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On July 22nd, the Taliban reportedly said that it was necessary for Afghan President Ashraf Ghani to resign.
This is a prerequisite peace in Afghanistan and a ceasefire. To achieve it, a new government needs to be formed, without Ghani, according to a report by the AP.
Suheil Shaheen, a spokesman for the Taliban’s political office in Qatar, told the agency that the Taliban “do not believe in a monopoly of power” because previous Afghan governments that sought to do so were not “successful.”
“We don’t want to repeat the same formula,” the spokesman said.
At the same time, he added that negotiations with the government side were a good start.
Meanwhile, the repeated demands of the Afghan authorities for a ceasefire are tantamount to the “surrender” of the Taliban, Shahin stressed.
“They do not want reconciliation, but they want surrender,” the Taliban spokesman said.
According to him, before a ceasefire in the country, it is necessary to reach an agreement on a new government “acceptable to us And other Afghans.” And then “there will be no war,” he stressed.
The new government will allow women to work, participate in politics and attend school, but they will have to wear the hijab, Shahin said. According to him, in the areas occupied by the Taliban militants must ensure the operation of universities, schools and markets as before.
“Nobody, absolutely nobody, including me, wants a civil war,” said a representative of the political office of the movement.
Meanwhile, to show that those who cooperated with the US are not welcome, to put it lightly, the Taliban reportedly beheaded Sohail Pardis, a translator for the US Army in Afghanistan.
He was driving from his home in Afghanistan’s capital Kabul to nearby Khost province to pick up his sister for the upcoming Eid holiday celebrations to mark the end of Ramadan.
It was supposed to be a happy occasion enjoyed with family. But during the five-hour trip on May 12, as Pardis, 32, drove through a stretch of desert, his vehicle was blocked at a checkpoint by Taliban militants.
Just days prior, Pardis had confided to his friend that he was receiving death threats from the Taliban, who had discovered he had worked as a translator for the United States Army for 16 months during the 20-year-long conflict.
“They were telling him you are a spy for the Americans, you are the eyes of the Americans and you are infidel, and we will kill you and your family,” his friend and co-worker Abdulhaq Ayoubi told CNN.
On July 14, the White House said it was launching, “Operation Allies Refuge,” an effort to relocate the thousands of Afghan interpreters and translators who worked for the US and whose lives are now at risk. The evacuation will begin in the last week of July for Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) applicants already in the pipeline, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in a briefing.
Previously, the Biden administration said it was in talks with a number of countries to act as safe havens until the US can complete the long visa process, a clear sign the government is well aware of the looming threat posed by the Taliban.
Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby said on Wednesday that the Defense Department “is considering options” where Afghan nationals and their families could potentially go.
“We’re still examining possibilities for overseas locations to include some departmental installations that would be capable of supporting planned relocation efforts with appropriate temporary residences and supporting infrastructure,” Kirby said.
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