Doha, Qatar:
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Doha on Monday, an AFP correspondent saw, ahead of crisis talks with the Qataris soon after the Taliban claimed to have complete manage more than Afghanistan.
Blinken, accompanied by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, is the most senior US official to go to the area given that the Taliban’s lightning takeover of Afghanistan on August 15 and the conclusion of Washington’s chaotic withdrawal.
“We are thankful for Qatar’s close collaboration on Afghanistan and its indispensable support in facilitating the transit of US citizens, Embassy Kabul personnel, at-risk Afghans, and other evacuees from Afghanistan through Qatar,” the State Department stated ahead of Blinken’s arrival in Doha at 1500 GMT.
Qatar, which hosts a big US airbase, has been the gateway for 55,000 people today airlifted out of Afghanistan, practically half the total quantity evacuated by US-led forces soon after the Taliban’s lightning takeover.
Before his arrival, Blinken stated that in Qatar he would “express our deep gratitude for all that they’re doing to support the evacuation effort” and meet rescued Afghans.
He will also meet US diplomats, who have relocated functions from the shuttered embassy in Kabul to Doha.
The State Department stated Blinken would go over with Qatar its efforts, alongside Turkey, to reopen Kabul’s ramshackle airport — important to fly in badly required humanitarian help and to evacuate remaining Afghans.
The Taliban on Monday claimed total manage more than Afghanistan, saying they had won the crucial battle for the Panjshir Valley, the last remaining holdout of resistance against their rule.
()