The Taliban demanded guarantees: G7 summit without a happy ending for local employees

Tuesday 24 August 2021

I asked for guarantees from the Taliban
G7 summit with no happy ending for local staff

The G7 summit is not a breakthrough for the local Afghan workers who still fear for their lives in the country. The United States does not want to delay its withdrawal, so the European Union and the United Kingdom are demanding security guarantees from the Taliban. But they no longer want their subjects to leave the country.

US President Joe Biden is committed to completing the withdrawal from Afghanistan by August 31. This is what his spokeswoman Jen Psaki said after a virtual G7 summit on Afghanistan. Chancellor Angela Merkel also said after the deliberations: “The President of the United States of America did not present any new dates today on the known date of August 31.”

Biden will not extend the military operation in Afghanistan in favor of the ongoing evacuation mission at Kabul’s capital airport. The G7 countries are now demanding more security guarantees from the radical Islamist Taliban movement for people to leave the country. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said the militia must guarantee everyone who wants to leave the country a safe exit after August 31.

Recently, pressure has grown on Biden to extend the military operation in Afghanistan beyond August 31, so that Western citizens, as well as local workers willing to leave the country, can leave the country. According to EU Council President Charles Michel, EU countries called on Biden during the G7 deliberations to secure Kabul airport “for as long as possible” in order to return vulnerable Afghans to safety. However, the Taliban threatened consequences if the United States extended its reach. Currently, about 5,800 US soldiers are securing Kabul Airport.

Will Kabul continue to operate as a civilian airport?

Merkel has now said that the question of the future security of the airport is emerging. “How can we ensure that local workers and people in need of protection are still able to leave the country after that? This is why the question of whether one can operate a civilian airport in Kabul again plays a role that is being talked about very intensely at the moment.”

And the hardline Islamist Taliban movement had previously insisted on completing the task of rescuing Western countries from Afghanistan by the end of the month. “We want to evacuate all foreigners by August 31,” Taliban spokesman Sabiullah Mujahid said at his second press conference since the Islamists came to power. The speaker also disputed the fact that many educated Afghans and skilled workers are leaving the country. You need this to rebuild Afghanistan.