Ramsteing Air Base (Germany), Sep 8 (AP) US Secretary of State Antony Blinken conferred with his German counterpart and others Wednesday about how to handle Afghanistan as the Taliban's announcement of an interim government line-up received a skeptical Western response.

Blinken met with German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas at Ramstein Air Base, a major U.S. facility in Germany that has become a key gateway for people evacuated from Afghanistan. As of Wednesday, about 23,000 people had been flown from Ramstein to the U.S. or other locations. There were about 11,200 people at the base and the nearby Rhine Ordnance Barracks awaiting onward travel.

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The German Foreign Ministry said the two officials would host a virtual meeting with other foreign ministers and that more than 20 countries were expected.

It didn't identify them, but Maas said in a statement that they want to discuss a common approach to the Taliban “which also serves our interests: adherence to fundamental human rights, maintaining possibilities to leave (Afghanistan) and humanitarian access, and the fight against terror groups” such as al-Qaida and the Islamic State group.

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The get-together comes the day after the Taliban announced an all-male interim government stacked with veterans of their hard-line rule from the 1990s and the 20-year battle against the U.S.-led coalition. Germany was a major troop provider for that alliance.

Initial responses suggested that the new administration may struggle to win the international support the new leaders desperately need to avoid an economic meltdown. It includes Sirajuddin Haqqani, who is on the FBI's most-wanted list, as interior minister.

The announcement came hours after Taliban fired their guns into the air to disperse protesters in the capital of Kabul and arrested several journalists, the second time in less than a week that heavy-handed tactics were used to break up a demonstration.

The U.S. State Department expressed concern that the Cabinet included only Taliban, no women and personalities with a troubling track record, but said the new administration would be judged by its actions.

Maas said that Germany is ready to provide humanitarian aid via the United Nations and will continue to speak to the Taliban to secure the departure from Afghanistan of former employees and others. He added that any commitment beyond that will depend on the Taliban's behavior.

“The announcement of an interim government without the participation of other groups and yesterday's violence against female demonstrators and journalists in Kabul are not signals that make us optimistic about that,” he said.

France's Foreign Ministry said the international community's demands are clear — among them breaking all links with terror groups and respect for human rights, particularly women's rights.

“We can only note that these demands are not fulfilled,” ministry spokeswoman Agnes von der Muhll said in an online briefing. “The actions are not in line with the words.”

Pakistan's foreign minister, meanwhile, urged the international community to help prevent a humanitarian and economic crisis in Afghanistan.

Shah Mahmood Qureshi was addressing a virtual meeting of foreign ministers from countries neighboring Afghanistan. It was attended by his counterparts from China, Iran, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

Qureshi said that since Kabul's takeover by the Taliban, “much dreaded bloodshed has not occurred,” and the prospect of a protracted conflict and civil war seems to have been averted. He said that so far, a feared exodus of refugees has also not taken place.

The situation remains complex and fluid in Afghanistan, however, and it “requires discarding old lenses, developing new insights, and proceeding with a realistic and pragmatic approach,” he said. (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)