Afghanistan: Ninth Afghan city falls to Taliban

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Afghanistan: Ninth Afghan city falls to Taliban

Aug 11, 2021: The Taliban have now seized more than a quarter of Afghanistan’s provincial capitals in less than a week.

The group has seized nine provincial capitals in Afghanistan since Friday, including Faizabad, Farah, Pul-e-Khumri, Sar-e-Pul, Sheberghan, Aibak, Kunduz, Taloqan and Zaranj. Badakhshan province’s capital Faizabad is the latest to fall to the Taliban.

Afghan officials say three more provincial capitals have fallen to the Taliban since Tuesday, leaving nine of the country’s 34 armed groups during the US withdrawal. The capitals of Badakhshan, Baghlan and Farah provinces fell – Faizabad, Pul-e-Khumri and Farah, respectively.

The Afghan government and military did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The Taliban have already seized large swathes of rural Afghanistan since a series of attacks began in May, with the final withdrawal of foreign troops.

Local sources in Kunduz have confirmed Taliban reports that they have seized the provincial airport and that members of the Afghan National Security Forces have surrendered to the group. “Since the province fell on Sunday, the airport was the only part of the province that was not yet controlled by the Taliban,” he said.

Taliban fighters have taken control of Afghanistan’s borders with Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, Russia’s Kommersant daily quoted Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu as saying, adding that security concerns for Moscow have increased.

Shoigu says the Taliban have promised not to cross the border, but Moscow will continue joint exercises with its allies in the region. Russia operates a military base in Tajikistan and is a member of the military bloc led by the former Soviet republic of Moscow, meaning Moscow will be obliged to protect it in the event of an attack. Uzbekistan also has close ties with Russia.

The Taliban claim to have fired rockets into the Bagram airbase located north of Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul.

While, its still unclear what the agenda is on the second day of peace talks in Doha, Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani flew to the besieged northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif to rally his troubled forces, and Taliban fighters have seized more than a quarter of the country’s provincial capitals in less than a week.

According to a statement issued by the palace, it “intends to conduct a general security check in the northern zone”.

Afghanistan’s leaders are likely to discuss defending the city with Mazar-e-Sharif’s longtime strongman Ata Muhammad Noor and notorious militia leader Abdul Rashid Dostum, as Taliban fighters have moved closer to its outskirts.

The loss of Mazar-e-Sharif would be a catastrophic blow to the Afghanistan government in Kabul and would represent a complete end to its control over the north.

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