[ad_1]
KABUL, Afghanistan (AFP) — The Taliban seized extra main cities on Friday as they raced to take full management of Afghanistan and inched nearer to Kabul, with the US and Britain deploying 1000’s of troops to evacuate their residents from the capital.
The evacuation orders got here because the Taliban took management of Kandahar — the nation’s second-biggest metropolis — within the insurgency’s heartland, leaving solely Kabul and pockets of different territories in authorities fingers.
The Taliban additionally captured the capital of Logar province, simply 50kms (30 miles) from Kabul, with a neighborhood lawmaker saying the insurgents had been in full management of Pul-e-Alam metropolis.
Earlier Friday, officers and residents in Kandahar advised AFP that authorities forces had withdrawn en masse to a army facility exterior the southern metropolis.
“Kandahar is totally conquered. The Mujahideen reached Martyrs’ Sq.,” a Taliban spokesman tweeted, referring to a metropolis landmark.
Hours later, the Taliban mentioned they’d additionally taken management of Lashkar Gah, the capital of neighboring Helmand province.
Taliban fighters drive an Afghan Nationwide Military (ANA) car by way of a avenue in Kandahar on August 13, 2021. (AFP)
A safety supply confirmed the autumn of town, telling AFP that the Afghan army and authorities officers had evacuated Lashkar Gah after placing a neighborhood ceasefire take care of the militants.
The federal government has now successfully misplaced a lot of the nation following an eight-day blitz into city facilities by the Taliban that has additionally surprised Kabul’s American backers.
The primary wave of the offensive was launched in early Could after the US and its allies all however withdrew their forces from Afghanistan, with President Joe Biden decided to finish twenty years of warfare by September 11.
‘Not abandonment’
Biden insists he doesn’t remorse his choice, however the pace and ease of the Taliban’s city victories in current days has been a shock and compelled new calculations.
Washington and London introduced plans late Thursday to drag out their embassy workers and residents from the capital.
“We’re additional lowering our civilian footprint in Kabul in gentle of the evolving safety scenario,” US State Division spokesman Ned Value advised reporters, whereas noting the embassy would stay open.
“This isn’t abandonment. This isn’t an evacuation. This isn’t the wholesale withdrawal.”
The Pentagon mentioned 3,000 US troops can be deployed to Kabul inside the subsequent 24 to 48 hours, underscoring they’d not be used to launch assaults in opposition to the Taliban.
NATO was additionally set to carry an pressing assembly afterward Friday in regards to the deteriorating scenario, diplomatic and official sources advised AFP.
Supporters of the hardline pro-Taliban celebration Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Nazaryati (JUI-N) eat sweets as they rejoice the seize of cities in Afghanistan by the Taliban, in Quetta on August 13, 2021. (Banaras KHAN / AFP)
Secretary-Normal Jens Stoltenberg will lead discussions with envoys from the 30 allies, with one supply saying it might deal with evacuation planning.
Taliban flags throughout Kandahar
The battle has escalated dramatically since Could, when US-led forces started the ultimate stage of their troop withdrawal.
After months of taking what had been thought-about much less strategically necessary rural areas, the Taliban zeroed in on the cities.
The insurgents have taken over greater than a dozen provincial capitals previously week and encircled the most important metropolis within the north, the standard anti-Taliban bastion of Mazar-i-Sharif, which is now one of many few holdouts remaining.
Internally displaced Afghan households, who fled from the northern province resulting from a battle between Taliban and Afghan safety forces, sit within the courtyard of the Wazir Akbar Khan mosque in Kabul on August 13, 2021. (WAKIL KOHSAR / AFP)
In Kandahar, resident Abdul Nafi advised AFP town was calm after the federal government forces pulled out early Friday.
“I got here out this morning, I noticed Taliban white flags in most squares of town… I believed it is likely to be the primary day of Eid.”
Herat strongman captured
And in Herat on Friday, the Taliban mentioned they’d captured town’s long-time strongman Ismail Khan, who helped lead the protection of the provincial capital alongside along with his militia fighters.
The warlord’s spokesman later confirmed Khan had been allowed to return to his residence following negotiations with the insurgents.
Former Afghan cupboard minister Ismail Khan, speaks throughout an interview with The Related Press in Herat province, western of, Afghanistan, Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2019 (AP Photograph/Rahmat Gul)
Professional-Taliban social media accounts have boasted of the huge spoils of warfare captured by the insurgents, posting photographs of armored automobiles, heavy weapons, and even a drone seized by their fighters at deserted army bases.
After being underneath siege for weeks, authorities forces on Thursday pulled out of Herat — an historic Silk Street metropolis close to the Iranian border — and retreated to a district military barracks.
On Thursday, the inside ministry additionally confirmed the autumn of Ghazni, opening a hall alongside the main freeway to Kabul from the Taliban heartlands within the south.
Because the rout unraveled, three days of conferences between key worldwide gamers on Afghanistan led to Qatar with out vital progress Thursday.
In a joint assertion, the worldwide group, together with the US, Pakistan, the European Union, and China, mentioned they’d not acknowledge any authorities in Afghanistan “imposed by way of the usage of army drive.”
[ad_2]
Source link
