ROME (RIA Novosti): The Taliban are 50 kilometers from Kabul , Luca Lo Presti, president of the Italian humanitarian organization Pangea operating in Afghanistan, told RIA Novosti.
He said that 22 employees of the organization – Afghan women – remain in Kabul, who help “thousands of local residents”, mainly women and children. The support concerns medicine, microcredit and children’s education.
“We are very worried because the Taliban are 50 kilometers from Kabul. This morning they cut the cables with the light, the city was almost isolated,” Lo Presti said. He spoke to RIA Novosti by phone from Italy.
According to him, NGO workers are left without the opportunity to recharge the phone, so the extent of the shutdown is not yet clear. Now, Lo Presti said, he is trying to find ways to ensure the safety of his staff and understand how he can continue to work to support the population.
“But we will not leave Afghanistan . The last thing we received from them in the morning before the phones were discharged was that they want to continue working,” said the head of Pangea.
Lo Presti considers the capture of Kabul inevitable, since the Taliban * offensive, in his opinion, “cannot be slowed down.”
“The world is hiding behind the shame of military defeat,” he said, adding that he intends to discuss with the Italian government the issue of providing humanitarian assistance to the affected population of Afghanistan.
In recent months, the confrontation between the government forces and the Taliban has escalated in the country. This is taking place against the backdrop of the withdrawal of American troops, which the Russian Foreign Ministry called an admission of the failure of the mission.
The militants have already captured significant territories and launched an offensive against large cities. They claim that since the end of last week they have seized the administrative centers of ten of the 34 provinces, including the cities of Zaranj, Puli-Khumri, Ghazni, as well as Kunduz, located 60 kilometers from the nearest border crossing in Tajikistan . The day before, they also took Kandahar. The authorities, for their part, say they have regained control of some cities, but clashes continue.
