Taliban say Afghans no longer allowed to go to Kabul airport, want to stop local talent from leaving

The militant added that Afghanistan needed its local talent.

Matthias Ang | August 25, 2021, 02:18 PM

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The Taliban will no longer allow Afghans to reach Kabul's Hamid Karzai International Airport, one of the militant's spokesmen, Zabihullah Mujahid, said on August 24, according to the BBC.

Taliban spokesman: Foreigners will still be allowed to reach the airport

Mujahid cited the chaotic situation at the airport and said that the U.S. had kept inviting people to the airport to board the evacuation flights.

He was further quoted by CNN as stating, "We are not allowing the evacuation of Afghans anymore and we are not happy with it either."

However, foreigners will still be allowed to travel to the airport, he added, with the Taliban barring Afghans from travelling on roads to the airport, while allowing foreigners to pass, so as to prevent large crowds from forming, AP News reported.

Afghanistan needs its local talent

Mujahid added that the country was in need of its own talent and called on doctors doctors and academics in particular to not leave.

"(They) should not leave this country, they should work in their own specialist areas. They should not go to other countries, to those Western countries," he said, according to CNN.

As such, crowds at the airport should go home, and their safety will be guaranteed, the spokesman claimed.

Biden: Taliban have been working with U.S. to get people out

Separately, U.S. President Joe Biden said that the Taliban were working with the U.S. to help get people out of Afghanistan, and that the international community would judge the militants by their actions, the BBC reported.

"But it's a tenuous situation," he said, noting that instances of gunfighting had broken out and that there was a "serious risk" of the situation breaking down, due to the potential of terror attacks by the Islamic State group's Afghanistan affiliate.

Biden also said that he was sticking to the deadline of Aug. 31 for the withdrawal of all American troops from Afghanistan and pointed out that 70,700 people had been evacuated from Kabul since Aug. 14.

"The sooner we can finish, the better," the president said. "Each day of operations brings added risk to our troops."

U.S. allies have called for Aug. 31 deadline to be extended

Biden's statement was made amidst calls by U.S. allies, such as the Group of Seven (G7) nations keep U.S. troops beyond Aug. 31 on the grounds that no country would be able to evacuate all of their citizens and Afghan allies by that time, AP News further reported.

Reuters reported that the Taliban have stated that all foreign evacuations must be completed by Aug. 31.

The G7 also called on the Taliban to guarantee safe passage for those wishing to leave Afghanistan, with UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson calling it the "number one condition" for the Taliban, according to CNN.

Johnson said, ""The number one condition we are setting as G7 is that they've got to guarantee right the way through -- through Aug. 31 and beyond -- safe passage for those who want to come out."

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