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24-08-2021
By SJA Jafri + Bureau Report + Agencies
KABUL/ BEIJING/ ISLAMABAD/ WASHINGTON: The Chinese Special Envoy for Afghan Affairs Yue Xiaoyong has said that the US is responsible for the current uncertainty in Afghanistan.
In an interview with Geo News, aired on Sunday, the special envoy said that the US left Afghanistan without helping the country arrive at a political settlement.
“The US must realize that the use of force, military action, and interfering in the affairs of other countries only makes matters worse,” Yue said, adding that he hopes that the US will learn this lesson after its experience in Afghanistan.
He termed the manner in which the US had withdrawn its troops from Afghanistan “irresponsible”.
The special envoy said that China hopes that the Taliban will unite all ethnic groups and form a government acceptable to all.
“Afghanistan should not be a safe haven for terrorism. It must make a clear break, a clear break away from terrorist groups,” Yue said.
“We hope we speak to them that the current political settlement process and the future government should be inclusive, should be moderate,” he added.
The Chinese special envoy hoped that the country, externally, “will be friendly with its neighbours” and will not be a “threat” to neighbours, the region and the international society at large.
Yue also expressed the hope that the Taliban will keep their promises to maintain peace in Afghanistan.
The Chinese envoy further said that his country hopes that the Taliban “will not repeat its mistakes such as giving shelter to Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM)”, a group which it believes to be an affiliate of Al Qaeda.
Earlier, The Taliban on Sunday blamed the United States for the chaotic evacuation of tens of thousands of Afghans and foreigners from the capital, one week after the group returned to power in a rapid victory that stunned the world.
The United States has warned of security threats and the European Union admitted it was “impossible” to evacuate everyone at risk from the Taliban, who have vowed a softer version of their brutal rule from 1996-2001 but terrified Afghans continue to try to flee, deepening a tragedy at Kabul airport where the United States and its allies have been unable to cope with the huge numbers of people trying to get on evacuation flights.
“America, with all its power and facilities… has failed to bring order to the airport. There is peace and calm all over the country, but there is chaos only at Kabul airport,” Taliban official Amir Khan Mutaqi said.
Britain’s defence ministry said Sunday seven people had died in the crowds, without giving further details.
A journalist, who was among a group of fleeing media workers and academics fortunate enough to reach the airport on Sunday, described desperate scenes of people surrounding their bus on the way in.
“They were showing us their passports and shouting ‘take us with you… please take us with you’,” the journalist told media.
“The Taliban fighter in the truck ahead of us had to shoot in the air to make them go away.”
Meanwhile, as the numbers of evacuees steadily rose, despite a volatile situation on the ground and enormous logistical difficulties, Biden said he was aiming to complete the task by August 31, the date agreed with the Taliban.
Speaking in the White House, he said his “hope is we will not have to extend.”
“We´ll see what we can do,” he added, when asked by reporters what his reply was to foreign leaders asking for more time.
The White House said late Sunday that since last weekend, when the Taliban completed their victorious sweep across Afghanistan by capturing Kabul from the fleeing national government, 
the US “has evacuated and facilitated the evacuation of approximately 30,300 people on military and coalition flights.”
Biden acknowledged the searing scenes of Afghans crowding the airport in desperation to escape the militants but said this had to be accepted, given the situation.
“There is no way to evacuate this many people without pain and loss and heartbreaking images you see,” he said.
Underlining why US officials are keen to complete the mission as soon as possible, Biden warned that Islamic State extremists known as ISIS-K pose a constant threat.
“We know that terrorists may seek to exploit the situation,” he said. “It´s still a dangerous operation.”
Civilian aircraft join flights
In an effort to ramp up the airlift, the US government ordered six airlines — American Airlines, Atlas, Delta, Omni, Hawaiian and United — to provide 18 passenger planes, supplementing an armada of Air Force cargo planes.
The rarely invoked Civil Reserve Air Fleet (CRAF) order will increase the flow of people once they get out of Afghanistan to US bases in Qatar, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates and are then flown on to third countries in a rapidly expanding global operation. The civilian airliners will not be required to fly to Kabul itself.
Thousands of US troops have been flown in to secure the Afghan capital’s airport, while the Taliban control the surrounding city.
The guerrilla army took over the country so rapidly that the US-led international forces previously propping up the now defunct Afghan national government were caught by surprise — and apparently unprepared to evacuate foreign nationals and Afghan allies.
Biden has faced a torrent of criticism. However, in his remarks from the White House he again defended what he said had been a hard but necessary decision to order the immediate evacuation of Americans, even at the short-term cost of chaos.
“At the end of the day, if we didn´t leave Afghanistan now, when would we?” he asked.
