Within a week, the Taliban withdrew control of some Afghan provincial capitals To move to the capital, Kabul. From there, they pushed the country’s political leadership to flee, and the Taliban declared the war over.
The situation is very dangerous and unpredictable
NATO leader Jens Stoltenberg now says the situation in Afghanistan is extremely dangerous and unpredictable.
Kabul fell and the Taliban took control of most of the country. I am deeply sorry for what I see unfold in Afghanistan. This is a military and political collapse that we did not anticipate, Stoltenberg continues.
He points to Afghanistan’s political leadership as a scapegoat for collapse.
– The political leadership is unable to oppose the Taliban and ensure the peaceful solution that the Afghan people want. This failure of leadership has led to the tragedy we are witnessing now, says the Secretary-General.
Stoltenberg says the coalition worked around the clock to secure evacuation from the airport in Kabul, and that they maintained a diplomatic presence in the country.
20 years later
There has been turmoil and war in Afghanistan since the late 1970s, with two major foreign interventions: the Soviet Union occupied the country from 1979 to 1988, and the United States with allies from 2001 to 2021.
The United States and NATO had more than 150,000 troops in Afghanistan at most. Since 2001, it is estimated that the war has killed at least 160,000 people, including at least 43,000 civilians.
USA President Joe Biden He said on Monday that he had never intended to stay in Afghanistan to build a new country, even though that was stated in several official documents and statements.
Taliban soldiers entered the presidential palace in Kabul after capturing the city.
Photo: – / AFP
Agree that things did not go well
Many world leaders are united in their summary: This did not go according to plan.
German Prime Minister-designate Armin Laschet has described the collapse of Afghanistan as the worst failure in NATO’s 70-year history. Chancellor Angela Merkel says the operation was not the success one might have hoped for. French President Emmanuel Macron has warned of renewed terrorism and new refugee flows.
Prime Minister Erna Solberg stated that at the time it was right to enter Afghanistan, but:
“We just have to be completely honest that we haven’t done the stabilization job we should have,” she says.
Taliban leaders in Doha during international negotiations since March. Western diplomats said the negotiations are moving forward at a slow pace now that the Taliban have got stronger cards.
Photo: Stringer/Reuters
international recognition
In addition to examining the much-criticized withdrawal, Jens Stoltenberg is expected to comment on the way forward for NATO and Afghanistan.
It is unclear whether there will be a transitional government. Taliban sources stated that they would soon declare the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, thus seizing power immediately.
In a statement issued on August 13, NATO said:
The Taliban must understand that the international community will not recognize them if they take over the country by force.
The next day, Kabul was occupied.
Al-Qaeda was behind the attack on the United States on September 11, 2001. On October 7 of the same year, the United States, Britain and NATO countries invaded Afghanistan, where the Taliban granted residence to Al-Qaeda.
Photo: Jim Hollander/AFP
sanctuary from horror
Another issue for NATO is whether the Taliban will once again make Afghanistan a haven for terrorist groups.
In the 1980s and 1990s, al-Qaeda training camps in the country were said to have trained an estimated 20,000 Islamist fighters. Afghanistan has been described as the university of terrorism. Young self-proclaimed jihadists received weapons and other training before returning home.
The Taliban leadership now claims to have cut ties with al-Qaeda, but one UN report indicates the opposite.
If terrorist groups are allowed to return, the coalition will have failed in nearly all of the objectives set prior to the invasion.
– NATO and our partners went after 9/11 to prevent the country from becoming a haven for terrorists. In the past two decades, there have been no terrorist attacks on the territory of the allies, carried out from Afghanistan. Stoltenberg emphasized at Tuesday’s news conference that those in power now have a responsibility to ensure that international terrorists never gain a foothold again.
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