Taliban captures three Afghan provincial capitals in single day

[FOOLS_NIGHTMARE]

The militants took control of the capital cities of Takhar, Kunduz, and Sar-e Pul provinces after fighting since early morning, according to local officials.

Taliban militants overran three provincial capitals in northern Afghanistan in a single day, officials confirmed on Sunday.

The militants took control of the capital cities of Takhar, Kunduz, and Sar-e Pul provinces after fighting since early morning, according to local officials in the provinces.

In the latest string of victories for the group, the Taliban fighters took control of key government facilities in Taluqan city, the capital of Takhar, when the government forces evacuated the city and retreated to Farkhar district after two months of resistance, provincial councillor Rohullah Raufi said.

Just hours before the collapse of Taluqan city, the group took control of neighbouring Kunduz city, a strategically important city on the border with Tajikistan with an estimated 374,000 inhabitants, after two days of heavy fighting.

The city's airport and an army base where some German troops were stationed before they departed from the country were the only areas that remained under the government forces' control, provincial councillor Amruddin Wali said.

Earlier in the day, Taliban fighters took over Sar-e Pul city. Government officials including the Sar-e Pul governor were under siege in an army base in part of the city, because the government was unable to airlift them to safety by the end of the day, provincial councillor Asadullah Khuram said.

Two provincial capitals, Sheberghan in northern Jawzjan province and Zaranj in south-western Nimruz province, were also captured during the past two days.

Abandoned without resistance
The city of Zaranj in Nimruz, on the border with Iran, was abandoned without any resistance on Friday. Sheberghan fell on Saturday despite powerful resistance by troops loyal to anti-Taliban Uzbek leader Marshal Abdul Rashid Dostum, seen as a strong force in the area.

The latest gains mean the insurgent group controls a total of five provincial capitals which are in more populated urban areas, a serious blow to the government in Kabul.

In addition to the fall of the provincial capitals, the insurgent group enabled prisoners to escape from city jails shortly after the areas were captured.

Hundreds of prisoners, including criminals and Taliban members, succeeded in escaping from the provincial jails.

Meanwhile civilians either fled to safer areas or hid inside their homes, according to local officials. Some lacked the resources to meet their basic needs such as food, water and electricity.

Kunduz on fire
Images shared in social media on Sunday showed that the city of Kunduz on fire. It was caused by Taliban rocket attacks and government airstrikes, local residents said.

It was not immediately clear how many civilians had been killed or wounded in the crossfire.

Taliban fighters have taken more than half of Afghanistan's districts and encircled about a dozen provincial capitals since the US-led international troops began their withdrawal from the country in early May.

Currently, heavy fighting continues between the government and Taliban forces around the provincial capitals of Helmand, Kandahar, Herat, and Badakhshan provinces.

US President Joe Biden has announced that US troops would end their 20-year military intervention in the country by the end of August. NATO has already quietly wrapped up its mission in the country.

The peace talks that started between the warring sides in Qatar last year made little progress and have now stalled as both sides speak of war.

Observers fear the insurgent group will continue its violent attacks and overpower the country through military means.

Taliban captures three Afghan provincial capitals in single day

The militants took control of the capital cities of Takhar, Kunduz, and Sar-e Pul provinces after fighting since early morning, according to local officials

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Taliban seize three more Afghan provincial capitals



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KUNDUZ: The Taliban tightened the noose around northern Afghanistan Sunday, capturing three more provincial capitals as they took their fight to the cities after seizing much of the countryside in recent months.

The Taliban have snatched up five provincial capitals in Afghanistan since Friday in a lightning offensive that appears to have overwhelmed government forces. Kunduz, Sar-e-Pul and Taloqan in the north fell within hours of each other Sunday, lawmakers, security sources and residents in the cities confirmed.
The Taliban said on Twitter on Sunday evening that they had also taken Taloqan, the capital of Takhar province. Taloqan was the next to go Sunday, with resident Zabihullah Hamidi telling AFP by phone that he saw security forces and officials leave the city in a convoy of vehicles. "We retreated from the city this afternoon, after the government failed to send help," a security source told AFP. "The city is unfortunately fully in Taliban hands."

In Kunduz, one resident described the city as being enveloped in "total chaos". "After some fierce fighting, the Mujahideen, with the grace of God, captured the capital of Kunduz," the Taliban said in a statement. "The Mujahideen also captured Sar-e-Pul city, the government buildings and all the installations there."
Parwina Azimi, a women’s rights activist in Sar-e-Pul, told AFP by phone that government officials and the remaining forces had retreated to an army barracks about three kilometres from the city.

The Taliban had the compound "surrounded", said Mohammad Hussein Mujahidzada, a member of the provincial council. Kunduz is the most significant Taliban gain since they launched an offensive in May as foreign forces began the final stages of their withdrawal.

It has been a perennial target for the Taliban, who briefly overran the city in 2015 and again in 2016 but never managed to hold it for long. The ministry of defence said government forces were fighting to retake key installations. "The commando forces have launched a clearing operation. Some areas, including the national radio and TV buildings, have been cleared of the terrorist Taliban," it said.

Kabul´s ability to hold the north may prove crucial to the government´s long-term survival. Northern Afghanistan has long been considered an anti-Taliban stronghold that saw some of the stiffest resistance to militant rule in the 1990s. The region remains home to several militias and is also a fertile recruiting ground for the country's armed forces.

"The capture of Kunduz is quite significant because it will free up a large number of Taliban forces who might then be mobilised in other parts of the north," said Ibraheem Thurial, a consultant for International Crisis Group. Vivid footage of the fighting was posted on social media over the weekend, including what appeared to be large numbers of prisoners being freed from jails in captured cities. The Taliban frequently target prisons to release incarcerated fighters to replenish their ranks.

On Friday, the Taliban seized their first provincial capital, Zaranj in southwestern Nimroz on the border with Iran, and followed it up by taking Sheberghan in northern Jawzjan province the next day.

Fighting was also reported on the outskirts of Herat in the west, and Lashkar Gah and Kandahar in the south. The pace of Taliban advances has caught government forces flatfooted, but they won some respite late Saturday after US warplanes bombed Taliban positions in Sheberghan. "US forces have conducted several air strikes in defence of our Afghan partners in recent days," Major Nicole Ferrara, a Central Command spokesperson, told AFP in Washington.

Hundreds of thousands of Afghans have been displaced by the recent fighting, and on Saturday, 12 people were killed when their bus was struck by a roadside bomb as they tried to flee Gardez in Paktia province. "I lost my mother, father, two brothers, two sisters-in-law and other members of the family," said Noor Jan.
"Fierce street-to-street fighting is ongoing in different parts of the city," Amruddin Wali, a member of the Kunduz provincial council, told AFP. "Some security forces have retreated towards the airport.

Taliban seize three more Afghan provincial capitals

KUNDUZ: The Taliban tightened the noose around northern Afghanistan Sunday, capturing three more provincial capitals as they took their fight to the cities after seizing much of the countryside in...

www.thenews.com.pk

 

[Dalit]

@RAMPAGE You are awefully silent. Aren't you going to congratulate the Taliban on their success?

 

[Imran Khan]

this mess will effect pakistna so badly just wait few weeks .

 

[Areesh]

this mess will effect pakistna so badly just wait few weeks .

Abay ja na. Ashraf Ghani k daur main to bohat acha effect ho raha tha Pakistan par

 

[crankthatskunk]

Indian's reality in Afghanistan , spelled by an Indian. Something Is said 2/3 years ago on this forum.

When America despite its wealth and overwhelming tech superiority and military power couldn't succeed in Afghanistan, Indians have no chance.

They cannot even fight.