អាមេរិកប្តេជ្ញាផ្តាច់ខ្លួនតាលីបង់ប្រសិនបើពួកគេកាន់អំណាចនៅអាហ្វហ្កានីស្ថានដោយកម្លាំង

- US envoy Zalmay Khalilzad warns Taliban a military takeover of Kabul will guarantee they’d be global pariahs

- Zalmay and others hope to persuade Taliban leaders to return to peace talks with the Afghan government as US, Nato forces finish their pull-out from the country

US special envoy for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad and Qatar’s envoy 

on counterterrorism Mutlaq al-Qahtani. Photo: AFP

A US peace envoy on Tuesday warned the Taliban that any government in Afghanistan that came to power through force would not be recognised internationally, after a series of cities fell to the insurgent group in stunningly quick succession.

Zalmay Khalilzad, the US envoy, travelled to Qatar, where the Taliban maintain a political office, to tell the group there was no point in pursuing victory on the battlefield because a military takeover of Kabul would guarantee they’d be global pariahs.

Zalmay and others hope to persuade Taliban leaders to return to peace talks with the Afghan government as American and Nato forces finish their pull-out from the country.

The insurgents have captured five out of 34 provincial capitals in the country in less than a week. They are now battling the Western-backed government for control of several others, including Lashkar Gah in Helmand, and Kandahar and Farah in provinces of the same names.

After a 20-year Western military mission and billions of dollars spent training and shoring up Afghan forces, many are at odds to explain why the regular forces have collapsed, fleeing the battle sometimes by the hundreds. The fighting has fallen largely to small groups of elite forces and the Afghan air force.

The success of the Taliban blitz has added urgency to the need to restart the long-stalled talks that could end the fighting and move Afghanistan towards an inclusive interim administration.

The new pressure from Zalmay follows condemnations from the international community and a similar warning from the United Nations that a Taliban government that takes power by force would not be recognised. The insurgents have so far refused to return to the negotiating table.

Zalmay’s mission in Qatar is to “help formulate a joint international response to the rapidly deteriorating situation in Afghanistan”, according to the US State Department.

He plans to “press the Taliban to stop their military offensive and to negotiate a political settlement, which is the only path to stability and development in Afghanistan”, it said.

Meanwhile, EU ambassadors in Afghanistan are recommending suspending deportations to the crisis-hit country for the time being due to a massively deteriorating security situation.

In view of the worsening conflict, the precarious security and human rights situation as well as the lack of safe spaces in the country, they recommend a temporary suspension of forced repatriations from EU member states to Afghanistan, according to a report by EU heads of mission in Kabul sent to member states on Tuesday, excerpts of which were made available to dpa.

Recently, the Afghan Refugee Ministry called on EU and other European countries to halt deportations for three months starting in July.

EU member states were also advised to increase support for the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the UN refugee agency in Pakistan, Iran and Turkey, as these countries are expected to receive the largest influx of refugees from Afghanistan.

It is unusual for such a recommendation to be expressed, as migration issues are actually the competence of member states. The heads of mission on the ground can analyse and question certain issues, but cannot intervene in capital decisions.

Eight EU countries still operate embassies in Kabul, including Germany. All heads of mission have signed the report.

The European Commission also confirmed on Tuesday that it had received a letter from Germany and five other member states opposing the suspension of deportations.

In the letter, which was obtained by dpa, the interior ministers of the six states call on the commission to move forward with returns in dialogue with Afghanistan. A suspension of returns would motivate more Afghan citizens to migrate to the EU.

The International Committee of the Red Cross says its staff have treated more than 4,000 Afghans this month in their 15 facilities across the country, including in Helmand and Kandahar, where Afghan and US air strikes are trying to rein in the Taliban onslaught.

“We are seeing homes destroyed, medical staff and patients put at tremendous risk, and hospitals, electricity and water infrastructure damaged,” Eloi Fillion, ICRC’s head of delegation in Afghanistan, said in a statement.

“The use of explosive weaponry in cities is having an indiscriminate impact on the population,” Fillion added. “Many families have no option but to flee in search of a safer place. This must stop.”

SCMP