Suspicions of some evacuated Afghans point to security checks



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Five Afghans who have arrived in France in recent days have begun to be monitored for possible ties to the Taliban. One of these people was arrested for briefly violating the security forces’ control orders.

In Britain, the Minister of the Armed Forces, James Heappey, said on Monday that there were “people who tried to take advantage of this process and enter the United Kingdom with the aim of harming us.”

Previous reports said that five potentially dangerous people had attempted to board the planes.

One of them, on the “no-fly list”, was able to travel to Birmingham in central England, where an investigation found that there was no need for security agencies or law enforcement to take an interest in him, the Ministry of the Inside. said.

Politicians on both sides are trying to reassure the public and emphasize that systems to identify dangerous individuals from the Taliban, al Qaeda or the Islamic State (IS) are working.

During the 2015 migration crisis in Europe, several ISIS members who later staged attacks in Paris hid among the flow of people fleeing the Syrian civil war through Turkey, Greece and other European Union countries.

“We know all the people who came to our territory and were transported by our army,” Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin told Franceinfo on Tuesday when another plane with about 200 Afghans landed in Paris.

The main suspect in five of the people watched in France admitted to being from the Taliban, but also helped carry out the evacuation “at an extremely tense time and probably saved lives,” government spokesman Gabriel Attalis said Tuesday.

British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said the country’s security systems had proven to be effective.

“I would not worry if the person is covered in some headlines,” he told Sky News on Tuesday.

Checks on arrival

After the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan nine days ago, some 50,000 people fled the country through the Kabul airport. foreigners and Afghans, announces the United States government.

Most Afghans fear that Islamists will reintroduce a brutal Sharia regime similar to the one that existed under their previous rule in 1996-2001, or that they will retaliate for cooperating with a US-backed government over the past two decades.

Refugee detection strategies vary from country to country.

As G. Darmanin explained, France takes all evacuees to a military base in Abu Dhabi, where the first stage of inspections is taking place. Later, when the Afghans arrived on French territory, the process was taken over by the internal security agency DGSI.

Belgium and Germany carry out security checks on newcomers once they arrive in these countries.

A spokesman for the German Interior Ministry said the inspections had identified “fewer than 10 people” convicted in the country.

The online Focus Focus reported on the identification of three people who had previously been expelled for crimes, including drug-related crimes and rape.

Biden won’t change deadline for withdrawing troops from Afghanistan

US President Joe Biden has decided to meet the August 31 deadline for the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan, US media reported Tuesday.

The US leader made the decision after they reported video conversations with colleagues from the G7, CNN, Fox News and other outlets, citing high-ranking US officials.

Biden is due to make an official announcement later Tuesday amid fears that US citizens and thousands of Afghans working for US and allied coalition troops in Afghanistan may be left there.

That means that nearly 6,000 US troops who have taken control of Kabul Hamid International Airport since Aug. 14 have just seven days to complete the operation and leave.

On the eve, officials from Germany, the United Kingdom and France said their evacuations could continue beyond August 31. These countries have expressed the wish that US forces stay longer in Kabul and help organize an international evacuation.

Still, during a G-7 video conference earlier Tuesday, leaders appeared to agree to meet the deadline announced by Biden in April.

According to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the G-7 has agreed that the Taliban must ensure a safe path for people fleeing Afghanistan even after the current evacuation deadline of August 31.

Johnson, who called an urgent meeting of the G-7, said he and his colleagues had agreed “guidelines for our future engagement with the Taliban.”

He added that “condition number one” is “guaranteed … until August 31 and then a safe route for those who wish to leave.”

An urgent meeting of G-7 leaders on Tuesday also agreed that the Taliban will be held accountable for their actions in Afghanistan to protect women’s rights and prevent terrorism.

“We reaffirm that the Taliban will be held accountable for their actions in preventing terrorism, human rights, especially for women, girls and minorities, as well as for an inclusive political settlement in Afghanistan,” the Downing Street report said after the meeting.

European Union leaders have called on US President Biden to continue to protect Kabul airport in a G-7 video conference until evacuation operations for vulnerable Afghans are completed.

European Council President Charles Michel said European leaders had asked their “American friends” to maintain the airport for as long as necessary to complete operations and ensure fair and equitable access to the airport for all citizens with right to evacuate.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahide said Tuesday that the United States should stop evacuating qualified Afghans and warned Western forces not to extend the deadline for transportation from the country beyond Aug. 31.

After the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan nine days ago, some 50,000 people fled the country through the Kabul airport. foreigners and Afghans, announces the United States government.

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said the Taliban are sending the same message in private as in public.

“The Taliban are making very clear what they expect,” Kirby said.

“Public and private statements are the same. Without going into details, I don’t see much dissonance,” he told reporters.



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