Afghanistan: Taliban Declares ‘Amnesty’, Asks Govt Officials To Resume Work

THE TALIBAN HAS declared a “general amnesty” for government
officials working in Afghanistan.

Two days after taking power following a lightning sweep through
the country, it urged officials to return to work.

“A general amnesty has been declared for all… so you should
start your routine life with full confidence,” said a statement
from the Taliban.

The Taliban captured Kabul, and most other main cities, with
little bloodshed.

But in the capital, panic gripped many residents who feared a
repeat of the Taliban’s brutal rule from 1996 to 2001.

At the airport, thousands of Afghans scrambled to board the few
flights available.

“We are afraid to live in this city,” a 25-year-old ex-soldier
told AFP as he stood among huge crowds on the tarmac.

“Since I served in the army, the Taliban would definitely target
me.”

Last night, US President Joe Biden defended the withdrawal of
troops from Afghanistan after the Taliban’s military takeover.

In his first public appearance since the insurgents seized
control of the country at the weekend, he admitted the Taliban
advance had unfolded more quickly than expected.

Heaping criticism at the Western-backed government that was
ousted with shockingly little resistance, he said US troops could
not defend a nation whose leaders “gave up and fled”, as did
President Ashraf Ghani.

“We gave them every chance to determine their own future. We
could not provide them with the will to fight for that future,”
Biden said in his address at the White House.

“American troops cannot and should not be fighting in a war and
dying in a war that Afghan forces are not willing to fight for
themselves.”

The United States has sent 6,000 troops to ensure the safe
evacuation of embassy staff, as well as Afghans who worked as
interpreters or in other support roles.

Other governments including France, Germany and Australia also
organised charter flights.

Yesterday, dramatic footage posted on social media showed
hundreds of men running alongside a US Air Force plane as it rolled
down the runway, with some clinging to the side of it.

In other videos, civilians frantically clambered up an already
overcrowded and buckling jetway.

One picture carried by US media showed a jam-packed US military
transport plane purportedly with about 640 Afghans on board — some
of whom climbed onto the half-open ramp at the last minute and were
allowed aboard.

Taliban fighters have taken over checkpoints across Kabul, and
militants with rifles slung over their shoulders walked through the
streets of the Green Zone, the heavily fortified district that
houses most embassies and international organisations.

The Taliban sought to reassure the international community that
Afghans should not fear them, with co-founder Abdul Ghani Baradar
saying the militants needed to show that they could “serve our
nation and ensure security”.

But many Afghans struggled to take comfort from such
assurances.

“It is a nightmare for educated women who envisioned a brighter
future for themselves and generations to come,” Aisha Khurram, a
former youth representative to the UN, told AFP.

An Irish woman living currently in Kabul says she is hoping she
will be able to leave and return home in the coming days.

Aoife MacManus, from Meath, is one of the small number of Irish
citizens who were still in Afghanistan after the Taliban took
power.

MacManus told the PA news agency that there is a “sense of panic
and fear all over the city.”

“This last 24 hours has been so crazy, I don’t know how many
places I’ve been,” McManus said.

As her and her colleagues left their work compound on Sunday,
“everybody was crying because of the expectations of what things
are going to be like”.

“All the work we’ve put into education, that it might all be for
nothing.”

She said she noticed that Taliban fighters were now manning
police cars.

“It’s been one night, but it’s definitely changed.”

THE TALIBAN HAS declared a “general amnesty” for government
officials working in Afghanistan.

Two days after taking power following a lightning sweep through
the country, it urged officials to return to work.

“A general amnesty has been declared for all… so you should
start your routine life with full confidence,” said a statement
from the Taliban.

The Taliban captured Kabul, and most other main cities, with
little bloodshed.

But in the capital, panic gripped many residents who feared a
repeat of the Taliban’s brutal rule from 1996 to 2001.

At the airport, thousands of Afghans scrambled to board the few
flights available.

“We are afraid to live in this city,” a 25-year-old ex-soldier
told AFP as he stood among huge crowds on the tarmac.

“Since I served in the army, the Taliban would definitely target
me.”

Last night, US President Joe Biden defended the withdrawal of
troops from Afghanistan after the Taliban’s military takeover.

In his first public appearance since the insurgents seized
control of the country at the weekend, he admitted the Taliban
advance had unfolded more quickly than expected.

Heaping criticism at the Western-backed government that was
ousted with shockingly little resistance, he said US troops could
not defend a nation whose leaders “gave up and fled”, as did
President Ashraf Ghani.

“We gave them every chance to determine their own future. We
could not provide them with the will to fight for that future,”
Biden said in his address at the White House.

“American troops cannot and should not be fighting in a war and
dying in a war that Afghan forces are not willing to fight for
themselves.”

The United States has sent 6,000 troops to ensure the safe
evacuation of embassy staff, as well as Afghans who worked as
interpreters or in other support roles.

Other governments including France, Germany and Australia also
organised charter flights.

Yesterday, dramatic footage posted on social media showed
hundreds of men running alongside a US Air Force plane as it rolled
down the runway, with some clinging to the side of it.

In other videos, civilians frantically clambered up an already
overcrowded and buckling jetway.

One picture carried by US media showed a jam-packed US military
transport plane purportedly with about 640 Afghans on board — some
of whom climbed onto the half-open ramp at the last minute and were
allowed aboard.

Taliban fighters have taken over checkpoints across Kabul, and
militants with rifles slung over their shoulders walked through the
streets of the Green Zone, the heavily fortified district that
houses most embassies and international organisations.

The Taliban sought to reassure the international community that
Afghans should not fear them, with co-founder Abdul Ghani Baradar
saying the militants needed to show that they could “serve our
nation and ensure security”.

But many Afghans struggled to take comfort from such
assurances.

“It is a nightmare for educated women who envisioned a brighter
future for themselves and generations to come,” Aisha Khurram, a
former youth representative to the UN, told AFP.

An Irish woman living currently in Kabul says she is hoping she
will be able to leave and return home in the coming days.

Aoife MacManus, from Meath, is one of the small number of Irish
citizens who were still in Afghanistan after the Taliban took
power.

MacManus told the PA news agency that there is a “sense of panic
and fear all over the city.”

“This last 24 hours has been so crazy, I don’t know how many
places I’ve been,” McManus said.

As her and her colleagues left their work compound on Sunday,
“everybody was crying because of the expectations of what things
are going to be like”.

“All the work we’ve put into education, that it might all be for
nothing.”

She said she noticed that Taliban fighters were now manning
police cars.

“It’s been one night, but it’s definitely changed.”