Britain said that it would accelerate the plan to transfer Afghan employees who work for its army in Afghanistan, for fear of retaliation against them and their families from the Taliban movement, after the withdrawal of NATO forces soon. The foreign forces began a gradual withdrawal in the last week of last April, to be completed next September.
“As we withdraw our armed forces (from Afghanistan), it is only fair that we expedite the transfer of those who may be subject to reprisals,” British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said in a statement. after risking their lives by working alongside British forces in Afghanistan.” The plan to accelerate the transfer of Afghan translators and their families is expected to include more than 3,000 people. Read also American experts explain the justifications.. Why did Biden advance the date for the withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan?Without victory or defeat, US forces leave Afghanistan The President of Afghanistan writes in Foreign Affairs: The US withdrawal is an opportunity for peace fraught with dangers
Britain has already transferred 1,358 Afghans over the twenty years of the Afghan conflict, and Britain promised in early April to prioritize the return of every local employee who feels threatened, whether he is still working for Britain or not.
But thousands of worried Afghan employees and their families are still waiting to be transferred, at a time when the remaining NATO forces in Afghanistan, including 750 British soldiers, 2500 American soldiers and 1,100 German soldiers, are expected to withdraw soon.
Britain has already relocated 1,358 Afghans over the 20 years of the Afghan conflict, and London promised in early April to prioritize the return of every local employee who felt threatened, whether or not they were still working for Britain.
In the same context, British Home Secretary Priti Patel said, “We have a moral obligation to recognize the risks they faced in the fight against terrorism and reward them for their efforts,” referring to the Afghan translators who provided services to the British army.
A demand of organizations
Yesterday evening, Monday, 16 organizations belonging to NATO countries, including the British “Sulha Alliance”, demanded in a letter to the member states of the alliance to “provide immediate protection for Afghan employees who are threatened with their families,” and the letter explained that the translators “are afraid To be abandoned, not only because of inconsistent standards, but also because the deteriorating security situation makes it impossible to travel to conduct interviews and obtain documents within the available deadlines.
And the Secretary-General of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, said yesterday that the alliance will be present in Afghanistan by supporting security and civil institutions with funding and training, and added at a press conference in Brussels – before a meeting of the foreign and defense ministers of the alliance countries – that the withdrawal of the alliance from Afghanistan is a challenge, and that reducing the number of troops It has already been happening for years, stressing that the Afghan forces will take full control of security soon.
And last Saturday, the Afghan Ministry of Defense took over the new Kabul complex, a major military base for US forces in the center of the capital, Kabul. Last Tuesday, the US Central Forces Command said that the withdrawal process from Afghanistan has reached a rate ranging between 16% and 25%, while military officials said that the process is expected to be completed in mid-July, instead of next September 11.
Afghanistan has been suffering a war since 2001, when an international military coalition, led by Washington, overthrew the Taliban rule for its connection at the time with Al Qaeda, which adopted the September 11 attacks of the same year in the United States.