Around 1,000 people, including dozens of American citizens and Afghans holding visas to the United States or other countries, remained stuck in Afghanistan for the fifth day on Sunday as they awaited clearance for the departure from the Taliban. The holdup reflects the challenges of foreign governments working with the group, which has yet to form a government. Negotiations to allow the planes to depart, involving officials of the Taliban, the United States and Qatar, have dragged on for days, leaving the evacuees in an increasingly precarious limbo, according to representatives of organizations trying to get them to safety. The plight of the passengers hoping to leave the country from the airport in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif mirrors that of thousands of people who were unable to board planes from Kabul, the capital, after Taliban militants took the city on the eve of the U.S. troop withdrawal. The American pullout and the end of the two-decade war in Afghanistan were overshadowed by chaotic efforts to airlift tens of thousands of Americans and their allies fleeing the Islamist fighters, who many fear will limit the rights of women and others once they officially return to power.

Source: International New York Times September 05, 2021 19:57 UTC