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Taliban close in on two provincial Afghan capitals as foreign forces exit country

FOOLS_NIGHTMARE

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Taliban fighters on Friday intensified clashes with Afghan forces and targeted militias allied with the government, officials said, stretching their dominance of border towns and closing in on two provincial capitals as foreign forces leave.

At least 10 Afghan soldiers and a commander of armed members belonging to the Abdul Rashid Dostum militia group in the northern province of Jowzjan were killed.

“The Taliban launched violent attacks on the outskirts of (provincial capital) Sheberghan this week and during heavy clashes, a pro-government militia forces’ commander loyal to Dustom was killed,” said Abdul Qader Malia, the deputy governor of Jowzjan province.

The Taliban, fighting to reimpose strict Islamic law after their 2001 ouster by U.S.-led forces, have stepped up their campaign to defeat the U.S.-backed government as foreign forces complete their withdrawal after 20 years of war.

Another provincial council member said nine of the 10 districts of Jowzjan were now controlled by the Taliban and the contest to control Sheberghan was underway.

In southern Helmand province, damage to civilian property aggravated the humanitarian crisis as shops caught fire in a week-long battle to control the capital of Lashkar Gah.

The United Nations this week said it was deeply concerned about the safety of tens of thousands of people trapped in the city.

“Violence has only escalated and there is no way to assess the damage in Lashkar Gah as both sides are locked in an intense ground battle… it is hard to even recover bodies by aid agencies,” a senior Western security official said in Kabul.

The Lashkar Gah office of aid group Action Against Hunger was hit by a bomb during fighting in the area on Thursday.

“Civilians find themselves in between warring parties. They are being displaced from their homes and are often the first victims of the conflict,” said Mike Bonke, Action Against Hunger’s Country Director in Afghanistan

“Humanitarian organisations like Action Against Hunger try their best to support people’s needs, but we need safety guarantees from all parties to be able to operate,” he said in a statement.

 
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Looks like Zaranj (capital of Nimruz province, on the Iranian border) is the first provincial capital to fall to the Taliban. (FYI; This was where India wanted to build a rail link into Afghanistan from Chabahar port on the Iranian coast.)

The ANDSF will probably be sending a lot of assets towards this city to try to take it back today or tomorrow. if the Talibs are smuggling manpads or ATGMs ...

 
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the taliban have proven to be brilliant tacticians as well as grand maesters of chess strategy

1. captured border districts first

2. didnt resort to mass killings and revenge tactics ( like the 90s )

3. despite 24.7 western propaganda and indian bitching, there HAS BEEN NO documented proof of civlian deaths and harm caused by taliban, there seems no massive internal migrations nor are ppl leaving the cities en masse.

4.the taliban are playing grand diplomacy as well, china, russia, iran , pakistan all are more of less neutral to +ve towards taliban and there is no pressure on IEA to cease fire or slow the momemtum

5. lastly, it is an understood fact that taliban controlled all major highways even when nato presence was peak . this time, IEA is just carrying out siege tactics and mopping up operations

kabul regime, on the other hand, is like an abandoned orphan
 
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Now they need to either hold it or find a way to deny it to the Kabul forces (which is what other countries will be looking at as well); probably should start to crater the air strip and knock out airport infrastructure (because ANA resupply is based on air transport, while Talibs travel by road) and laying minefields, especially for Helos. They should expect an ANSDF air assault soon.

cratering to deny enemy use, similar to what the Royal Air Force did to port Stanley airport during the Falklands wars.
 
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Now they need to either hold it or find a way to deny it to the Kabul forces (which is what other countries will be looking at as well); probably should start to crater the air strip and knock out airport infrastructure (because ANA resupply is based on air transport, while Talibs travel by road) and laying minefields, especially for Helos. They should expect an ANSDF air assault soon.

cratering to deny enemy use, similar to what the Royal Air Force did to port Stanley airport during the Falklands wars.

i dont believe there is any need by taliban to 'scorch earth' any captured air fields

1 . afghan regime is defeated and would rather hold kabul vs retaking far flung provincial districts

2. its not like US/nato is coming back to afghanistan !
 
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