Jubilee Post News & Views
Special Desk
Number wise Taliban is capturing strategically significant areas in Afgan and 10 such provinces have been captured in just 7-days.
Almost a third of the country’s 34 provincial capitals are now under Taliban control. They are actually approaching Kandhahar and as they progress they are leaving Afghan capital Kabul increasingly isolated. Residents life is in limbo.
The latest one is city of Ghazni, the 10th provincial capital to fall to the militants.
Afghan security forces arrested Ghazni’s governor and his deputy after they fled the city. Ghazni is on the major Kabul-Kandahar motorway, linking militant strongholds in the south to the capital, Kabul.
Taking Ghazni is thought to increase the likelihood that the Taliban could eventually aim to take Kabul itself. The insurgents have moved at speed, seizing new territories almost daily, as US and other foreign troops withdraw after 20 years of military operations.
In Ghazni, a provincial council member told the Taliban had taken most of the city, with only a police base on the outskirts controlled by the Afghan security forces. Heavy fighting was also reported in the city of Kandahar. The Taliban also claimed to have taken over the city’s prison.
In the southern city of Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand province, militants have taken over the police headquarters.
Meanwhile, the US embassy in Kabul said it was hearing reports that the Taliban was executing Afghan troops who were surrendering, saying it was deeply disturbing and could constitute war crimes.
Also Read : Taliban capture yet another Afgan region
Also Read : Taliban in control of another Afgan city
After 20 years of war, foreign forces are pulling out of Afghanistan following a deal between the US and the Taliban militants they removed from power back in 2001. The conflict has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced millions.
The Taliban have pledged not to allow Afghanistan to become a base for terrorists who could threaten the West. Just this week thousands of people from northern provinces have become internally displaced, travelling to Kabul to seek safety.
