The acting president of Afghanistan, the country’s first vice president Amrullah Saleh, has tweeted expressing his support for Afghans protesting the Taliban by raising the national flag.
Saleh said on Tuesday he was in Afghanistan and the “legitimate caretaker president” after President Ashraf Ghani fled the country.
“I express my respect, support and appreciation for the courageous and patriotic movement of the honourable people of my country in different places for raising the national flag against the Taliban proxy group. A number were honourably martyred in this way Salute those who carry the national flag & thus stand for dignity of the nation & the country,” he wrote.
The Australian government is now advising citizens, permanent residents & Australian visa-holders in Kabul to travel to the airport if they are able to do so:
Smartraveller (@Smartraveller)
Australian citizens, permanent residents & Australian visa-holders should now travel to #Kabul Hamid Karzai International Airport, if you are able to do so safely, to wait for a planned evacuation flight. Read more: https://t.co/ZyYShzbZ6u pic.twitter.com/ElVPKgKhzq
In case you missed this: on Wednesday Afghan president Ashram Ghani, who fled the country of Sunday as Taliban troops entered Kabul, made his first appearance since it emerged he had been granted entry into the United Arab Emirates on “humanitarian grounds”.
Ghani, speaking in a video posted on Facebook, said he supported talks between the Taliban and former government officials, led by former president Hamid Karzai. He said he was “in talks” to return to Afghanistan and that he was making efforts to “safeguard the rule of Afghans over our country”.
Looking pale and gaunt, Ghani denied he had betrayed Afghans by fleeing and said the Taliban had entered Kabul, despite an agreement they would not.
“Do not believe whoever tells you that your president sold you out and fled for his own advantage and to save his own life,” said Ghani. “These accusations are baseless.”
He also denied reports he had taken money with him when he fled. “I was expelled from Afghanistan in such a way that I didn’t even get the chance to take my slippers off my feet and pull on my boots,” said Ghani.
It is 9am in Kabul, and Shia Afghans preparing for Ashura, a day of mourning.
Ashura falls on the 10th day of Muharram, the first month of the Islamic calendar, when Shiites mark the death of Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, at the Battle of Karbala in present-day Iraq in the 7th century.
As New York Times magazine contributor Matthieu Aikins explains:
Matthieu Aikins (@mattaikins)
Good morning, it’s the holy day of Ashura in Kabul. Today, Shias mourn the death of Husayn ibn Ali at the Battle of Karbala. In the past, these events have been bombed by sectarian groups like ISIS, but two days ago Taliban leaders attended a Shia ceremony and pledged cooperation
This is a photo of Ashura commemorations in 2019 in the city:
The BBC reports that the US Federal Aviation Administration has approved domestic airlines and civilian pilots flying into Kabul to conduct evacuation or relief flights, as long as they have permission from the US Department of Defense.
“Currently, they are prohibited from flying through Afghanistan airspace or into Kabul airport without permission,” the BBC reports.
“It’s not clear, however, when the US will seek to use its domestic carriers for evacuation efforts.”
The Biden administration “showed little public urgency to expedite visas for Afghans in the months before and immediately after Biden’s announcement in April that the United States would pull US forces out,” the Washington Post reports.
“White House officials said bureaucratic backlogs and delays caused by the coronavirus pandemic slowed the process but that it ramped up dramatically as summer approached.”
The paper quotes Republican Rep. Peter Meijer saying that, when it came to the Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) program, “At every point that had an excuse thrown up, we went and fixed that excuse.”
So at the end of the day I can’t help but come to the conclusion that they just didn’t want to deal with this issue and put up every roadblock possible.
They were worried about the optics because they lost control of the southern border.”
Meijer accused the administration of “leaving our Afghan friends out to hang in the wind.”
ABC News (@ABC)
Thousands were outside the airport in Kabul as the U.S. continued its evacuation efforts and the Taliban patrolled the surrounding streets, only allowing foreigners through and firing warning shots.
@IanPannell reports. https://t.co/89xEOgrW0Q pic.twitter.com/W3H81PiRDW
Australian governor general David Hurley has released a statement urging veterans not to “let current events diminish the personal effort and contribution you made to this war”.
“At this time it is important to say to you: be proud of your service. You must not, cannot, let current events diminish the personal effort and contribution you made to this war,” he said.
“You did as your nation asked. You served diligently in very difficult circumstances. Be confident and assured that your efforts are valued and respected here at home.
Australian GP Mariam Tokhi has written an opinion piece about the way trauma from Afghanistan has impacted generations of her family.
I had both anticipated and dreaded a visit to Kabul my entire childhood. I understood it was too dangerous: Afghanistan wasn’t a place you could just visit. As a small child, unable to sleep on a school night, I snuck out of bed and stealthily crept into the living room where my parents were watching television. The little Toshiba-branded box was lit up with images of children among the brown rubble of an Afghan village, a 60 Minutes documentary about landmines. ‘Go back to bed, baby,’ my mother murmured. I ignored her and climbed into the comfort of her lap. In Afghanistan, I learned that night, the Russians used brightly coloured bombs disguised as plastic toys to target little children like me.
..
My parents lived between two worlds, always sending money to their families, always worrying about their health, safety, security. There is guilt and responsibility in survival and escape.
Still, I live in the shadow of emigration, of war, of displacement. Somehow I have inherited its sorrow. Embedded in my consciousness is the knowledge that the world is on fire with injustice. Luck, not merit, is our defining force. That all this precious freedom we have been gifted is precarious, and we must not waste it. Or maybe it is inevitable that we waste it – waste it beautifully and frivolously and consciously – but we must not throw it away.
Here is the full story on US President Joe Biden saying American troops could stay in Afghanistan past the 31 August deadline to ensure that US citizens are evacuated:
New York Times media reporter Katie Robertson reports that people who worked with the New York Times in Afghanistan have “made it to safety” with their families.
In an all-staff note, the paper’s managing editor for international said, “We must help all of these families make the transition to new lives abroad… for now, even if just for a beat or two, we can all breathe a bit easier, knowing that 65 families – 128 men, women and children – are headed to freedom.
Katie Robertson (@katie_robertson)
Here’s the note from NYT’s @meslackman to staff tonight on our colleagues from Afghanistan pic.twitter.com/u7dHr8PNTG
from WordPress https://ift.tt/3swq5JK
via IFTTT