File photo of Taliban fighters near Kabul, Afghanistan. (File photo via AP for representation)Afghanistan crisis Highlights: The Taliban has taken control of Herat, Afghanistan’s third-largest city after government forces and administration retreated. According to news agency AFP, Taliban fighters took over the police headquarters in Herat Thursday evening.
Earlier today, the Taliban captured a provincial capital near Kabul, the 10th the insurgents have taken over a weeklong blitz across Afghanistan as the US and NATO prepare to withdraw entirely from the country after decades of war.
According to the Associated Press, the militants raised their white flags imprinted with an Islamic proclamation of faith over the city of Ghazni, just 130 kilometers southwest of Kabul. Sporadic fighting continued at an intelligence base and an army installation outside the city, two local officials told the news agency.
Meanwhile, a US defense official citing US intelligence has said that the Taliban can isolate Kabul in 30 days and possibly take it over within 90. The official, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity on Wednesday, said the new assessment of how long Kabul could stand was a result of the Taliban’s rapid gains as US-led foreign forces leave.
Taliban fighter is seen inside the city of Farah, capital of Farah province southwest of Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday, Aug. 11, 2021. (AP)
Pakistani forces clashed on Thursday with hundreds of Afghans stranded on Pakistan's side of a commercially vital border crossing with Afghanistan after its closure by Taliban insurgents, news agency Reuters reported.
The disturbances broke out after a 56-year-old Afghan traveler died of a heart attack as he waited in the dusty heat to enter Afghanistan via the Chaman-Spin Boldak crossing, Arif Kakar, a Pakistani official on the scene, told Reuters. Protesters carried his body to a local Pakistani government office demanding the border be reopened.
Iran has been beefing up its military presence along its border with Afghanistan since early May when US-led foreign troops began their complete withdrawal from the war-torn nation and the Taliban started an aggressive offensive against Afghan government forces.
Since last weekend, Iranian border guards have been on constant alert as Taliban fighters stand guard on the other side of the border.
The Taliban currently control more than half of Afghanistan's approximately 400 districts and also several provincial capitals. According to the UN refugee agency UNHCR, nearly 250,000 Afghans have been internally displaced due to the latest bout of violence.
Many people, including soldiers, have fled toward Iran to seek refuge.
On August 6, the Taliban captured Zaranj, the capital of Nimruz province, which borders Iran. Immediately afterward, an entire convoy of military vehicles carrying Afghan army soldiers fled across the border.
Afghan border guards have also fled to Iran after surrendering their weapons to Iranian border guards. (DW)
According to Al Jazeera, the Taliban has entered the city of Kandahar. Residents described the situation in Afghanistan’s second-largest city as “dire”.
Visuals from Afghanistan
The Indian Embassy in Kabul has issued a security advisory for its nationals. The advisory draws special attention to Indian media arriving in Afghanistan and requests journalists to take additional security measures.
According to AFP, Taliban forces have taken control of Herat, Afghanistan's third-largest city after government forces and administration retreated.
The United States on Thursday urged American citizens to leave Afghanistan immediately using available commercial flight options.
"Given the security conditions and reduced staffing, the Embassy’s ability to assist US citizens in Afghanistan is extremely limited even within Kabul," a notice on the website of the US Embassy in Kabul said. It also said the embassy can provide a repatriation loan for US citizens who cannot afford at this time to purchase a commercial ticket to the States.
Germany urged its citizens on Thursday to leave Afghanistan on scheduled flights as soon as they can due to the deteriorating security situation. "German nationals on the ground are strongly urged to take opportunities to leave the country on scheduled flights as soon as possible," the Foreign Ministry said on its website.
Afghan government forces are collapsing even faster than US military leaders thought possible just a few months ago when President Joe Biden ordered a full withdrawal. But there's little appetite at the White House, the Pentagon or among the American public for trying to stop the rout and it probably is too late to do so. Biden has made clear he has no intention of reversing the decision he made last spring, even as the outcome seems to point toward a Taliban takeover. (AP)
The map shows districts where the Taliban are predominantly in control of security and public services.
France halted expulsions of migrants to Afghanistan in early July because of the worsening security situation there, a spokeswoman for the Interior Ministry told Reuters on Thursday. The spokeswoman also told the agency that France was closely monitoring the situation with its European partners.
The Afghan government negotiators in Qatar have offered the Taliban a power-sharing deal in return for an end to fighting in the country, a government source told AFP on Thursday.
"We are closely monitoring developments, we're concerned about deteriorating security situation. Our Mission in Kabul issued an advisory for Indian nationals earlier this week, advising them to return to India via commercial flights," an MEA spokesperson said during a briefing on Thursday.
"Our Mission in Kabul continues to remain in touch with Afghan Hindu and Sikh community members and we will ensure provision of all necessary assistance to them," he added.
Taking a dig at the US, Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that Washington sees Pakistan as "useful" only for clearing the "mess" it has left behind in Afghanistan after 20 years of fighting and prefers India when it comes to forming a "strategic partnership".
"Pakistan is just considered only to be useful in the context of somehow settling this mess which has been left behind after 20 years of trying to find a military solution when there was not one," Khan was quoted as saying by PTI. He also said that since US decided to have a "strategic partnership" with India, Washington was treating Pakistan differently.
The Afghanistan government has raised with the international community concerns of the government and its people on Taliban's brutal attacks on cities, leading to war crimes and human rights violations, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.
"During a meeting with Extended Troika meeting with the participation of Russia, the US, China, and Pakistan, Afghanistan called on the international community, especially the Troika meeting member states, to adopt serious measures to prevent Taliban attacks on cities," the statement adds.
Denmark has agreed to evacuate current and former employees of the Danish embassy or Danish armed forces in Afghanistan due to the worsening security situation, the government said late on Wednesday.Denmark will grant people who have been employed in the previous two years and their close relatives temporary residence permits for two years, the government said."The security situation in Afghanistan is serious.
The Taliban are gaining ground and developments are accelerating faster than many had feared," the government said in a statement."We have a common responsibility to help the Afghans who are now threatened due to their connection to and contribution to Denmark's engagement in Afghanistan," it said. (Reuters)
Two Afghan officials and the Taliban say the militants have seized the provincial capital of Ghazni.The capture Thursday marks the 10th provincial capital seized by the insurgents in the last week. Fighting was still ongoing on the outskirts of the city.
However, officials say the Taliban were raising their flag and the city had calmed after hours of heavy fighting.
The Afghan central government in Kabul and the security forces did not immediately acknowledge the capture of Ghazni.
Ghazni is some 130 kilometers (80 miles) southwest of Kabul.
Taliban leaders have said they will not negotiate with the Afghan government as long as Ashraf Ghani remains president, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Wednesday. With peace talks stalled, violence in Afghanistan has escalated spiked sharply as the insurgent group makes rapid territorial gains.
'I tried to persuade the Taliban... three to four months back when the Taliban senior leadership came here,' Khan told foreign journalists at his home in Islamabad.
'The condition is that as long as Ashraf Ghani is there, we (Taliban) are not going to talk to the Afghan government,' Khan said, quoting the Taliban leaders as telling him. (Reuters)
The Taliban captured a police headquarters Thursday in a provincial capital in southern Afghanistan teetering toward being lost to the insurgents as suspected US airstrikes pounded the area, an official said.
Fighting raged in Lashkar Gah, one of Afghanistan's largest cities in the Taliban heartland of Helmand province, where surrounded government forces hoped to hold onto the capital after the militants' weeklong blitz has seen them already seized nine others around the country.
Afghan security forces and the government have not responded to repeated requests for comment over the days of fighting.
Nearly four lakh people have been newly displaced in Afghanistan since the start of the year, with a huge spike from May, a spokesperson for UN chief Antonio Guterres has said, amid the deteriorating security situation in the war-torn country.The US has already pulled back most of its forces from Afghanistan and is looking to complete the drawdown by August 31, ending nearly two-decade of its military presence in the country.Afghanistan has been witnessing a series of terror attacks since the US began withdrawing its troops on May 1. The Taliban insurgents have overrun one-quarter of Afghanistan's provincial capitals."Since the start of the year, nearly 390,000 people have been newly displaced by conflict across the country, with a huge spike since May," Spokesman for the Secretary General Guterres, Stephane Dujarric said at the daily press briefing on Wednesday.
He said according to UN humanitarian colleagues, between July 1 and August 5, 2021, the humanitarian community verified that 5,800 internally displaced persons (IDPs) have arrived in Kabul and are seeking safety from the conflict and other threats. They have received assistance including food, household items, water and sanitation support. Dujarric said most of the internally displaced persons staying in Kabul are hosted by friends and family, but a growing number are staying in the open. Ten teams were deployed to assess the situation for people staying outside in parks and open spaces. "They identified an additional 4,522 displaced men, women and children in need of shelter, food, sanitation and drinking water. A temporary health clinic and mobile health teams are providing health services to these people," he said. (PTI)
Amid Taliban forces increasingly gaining ground in Afghanistan with some accounts putting 60 per cent of its territory under their control, the White House Wednesday said it is for the Afghan leadership to determine if they have the political will to fight back.
The Biden administration asserted that the Afghan national forces, which has been trained by it for two decades now, has the capabilities and equipment to fight back.
“Ultimately, the Afghan National Security Defence Forces have the equipment, numbers and training to fight back. They have what they need. What they need to determine is if they have the political will to fight back and if they have the ability to unite as leaders to fight back. That’s really where it stands at this point,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters at her daily news conference.
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Taliban fighters could isolate Afghanistan’s capital in 30 days and possibly take it over within 90, a US defence official cited US intelligence as saying, as the resurgent militants made more advances across the country.
The official, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity on Wednesday, said the new assessment of how long Kabul could stand was a result of the Taliban’s rapid gains as US-led foreign forces leave.
“But this is not a foregone conclusion,” the official added, saying that the Afghan security forces could reverse the momentum by putting up more resistance.
The Islamists now control 65% of Afghanistan and have taken or threaten to take 11 provincial capitals, a senior EU official said on Tuesday. Faizabad, in the northeastern province of Badakhshan, on Wednesday became the eighth provincial capital to be seized by the Taliban.
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After grueling years of watching United States forces fight and die in a faraway land, the president appealed to growing war-weariness among voters and brought the troops home.
Not long after, an extremist group stormed through areas the Americans had left, killing civilians, seizing power and sweeping away billions of dollars’ worth of U.S. efforts to leave behind a stable nation.
That’s what happened after President Barack Obama withdrew U.S. forces from Iraq in 2011: the jihadis of the Islamic State group established an extremist emirate, prompting the United States to dispatch its military, yet again, to flush them out.
It is also now a possible scenario in Afghanistan, where President Joe Biden’s order to shut down America’s longest war has led to swift advances by the Taliban, the same extremist group the United States invaded Afghanistan to topple after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Read the full NYT report here.
As per the local media reports, President Ashraf Ghani has replaced the army chief of staff. Local media widely reported Ghani's decision but Afghan government officials for days have not responded to repeated requests for comment.
Germany and the Netherlands have suspended any deportations of migrants to Afghanistan due to the tense security situation. Almost 30,000 Afghans in Germany, many of them failed asylum-seekers, are currently required to leave the country, the Associated Press reported.
Germany's interior minister said the decision was taken due to concerns for the safety of those involved in the deportation. A deportation of six Afghan citizens to Kabul planned for August 3 was canceled at short notice due to a bomb attack in the Afghan capital.
India is likely to attend a regional conclave in Doha on Thursday that will discuss ways to contain the massive spike violence in Afghanistan and push the stalled peace process, people familiar with the developments said.Qatar is hosting the conclave in the face of the Taliban making sweeping territorial gains across the war-torn country.The invitation to India was extended by the Qatari special envoy for conflict resolution, Mutlaq bin Majed Al-Qahtani, during his visit to the national capital last week, the people cited above said. (PTI)
According to a report by Aljazeera, Afghanistan’s acting finance minister Khalid Payenda has resigned and left the country. In a tweet on Tuesday, Payenda had said that he was quitting his post but gave no reasons.
The Taliban could isolate Afghanistan’s capital Kabul in 30 days and potentially take it over in 90 days, a US defense official told Reuters on Wednesday, citing a US intelligence assessment. Taliban fighters have taken control of eight provincial capitals in six days, a pace that has surprised US officials.
The Taliban has seized three more provincial capitals in Afghanistan and a local army headquarters in a blitz across the country’s northeast, the Associated Press reported citing officials. The insurgents earlier captured six other provincial capitals in the country in less than a week.