While the US State Department continues to engage in high-level diplomatic talks with the Taliban in the neutral setting of Doha, Qatar, as it has for the past year, the real negotiations have moved to the chaotic streets of Kabul in recent days, where American military commanders are in constant communication with Taliban militants over security around the airport.
In an extraordinary move, the top US commander in Afghanistan, Adm. Peter Vasely, has been leading the effort to negotiate with his Taliban counterpart to maintain security at the Kabul airport and ensure the safety of both Americans and Afghans hoping to escape. So far, talks have produced mixed results at best. US troops have secured the airport with evacuation flights taking off successfully. However, the US embassy has explicitly warned that it cannot ensure safe passage for Americans attempting to reach the airport and CNN has reported that Afghans attempting the perilous journey there have been subject to violence and intimidation. One White House official said that while the US has several channels to the militant group, officials are still unclear about which Taliban fighters control what, and whether instructions are being properly passed down the chain of command. “The command structure of the Taliban is not perfect,” said one diplomat who has spent extensive time in the region, which is why some agreements negotiated by leaders may not be perfectly communicated to the fighters in the streets. Former US Ambassador to Afghanistan, John Bass, has also been dispatched to Kabul to help restore order around the airport and facilitate safe passage for Americans who are currently unable to get there, the State Department announced this week. Officials briefing lawmakers on Thursday said their hope was Bass could help resolve some of those issues with the Taliban diplomatically without having to send special operations forces outside of the airport to restore order or retrieve stranded Americans. When State Department, Defense, and National Security Council officials were pressed on a call with lawmakers on Thursday about why the US can’t go outside the airport perimeter to get Americans, they reiterated that the US needs to remain wholly focused on the mission of securing the airport and said the hope is that Bass can help resolve any issues with citizens getting through. US defense officials have repeatedly said this week they lack the capability to venture beyond the airport in Kabul. Taliban fighters have set up checkpoints around the city of 6 million, as well as outside the perimeter of the airport, and have been harassing and even beating Afghans trying to get through, according to multiple reports. US officials say they are aware of the reports, with State Department spokesperson Ned Price telling reporters Thursday, “every report of someone unable for whatever reason to reach the airport is something we take very seriously,” and officials have called on the Taliban to allow safe passage to the airport for all those who wish to depart the country. Vasely has been communicating at least once a day with a Taliban commander stationed outside the airport, Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said Thursday. “My understanding is that in a typical day there’s more than one conversation, direct conversation with their self-appointed designated commander there,” he said. The tentative understanding now is that the Taliban will allow the US to continue its evacuation operations unhindered at the airport, as long as American forces don’t fan out into the city and interfere with Taliban rule there. “There are no plans to expand” the US military presence in Kabul beyond the airport as of now, Kirby said on Thursday. At the same time, there is “no interest by Taliban commanders to access the airport,” he said.
