Taliban bar Afghan employees from returning to work in Kabul

The Taliban have barred employees from entering government buildings in Kabul, one week after the militant group took over the capital.

Government buildings, banks, passport offices, schools and universities have been largely closed since the Taliban seized Kabul on August 15.

A government employee, identified as Hamdullah, told AFP, “I went to the office this morning, but the Taliban who were at the gate told us they have not received any orders to reopen government offices.”

“They told us to watch TV or listen to the radio for an announcement about when to resume work.”

According to a foreign ministry employee, roads leading to the ministry in central Kabul were closed.

“They aren't allowing anyone to enter the ministry building,” he told AFP on condition of anonymity. “One of them even told me to wait until the new minister and directors are appointed.”

Workers at the offices of the ministry of rural rehabilitation, however, said they were allowed to enter after showing identification.

Over the past week, the capital has been largely calm, but daily chaos in and around Kabul’s airport has left at least 12 people dead, NATO and Taliban officials said.

Thousands of people are still attempting to board flights in a chaotic and dangerous situation at the airport. The daily mayhem there has stoked criticism that NATO and US President Joe Biden’s administration are slow in trying to get Americans and their allies out of the country.

As chaos continued to unfold on the streets of Kabul, Washington advised Americans in Afghanistan to avoid traveling to the airport on Saturday.

“Because of potential security threats outside the gates at the Kabul airport, we are advising US citizens to avoid traveling to the airport and to avoid airport gates at this time unless you receive individual instructions from a US government representative to do so,” said an alert, posted on the website of the US Embassy in Afghanistan.

Biden admits evacuation of all Americans from Afghanistan carries ‘risk of loss’

US President Joe Biden is trying to restore a sense of calm to the chaotic evacuation effort in Afghanistan.

Citing an official, AFP reported that the US military sent helicopters to rescue over 150 Americans unable to reach the airport gates.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) criticized Washington for being concerned only with the evacuation “of its own citizens and former employees.”

“This is blocking the evacuation of those on the lists of sensitive persons who are in danger.”

The organization called on the US president on Saturday to make “a special plan for evacuating endangered Afghan journalists” from Afghanistan’s capital city.

The RSF chief Christophe Deloire said they “are receiving dozens and dozens of urgent evacuation requests.”

“Our problem today is not getting visas or seats on planes, it is making it possible for these people to access planes.”

NATO vows to redouble efforts to evacuate personnel, allies from Afghanistan

NATO pledges to redouble efforts to evacuate personnel and allies from Afghanistan, says an official, as thousands of people are still attempting to board flights in a chaotic and dangerous situation at the Kabul airport in the wake of the Taliban takeover of the capital.

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) also said it had received “hundreds of requests for help” from Afghan journalists, mostly women, who are “in panic and fear,” after the Taliban takeover.

The US administration is under fire for being overly bureaucratic and not having enough staff to process thousands of Afghans seeking to leave their country for the United States.

Biden has pledged to help any US citizen in Afghanistan seeking to evacuate. But he has acknowledged that the presence of thousands of US soldiers at the airport does not guarantee safe passage to that vast compound.

The Taliban, however, take the US and its Western allies responsible for carrying out a messy troop withdrawal from Afghanistan, which has significantly aggravated the situation in the country after two decades of war.

EU not to recognize Taliban

The European Union’s top official said on Saturday the bloc has not recognized the Taliban, nor is it holding political talks with the militants.

“We do have operational contacts with the Taliban in this moment of crisis, because we need to discuss in these difficult times how we can facilitate it for people in Kabul to come to the airport,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyenshe said.

“But this is completely distinct and separated from political talks. There are no political talks with the Taliban and there is no recognition of the Taliban.”

She made the remarks after visiting a reception center in Madrid for Afghan employees of EU institutions evacuated from Kabul.

She also said the Commission was ready to provide funding to EU countries which help resettle refugees, and that she planned to raise the resettlement issue at a G7 meeting next week.

On Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin urged the international community to prevent the collapse of Afghanistan through the “irresponsible policy” of imposing “outside values” on the country.

He said the Taliban controlled “almost the entire territory” of Afghanistan. “These are the realities and it is from these realities that we must proceed, preventing the collapse of the Afghan state.”

Russia, which has designated Taliban as a terrorist group, announced after the Taliban's first official presser that Moscow was in no hurry to recognize the Taliban as a legitimate force, calling for an inclusive government to be established, involving all Afghan ethnic groups.

The Taliban have yet to form a government.

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