SECRETARY OF STATE: We have had diplomatic contact with the Taliban for year
Acknowledging Washington’s long-standing ties to the Taliban, the head of US diplomacy, while blackmailing the group, said the Taliban had already fulfilled its obligations and that Washington was judging the new Kabul government based on its own interests.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken appeared before reporters in Washington on Thursday morning to answer questions about the situation in Afghanistan and the role of the United States in creating a crisis in the country.
“More than 82,000 people have left Afghanistan safely since August 14,” Blinken said of the evacuation process. We have evacuated more than 4,000 Americans since the operation began. “Over the past 24 hours, about 90,000 flights have flown out of Afghanistan and about 19,000 have been evacuated.”
“When we started evacuating, there were 6,000 Americans who wanted to leave,” he said, according to US media reports. Since August 14, we have been in contact with every American in Afghanistan who has contacted us. “We are in close contact with every American in Afghanistan who has registered at the embassy to help them leave.”
“We believe that the number of Americans seeking assistance in leaving Afghanistan is less than one,” he said. It is a thousand people. “24 countries from four continents participated in the evacuation of Afghanistan, and we are grateful to these countries.”
“We are working in a dangerous environment in the city [of Kabul] and in a country that is now under Taliban control,” Blinken said. The possibility of an attack by the “Islamic State in Khorasan” is very real. “As the president said, I take responsibility for the miscalculation in Afghanistan and then re-evaluate the issues.”
“It is in their interest to act responsibly,” he said threateningly, saying the Taliban had fulfilled all its commitments so far. “There is no deadline for us to work and help the Americans and Afghans who stand in our operations there.”
“We will judge the next administration based on our interests,” he said, revealing that Washington has had and will continue to have diplomatic contacts with the Taliban for years. “Our political relations with the Taliban are determined by a number of factors, and we will monitor their future actions and decisions.”
According to US media reports, Blinken added: “We will try not to turn Afghanistan into a breeding ground for terrorist attacks, and our talks with the Taliban confirm that. “We are following the Taliban’s consultations with former Afghan government officials and we will wait for the results.”
Earlier, however, White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said Washington did not trust the Taliban, claiming that there was a possibility of the al-Qaeda terrorist organization regaining power in Afghanistan. (More details)
Meanwhile, Soheil Shaheen, a spokesman for the Taliban’s office in Qatar, warned that the delay in the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan would have consequences for the United States, and that the date set was the Taliban’s red line.