Taliban captures Afghan commander Ismail Khan, captures third largest city of Herati

accept: Local officials said on Friday (August 13) that Taliban insurgents have captured Herat, Afghanistan’s third-largest city, and Ismail Khan, a veteran local commander leading the militia resistance. The collapse of Herat, the latest in a series of major provincial cities to be taken over by the Taliban in the past few days, has dealt a shocking blow to President Ashraf Ghani’s government, just weeks after the withdrawal of US forces.

An official said Afghan government forces had agreed to withdraw from Herat airport 15 km (nine miles) from the city and the army corps commander’s headquarters, the last centers under their control. However, other sources said that as of 1 pm (0830 GMT) local time, Afghan forces were still at the airport.

“The Taliban agreed that they would not pose any threat or harm to the surrendering government officials,” said Ghulam Habib Hashimi, a member of the provincial council.
As the fighting subsided, the streets in Herat, a major economic center of some 600,000 people near the border with Iran and one of the historical centers of Persian culture, fell silent.

Hashimi, who described Herat as a “ghost town”, said “the families have either moved away or are hiding in their homes.”

Herat has seen increasingly heavy fighting with popular militia groups operating with regular military units as Taliban pressure on the city increased following the US withdrawal.

Hashimi told Reuters that Khan, the most prominent militia commander and believed to be in his 70s, was handed over to the Taliban along with provincial governors and security officials. He had no knowledge of the deal.

Khan’s capture, confirmed by Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid, provided one of the most powerful symbols of the crackdown of resistance in the city.

Photos and videos showing the eminent commander in the hands of the rebels were shared widely on social media, although they could not be immediately verified.

Ismail Khan is widely known as the Lion of Herat. His involvement in the wars in Afghanistan goes back to the anti-government insurgency that helped trigger the 1979 Soviet intervention, and his return to the front line a month earlier was a clear sign of the growing threat to Herat.

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