Afghan Report: Will Foreign Troops Extend their Stay?

International efforts continue for the Taliban to accept extending the presence of U.S. and foreign troops in Afghanistan beyond the agreed time so that these forces can evacuate all their nationals and related Afghans residing in the country. However, the Taliban have made it clear that they cannot allow this to happen for a number of important reasons, including: the fact that it was not clear that the Afghans who left the country were free of criminal charges or wanted for justice in Afghanistan, and that taking Afghans out of the country in this way represents an undue exodus of the labor force without prior agreement with any official agency in the country, which was not included in the terms of the agreement between the U.S. and the Taliban.

The Taliban movement points out that the fact that the Kabul airport remains in the hands of foreign forces represents a violation of the sovereignty of the Afghans over their land. Therefore they believe that U.S. and foreign troops should leave the country. The Taliban themselves will then take complete control of passengers' departure and entry process through all the required and legally established channels.

At the regional level, Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi is currently touring Central Asian countries to discuss the future of the region and the possibility of joint cooperation to maintain security, especially in the next stage, which is considered very difficult after the departure of U.S. and foreign forces in a way that led to a significant deterioration of regional stability, at all levels.