[Biden, in his first public
statement since the administration on Thursday announced the deployment of
3,000 troops to aid in the evacuation of American diplomats and civilians and
Afghans who have aided the U.S. government, said the force being dispatched to
Kabul would grow to 5,000.]
By Karen DeYoung, Susannah George,
Rachel Pannett and Sammy Westfall
With the Afghan capital among the
few areas left to conquer, President Biden warned that any moves to threaten
American personnel or interests there would be met with a “swift and strong”
U.S. military response from thousands of American troops flooding into the
city.
Biden, in his first public statement
since the administration on Thursday announced the deployment of 3,000 troops
to aid in the evacuation of American diplomats and civilians and Afghans who
have aided the U.S. government, said the force being dispatched to Kabul would
grow to 5,000.
The difference, according to a
Defense official, reflected an additional 1,000 troops the president on
Saturday authorized to be sent to Kabul from a force being held at the ready in
Kuwait in case they were needed, and at least 650 more who had stayed behind
after the U.S. military withdrawal with a narrow mission of protecting the U.S.
Embassy and airport.
[Biden
administration scrambled as its ‘orderly withdrawal’ from Afghanistan unraveled]
The increased deployment came as
U.S. diplomats appealed to the Taliban to halt its advance or risk a direct
confrontation with the American force.
In Doha, Qatar — where just two
days before representatives of world and regional powers had gathered to warn
the militants that the world would cut them off from any legitimacy or aid if
they took over Kabul by force — administration envoy Zalmay Khalilzad was left
with Taliban officials who countered his entreaty with their own demand for an
end to escalating U.S. airstrikes trying to delay their advance.
Biden said his message about a U.S.
military response to “any action on the ground … that puts U.S. personnel or
our mission at risk there” had been conveyed to the Taliban in Doha “via our
combatant commander” for the region.
The fate of Afghanistan’s
Western-backed government also hung in the balance. President Ashraf Ghani, in
his first public appearance since the Taliban’s stunning sweep took hold, told
Afghans he was turning to the international community for help, even as events
appeared to be overtaking him and his administration.
By late Saturday, Taliban fighters
had broken the defenses of northern Afghanistan’s main city, Mazar-e Sharif,
where Ghani had flown days earlier to rally pro-government forces, giving the
insurgents full hold of the north and critical routes to Central Asia.
Abas Ebrahimzada, a lawmaker from
Balkh province, where the city is located, told the Associated Press that the
army first surrendered in Mazar-e Sharif amid a multipronged assault by the
Taliban, leading pro-government militias to lay down their weapons.
Earlier in the day, the Taliban
appeared to have gained full control of Logar province, bringing fighters as
close as seven miles from Kabul, a provincial lawmaker, Hoda Ahmadi, told the
AP. Logar’s flatlands, ringed by mountains, serve as an important gateway to
the capital, with roadways connecting to cities to the south.
The insurgents on Saturday also
seized the capital of Paktika, an eastern province bordering Pakistan, lawmaker
Khalid Asad confirmed to the AP. Asad said fighting had broken out in the capital,
Sharana, and lasted until local elders intervened to negotiate a pullout. Local
officials, including the governor, left for Kabul after surrendering.
The numerous battlefronts have
pushed Afghanistan toward a potential humanitarian catastrophe, as tens of
thousands of people flee their homes amid the swift insurgent advances
In Kabul, scenes were reminiscent
of the Taliban’s rise in the mid-1990s — with families selling their
possessions and doing whatever they could to flee the country. Many fear a
return to the repressive and brutal rule the Taliban inflicted when it was last
in power, rooted in an extreme interpretation of Islamic law. Civilians in
areas of Taliban control elsewhere were already reporting shuttered girls’
schools, poor families forced to cook food for ravenous fighters and young men
pressured to join the ranks of the militants.
In a statement taking stock of its
battlefield victories, the Taliban on Saturday sought to project itself as
Afghanistan’s rightful ruler, appealing for calm and claiming no harm would
come to those who have aided the American-led military campaign over the
20-year war or held jobs in the central government. Rather, those people would
be granted “amnesty,” it said.
“We assure all our neighbors that
we will not create any problems for them,” the statement asserted. “We also
assure all the diplomats, embassies, consulates, and charitable workers,
whether they are international or national that not only no problems will be
created for them … but security and a secure environment will be provided to
them.”
That message would be more
believable, U.S. officials said the Taliban was told, if the militants avoid
interfering with U.S. troops in Kabul, and waited until the United States and
other evacuating diplomatic missions completed the departure. The militants,
who have said repeatedly they do not want to be isolated from the world, would
then have ample opportunity to prove their intentions by entering the city
without violence.
Both the departure of U.S. civilian
personnel, ordered by Biden on Thursday, and the final withdrawal of all U.S.
forces based in Afghanistan, are scheduled to be completed by Aug. 31,
administration officials have said.
Ghani’s government has proposed
presenting the Taliban with a new power-sharing plan in the coming week during
their diplomatic negotiations in Doha, where sputtering inter-Afghan talks have
gone on for nearly a year. But that timetable was seen as unrealistic amid the
fast-shifting developments, according to people familiar with the situation who
spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the unfolding events.
Any political settlement at this
point is likely to be tantamount to full Taliban control, even if it includes
elements of power-sharing with nonmilitant political figures and power brokers.
The Taliban has been adamant throughout the earlier talks that Ghani cannot
remain in power.
Ghani’s recorded address, aired on
national television Saturday, appeared in part to be directed toward boosting
the rapidly flagging morale and effectiveness of Afghanistan’s security forces.
While the Americans want at all costs to avoid a direct confrontation between
the Taliban and U.S. troops, the extent to which the Afghan military will
resist the militants’ entry into Kabul is unclear.
Ghani said he was in talks with
international partners and political groups inside the country in an effort not
to “lose the gains of the past 20 years.”
He did not offer specifics on what
he expected from world leaders, other than to say that his first priority was
“organizing the Afghan forces” — many of which have crumbled in the face of the
rapid insurgent advance in recent days. He said consultations had also begun
with Afghan elders and political leaders. “Soon the results will be shared with
you,” Ghani said.
[Taliban
assault imperils slow-building U.S. effort to rescue Afghan allies]
Ghani expressed concern about the
thousands of displaced Afghans who have fled to the relative safety of Kabul in
recent weeks, and the likelihood of a fresh wave of refugees moving into
neighboring countries and beyond.
Biden said in his statement that he
had directed Secretary of State Antony Blinken to support Ghani and other
Afghan leaders “as they seek to prevent further bloodshed and pursue a
political settlement,” and would also engage with “regional stakeholders.”
Blinken, in a call Saturday to Ghani, “discussed the urgency” of efforts to
stem the violence, State Department spokesman Ned Price said. The secretary
also “emphasized the United States’ commitment to a strong diplomatic and
security relationship with the Government of Afghanistan and our continuing
support for the people of Afghanistan.”
Repeating remarks he has made since
he first announced a U.S. exit from Afghanistan in April, Biden indicated he
still planned a full withdrawal. Recalling that he had “inherited a
[withdrawal] deal cut by my predecessor,” former president Donald Trump, he
said that “one more year, or five more years, of U.S. military presence would
not have made a difference” if the U.S.-trained, equipped and paid Afghan
military “cannot or will not hold its own country.”
Pannett reported from Sydney,
George from Kabul, and Westfall and DeYoung from Washington. Ezzatullah Mehrdad
in Kabul and Dan Lamothe in Washington contributed to this report.
More related stories:
The Afghanistan Papers: A secret history of the war
Analysis: Afghanistan’s rapid collapse is part of a long, slow U.S. defeat
A timeline of the U.S. war in Afghanistan
As the U.S. departs Afghanistan, will the old Taliban reemerge?
The war in Afghanistan: Promises to win, but no vision for victory
How 20 years of conflict have reshaped Afghanistan’s capital and life in it
How life under Taliban rule in Afghanistan has changed — and how it hasn’t
Iran cheers U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan — but fears what could follow
