Paris. August 15. INTERFAX-The speed with which the Taliban units (a terrorist organization banned in the Russian Federation) were advancing up to Kabul caused general surprise, Olivier de Bavenchov, former commander of the French contingent of the international NATO forces in Afghanistan, told France 24 TV channel on Sunday.
"Of course, we clearly imagined that this summer and autumn the country would become a theater of intense pressure from the Taliban, preceding the transition of power, but we did not think that (Afghan) soldiers, who were forged and trained for almost 20 years, would be able to fail so quickly, and this obviously raises a number of questions for us," General de Bavenshov said.
At the same time, he recalled that France withdrew from the international forces in Afghanistan in 2012.
"The current situation is a consequence of the assessment of the situation by London and Washington. It seems to me that the responsibility for what is happening in Afghanistan today does not in any way affect what we, the French, did there. But at the same time, Washington and London, quite likely, both calculated that it was not worth resisting this Taliban offensive - at least until today, "the general suggested.
He admitted that for political reasons, as a result of intensive discussions with President Ashraf Ghani and his entourage, "it was decided to allow this offensive to continue without significant fighting - there were battles, of course, but on a limited scale."
"I believe that the fighting was of a relatively limited scale, which means that there is a considerable probability that today all participants in these discussions agree that the events should develop mainly in a peaceful manner, and we can feel some hope about this," de Bavenshov believes.
At the same time, he considered it necessary to make a reservation that if the Taliban take power, it is too premature and risky to assume how they will exercise this power after a twenty-year period of confrontation with international forces and government troops.
On Sunday, the Taliban detachments (banned in the Russian Federation) came close to the capital of the country, Kabul, and surrounded the city. It was reported that the Taliban began negotiations with the current leadership of Afghanistan on the transfer of power.
