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The Taliban say they've taken control of a province north of Kabul, the last holdout of anti-Taliban forces in Afghanistan. It's the Panjshir Valley. A resistance group there denies those claims. And that is just some of the news out of Afghanistan today. At the same time, at least four planes were chartered to evacuate hundreds of people from Afghanistan but have been unable to take off for days.
Joining us now, Susannah George. She is the Afghanistan and Pakistan bureau chief for The Washington Post. She's in Kabul. Susannah, thanks for being with us this morning. Let's start with that news out of the Panjshir Province. This is a storied province, long-held stronghold of resistance to the Taliban. Just explain what it means that this province has now fallen to to the Taliban.
SUSANNAH GEORGE: Yeah, well, this is a very significant development. And it's just as you say. It's because this was one of the few places that the Taliban never managed to control back in the 1990s when the group had control most of the country. And so clearing this valley now, it really clearly displays how much more of a formative fighting force the Taliban is today than it was 20 years ago. They have much more training. They've been fighting against one of the most powerful militaries in the world for the last two decades. And they're also a much better-equipped force. And this is largely thanks to desertions and surrender deals with Afghan government forces in the lead-up to the fall of Kabul.
MARTIN: So now the Taliban controls the entirety of the country. We are waiting for them to announce the official formation of their government. And meanwhile, there are still so many Afghans who are trying to get out. You have been reporting that Kabul airport is now open again for domestic travel. What does that mean, Susannah? What does that look like?
GEORGE: Yeah, well, it's still a bit of a mess in Kabul Airport. The only reason that some domestic flights have resumed is because this temporary radio communication has been set up by Qatari engineers between pilots and air traffic controllers. But there's no other navigation system set up at the airport. They were all damaged during the chaos of the evacuation, which means that all pilots, when they're taking off and landing — they need to do it by sight. And this means that any commercial airline who wants to come in and out of Kabul airport is just not going to be able to for insurance reasons and because of international aviation guidelines.
MARTIN: And Steve mentioned earlier these four planes that were supposed to evacuate. People have been unable to do so. What's going on?
GEORGE: Yeah. So what I've heard from some of the people who are organizing this evacuation effort and some of the people who are waiting to be evacuated is that they've been waiting for days now. And it's because the Taliban is not giving these planes permission to take off. Most of the people who are waiting — and it's hundreds of people who are waiting to be evacuated from Mazar — these are people who didn't make it onto planes in Kabul. So they are seeing this as their, like, last chance to get out of the country. But the Taliban — if it's true that the Taliban is not giving these planes permission to leave the country, it means that they are going back on a promise that they gave that Afghans would have freedom of movement after they took control.
MARTIN: And we should note there are U.S. visa holders among that group trying to get out, right?
GEORGE: That is true.
MARTIN: And we should just say that the U.S. government has not confirmed the status of these planes. I want to talk about women, Susannah, because there have been these photos circulating online of these protests, Afghan women out in the streets in Kabul demanding their rights. And these protests, these rallies have turned violent. What can you tell us?
GEORGE: Yeah, these women have shown incredible courage coming out onto the streets. I pressed Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid about this at the press conference that I just returned from. He said it was bad people who carried out this violence. He did condemn the violence when asked about it directly, but he said the Taliban are asking all people, men and women, not to protest until security is better restored in the country.
MARTIN: Susannah George of The Washington Post reporting from Kabul. Thank you.
GEORGE: Thank you.
