Afghan President appeals for help as Taleban nears Kabul
He says he is in talks with world leaders and local political figures, but few details given
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KABUL • Afghanistan's US-backed President used his first public appearance in days to say he is turning to the international community for help against Taleban militants advancing across the country.
Mr Ashraf Ghani made brief, nationally televised remarks yesterday as Taleban fighters continue to make rapid territorial gains in the vacuum left by departing US and Nato troops.
The President said he was in talks with world leaders as well as local political figures, but provided few details. He vowed not to abandon what he called the "achievements" of the past 20 years.
Some expect Mr Ghani, who has been in office since 2014, to resign before long.
In less than three weeks, Taleban fighters have captured key provincial capitals across northern, western and southern Afghanistan with dizzying speed.
The onslaught continued yesterday, both close to Kabul and in remote regions bordering Pakistan.
Mr Ghani said he was trying to "stop the civil war imposed on Afghans and prevent more innocent deaths and the loss of 20 years of achievements" since US troops overthrew the Taleban in 2001.
"The consultations are happening at great speed and the results will soon be shared with you, dear countrymen," he added.
It was not immediately clear, though, what help the beleaguered Mr Ghani, 72, expects from the West and his regional neighbours. While he promised to prevent more violence, he laid out no plans to achieve that.
Most foreign troops have already left and the remaining ones are set to exit by Aug 31, as US President Joe Biden follows through on his predecessor Donald Trump's promise to wind down America's longest war.
The United States, Canada, Britain and other nations have been preparing to pull their diplomats out as the security situation worsens.
Mr Ghani expressed concern about the condition of the thousands of internal refugees who have fled to the safety of the national capital over the last few weeks.
The crisis threatens to spill outside the country's borders and send waves of refugees as far afield as Europe. That has major powers including China and Russia - which have both engaged the Taleban in talks and have argued for a "political solution" involving the group - watching closely.
Half of Afghanistan's 34 provincial capitals have been captured by the Taleban over the last week, including Kandahar and Herat, the country's second-and third-largest cities. The militants have Kabul in their sights, with the fighting having reached Maidan Shahr city, the capital of Maidan Wardak province, about 40km south-west of the national capital.
The US has reportedly been surprised and frustrated by the inability, or in some cases unwillingness, of the Afghan army - which it has trained and equipped - to fight back.
Thousands of soldiers and some officials in western Herat gave up their weapons and surrendered recently, while the governor of Ghazni in the south-east handed over the city to the Taleban without resistance and set off for Kabul. He was detained on the way by police before reaching the capital.
BLOOMBERG
