The Netherlands and Germany decided to freeze deportations of Afghan asylum seekers to their homeland.
The decision came as a new round of violence spreads across Afghanistan.
The Dutch government said it would not deport Afghans seeking asylum for six months.
However, Germany has yet to clarify how long its suspension would last.
Germany and the Netherlands are now in line with EU member states Finland, Sweden, and Norway, which recently announced they were suspending deportations to Afghanistan.
However, Austria, Denmark, Belgium and Greece defended their continued right to do so.
Violence Returns to Afghanistan
Afghanistan has seen a spike in deadly Taliban assaults across the country, leading to mounting casualties on all sides.
Thus, a new round of violence has violated a three-day truce declared by the Taliban and the Afghan government.
At least 21 Taliban insurgents were killed during the armed clashes.
Moreover, the army added that at least 13 Taliban fighters were also wounded in the operation.
But, the Taliban have not yet commented.
The clashes broke out when Taliban fighters captured nine provinces in less than a week, battring Afghanistan’s US-backed government.
Foreign Forces Leave Afghanistan
The blistering offensive came as foreign forces started withdrawing from the country.
The last German troops left Afghanistan earlier last month, bringing to an end almost two decades of involvement in the country.
This came as the US military prepares its withdrawal from Afghanistan by September 2021, a deadline set by US President Joe Biden to end America’s longest war.
Kabul has earlier urged all European countries in early July to halt forced deportations for the next three months.
However, the renewed violence pushed several rounds of meetings led by the US to restore calm in the country.
The US envoy on Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, flew to Qatar this week to “press the Taliban to stop their military offensive.
