Afghanistan “is free”: Taliban frenetically cheer for US withdrawal

The US mission abroad in Afghanistan has officially ended.

The Taliban celebrate their victory.

• The situation in Afghanistan * is worsening.

  The Taliban * have taken control of the country.

• Several rockets will be fired on the city of Kabul on Monday morning (08/30/2021).

  The IS militia claimed the rocket attack for themselves.

• All information and current developments, collected for you in our Afghanistan newsletter

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>>> Update news ticker <<<

+++ 9.00 a.m.:

The Taliban frenetically cheered the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan.

A reporter for the New York Times reported that night that "shots of joy" could be heard, as Taliban spokesman Sabiullah Mujahid had previously called it.

Various Taliban supporters congratulated each other in social networks: "Afghanistan is free", "Congratulations to everyone".

Afghanistan: Taliban cheer US troop withdrawal

Anas Haqqani, a high-ranking member of the Islamist militia, also said: “We are writing history again.

The 20-year occupation of Afghanistan by the US and NATO ended this evening. ”Taliban spokesman Sabiullah Mujahid also emphasized that Afghanistan had now achieved complete independence.

The Mujahid had previously announced that the Taliban wanted “good relations” with states like the USA * (see update from 6.44 am).

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A Taliban fighter in the streets of Kabul

© Xinhua / Imago Images

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken announced on Monday evening that cooperation with the new Afghan government was entirely possible: "If we can work together in a way that safeguards our national interests, then we will," said Blinken.

However, a government led by the Taliban must first earn international support and legitimacy, for example through reforms.

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Anthony Blinken, US Secretary of State.

© Kevin Dietsch / AFP

Update from Tuesday, August 31, 2021, 6.44 a.m.:

After the withdrawal of US troops, the radical Islamic Taliban

say

they want "good" relations with the USA. "We want to have good relations with the USA and the whole world," said Taliban spokesman Sabihullah Mujahid on Tuesday in a speech at the airport in Kabul. "We welcome good diplomatic relations with everyone."

He congratulated the Afghans on their "victory" a few hours after the last US soldiers left the country shortly before midnight.

"Congratulations to Afghanistan, this victory belongs to all of us," said Mujahid, who was standing on the runway at Kabul airport.

The US Army ended its deployment in Afghanistan on Tuesday night after 20 years.

A last US military aircraft took off from the airport in the capital, Kabul, which also concluded the military evacuation mission.

US President Joe Biden had ordered a full troop withdrawal by August 31.

After 20 years in Afghanistan: the last US military machine leaves the country

+++ 10.55 p.m.:

After 20 years of service in the Hindu

Kush

, the US troops have left Afghanistan.

The last soldiers have withdrawn from the airport in Kabul, the last evacuation aircraft has left the airspace over the country.

This was announced by US General Kenneth McKenzie, who heads the US Central Command Centcom, on Monday (08/30/2021) in a video link with journalists in the Pentagon.

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The last aircraft of the US armed forces left the airspace over Afghanistan.

(Symbol image)

© Aamir Qureshi / AFP

In his statement, he recalled 2,461 American forces and civilians who had fallen: inside and over 20,000 wounded.

"There are no words that can fully describe the sacrifices the emergency services have made and what they have achieved," McKenzie said in his statement.

The situation in Afghanistan is coming to a head - UN Security Council calls for human rights to be respected

+++ 9.40 p.m.:

The United Nations Security Council passed a resolution on Monday (August 30th, 2021) with the help of which the people of Afghanistan are to be protected from human rights violations by the Taliban.

13 out of 15 members of the panel voted in favor, China and Russia abstained.

The resolution was submitted by the member states Great Britain, France, the USA and Ireland.

It demands that Afghanistan should not become a haven for terrorists and their attack plans under the Taliban and that Afghans - as recently announced by the Taliban - be allowed to leave the country unhindered at any time and on all possible routes.

According to reports by the German Press Agency, the need for unhindered humanitarian access and the protection of human rights, in particular “the rights of women, children and minorities”, are also emphasized.

According to Western diplomats, the veto powers Russia and China had openly shown themselves to an agreement during negotiations over the weekend, thus ensuring one of the rare breakthroughs in the Security Council.

Most recently, the permanent members of the Security Council - above all the USA, China and Russia - were often at odds, especially in major crises, and blocked common solutions.

UN resolutions are binding under international law.

Refugees from Afghanistan: EU interior ministers discuss how to proceed

+++ 19.25 p.m .:

In order to get more people out of the country who are still stuck in Afghanistan, despite the full withdrawal of US troops planned for Tuesday (August 31, 2021), the European countries are relying on cooperation with other states. The Federal Foreign Office declared that Foreign Minister Heiko Maas (SPD) had started talks with the neighboring Afghan states of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan in order to enable people to leave Afghanistan safely. Uzbekistan is ready to open its borders to Germans, Afghan local staff and other vulnerable people from Afghanistan, the minister announced. Another priority is to restore the badly damaged Kabul airport to such an extent that all those wishing to leave the country with the relevant documents can be flown out using civilian charter planes.

Due to the situation, the interior ministers of the EU have scheduled a special meeting for Tuesday to coordinate the handling of refugees from Afghanistan.

The EU is determined to prevent another “uncontrolled and large-scale illegal” immigration to Europe, according to a draft for the EU interior ministers' meeting on Tuesday, reports the AFP news agency.

To this end, advice should primarily be given on financial aid for Afghanistan's neighbors and transit countries.

Security reviews of evacuated Afghans are also planned.

Humanitarian aid to Afghanistan: financial support and medical supplies

“On the basis of lessons from the past”, the EU must jointly prepare a “coordinated and orderly response” to possible migration movements, says the template that is available to the AFP. Last week the EU Commission announced that it would provide 200 million euros for humanitarian aid in Afghanistan and its neighboring countries.

+++ 4.15 p.m.:

In the Afghan Mazar-i-Sharif landed on Monday an airplane with medical supplies of the World Health Organization WHO. As the UN agency based in Geneva further announced, there were 12.5 tons of material for operations, wound treatment and basic medical care on board the machine, which was launched in Dubai. The aid should be distributed to 40 health facilities in almost all provinces of Afghanistan. It is the first of three flights operated by the national Pakistani airline PIA, the WHO said. A reliable humanitarian airlift is needed to provide further support. On Friday, the World Health Organization warned of a drug shortage in Afghanistan. The supplies lasted only a few days.

Afghanistan: IS claims terrorist attack for itself

+++ 3.30 p.m.:

The Islamic State (IS) militia claimed the rocket attack on Kabul airport on Monday morning (see first report).

"Soldiers of the caliphate" attacked the international airport of the Afghan capital with six "Katyusha" rockets, the regional branch of the IS militia in Afghanistan (IS-Khorasan) said on the Naschir News platform.

It was also confirmed that people were injured in the attack.

At first there was no confirmation of possible victims or damage, regardless of the IS statement.

According to the radical Islamic Taliban, the missiles were destroyed by the missile defense system at the airport.

+++ 2.15 p.m.:

Pakistan is planning to set up a WHO airlift to Afghanistan.

The neighboring country of the crisis region announced this on Monday.

Mansoor Ahmad Khan, Pakistan's ambassador in Kabul, said they wanted to ship World Health Organization medical supplies to Afghanistan.

He did not say anything more specific: For example, it is still unclear when the airlift will begin.

Afghanistan: Maas promises further emergency aid

+++ 2.10 p.m.:

Federal Foreign Minister Heiko Maas has promised further emergency aid amounting to millions for refugees from Afghanistan. In addition to the 100 million euros already made available for aid organizations that support refugees in neighboring countries, another 500 million euros are to go to the neighboring countries affected, Maas said on Monday at a press conference with his Tajik colleague Sirojiddin Muhriddin in the capital, Dushanbe.

+++ 1 p.m.:

The airlift from Kabul, organized by the federal government, brought 138 local workers to Germany as well as their family members, according to preliminary information. A total of 634 people from this group were flown out, said a spokesman for the Federal Ministry of the Interior in Berlin on Monday. He pointed out that the number of requests for help only increased significantly after the start of the airlift - to at least 40,000 people.

+++ 10.45 a.m.:

Again there was a birth on an evacuation flight from Afghanistan.

Turkish Airlines announced on Monday that a 26-year-old woman gave birth to her child en route to the UK.

Since there was no doctor on board, the on-board crew acted as obstetricians without further ado.

According to the airline, labor began to go into labor via Kuwait.

Mother and daughter are probably up after the birth, as it was said.

A week earlier, a birth had occurred in an evacuation plane on board a US plane.

+++ 10.25 a.m.:

At least ten civilians are said to have been killed in a US air strike in the Afghan capital Kabul over the weekend.

The local TV station Tolo News reported on Monday.

Among the dead in the attack on Sunday (August 29, 2021) are children, residents told the TV station. 

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The US air strike appears to have killed ten civilians.

© Saifurahman Safi / Imago Images

The US military announced on Sunday that it was investigating reports of possible civilian casualties after the air strike on a car belonging to the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group. The operation successfully averted an "immediate threat" to Kabul airport from the terrorists, and the results of the air strike are still being examined, according to a statement from the US command center for the region (Centcom). "A large amount of explosives" were found in the destroyed vehicle, "which may have led to further victims," ​​it said. “It is not clear what could have happened and we are still investigating. We would be very sad about the possible death of innocent people, "said the military's statement. 

+++ 10.00 a.m .:

The five rocket attacks in Kabul apparently occurred from a car. This is reported by the local TV station Tolo News. As the TV broadcaster CNN reported in the morning, the missile defense system was activated in time, which destroyed the flying objects.

+++ 9.25 a.m.:

Federal Foreign Minister Heiko Maas has spoken out in favor of talks with China and Russia about the crisis in Afghanistan.

There are efforts to "bring all the important international players to one table, and it will be important to have Russia and China with them," said Maas on Monday during a visit to the Uzbek capital Tashkent.

In this context, he referred to the ongoing talks on a UN Security Council resolution on Afghanistan.

There it will show whether there is a willingness to cooperate in Moscow and Beijing.

Afghanistan live: Foreign Minister Maas wants to consult with China and Russia

Alongside the USA, France and Great Britain, China and Russia are among the five permanent members of the Security Council, which is the most important body of the United Nations.

Unlike the western states, the two countries are still represented with embassies in Kabul even after the Taliban came to power in Afghanistan.

According to Maas, an Afghanistan conference of the neighboring countries is also planned.

In addition to Uzbekistan, this also includes Tajikistan, Pakistan, Turkmenistan, Iran and China.

+++ 8.10 a.m.:

According to numerous reports, renewed rocket attacks on the Kabul region occurred on Monday morning.

International observers reported rising smoke near the airport.

The area of ​​Chaerhanah in the north of the city was apparently the target of the rocket attacks, as reported by the US broadcaster CNN.

Afghanistan live: Rocket attacks on Kabul - Joe Biden wants to "double efforts"

The Reuters news agency reports five missile attacks, which, however, were repulsed by the missile defense program.

Jen Psaki, White House spokeswoman, said Monday morning that Joe Biden was already informed of the situation.

Biden had instructed the US commanders on the ground "to redouble their efforts to do everything necessary to protect our armed forces on the ground," said government spokeswoman Psaki.

The withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan is planned for Tuesday (see update from 6.40 a.m.).

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Taliban fighters on the streets of Kabul.

© Aamir Qureshi / AFP

First report from Monday, 08/30/2021, 6.40 a.m .:

Kabul - One day after a US drone attack on a car loaded with explosives, rockets were fired at the airport in Kabul on Monday morning (08/30/2021). Employees of the AFP news agency heard the sound of bullets over the city in Afghanistan. Smoke rose near the airport.

At first it was unclear where the rockets had landed and what their aim was.

A missile defense system intercepted the projectiles, a US official reported to the Reuters news agency.

A total of five rockets were fired.

It wasn't immediately clear whether everyone was being intercepted.

Initial reports from Afghanistan indicated that no US citizen was injured.

However, this information is not secured and could change, it said.

Afghanistan: rockets fired at Kabul airport - videos exposed

According to eyewitnesses, the rockets were shot down inside from the Khairchanah area in the north of the city, reports the local TV station ToloNews.

Videos were shared on social media allegedly showing a burning car from which the rockets were fired.

In the past, the terrorist militia “Islamic State” had repeatedly attacked various targets in Kabul with rockets.

The US * will complete its final troop withdrawal from Afghanistan on Monday.

The US armed forces will leave the country on Tuesday (September 1st, 2021) after 20 years.

With the withdrawal, the airlift to fly people out of Afghanistan and protect them from the Taliban also ends.

About 114,000 people have been evacuated from Afghanistan since August 15.

The risk of terrorist attacks had increased massively in the past few days.

In a suicide bombing last week, more than 100 people were killed at Kabul airport.

13 US soldiers were among the victims.

It was only on Sunday (August 29, 2021) that the US army thwarted another attack on Kabul airport in Afghanistan.

According to the Pentagon, a US drone destroyed a car loaded with explosives.

(jfw / tu / ska with AFP / dpa / KNA / epd)

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List of rubric lists: © Xinhua via www.imago-images.de