NATO chief to evacuate people from Afghanistan, Taliban against terrorism

The main target in Afghanistan now is to evacuate people from the country, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said as reports of violence and repression continue to emerge despite the Taliban’s promises of peace.

“We’re working 24/7 to get as many people out as possible,” Hadley Gamble told CNBC on Friday.

U.S. President Joe Biden said more than 18,000 people have been evacuated from Afghanistan since late July and 5,700 in the past 24 hours on Friday afternoon to U.S. Pentagon spokesman John Kirby. said most of the evacuees are Afghan nationals.

On Friday, at the meeting of the NATO foreign minister, many allies offered to receive refugees temporarily or resettle some Afghans more permanently, Stoltenberg said. Countries include Poland, Hungary, Canada and “many others,” he said.

Afghanistan fell under Taliban control after the Islamist militant group seized the capital Kabul in early August. The Taliban began advancing rapidly on the battlefield in the country since the United States announced in April that NATO and U.S. troops would withdraw from Afghanistan on 9/11. Now, almost the entire nation is now under the control of the insurgents.

Since then, people have struggled to get out of the country.

Stoltenberg said NATO members are concerned about removing staff and other personnel from Afghanistan, but also want to help locals leave; many have supported U.S.-led efforts in the country over the years.

“We’ve already been able to pull off a lot, but we need to help a lot more,” he said.

The West has been criticized for the chaos that unfolded in Afghanistan after the Taliban quickly took control of the country, including the presidential palace.

NATO and President Biden have blamed the local Afghan government for not taking a stand against the Islamic militant group.

Stoltenberg said NATO, a 30-member military alliance, made a “very difficult and tough decision” in deciding to withdraw these troops, an action some observers have marked as abandonment.

There are “serious and difficult questions” about how this withdrawal was executed, he told CNBC.

But staying in the country meant there was a risk of an “open-ended military conflict with more casualties, more violence” and perhaps the need to send more troops, he said. On the other hand, leaving meant the Taliban could return to power.

“We were very clear about the risks of ending our military mission, but what we did not anticipate, what surprised us was the speed of the collapse of the Afghan government and security forces,” he said. “But we also have to look at NATO and our commitment and the difficult lessons we have to learn.”

Stoltenberg said the main goal of entering Afghanistan was to prevent international terrorist groups like Al Qaeda and ISIS from operating in the country, and that goal was achieved.

NATO has made it clear that it hoped the Taliban would maintain its “commitment” not to allow Afghanistan to become a haven for terrorists, Stoltenberg said.

“We hope they will fulfill that commitment, but we must be vigilant,” he said, adding that NATO members have said they can attack terrorist groups in Afghanistan “even without thousands of boots on the ground.” .

The Taliban have presented a conciliatory image, but reports of deaths and beatings have surfaced in recent days. Asked if NATO believes it can work with the group, Stoltenberg said the alliance “will judge them for their actions and not … for their words.”

But he acknowledged that without troops in the country, NATO will have less influence than before.

“But regardless of the type of government we receive in Kabul, the Allies are prepared to use the leverage they have,” he told CNBC. This includes diplomatic, political, economic and financial tools that can be used to support the development of an Afghanistan where human rights, including women’s rights, are respected, he said.

– CNBC’s Natasha Turak and Amanda Macias contributed to this report.