Taliban seize key areas of Afghanistan as government forces flee Joe Biden News

The Taliban march through northern Afghanistan gained momentum overnight as it captured several areas fleeing Afghanistan, hundreds of them fleeing across the border to Tajikistan, authorities said.

More than 300 Afghan soldiers were crossing the border from Afghanistan’s Badakhshan province as Taliban fighters marched to the border, the Tajikistan State Security Commission said in a statement on Sunday. Afghan troops were deployed at around 6.30pm on Saturday.

“Guided by the principles of humanism and good neighborliness,” the Tajik authorities allowed the retreating Afghan government forces to move to Tajikistan.

Since US President Joe Biden announced the end of Afghanistan’s “perpetual war” since mid-April, the Taliban he has taken steps across the country. But the most significant gains have been in the north-central part of the country, a traditional stronghold of the US-allied forces in 2001.

The Taliban currently controls approximately one-third of Afghanistan’s 421 districts and district centers.

Mohib-ul Rahman, a member of the provincial council, said the gains made in the northeastern province of Badakhshan in recent days have come without an armed group fight. He blamed the success of the Taliban for the poor morale of the troops and the lack of supplies for the most part.

“Unfortunately, most of the districts were handed over to the Taliban without any fighting,” Rahman said. In the last three days, 10 districts have been left in the hands of the Taliban, with eight without fighting, he said.

Rahman said hundreds of Afghan soldiers, police and intelligence troops left their military posts and fled to the capital of Faakhabad Badakhshan province.

As a security meeting was held early Sunday to bolster the perimeter around Faizabad, some provincial officials left the city for the Afghan capital, Kabul, he said.

In late June, the Afghan government revived volunteer militias with a reputation for brutal violence to help persecuted Afghan forces, but Rahman said many fighters in the Badakhshan district had only fought in the middle of the heart.

The Taliban also captured an important area of ​​the Kandahar stronghold after fierce night fighting with Afghan government forces, officials said on Sunday.

The fall of the Panjwai district in southern Kandahar province came two days after U.S. and NATO forces relinquished their dominance. Bagram air base Around Kabul, they carried out operations for 20 years against the Taliban and its al-Qaeda allies.

Over the years, the Taliban and Afghans have regularly clashed in and around Panjwai, aiming to take over armed groups from the city of Kandahar, which is close to the provincial capital.

Kandahar province is the birthplace of the Taliban, which ruled Afghanistan until it was overthrown in 2001 by a U.S.-led invasion.

Panjwai district governor Hasti Mohammad said Afghan and Taliban forces had clashed overnight and as a result, government forces had retreated from the area.

“The Taliban have captured the district police headquarters and the governor’s office,” he told AFP.

Kandahar provincial government chief Sayed Jan Khakriwal has confirmed the fall of Panjwai, but has accused government forces of “deliberate withdrawal”.

Strategic gains

Taliban-controlled areas in the north are becoming increasingly strategic, along Afghanistan’s border with Central Asian states. Last month, the group took control of Imam Sahib, a town in the Kunduz province on the opposite side of Uzbekistan, and gained control of a key trade route.

Badakhshan’s career is particularly significant, as it is the birthplace of former President Burhanuddin Rabbani, who was killed in a suicide bombing in 2011. His son, Salahuddin Rabbani, is part of the current High Council for National Conciliation.

The deceased former president also led Afghanistan’s Jamiat-e-Islami, the party of the notorious Taliban fighter Ahmad Shah Massoud, who was killed by a suicide bomber two days before the 9/11 attacks in the US.

The Interior Ministry released a statement on Saturday saying the failures were temporary, although it was unclear how they would regain control.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid has confirmed the fall of the districts and said most of them have been taken without a fight. In previous surrenders, the Taliban have shown videos of Afghan soldiers taking a transportation allowance and returning home.