Stoltenberg comments on the Taliban: “What we have seen so far is not promising”
NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg called the Taliban's takeover a tragedy for the Afghan people.
NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg called the Taliban’s takeover a tragedy for the Afghan people.
“It is a tragedy for the Afghan people that the Taliban is back. We see that many of the freedoms the Afghans have painstakingly built up now are threatened,” Stoltenberg stated.
He was in Norway on Wednesday at the funeral of former Labor Party politician and City Council leader in Oslo Rune Gerhardsen. He met the press after the funeral and answered questions about, among other things, Afghanistan.
“They have tried to give the impression that this is a new Taliban, but what we have seen so far is not promising. That is why we must continue to put pressure on the Taliban. Of course, we have fewer means of pressure than we had with a military presence in Afghanistan, but we have economic, diplomatic, and political means,” Stoltenberg said.
He emphasized the importance of evacuating more people from Afghanistan.
“Despite what they have said, the Taliban has imposed restrictions slowly but surely. They have appointed a government that does not reflect the diversity they said they stand for. And many of those who were in the Taliban’s leadership in the 1990s when they last ruled are back now,” he added.
Source: © NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today / #NorwayTodayNews
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