More than eighteen thousand people have been evacuated (Reuters) from Afghanistan since the Taliban took over Kabul, according to a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) official. But the process is reportedly lagging (Axios) due to delays in approving people for evacuation and challenges getting to the Kabul airport, among other factors. U.S. President Joe Biden is set to speak today about evacuation efforts as he faces criticism that the United States did not act quickly enough to ensure safe departures of Americans and Afghans. Some ten thousand U.S. citizens are believed to still be in Afghanistan.
Throughout the country, the Taliban has tightened its grip, cracking down on protests (NYT) and killing the family member (Politico) of a Deutsche Welle journalist who left Afghanistan. A new report by Amnesty International found that Taliban fighters killed nine ethnic Hazara men (BBC) in July; the rights group described the killings as a “horrifying indicator” of Taliban rule.
Analysis
“At this point, the United States has limited leverage. It can offer or deny the Taliban and their leaders economic aid, formal recognition, sanctions relief, and access to international financial systems and institutions. But this set of tools cannot alter the on-the-ground power realities,” the Brookings Institution’s
Because European countries will be the ones providing refuge to countless Afghans until the situation in Afghanistan is safe enough for them to return, it seems fair that the U.S. government, which had a say in creating the current humanitarian catastrophe, should assist European taxpayers, who had no say,” the American Enterprise Institute’s Elisabeth Braw
