A large part of the Afghan army's logistics has fallen into the hands of the Taliban.

The White House national security adviser says the Taliban have seized significant amounts of weapons and equipment from the Afghan military. Jake Sullivan added that it is unlikely that the loot will be handed over. The G7 will hold an emergency meeting next week.

US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan announced at a press conference that significant amounts of military equipment had fallen into the hands of the Taliban and that the Afghan army had effectively collapsed. He said that the United States had provided weapons to the Afghan security forces for years and helped build the country's air force, "but the major cities have surrendered to the Taliban."

Sullivan expressed doubts about the Taliban's readiness to return military equipment, while also announcing that Washington is negotiating with the militants to gradually evacuate American personnel from Kabul. "The Taliban have promised that civilians will be safely transported to Kabul airport," he said.

The Taliban have now set up checkpoints at the entrance to Kabul airport and are violently expelling people trying to enter. Thousands of local staff working for foreign centers or embassy personnel are still unable to leave Afghanistan due to the conditions at Kabul airport.

The US military has evacuated more than 3,200 people from Afghanistan as of Wednesday morning, August 18. The previous day, about 1,100 people were evacuated to safety on 13 flights. About 2,000 refugees have also been evacuated to the country. The United States has also launched an investigation into the chaos and humanitarian disaster at Kabul airport.

The White House has also announced that the leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) major industrialized countries will hold a video conference next week to adopt a common strategy and approach to the Afghan crisis.

US State Department spokesman Ned Price stated in a press conference that if the situation in Afghanistan were secure after August 31, the United States might continue its diplomatic presence in the country.

Europe's "conditional" talks with the Taliban

The shock of the events in Afghanistan has caught European politicians by surprise. The first goal of EU officials is the safe departure of European citizens and local staff from Western centers from Afghanistan and protection from possible Taliban reprisals.

In the emergency meeting of EU foreign ministers, in addition to emphasizing the aforementioned point, negotiations between the new Afghan leaders were also discussed.

Josep Borrell, the EU's foreign policy coordinator, announced that Europe will talk to the Taliban about the humanitarian crisis, preventing the return of foreign terrorist groups to Afghanistan, and preventing a "migration catastrophe."

The joint statement by the EU foreign ministers states that the dialogue is conditional on a peaceful transfer of power and that the Islamists respect the fundamental rights of all people, especially the rights of women, children and minorities.

Meanwhile, Bloomberg News quoted an American official as saying that Washington has frozen nearly $9.5 billion in assets of the Afghan Central Bank to prevent the Taliban from accessing these resources.

Meanwhile, the director of the "Help for the Hungry Organization" has called on the German government not to abandon the citizens of Afghanistan and to continue providing development and humanitarian aid.

Matthias Mogge said: "Even after the hasty withdrawal, Germany has a duty to play a part in alleviating the suffering of the Afghan people and to allocate sufficient funds to continue humanitarian aid."

The media quoted Mughe as saying: "The people of Afghanistan need help. 13 million people do not have enough food. Three million children are malnourished."

Source: DW