So far, the Taliban have taken control of 18 provincial capitals in Afghanistan. Amid all the chaos, there are reports that President of Afghanistan Ashraf Ghani may address the nation. However, the Taliban and Pakistan are demanding his resignation.
Sources said the president of Afghanistan Ashraf Ghani is likely to contact the country on Friday or Saturday to inform them of the fate of his administration. The meeting will most likely be about how the transition might go.
Hours after conquering the cities of Herat and Kandahar, the Taliban managed to conquer provincial capitals such as Qalat, Terenkot, Pul-e Alam, Feruz Koh, Qala-e Naw and Lashkar Gah.
An official mentioned that the Taliban had managed to take the provincial capital of western Ghor Province. The provincial councilor had mentioned that the city of Feroz Koh fell victim to the insurgents on Friday.
The Taliban’s lightning strike comes weeks before the US withdraws its last troops from the country.
TALIBAN SWEEP SOUTH AFGHANISTAN
The Taliban completed their search of the south of the country on Friday as they captured four other provincial capitals in a lightning offensive that gradually encircles Kabul, just weeks before the US officially ends its two-decade war.
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The last major blow was the loss of the capital of Helmand Province, where American, British and NATO allied forces fought some of the bloodiest battles in 20 years. Hundreds of foreign troops were killed in the province, which is also a major opium center.
The insurgents have captured half of the country’s 34 provincial capitals in the past few days, including the second and third largest cities of Herat and Kandahar. The Taliban now control more than two-thirds of the country, just weeks before the US plans to withdraw its last troops.
While the capital Kabul is not yet directly threatened, the losses and advances elsewhere are further tightening the grip of the resurgent Taliban. The latest assessment by US Military Intelligence suggests that Kabul could come under insurgency within 30 days and that if the current trend continues, the Taliban could take full control of the country within a few months.
In the south, the rebels swept through the capitals of the provinces of Zabul and Uruzgan in addition to Helmand.
Attaullah Afghan, chairman of the provincial council in Helmand, said the Taliban captured Lashkar Gah after weeks of heavy fighting and hoisted their white flag over government buildings. He said three national army bases outside of Lashkar Gah are still under government control.
Atta Jan Haqbayan, the chairman of the provincial council in Zabul province, said the local capital, Qalat, had fallen and officials were in a nearby army camp preparing to leave.
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Bismillah Jan Mohammad and Qudratullah Rahimi, lawmakers from southern Afghanistan’s Uruzgan province, said local officials turned Tirin Kot over to the Taliban. Mohammad said the governor was on his way to the airport to leave for Kabul.
In the west of the country, Fazil Haq Ehsan, chairman of the provincial council of Ghor province, also said that his capital, Feroz Koh, had also fallen victim to the insurgents.
US SEND TROOPS TO EVACUATE
As security deteriorated rapidly, the United States planned to dispatch 3,000 soldiers to evacuate some staff from the US embassy in Kabul. Separately, Britain said around 600 soldiers would be deployed in the short term to help British nationals leave the country and Canada is sending special forces to help evacuate its embassy.
Thousands of Afghans have fled their homes fearing the Taliban would once again impose a brutal, repressive government that all but abolishes women’s rights and carries out public executions.
PEACE TALKS COMPLETE IN QATAR
Qatar peace talks remain stalled, although diplomats are still meeting, as the US, European and Asian nations warned that any violent government would be rejected.
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“We demand an immediate end to the attacks on cities, demand a political agreement and warn that a government imposed by force will be a pariah state,” said Zalmay Khalilzad, the US envoy during the talks.
But the Taliban’s advance continued as they advanced into the capital of Logar province, just 80 kilometers south of Kabul.
Hasibullah Stanikzai, chairman of Logar provincial council, said fighting was still ongoing in Puli-e Alim while government forces held police headquarters and other security facilities. He was on the phone from his office, gunshots could be heard in the background. The Taliban said they had captured police headquarters and a nearby prison.
US GIVES 830 BILLION USD OFF TO ESTABLISH A WORKING STATE
The onslaught represents a staggering collapse of the Afghan armed forces after the United States spent nearly two decades and $ 830 billion building a functioning state. US forces overthrew the Taliban after the 9/11 attacks planned and carried out by al-Qaeda under the protection of the Taliban government. The Taliban fighters now advancing across the country ride on US-made Humvees and carry M-16s that were stolen from the Afghan armed forces.
Bill Roggio, a senior fellow with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said the Afghan army had rotted from the inside out due to corruption and mismanagement, leaving troops in the field poorly equipped and with little motivation to fight. The Taliban have now spent a decade bringing large parts of the country under their control.
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This allowed them to quickly seize vital infrastructure and urban areas when President Joe Biden announced the schedule for the U.S. withdrawal and said he was determined to end America’s longest war.
“The troops that are or remain in the Kabul region and the surrounding provinces will be used to defend Kabul,” said Roggio.
“Unless something changes dramatically, and I don’t see how that is possible, these provinces (which have fallen) will remain under the control of the Taliban.”
The day before, Taliban fighters stormed past the Great Mosque in Herat – a building from 500 BC. BC and once a booty from Alexander the Great – and confiscated government buildings. Afghan lawmaker Semin Barekzai admitted the case to the city and said some officials escaped.
Herat had been under militant attack for two weeks, with one wave weakened by the arrival of warlord Ismail Khan and his troops. But on Thursday afternoon, Taliban fighters broke through the city’s defensive lines.
The insurgents circulated photos and a video showing Khan in captivity, as well as video that appeared to show two US-provided Afghan Black Hawk military helicopters captured in Herat. Later on Friday, they released photos showing two alleged looters walking the streets with black make-up on their faces.
ACQUISITION OF KANDAHAR
In Kandahar, the birthplace of the Taliban, insurgents confiscated the governor’s office and other buildings, witnesses said. The governor and other officials fled the onslaught and took a flight to Kabul, added the witnesses. They refused to be publicly named as the defeat was still being recognized by the government, which has not commented on recent advances.
The Taliban had previously attacked a prison in Kandahar and released detainees there, officials said.
On Thursday, the militants hoisted their white flags with an Islamic creed over the city of Ghazni, which is located on an important north-south highway just 130 kilometers southwest of Kabul.
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The UN Humanitarian Agency warned that civilians in southern Afghanistan were facing highways cut off and cell phone failures. It described aid agencies as unable to determine how many people had fled as intense fighting and air strikes continued there.
On Thursday, Nasima Niazi, a MP from Helmand, criticized air strikes in the area, saying civilians were likely to have been wounded and killed. The US Central Command has admitted to carrying out several air strikes in the past few days without giving details or commenting on concerns about civilian casualties.
Pakistan, meanwhile, has opened its Chaman crossing to people who have been stranded in the past few weeks. Juma Khan, the deputy commissioner of the Pakistani border town, said the border crossing had reopened after talks with the Taliban.
At a meeting of diplomats in Doha, Qatar on Thursday, the success of the Taliban offensive put into question whether they would ever re-enter the long-stalled peace talks with the government in Kabul. Instead, the group could come to power by force – or the country could split up into factional battles, as it did after the Soviet withdrawal in 1989.
(With input from agencies)
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