The leadership of the Taliban ordered its fighters to enter Kabul on Sunday after initially ordering them not to, citing the threat of “thieves and robbers” taking advantage of the flight of the legitimate Afghan government from the capital.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid had published a statement on Sunday initially asserting to the world that the Taliban had surrounded Kabul – after a breathtakingly rapid conquest of most of the rest of the country in the past four months – but that it would order its jihadis not to enter city limits as the terrorist organization’s leadership was still negotiating a peaceful ouster of the Afghan government.
“Since the capital Kabul is a large and densely populated city, the Mujahideen of the Islamic Emirate [the Taliban] do not intend to enter the city by force or war, but rather to enter peacefully through Kabul,” Mujahid’s statement read. “Negotiations are underway to ensure that the transition process is completed safely and securely, without compromising the lives, property, and honor of anyone, and without compromising the lives of Kabulis.”
The most recent statement from Mujahid again insisted the jihadis would not attempt a violent takeover of Kabul but warned civilians that they would, indeed, see Taliban fighters in their neighborhood for, allegedly, their own safety.
The Taliban blamed the Afghan government’s reported abandonment of Kabul for the need for jihadis to take the capital’s streets.
“The Islamic Emirate [Taliban] issued a statement in the morning stating that our forces are out of Kabul and we do not want to enter Kabul by military means,” the statement read. “But now there are reports that constituencies in Kabul have been evacuated, police have left their job of providing security, ministries have been evacuated, and Kabul administration security personnel have fled.”
“So that, Allah forbid, the common thieves and robbers in Kabul do not mix [with the general population and] the abusers do not harm the people, the Islamic Emirate ordered its forces to enter the areas of Kabul from which the enemy went,” the Taliban asserted. The group insisted it would only occupy areas “where there is a risk of theft and robbery.”
The statement concluded insisting that civilians “should not feel any fear from the Mujahideen [jihadist fighters].”
“To the Mujahideen: you are not allowed to enter someone’s home or to harass or annoy anyone,” it concluded.
The Taliban surrounded Kabul late Saturday, prompting the national broadcast of a bizarre televised speech by President Ashraf Ghani in which he insisted that he was working to “remobilize” the demoralized Afghan military to fight the Taliban and preserve his control over Kabul.
“Under the current situation, remobilizing of the security and defense forces is our top priority and required measures are underway for this purpose,” Ghani said in the speech. Ghani promised to work to prevent “further killings, loss of the gains of the last 20 years, destruction of public property and continued instability.”
Hours later, reports surfaced that Ghani had fled the country. Afghan news sources reported on Sunday that Taliban leaders were in Kabul – as the Taliban itself had claimed – negotiating the bloodless transfer of power from Ghani’s administration to the Taliban.
President Joe Biden is currently on vacation at Camp David and has not issued any public statements on Sunday at press time.
Biden ordered the deployment of an extra 1,000 troops to Afghanistan on Saturday night.
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