Videos of Afghans fleeing their country as the Taliban make rapid gains are emerging from India’s neighbourhood. The situation remains grim with the Taliban taking over almost one-third of the 374 districts in Afghanistan. Even as the Afghan government continues to argue that it is in control of the situation, the Afghan ambassador to India has hit out at the US for leaving the country in a lurch.
Farid Mamundzay told CNN-News 18 that the US troop withdrawal was done in an “unfashioned manner” which “has created a very chaotic and dire situation in Afghanistan.” He added that, “Capturing this opportunity, Taliban have intensified violence across the country and as a result of the intensity of violence, we have lost over 3,600 people in less than three months’ time and 200,000 people have been internally displaced.”
He added: “There is active fight going on in 160 districts. It’s a difficult situation for us.”
Ambassador Mamundzay cited the example of the US troop withdrawal from the Bagram Air Base to underline that there was “poor coordination” between the US and the Afghan forces. This led to panic among the local population which could have been avoided, he added.
Despite this, the Afghan ambassador tried to reassure other countries that Afghanistan government is doing its best to keep diplomatic missions of other countries safe. He said the Afghan forces have recaptured at least 10 districts from the Taliban and he said that they are determined to keep the situation under control.
“Taliban have waged a war against the Afghan government and the Afghan people in a very unprecedented manner and political and diplomatic missions across the country are concerned. Not only India but other countries which have diplomatic presence. We are doing everything as a responsible country to control the situation. We would not want the closure of any consulates or missions in either Kandahar or Mazar-e-Sharif. We understand the security concerns and respect the decisions of those concerned… There has been a drawdown of staff in diplomatic missions of several countries given security concerns but as of now major cities are safe.”
India had put out a statement saying neither the embassy in Kabul nor the consulates in Kandahar and Mazar-e-Sharif were closed. However, the spokesperson for MEA Arindam Bagchi pointed out that, “We are, however, carefully monitoring the deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan, and its implications on the security and safety of Indian nationals in Afghanistan. Our responses will be calibrated accordingly, depending on how the situation evolves.”
Ambassador Mamundzay also refuted reports that the Afghan government would eventually fall after the US troops withdraw. He said, “We strongly disagree with any assessment that the Afghan government would fall within six or twelve months. It’s an unrealistic assessment. Afghan forces are around 400,000 strong and given Taliban’s strength of 70,000 -75,000, we outnumber them by six to seven times.”
As the August deadline of US withdrawal draws closer, there are reports emerging from the ground that the larger sentiment is that the US has abandoned Afghanistan just so as to end their longest war.
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