| Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar will meet militant leaders, elders, politicians in coming days | Khalil Haqqani turns up in Afghan capital, claims Ahmad Shah Massoud’s son ‘declared allegiance’ to Taliban | US fears sophisticated weaponry seized by Taliban will be sold to adversaries, non-state actors
KABUL - Taliban leaders gathered in Kabul on Saturday to begin mapping out an “inclusive government “, as thousands scrambled to leave the country via a chaotic evacuation dubbed one of the most difficult airlifts in history.
It comes after other senior Taliban leaders were seen in the capital in recent days, including Khalil Haqqani -- one of America’s most wanted terrorists with a $5 million bounty on his head.
A senior Taliban official said that Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar -- who co-founded the group -- would meet Jihadi leaders, elders and politicians in the coming days, stirring faint hope they may hold good on pledges to rule differently this time around.
Hours later, pro-Taliban social media accounts showed Haqqani announcing that Ahmad Massoud -- the son of Afghanistan’s most famed anti-Taliban fighter Ahmad Shah Massoud -- had “declared allegiance” to the movement.
Massoud had earlier this week appealed to the United States to supply arms to his resistance movement in the Panjshir Valley, northeast of Kabul, saying he wanted to follow in his father Ahmad Shah Massoud’s footsteps. Massoud has not issued a statement.
Haqqani has also met with Gulbuddin Hekmatyar -- a former bitter rival during the brutal civil war of the early 1990s, but still influential in Afghan politics. Baradar arrived in Afghanistan last Tuesday from Qatar, choosing to touch down in the country’s second-biggest city Kandahar -- the Taliban’s spiritual birthplace.
Within hours of his return, the group announced its rule would be “different” this time. But they have given few details about who would form their government.
Arrested in Pakistan in 2010, Baradar was in custody until pressure from the United States saw him freed in 2018 and relocated to Qatar. He was appointed head of the Taliban’s political office in Doha, where he oversaw the signing of the agreement last year that led to the withdrawal of US forces and an end to their 20-year campaign.
On Friday, Haqqani -- the uncle of Taliban deputy leader Sirajuddin Haqqani -- was seen leading prayers at a mosque in Kabul. Another key leader of the feared network -- Anas Haqqani -- was also in the capital and had met former president Hamid Karzai and Abdullah Abdullah, who led the overall peace process for the previous administration.
But the gathering also included top officials from the Haqqani network, a US-designated terrorist organisation with million-dollar bounties on its leadership.
The Panjshir Valley remains the only holdout against the Taliban after the hardline Islamists took control of Afghanistan. Earlier this week, the son of the late, famed anti-Taliban commander Ahmad Shah Massoud had called for a new resistance.
But on Saturday, pro-Taliban social media feeds posted a video of Khalil Haqqani of the Haqqani network claiming Massoud’s son had “declared allegiance” to the new Islamic emirate. There has been no statement from Massoud.
Six days after the Taliban swept to power, the flow of people trying to flee continued to overwhelm the international community. Roads leading to Kabul airport were choked with traffic. Families hoping for a miracle escape crowded between the barbed-wire surrounds of an unofficial no man’s land separating the Taliban from US troops and remnants of an Afghan special forces brigade helping them.
Video of a US soldier lifting a baby over a wall at Kabul airport offered the latest imagery of the utter despair, following horror footage of people hanging onto the outside of departing planes. “Please, please, please help me... where should I go, what should I do,” one man, who said he worked for the US embassy in the mid-2000s, wrote on a WhatsApp group for people to share information on how to get out.
Thousands of US soldiers are at the airport trying to shepherd foreigners and Afghans onto flights, but President Joe Biden admitted the troop presence offered no guarantees of safe passage. “This is one of the largest, most difficult airlifts in history,” he said.
“I cannot promise what the final outcome will be, or... that it will be without risk of loss.”
US military helicopters were deployed to rescue more than 150 Americans unable to reach the airport on Friday morning, an official in Washington said.
It was the first report of US forces going beyond the airport to help people seeking evacuation.
On Saturday, the US embassy issued a fresh warning telling Americans not to try to reach the airport unless they received specific instructions from a government representative.
Biden had set a deadline of August 31 to completely withdraw all troops from Afghanistan, but he flagged this could be extended for the airlifts. About 13,000 people have left on American military aircraft, the White House said. Thousands more have fled on other foreign military flights.
At the first Friday prayers since the Taliban’s return to power, imams and guest speakers celebrated the defeat of the United States. At one Kabul mosque, gunmen flanked a cleric as he delivered a fiery speech recounting how Afghans defeated the British Empire, the Soviet Union and now the United States.
At another mosque, an imam referenced the tragic scenes at the airport, describing those trying to flee as not having strong enough religious convictions. “Those with weak faith are running after or hanging from American planes,” he said. “They should stay and build their country.”
‘American arsenal’
US national security officials are working to account for more than 20 years worth of weapons provided to the Afghan military as images of Taliban fighters brandishing American made rifles and riding in abandoned Humvees are raising concerns about what else was left behind.
The Taliban’s newfound American arsenal is likely not limited to small arms, as the group captured sizable stockpiles of weapons and vehicles held at strongholds once controlled by US-backed forces, including modern mine-resistant vehicles (MRAPs) and Humvees.
Initial estimates suggest the Taliban may now also possess several Black Hawk helicopters and other US-funded military aircraft, according to a congressional source familiar with early assessments provided by defense officials.
That potentially includes roughly 20 A-29 Tucano attack planes, the source said, noting there are some indications that only a small number of aircraft were relocated from a base in Kandahar before it was overrun by the Taliban.
“We are also concerned that some may end up in the hands of others who support the Taliban’s cause,” the congressional source told CNN. “My biggest fear is that the sophisticated weaponry will be sold to our adversaries and other non-state actors who intend to use it against us and our allies.”
Taliban turn back Afghan govt employees returning to work
Afghan government employees in Kabul were blocked by Taliban militants from returning to work on Saturday, the first day of the working week.
Since the Taliban seized power six days ago, government buildings, banks, passport offices, schools and universities have remained largely closed.
Only a few private telecommunication companies have been operating in the past few days.
“I went to the office this morning, but the Taliban who were at the gate told us they have not received any orders to reopen government offices,” said Hamdullah, a government employee.
“They told us to watch TV or listen to the radio for an announcement about when to resume work.”
The Taliban have yet to form a government after sweeping to power at a speed that stunned the world.
In the chaos of a collapsed government, one of the top concerns among Afghans is continuing to earn a salary.
Most roads in the capital were largely deserted save for Taliban checkpoints and patrolling militants.
Roads leading to the foreign ministry in central Kabul were also closed, an employee of the ministry SAID.
“They aren’t allowing anyone to enter the ministry building,” he said on condition of anonymity.