16th August, 2021
Agency report
German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday called for a special EU meeting to discuss the recent ousting of power by the Taliban in Afghanistan.
According to her, the situation in Afghanistan in the wake of the Taliban’s takeover was “bitter, dramatic and terrifying.”
Merkel delivered her grim assessment at a press conference in Berlin on Monday, a day after the Western-backed government in Kabul fell to the ultra-conservative insurgents.
“It is a terrible development for the millions of Afghans who want a more liberal society,” she said.
The government was focused on evacuating German citizens and Afghan staff who had worked for German ministries and the military.
She added that the chaotic conditions in Kabul were making the operation “extremely difficult.”
Merkel said she has been in contact with French President Emmanuel Macron about the unfolding crisis and said a special EU Council meeting on Afghanistan was likely to be scheduled.
dpa