Int'l community closely monitoring situation in Afghanistan

Photo taken on Aug. 20, 2021 shows a view in Kabul, Afghanistan. (Photo by Saifurahman Safi/Xinhua)

The international community has warned against potential humanitarian challenges and expressed a willingness to help the country establish peace and stability.

BEIJING, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) -- As the situation in Afghanistan remains uncertain following the Taliban's swift takeover of most parts of the country on Sunday, the international community has warned against potential humanitarian challenges and expressed a willingness to help the country establish peace and stability.

In a phone conversation with British First Secretary of State and Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab on Thursday, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that after more than 40 years of war, the Afghan people yearn for stability and do not want another war or more chaos.

It also shows that governance imposed from the outside has not been supported by the Afghan people, and lacks a social foundation, Wang said, adding that relying on military intervention to solve regional hotspot issues will lead nowhere.

Wang said the international community should fully respect the independence and sovereignty of Afghanistan and the will of its people, conduct more dialogue and provide more guidance, refrain from a predetermined mindset and exceeding one's duties to meddle in the affairs of other countries and not turn Afghanistan into an arena of geopolitical games.

Taliban fighters are seen in Kabul, capital of Afghanistan, Aug. 17, 2021.(Str/Xinhua)

Raab agreed that the international community should sum up experience and lessons from Afghanistan, saying that the country should not become an epicenter of terrorism once again.

The international community should cooperate on the issue of Afghan refugees, Raab said, noting that Britain has announced that it will take in 20,000 Afghan refugees and is ready to increase humanitarian and development assistance to Afghanistan in support of the United Nations in helping the neighboring countries of Afghanistan accept Afghan refugees.

On the same day, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told a press briefing that China hopes the Afghan Taliban can follow through on its positive statements, unite with all parties and ethnic groups in Afghanistan, establish a broadly-based, inclusive political framework that fits the national conditions and win public support through dialogue and consultation as soon as possible, and adopt moderate and prudent domestic and foreign policies.

Meanwhile, Dai Bing, the charge d'affaires at the Chinese Permanent Mission to the United Nations, on Thursday called for efforts to continue to fight terrorism in Afghanistan in order to prevent it from again becoming a paradise for terrorists.

Taliban fighters stand beside the belongings of Afghan security soldiers in Kabul, capital of Afghanistan, Aug. 16, 2021. (Str/Xinhua)

For 20 years since the war on terror in Afghanistan started, the threat of terrorism has not been eliminated. Instead, the number of terrorist organizations in the country has increased from a single digit to more than 20 with close to 10,000 foreign terrorists in the country, Dai warned.

Also on Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin held phone conversations with French President Emmanuel Macron and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi to discuss the situation in Afghanistan.

Putin and Macron noted the importance of ensuring the safety of civilians and addressing pressing humanitarian challenges, the Kremlin said in a press release.

They expressed a willingness to help establish peace and stability in Afghanistan through cooperation, including efforts within the framework of the United Nations Security Council and the Group of 20.

During the talks between Putin and Draghi, both sides underlined the significance of preventing a humanitarian catastrophe and ensuring the safety of the Afghan people.

Putin and Draghi stressed the need to further counter the spread of terrorist ideology and deal with the drug threat emanating from Afghanistan.

The leaders called for consolidating international efforts to help establish peace and stability in the country.

Photo taken on Aug. 20, 2021 shows a view in Kabul, Afghanistan. (Photo by Saifurahman Safi/Xinhua)

As chaos continues at the Kabul airport amid the hasty withdrawal of U.S.-led military troops, the Group of Seven (G7) on Thursday sought to secure close cooperation in personnel evacuation and the resettlement of refugees.

The foreign ministers of the G7 as well as the high representative of the European Union met online and "spoke about the gravity of the situation and the significant loss of life and internal displacement in Afghanistan over recent days," according to a statement issued after the meeting.

The G7 will continue efforts to evacuate vulnerable persons from Kabul airport, the ministers concurred during Thursday's meeting, which set the stage for a virtual meeting of G7 leaders on Afghanistan early next week.

At the same time, the blame game has intensified in Washington as the White House is scrambling to contain the fallout of a humiliating end to the 20-year war in Afghanistan and Republicans are sparing no efforts to exploit President Joe Biden's handling of the messy withdrawal from Kabul.

Photo taken in Arlington, Virginia, the United States, on Aug. 20, 2021 shows a screen displaying U.S. President Joe Biden (C) delivering remarks on Afghanistan at the White House in Washington, D.C. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)

"I don't think it could have been handled in a way that ... but the idea that somehow, to have gotten out without chaos ensuing. I don't know how that happens," said Biden in an interview with ABC News on Wednesday.

Since the U.S. troops started to pull out of Afghanistan on May 1, the Taliban has been advancing quickly on the battlefield. During the past two weeks, the group has captured most of Afghanistan's territories.

After the takeover of the capital city, the Taliban said Tuesday it intends to form an inclusive government and does not want to have any internal or external enemies.