The Wall Street Journal reported that CIA agents and US soldiers were conducting the operation outside Kabul airport. Secret missions aim to evacuate American citizens and endanger Afghans. According to the New York Times, given the slow pace of evacuation in Afghanistan, there will be about 250,000 Afghans to be relocated from the country.
Since mid-August, diplomats and foreign nationals, as well as Afghans who have cooperated with Western forces in recent years, have been evacuated from the international airport. Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reported, US helicopters are operating in Kabul and transporting people authorized to evacuate from designated locations to the airport in that city. In these operations, American forces are supported by British and French forces.
And the “Wall Street Journal” wrote that covert operations of the CIA are also taking place outside Kabul itself, and military helicopters are also involved in these activities.
Because of the situation in Afghanistan, after the Taliban took control of the country, the military missions of the CIA and the United States are considered dangerous. The Pentagon said it is working with the Taliban to ensure security in and around the airport, but it is not known if the issue of evacuations outside the airport is being discussed during these talks, the New York Daily noted.
The New York Times: Afghanistan will not be able to evacuate all its affiliates
According to the New York Times, at least 250,000 Afghans who may be eligible for US visas will have to remain in Afghanistan. The newspaper said that the evacuation process is proceeding very slowly, and will be over so soon that the US forces can not get them out of the country. Even if US forces continued to evacuate at the current pace, moving about 20,000 people a day from Kabul, before the August 31 deadline for the withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan, it would not be possible to remove everyone for whom the newspaper estimates might qualify. to evacuate.
Afghans who have worked with the US government, US armed forces or NGOs and their families are eligible for US visas. It is difficult to determine the size of this group, according to various calculations, there may be 100,000 to 300,000 Afghans who are entitled to leave, the newspaper said. The New York Times wrote that many of these people fear Taliban retaliation and are desperate to leave Afghanistan as soon as possible.
On Wednesday, the White House reported that 82,300 people have been evacuated from the country since the Taliban took power in Afghanistan, including citizens of the United States, Afghanistan and other countries. The newspaper pointed out that there is also a larger group of people who do not qualify for express entry visas to the United States but feel threatened by the Taliban because they are members of a religious minority or have cooperated with the Afghan government or the military. White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said there could be millions of Afghans in this situation.
NATO chief: We must analyze the mistakes made in Afghanistan
According to NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, NATO “must analyze the mistakes” made in Afghanistan. He said in an interview with the Italian agency “Il Sole 24 Ore” that NATO “must be able to succumb to criticism.”
According to him, the current situation in Afghanistan is “a tragedy for the nation.” “It is appalling that the social progress achieved in recent years is being threatened,” he admitted. “We could have waited much longer after 20 years of investing in the Afghan army,” Stoltenberg said. In his opinion, the country’s army lacks “political and military” leadership.
NATO, as the Secretary-General noted, has helped enable Afghanistan’s “significant social development”. “Over the past 20 years, we have been able to prevent Afghanistan from becoming a safe haven for international terrorism,” Stoltenberg noted.
He stressed that “no matter what happens in this country, North America and Europe must remain united, because we are facing a change in the balance of power at the global level due to the more aggressive policy of Russia and the development of China.” He was convinced that NATO “remains a very strong alliance.”
Noting that there were voices about the need to create an army in the European Union, he replied that “the belief that Europe can defend itself without the United States or NATO is wrong.” “The European Union will never be able to defend Europe,” the alliance chief believes, citing financial and geographic reasons as the reason. “Any attempt to ease transatlantic relations will not only weaken NATO, but also divide Europe itself,” Stoltenberg warned.
Main image source: Sgt. Victor A. Mansell/USMC via DVDS/EPA/PAP
“Coffee enthusiast. Troublemaker. Incurable introvert. Subtly charming twitter scholar. Award-winning social mediaholic. Internet buff.”