Kathmandu, December 16
Former Afghan President Hamid Karzai has said that the Taliban did not capture Kabul but called it their capital.
Karzai said in an interview that the Taliban had not seized power. Karzai said he had invited the Taliban to the capital, Kabul. Karzai also said he had invited the Taliban to Kabul to avoid any chaos in the country and to protect livelihoods.
Karzai said in Doha that he and Abdullah, the government’s chief negotiator, had negotiated with the Taliban leadership and agreed to allow their fighters to enter the capital in a controlled manner. According to him, preparations for the agreement had been made since August 14.
Karzai met with President Ashraf Ghani the next day and the two agreed to travel to Doha for a power-sharing agreement. By then, Taliban fighters had arrived on the outskirts of Kabul. But Karzai said the Qatar-based Taliban leadership had promised to stay out of Kabul until the rebels reached an agreement.
On the morning of August 15, Karzai was waiting for a list of 15 others to go to Doha. By noon, the Taliban had told him they had no plans to enter the city and that the government would remain in place.
But by 3:15 p.m., Gani had left Kabul. He said he had immediately called the defense minister and home minister and was looking for the Kabul police chief. But everyone had left the capital.
Karzai also said that Ghani had left Afghanistan “quietly and abruptly” at the last minute to reach an agreement on allowing the Taliban to enter Kabul. According to him, if Gani had stayed in Kabul, there could have been an agreement for a peaceful transition.
Karzai said he still met regularly with Taliban leaders and that the international community should work with them. He said all Afghans needed to be united.
