Evening Medusa

The militants of the Taliban took the capital of Afghanistan - Kabul. President Ashraf Ghani fled the country

Good evening,

This message (material) was created and (or) widespread by a foreign media that performs the functions of a foreign agent, and (or) a Russian legal entity that performs the functions of a foreign agent

This is an emergency release of our daily newsletter. He is completely dedicated to the seizure of power in Afghanistan by militants from the Taliban movement.

The Taliban has been declared in Russia a terrorist organization whose activities are prohibited (which does not prevent Russia from negotiating with the Taliban, terrorists even hold a press conference in the Moscow Center).

How Afghanistan was under the power of terrorists

After the Americans in 2021 began to withdraw troops from Afghanistan, the Taliban went on the offensive. The Afghan military, without the support of the US Army, turned out to be demoralized and handed over to the Islamists a region behind the region - often even without a fight . In July, militants began to capture border points, including on the border with Pakistan and Tajikistan.

On August 11 , two -thirds of the territory of Afghanistan were already under the control of the Taliban. The next day, Taliban announced the seizure of Kandahar and Herat - the second and third largest cities in the country. Over the next day, the movement took control of the centers of nine provinces.

On the morning of August 15, the government of Afghanistan held power only in six central cities from 34 Afghan provinces. The Taliban took Kabul to the blockade and began an attack on the capital. American intelligence reported that the Taliban could completely capture the city in the next 90 days - but the militants coped much faster.

What happened today

The Taliban surrounded Kabul. They stated that they were not going to storm the city and want to take it peacefully (like many other settlements), but it was not possible to completely avoid the battles. The United States announced the urgent evacuation of diplomats and transferred the embassy to the airport . Germany also transferred the embassy to the airport and recommended that its citizens leave the country. But Moscow did not evacuate the embassy’s workers and even expressed their willingness to cooperate with the transition government (which does not exist yet - and which the Taliban is not going to create at all). Russia has not yet recognized the Taliban as the legal authorities of Afghanistan; “Everything has its time,” said the Russian Foreign Ministry.

Many civilians are trying to leave Kabul, huge traffic jams formed on the roads, and in front of ATMs - queues. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani fled the country . According to the Tajik publication "Asia-Plus", he flew to Tajikistan. The authorities in Afghanistan passed to the interim council, which should then transfer it to the Taliban.

In the evening, the Taliban ordered its militants to enter Kabul - supposedly to prevent looting. Before that, the Taliban released prisoners from prison at the Bagram air base and the prison of bullet-charm in Kabul. The militants in Kabul did not meet significant resistance. When we sent this letter to you, it became known that the Taliban occupied the presidential palace.

How to relate to this - and why is it bad for Russia and the world

At the request of Medusa, this was clearly explained by Andrei Serenko, an expert at the Russian Center for the Study of Modern Afghanistan, who believes that dark times are waiting for us. Here are three key quotes.

1. In order to end the war in Afghanistan, it was necessary to exert massive pressure on Pakistan: it was there that there are training camps of the Taliban, business of these people and so on. In fact, the Taliban is a hybrid division of the Pakistani army. If the pressure on Pakistan was carried out, with the Taliban it would be finished in a few months. Now we are actually observing the victory of Pakistan in a hybrid war with Afghanistan.

2. What is happening is a powerful advertising of jihadism. From the side it looks like the jihadists won over the Supreme Power [US], put her on their knees. Now the Taliban is becoming a fashionable jihadist brand. It is absolutely worth waiting for fashion for Taliban in Russia, in the Caucasus, in Central Asia.

3. For flirting in Russia with Taliban, we will have a reckoning. And ordinary people will pay, who most often die in terrorist attacks. It is known that in the Taliban the cult of suicide bombers is developing. But now they have taken power over Afghanistan. Where will they go to these suicide bombers?

Photo of the day

The evacuation of the US Embassy from Saigon in 1975-and the evacuation of the US Embassy from Kabul in 2021

The evacuation of Saigon (also known as the Operation “Holy Wind”) has become one of the symbols of a failure war in Vietnam. When the United States announced the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, journalists asked President Joe Biden whether it was possible to repetition of those events. “You will not see how people are being removed from the roof of the US Embassy in Afghanistan. These are incomparable situations, ”Biden answered.

What else to read about it, see and listen

• Our chronicle , in which we (still) are following what is happening.
• Answers to the main questions about the situation in Kabul.
• Updated material with the reactions of the world to the victory of the Taliban in Afghanistan.
• The release of the podcast “What happened” about whether Russia will have to participate in the new Afghan conflict.
• July forecast of US President Joe Biden about whether the Taliban will be able to capture Afghanistan. Spoiler: He did not come true.
• The main photos about the US military campaign in Afghanistan are the longest in American history.

Take care of yourself. Your "Medusa"