Nato allies press for more time to evacuate people from Kabul

Civilians prepare to board a plane during an evacuation at Hamid Karzai International Airport, Kabul, Afghanistan, recently. (Reuters)

Several Nato countries have pressed for evacuations from Kabul to continue beyond the current US deadline of August 31 because so many people seeking safe passage following the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan are stuck outside the airport. North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg described the situation outside Kabul airport as “very dire and difficult”. Thousands of foreign nationals and people who may be under threat from the Taliban are desperately trying to get into the airport. “The US has stated that the timeline ends on August 31, but several of our allies raised ... the need to potentially extend that to be able to get more people out,” he said after an emergency meeting of Nato foreign ministers. Although the deadline for the withdrawal of thousands of US troops who are crucial for securing Kabul airport is August 31, President Joe Biden said this week that they may stay longer to facilitate the evacuation of Americans. More than 18,000 people have been flown out of Kabul since the Taliban took over the capital on Sunday, according to a Nato official. Stoltenberg said that many of the 30 Nato nations had sent planes to evacuate vulnerable people, but there was more capacity on those aircraft than there were people ready to board them because of the chaos outside of the airport. He again urged the Taliban to allow the safe passage of all foreign nationals and Afghans seeking to leave. The foreign ministers warned the Taliban not to let Afghanistan become a breeding ground for terrorism. The Islamist group was ousted from power in 2001 after a US-led invasion launched following the September 11 Al Qaeda attacks on the United States. “For the last 20 years, we have successfully denied terrorists a safe haven in Afghanistan from which to instigate attacks,” the ministers said in a statement after their virtual meeting. Stoltenberg said earlier this week that Nato had “capabilities to strike terrorist groups from a distance” if militant groups try to re-establish themselves in Afghanistan and plan attacks against allied countries. After almost two decades, Nato this summer completed military operations in Afghanistan and withdrew most troops from the country following Biden’s decision to end the war. The alliance still has a diplomatic representation in Kabul. Headquartered in Brussels, it also serves as a forum to co-ordinate national measures in Afghanistan, such as the evacuation of citizens. Meanwhile, two top human rights organisations have also called for Biden to extend the August 31 deadline. Sarah Holewinski, head of the Washington bureau at Human Rights Watch (HRW), said that the most at-risk Afghans would not be able to get out before the deadline unless flights out of Kabul are ramped up. “We hope President Biden will announce a delayed departure for US forces so that more at-risk Afghans (can) be evacuated,” she said. Speaking from an undisclosed location, Shaharzad Akbar, head of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, said that Afghans feared being abandoned by Washington. “The fear is that as soon as the foreign, the Western citizens are evacuated ... the airport airfield will be left to the Taliban and people will be left at the mercy of the Taliban,” she said. “And there will be a massacre.” Akbar added that of the 30 members of her organisation who are trying to get out of Kabul and who possess all the necessary documents, so far none has been able to enter the airport.