Islamabad: Fall of Kandahar – Afghanistan’s second largest city and former headquarters Taliban Agitation – There was a rapid withdrawal of government forces from at least six other provincial capitals for rebels in the south in the early hours of Friday.
The collapse of Herat also threatens the Salma Dam, now known as the Afghan-India Friendship Dam, which has been under attack for the past few weeks. The dam is on the Hari River in the Chishti Sharif district of Herat province.
These surprise and swift victories brought the rebels 40 km away from the national capital, Kabul. The Taliban now control 18 of the country’s 34 provincial capitals. In addition to Kabul, the capital of Nangarhar in the east of the country, Jalalabad, and Mazar-i-Sharif, the capital of Balkh, in the north, are the major cities still controlled by the Afghan government.
After capturing the city of Kandahar, the capital of the province of the same name, the rebels captured Lashkar Gah, the capital of neighboring Helmand. The Taliban next entered Pul-e-Alam, the capital of Logar province, south of Kabul, and then captured turquoisekoho, the capital of Ghor in the center and Tarinkot, the capital of Uruzgan in the south. Insurgents, government and Taliban sources have confirmed that they have also captured Kalat, the capital of Zabul, and Kala-i-Nau, the capital of Badgis. Other provincial capitals that fell earlier were Faizabad, Farah, Pul-e-Khumri, Sar-i-Pul, Sheberghan, Aybak, Kunduz, Talukan, Zaranj, Ghazni and Herat.
The capture of Kandahar, a city with a population of more than 6 million, is considered the biggest victory of the Taliban. The group’s founder, Mullah Omar, who declared himself “Amirul Mominen (Commander of the Faithful)” in 1996, ruled Afghanistan as an Islamic emirate from Kandahar until his rule was toppled by Western forces in 2001. He died in 2013.
The city is of immense symbolic importance to the rebel group and has also been important for its industrial and agricultural production. Kandahar and the surrounding Helmand province were heavily bombed during the US military boom in 2010–14. Kandahar and Helmand provinces have seen the most deaths of US soldiers in the past 20 years.
“The city was taken without any resistance. The Taliban were celebrating their victory with AK-47 rifles,” said Pashtana Durrani, a female university student who fled Kandahar on Friday. “We’ve left behind all the books that my father and grandfather gave me, every memory, and we had to burn all our pictures,” she said.
Kabul has not challenged the Taliban’s formal claims about its latest victory. However, Uruzgan’s governor released a video claiming he was asked by local political leaders and tribal elders to hand over control of Tarinkot to the Taliban to avoid bloodshed.
Some provinces that fell to the Taliban in the past week were negotiated as early as Friday and on Thursday surrendered in Ghazni, where the governor was later arrested by government forces.
However, in Herat, commando soldiers and a militia led by 75-year-old Sardar Ismail Khan, known as the “Lion of Herat”, put up strong resistance, but the city collapsed on Thursday night. The Taliban confirmed on Friday that they have Khan and several of his top aides in their custody.
“All government officials, including the governor of Herat, the chief of police, the chief” Directorate of National Security (nds) office in Herat, Sardar Ismail Khan, Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs for Security, and 207 jafar core The commander surrendered to the Taliban when the province fell into the group,” an Afghan media outlet reported. The Taliban later allowed Ismail Khan to go to his home. In a video message released by a rebel media outlet, The former governor claimed he had joined hands with the Taliban and was “treated well in custody”.
Local tribal and political leaders played a key role in the Taliban’s victory by influencing the government’s military and political representatives to avoid bloodshed, surrender and secure a safe exit.
The Taliban propaganda machine has also played a major role in the group’s easy victories in several provincial capitals. “Government officials, including foot soldiers and law enforcers, are told that their leaders are dual citizens and have no stake in Afghanistan. Their families are settled abroad and they are not in the country after their Western supporters have left the country. This has been a common belief among the local people and the Afghan security forces about the current rulers of the country,” Afghan tribal elders contacted TOI.
Taliban spokesman zabihullah mujahidi has said that the armed group is determined to move aggressively to take control of all the provinces. He urged Afghan security forces in the remaining regions to “end the resistance and not risk their lives”.
In Kabul, President Ashraf Ghani’s government has faced a challenge: an influx of thousands of people displaced by fighting in other parts of the country. Mosques, parks, schools and government facilities are full of internally displaced people while many people sleep on the streets. NS world food program The war-torn country has warned of humanitarian catastrophe due to the lack of food. Displaced families hold regular protests in Kabul, urging the government to provide them shelter.
The collapse of Herat also threatens the Salma Dam, now known as the Afghan-India Friendship Dam, which has been under attack for the past few weeks. The dam is on the Hari River in the Chishti Sharif district of Herat province.
These surprise and swift victories brought the rebels 40 km away from the national capital, Kabul. The Taliban now control 18 of the country’s 34 provincial capitals. In addition to Kabul, the capital of Nangarhar in the east of the country, Jalalabad, and Mazar-i-Sharif, the capital of Balkh, in the north, are the major cities still controlled by the Afghan government.
After capturing the city of Kandahar, the capital of the province of the same name, the rebels captured Lashkar Gah, the capital of neighboring Helmand. The Taliban next entered Pul-e-Alam, the capital of Logar province, south of Kabul, and then captured turquoisekoho, the capital of Ghor in the center and Tarinkot, the capital of Uruzgan in the south. Insurgents, government and Taliban sources have confirmed that they have also captured Kalat, the capital of Zabul, and Kala-i-Nau, the capital of Badgis. Other provincial capitals that fell earlier were Faizabad, Farah, Pul-e-Khumri, Sar-i-Pul, Sheberghan, Aybak, Kunduz, Talukan, Zaranj, Ghazni and Herat.
The capture of Kandahar, a city with a population of more than 6 million, is considered the biggest victory of the Taliban. The group’s founder, Mullah Omar, who declared himself “Amirul Mominen (Commander of the Faithful)” in 1996, ruled Afghanistan as an Islamic emirate from Kandahar until his rule was toppled by Western forces in 2001. He died in 2013.
The city is of immense symbolic importance to the rebel group and has also been important for its industrial and agricultural production. Kandahar and the surrounding Helmand province were heavily bombed during the US military boom in 2010–14. Kandahar and Helmand provinces have seen the most deaths of US soldiers in the past 20 years.
“The city was taken without any resistance. The Taliban were celebrating their victory with AK-47 rifles,” said Pashtana Durrani, a female university student who fled Kandahar on Friday. “We’ve left behind all the books that my father and grandfather gave me, every memory, and we had to burn all our pictures,” she said.
Kabul has not challenged the Taliban’s formal claims about its latest victory. However, Uruzgan’s governor released a video claiming he was asked by local political leaders and tribal elders to hand over control of Tarinkot to the Taliban to avoid bloodshed.
Some provinces that fell to the Taliban in the past week were negotiated as early as Friday and on Thursday surrendered in Ghazni, where the governor was later arrested by government forces.
However, in Herat, commando soldiers and a militia led by 75-year-old Sardar Ismail Khan, known as the “Lion of Herat”, put up strong resistance, but the city collapsed on Thursday night. The Taliban confirmed on Friday that they have Khan and several of his top aides in their custody.
“All government officials, including the governor of Herat, the chief of police, the chief” Directorate of National Security (nds) office in Herat, Sardar Ismail Khan, Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs for Security, and 207 jafar core The commander surrendered to the Taliban when the province fell into the group,” an Afghan media outlet reported. The Taliban later allowed Ismail Khan to go to his home. In a video message released by a rebel media outlet, The former governor claimed he had joined hands with the Taliban and was “treated well in custody”.
Local tribal and political leaders played a key role in the Taliban’s victory by influencing the government’s military and political representatives to avoid bloodshed, surrender and secure a safe exit.
The Taliban propaganda machine has also played a major role in the group’s easy victories in several provincial capitals. “Government officials, including foot soldiers and law enforcers, are told that their leaders are dual citizens and have no stake in Afghanistan. Their families are settled abroad and they are not in the country after their Western supporters have left the country. This has been a common belief among the local people and the Afghan security forces about the current rulers of the country,” Afghan tribal elders contacted TOI.
Taliban spokesman zabihullah mujahidi has said that the armed group is determined to move aggressively to take control of all the provinces. He urged Afghan security forces in the remaining regions to “end the resistance and not risk their lives”.
In Kabul, President Ashraf Ghani’s government has faced a challenge: an influx of thousands of people displaced by fighting in other parts of the country. Mosques, parks, schools and government facilities are full of internally displaced people while many people sleep on the streets. NS world food program The war-torn country has warned of humanitarian catastrophe due to the lack of food. Displaced families hold regular protests in Kabul, urging the government to provide them shelter.
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