliban have compromised with us,” he said.
France and Britain plan to ask the United Nations on Monday to create a “safe zone” in Kabul to allow humanitarian operations to continue, French President Emmanuel Macron told the Journal du Dimanche, saying the proposal was “completely feasible.”
Permanent members of the UN Security Council – the United States, Britain, China, France and Russia – will meet on Monday to discuss the crisis in Afghanistan.
France ended its evacuation efforts in Afghanistan on Friday and Britain followed suit on Saturday.
US troops have been fighting in dangerous and chaotic conditions to complete a mass evacuation operation from Kabul airport before the August 31 deadline.
(AFP)
