Refugees are charged $ 7,500 for safe travel
Closer to August 31, when the US military will have to leave Afghanistan for good. In this context, the situation at Kabul Airport is becoming more hopeless. Western citizens have reported on the impending terrorist act of ISIS (a terrorist organization banned in the Russian Federation). The planes are leaving half empty, getting to the airport is unrealistic and refugees are already looking for a way across the desert to Pakistan.
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“The serious and concrete terrorist threat of ISIS is looming in the frantic finale of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, the time to rescue 1,500 Americans is shortening rapidly and the fate of fleeing Afghans is becoming an increasingly dark hour. Says CNN.
Early Thursday morning, US diplomats in Kabul warned fellow citizens of a “specific threat” to a terrorist attack against a crowd at Kabul airport. US citizens were urged to stay away from him. Representatives of the British and Australian authorities asked their compatriots not to go to the airport.
It is true that Western officials admit: despite these challenges, many ignore them – people got to the airport with such great difficulty that they flew away would mean the loss of the last hope of rescue.
The US military guarding Kabul Airport is already in an extremely vulnerable position after the victorious blitzkrieg of the Taliban (a terrorist organization banned in the Russian Federation). And the ISIS branch in Afghanistan is a sworn enemy of both the Taliban and the United States.
Thousands of Afghans gathered near the checkpoints set by the Taliban and tried to force their way to the airport gates guarded by US troops and their allies – so any attack could result in severe losses. According to the Daily Mail, there is a risk of an exploded car explosion by ISIS. Judging by telephone wiretaps, extremists released from prison after the fall of the previous Afghan regime may be involved in the attacks.
And US President Joe Biden, who explains the next day why the US military is unlikely to stay in Afghanistan after August 31, warned: ISIS-Khorasan could try to attack planes departing from Kabul.
“ISIS has not had any really big attacks for some time,” commented Karin von Hippel, general manager of the Royal United Services think tank, about the possibility of terrorist attacks in Kabul Airport. “But the world is now watching the situation in Afghanistan closely, so they might think it is an opportunity for them to show their strength.” His return to power. By the way, this raises the hope of many foreign politicians that the Taliban will become a force to cleanse ISIS of Afghanistan.
ISIS Afghan “branch” threatened
The Islamic State announced the creation of a “wilayat” in Afghanistan in early 2015 by the Islamic State. The name includes a reference to the historic Great Khorasan region, which connected parts of modern Iran, Afghanistan and Central Asia. And from the point of view of ISIS leaders, Khorasan has an important historical and religious significance, coupled with prophecies about an “army of believers” coming from Chorasan and reaching Jerusalem after passing through the Middle East.
In March 2015, for the first time, the Afghan government officially recognized the presence of IS militants in the country. And one of their first successes in November 2016 was the capture of one of the districts in northwestern Afghanistan.
Despite the fact that the Taliban is much deeper and more firmly connected with Afghanistan, ISIS supporters have taken root in the country, and experts point out that they have managed to infiltrate Kabul and recruit dozens of locals, including even children.
ISIS cells in Afghanistan originally consisted of former supporters of the Afghan and Pakistani Taliban, as well as representatives of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (a terrorist organization banned by the Russian Federation) and other extremist associations made up of foreigners.
The Afghan branch of the Islamic State is estimated to have up to 2,200 fighters, although this number may increase due to the security vacuum left by the retreating foreign forces. The ISIS-Khorasan ranks have been supplemented by recently released extremists from Afghan prisons and possibly several hardened militants with experience of the war in Syria.
The group is led by a warrior named Shahab al-Muhajir. Previous leaders have been killed or captured by US and Afghan government forces.
Local ISIS is based mainly in Kunar and Nangarhar provinces and is responsible for some of the worst bloody terrorist attacks in Afghanistan. In general, it should be noted that the brutality and lack of ideological flexibility shown by proponents of the “Islamic State” frightens many Afghans, even those who support the radical Taliban.
One of the activities of IS supporters in Afghanistan is terrorist attacks against Shiites, which experts consider an attempt to transform the intra-Afghan conflict into a conflict between denominations.
In October 2017, about 40 people died in an attack on a Shiite mosque in Afghanistan. In December 2017, a suicide bomber attacked a Shiite cultural center in Kabul, in which ISIS was accused.
Last year's attack on a maternity hospital in Kabul killed 24 people, including infants. The fighters attacked a girls' school in Kabul earlier this year, killing dozens of children.
Shine and misery of evacuation
The evacuation at Kabul Airport is taking place in very difficult conditions. Thousands of US troops, exhausted by the heat, are trying to fill military transport planes with US citizens and Afghans who have helped US troops and the previous government.
The question now is how long the Pentagon will allow the evacuation of civilians before thousands of troops and equipment are removed from Kabul. This could take days and reduce the ability to rescue civilians fleeing the Taliban, including thousands of Afghan translators who have helped the Americans.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said about 1,500 US citizens could remain in Afghanistan. The State Department has contacted 500 of them (and has provided detailed instructions on how to get to the airport) and is trying to reach the remaining 1,000./p>
A total of more than 82,000 foreigners and Afghans have left Kabul since the evacuation effort began on August 14. Including at least 4,500 U.S. citizens, Blinken said. When the evacuation began, there were about 6,000 American citizens living in the country who wanted to leave Afghanistan.
Over time, the operation to evacuate thousands of people from Kabul Airport will be included in textbooks. And not only because of successes, but also failures.
Suffice it to recall how on August 17, a plane sent by the Netherlands to Kabul was forced to take off without passengers in the midst of chaos at the airport. The US military controlling the airport prevented the Afghans from passing through the gate. On the same day, a German plane took off from Kabul with only seven evacuated on board. However, these incidents can be attributed to the confusion at the beginning of the evacuation.
Nevertheless, the situation looks perfect in the end. Outrage on social networks has provoked information that half-empty planes are still taking off from Kabul Airport. The flight that flew Afghan refugees to Uganda was therefore designed for 345 seats, but there were only 50 passengers on board. Allegedly, the American Marines did not let in people who had a certificate of availability of space on the flight.
Time is running out relentlessly – and Western countries are limiting their efforts to get the people out of Kabul. According to Reuters, the Dutch government said it planned to conduct its last evacuation flight from Afghanistan on Thursday. At the same time, the Dutch (such as the Americans, the British and the Australians) are strongly advised not to go to Kabul airport due to the threat of terrorist attacks.
“This is a painful moment because it means that despite all great efforts, people who have the right to be evacuated to the Netherlands will not be exported,” the Dutch government said in a letter. In total, about 1,200 people were evacuated from Afghanistan by Dutch export flights. But hundreds of Dutch citizens remain in the country.
On Wednesday evening, the last evacuation flight organized by Belgium took off from Kabul.
The most extreme in this situation are not holders of European and North American passports, but Afghans who are afraid to suffer punishment for cooperating with Western powers. No one gives these unfortunates any guarantee that they will be taken abroad. Even getting to the airport is not easy.
He beat and detained an Taliban Australian citizen (of Khazar origin) on his way to the airport. The man was released only after the prayer of his relatives. But they were not allowed to fly. Now the poor man is forced to hide from the Taliban in Kabul, The Guardian writes, claiming that Shiite Khazars are being mistreated by Taliban militants and denied access to the airport.
Some “private security companies” charge $ 7,500 to ensure safe passage through the Taliban checkpoint to Kabul airport. “According to British Defense Ministry sources, most of this money actually goes to the Taliban.
Some Afghans have chosen to emigrate. They are trying to leave the country via Pakistan and Iran, and videos have appeared on the Internet showing a huge crowd of people in the village of Spin Boldake on the Afghan-Pakistani border, which joined the border gate.
There are illegal land routes for refugees in Afghanistan – one of them starts in the deserts of the Afghan province of Nimruz, where people move to Balochistan, Pakistan. Refugees from Pakistan are heading to Iran. After passing through the whole country, they found themselves near the Turkish border area of Van. Next – Turkey and (if you're lucky) Europe. Demand for the services of smugglers has been said to have tripled in recent years.
In fact, it was this possibility of escape that many Afghan refugees were pushed by the statement of the British Minister of Defense Ben Wallace, who openly said that there are few places. Asked what Afghans who want and are allowed to move to Britain should do it, Secretary Wallace said: “If he thinks they can move to a third country, it may be the best choice.”
The Afghans, who have already arrived at the airport in Kabul, British officials promise to do everything they can to get them out. But there is catastrophically little time before the August 31 deadline. And what will happen to the number of those trying to leave Afghanistan – no one seems to know the answer to this question yet.