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Updated September 1st, 2021 at 06:35 IST

Angela Merkel believes it is 'important' for Germany to hold talks with Taliban

Germany is currently concentrating on humanitarian relief and assisting former local Afghan personnel who have not been evacuated in the last two weeks.

Reported by: Srishti Goel
Angela Merkel
Picture Credit: AP | Image:self
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Chancellor Angela Merkel has stated that Germany is currently concentrating on humanitarian relief and assisting former local Afghan personnel who have not been evacuated in the last two weeks. Merkel stated that their numbers are "not 300," but rather "between 10,000 and 40,000."

German Chancellor Merkel says it is 'important' to talk to Taliban

This month, Germany evacuated about 5,000 people from Afghanistan, the vast majority of them were Afghans. She stated that it is unclear how many of those who remain desire to leave Afghanistan.

She claims that, while Germany does not have diplomatic connections with the Taliban, it is critical to communicate with the militant group in order to evacuate additional Afghans from the country. Merkel spoke ahead of a meeting with her Austrian counterpart, Sebastian Kurz, in Berlin on Tuesday. Kurz repeated his country's refusal to accept any Afghan migrants.

He stated, "when it comes admission, my position in known. Nothing much has changed there. Especially because Austria has done a lot already. We have taken in a disproportionately high amount of people since 2015, we have the per-capita fourth biggest Afghan community worldwide. ”

Kurz has long taken a hard line on migration concerns. Last month, he stated that, notwithstanding the circumstances in Afghanistan, he would not halt the repatriation of rejected asylum applicants.

Germany mulls taking part in formal discussions with Taliban in Afghan regarding evacuation of 'friendly assets'

According to previous reports, Germany had stayed out of discussions about evacuating Afghans who supported Germany's Bundeswehr. Diplomats will, however, continue to communicate with the Taliban in Qatar. Meanwhile, Germany has established direct communication with German nationals who have been left behind in Afghanistan in order to facilitate an "organised exit" from the dangerous country. Notably, on August 27, Germany ceased all evacuation flights from Afghanistan. The German troops extricated nearly 4,000 Afghans and 500 German nationals from the war-torn country before calling off the evacuation mission on Thursday. Similarly, Sweden has been able to retrieve over 1,100 citizens from the Taliban-captured nation, including first nationals, local hires, journalists, and European Union staff.

(with inputs from AP)

Picture Credit: AP

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Published September 1st, 2021 at 06:35 IST

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