The Taliban on Monday called on the Afghan interpreters of international forces to "
repent
" but to remain in Afghanistan after the departure of Western troops, who are accelerating their withdrawal.
Read also: London plans to "exfiltrate" from Afghanistan up to 3000 interpreters
In a statement, the insurgents assure that these Afghans "
will not run any danger from them
" and that "
no one should desert the country
". "
A significant number of Afghans have strayed over the last 20 years of occupation and have worked with foreign forces as interpreters, guards or whatever, and now that the foreign forces are withdrawing, they are afraid and seek to leave. the country,
”they say.
"
The Islamic Emirate wants to tell them that they should express remorse for their past actions and no longer engage in such activities in the future, which amount to a betrayal against Islam and their country
", add the Taliban. “
The Islamic Emirate will not get them into trouble. He calls them to return to a normal life and to serve their country,
”they continue. “
We saw them as our enemies but once they leave the enemy's ranks they will become ordinary Afghans in their homeland again and should not be afraid.
"
With the accelerated withdrawal of NATO troops, thousands of translators and interpreters from embassies and Western military forces are flocking to consulates hoping to obtain an immigration visa, for fear of reprisals if the Taliban return to power in Kabul . “
I don't believe in this call. The Taliban have not changed,
”Mohammad Shoaib Walizada, 31, immediately responded. For this ex-interpreter of the American army, joined by AFP, "
they say that they are not going to take revenge but they are targeting the government forces, so it is sure that they will target us too
". “
They attack journalists, why not us?
He asks, also recalling the recent attacks against academics and students, in Kabul and in the provinces.
"
They will come after us because they see us as agents or spies,
" he concludes.
Relocation of interpreters required
Following the unconditional withdrawal agreement signed with the Taliban by the United States, US President Joe Biden has set a symbolic date of September 11 for the completion of the departure of foreign troops, but operations could be completed as early as this summer .
Read also: Afghanistan: Kandahar trapped by the Taliban
Thousands of Afghans have served in their ranks over two decades. Visas for the United States have been drastically reduced in recent years, with US officials claiming some extremists masquerading as translators. According to the US embassy in Kabul, around 18,000 Afghans are still waiting for their application to be processed, but the applications of an equivalent number of Afghan workers have already been validated in 20 years, according to a report from Brown University.
The head of the American diplomacy Antony Blinken assured Monday, during a parliamentary hearing in Washington, that the administrative staff had been reinforced to examine the requests. Questioned by the elected Republican Michael McCaul on the need to evacuate these interpreters as quickly as possible because, he estimated, if the United States “
abandons
” them, that amounts to “
signing their killing
”, the Secretary of State wanted to be reassuring. “
We are looking at all the options,
” he said. But "
I do not think that the departure of our forces in July, August or by the beginning of September will be synonymous with an immediate deterioration of the situation,
" he insisted.
The British government recently said it wanted to speed up the relocation of its Afghan staff: 1,358 Afghans have been accepted by London and more than 3,000 additional people are expected to benefit from this program. After the withdrawal of the French army from the country at the end of 2012, a number of interpreters reported threats and continued to demand a visa for Paris, but just under half of the 770 personnel employed at the time obtained it. . In addition, France began at the end of May to grant around a hundred visas to employees of the embassy and other French official services in Kabul, as well as to their relatives.