It may not yet be panic, but the great concern of the Afghan power in the face of the advance of the Taliban is now palpable. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has become a warlord and is traveling in person to the disputed areas. He has just ceded part of the country’s defense to the regional warlords who once competed with his authority. Finally, he calls for the arming of the population. Moreover, Afghanistan no longer hides a certain resentment vis-à-vis the United States, which remained in the country for twenty years, but left without warning between May and July. Tuesday, August 10, US President Joe Biden assured “Do not regret anything [sa] decision “.
Ghani paid a short surprise visit on Wednesday to Mazar-e Charif, the large northern city besieged by the Taliban, to show that the regime intended to respond to attacks by insurgents who now control more than a quarter of provincial capitals. from the country. A trip also intended to convince demoralized security forces that the fight is not lost. The same day, in Kunduz, the other large city in the north, the last forces defending the airport and the fortified base surrendered.
Multiply calls for help
The Head of State also spoke, on the spot, with former figures of the Afghan civil war, between 1992 and 1996, like the powerful and decried “lord” of war Abdul Rachid Dostom who had just arrived with a contingent of armed men to face the insurgents who stole their stronghold of Sheberghan (north). Mr. Ghani also met Mohammad Atta Noor, the former governor of the province of Balkh, of which Mazar-e Charif is the capital. Long a strong man of this region, he promised to resist “Until the last drop of blood”. Washington has greeted this union, even late, of the main Afghan political figures, but is worried about the weakness of the army and fears a maneuver to surround Kabul by depriving it of food and electricity.
On the diplomatic scene, the Afghan regime is stepping up calls for help to manage the ongoing humanitarian disaster. Tens of thousands of people have taken refuge in camps across the country to flee the fighting that is now targeting urban centers. This is particularly the case with Camp Haji, located on the outskirts of Kandahar, the big city in the south. “We ask international institutions to help us as quickly as possible by providing us with material and food for all these populations”, implored, on Wednesday, Ghulam Bahauddin Jailani, minister in charge of disaster management and humanitarian affairs.
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