With U.S. evacuation efforts completed, thousands of Afghan refugees are gathering at the Pakistan border in an attempt to escape the Taliban, overwhelming local resources.
The influx has created tension at the border with Pakistan, which is discouraging the movement because the nation already holds some 1.4 million Afghan refugees, and two Pakistani soldiers were killed along the border on Sunday, the first such attack since the Taliban’s Aug. 15 takeover of Kabul, according to Reuters.
The army told the outlet it retaliated and killed two or three attackers, condemning “the use of Afghan soil by terrorists for activities against Pakistan and expects that existing and future set-up in Afghanistan will not allow such activities against Pakistan.” The claim of attackers killed in retaliatory fire was not verifiable due to restrictions prohibiting journalists from accessing the Afghan border, the report continued.
WITH LAST TROOPS OUT OF AFGHANISTAN, HOUSE GOP PLANS ‘ACCOUNTABILITY’ FOR BIDEN ADMINISTRATION
Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, a Taliban-affiliated group that claimed responsibility for the attack on the soldiers, denied having suffered any losses.
Despite the violent conditions, many refugees, fearing the Taliban‘s oppression of women and targeting of Shiite Muslims, say the journey is necessary.
“We fear the Taliban will resume their acts of terrorism again,” an unidentified Shiite Muslim woman who crossed the Chaman Spin Boldak border told BBC. “They will conduct raids on our houses. They are already looking for government officials. We feel that bombings may start any day.”
The fear of displacement has led many human rights organizations to call on nations to accept refugees, despite fears of straining resources.
“The responsibility of the international community doesn’t end with the complete withdrawal of US & NATO forces from Afghanistan. There are still thousands of Afghans who remain at risk of reprisal from the Taliban,” Amnesty International wrote on Tuesday, later calling on the United Nations Security Council to “ensure protection for all Afghan refugees who managed to get out of the country and provide them support for pathways to protection, such as resettlement and community sponsorship.”
The U.S. military and coalition forces evacuated more than `120,000 foreign nationals and at-risk Afghans over the last couple of weeks, but hundreds of U.S. citizens reportedly remain behind, with some Republican lawmakers calling the stranded, “Taliban hostages.”
“Stop calling them American citizens ‘stuck’ or ‘stranded’ in Afghanistan, and call them what they are, which is Taliban hostages,” Rep. Mike Waltz, a Florida Republican and Army veteran who deployed in Afghanistan, told the Washington Examiner. “We’ve just handed the Taliban a mountain of leverage on a silver platter.”
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The White House has praised President Joe Biden’s decision to stick to his Tuesday deadline, despite bipartisan criticism of the chaos engulfing the region.
“If you just take a step back beyond yesterday, the president stands by his decision to bring our men and women home from Afghanistan … Nothing has changed in that regard,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Tuesday.
