Overstretched Afghan forces are pulling back from violent southern districts without a fight, ceding key territory to the resurgent Taliban as part of an unprecedented “strategic retreat” that has stoked fears Afghan government control is slipping.
Beset by record casualties, desertions and troop shortages, Afghan troops have abandoned outposts in parts of central Uruzgan province, extending a withdrawal that began last month.
They have already pulled out of Musa Qala and Nowzad districts in neighboring Helmand, bastions that foreign troops struggled for years to defend as the opium-rich region teeters on the brink of collapse.
The retreat has triggered fevered speculation about possible government backroom deals with the Taliban at a time when international efforts are growing to bring the insurgents to the negotiating table.
“Once you start pulling out troops and surrendering hard-won territory, you are basically admitting that the Taliban have won,” said Mohammad Ismail, a tribal elder from Musa Qala who fled the area after government troops pulled out. “This is a betrayal to all those who have sacrificed their lives to defend these areas over 15 years.”
The withdrawal, which comes as Afghan forces struggle to fight off the increasingly bloody insurgency, has sparked concerns that the government is fast losing control of volatile Helmland.
The Taliban effectively control or contest at least 10 of the 14 districts in Afghanistan’s biggest center for opium production, a lucrative source of insurgent funding that makes the province a hotly contested area.
Afghan commanders dismiss claims of any Taliban deal, describing the withdrawals as a “tactical” maneuver aimed at consolidating forces from isolated, hard-to-defend areas.
In related news, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said the Islamic State group has been defeated in eastern Afghanistan, where it had taken over some remote districts.
Speaking at the opening of parliament yesterday, Ghani said Afghan forces had dislodged Islamic State loyalists from regions of Nangarhar province bordering Pakistan.
He said Afghanistan would be a “graveyard” for the militant group.
The Islamic State has had a presence in Afghanistan for more than a year.
Officials have said most militants calling themselves Islamic State are disaffected Taliban fighters.
Afghan forces have claimed victory following a 21-day operation in the Achin and Shinwar districts of Nangarhar, claiming at least 200 militants were killed.
A suicide bomber yesterday rammed his explosives-laden fuel truck into a security checkpoint south of Baghdad, killing at least 31 people and wounding dozens, officials said, the latest episode in an uptick in violence in the war-ravaged country.
Among the dead were 24 civilians, while the rest were security personnel. The attacker struck shortly after noon, when the checkpoint at one of the entrances to the city of Hillah was crowded with dozens of cars, a police officer said.
Up to 55 other people were wounded and more than 20 cars were damaged, he said.
A medical official confirmed the causality figures. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity, as they were not authorized to release information.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, which bore the hallmarks of the Islamic State group.
DAREDEVIL: Honnold said it had always been a dream of his to climb Taipei 101, while a Netflix producer said the skyscraper was ‘a real icon of this country’ US climber Alex Honnold yesterday took on Taiwan’s tallest building, becoming the first person to scale Taipei 101 without a rope, harness or safety net. Hundreds of spectators gathered at the base of the 101-story skyscraper to watch Honnold, 40, embark on his daredevil feat, which was also broadcast live on Netflix. Dressed in a red T-shirt and yellow custom-made climbing shoes, Honnold swiftly moved up the southeast face of the glass and steel building. At one point, he stepped onto a platform midway up to wave down at fans and onlookers who were taking photos. People watching from inside
A Vietnamese migrant worker yesterday won NT$12 million (US$379,627) on a Lunar New Year scratch card in Kaohsiung as part of Taiwan Lottery Co’s (台灣彩券) “NT$12 Million Grand Fortune” (1200萬大吉利) game. The man was the first top-prize winner of the new game launched on Jan. 6 to mark the Lunar New Year. Three Vietnamese migrant workers visited a Taiwan Lottery shop on Xinyue Street in Kaohsiung’s Gangshan District (崗山), a store representative said. The player bought multiple tickets and, after winning nothing, held the final lottery ticket in one hand and rubbed the store’s statue of the Maitreya Buddha’s belly with the other,
‘NATO-PLUS’: ‘Our strategic partners in the Indo-Pacific are facing increasing aggression by the Chinese Communist Party,’ US Representative Rob Wittman said The US House of Representatives on Monday released its version of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, which includes US$1.15 billion to support security cooperation with Taiwan. The omnibus act, covering US$1.2 trillion of spending, allocates US$1 billion for the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative, as well as US$150 million for the replacement of defense articles and reimbursement of defense services provided to Taiwan. The fund allocations were based on the US National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2026 that was passed by the US Congress last month and authorized up to US$1 billion to the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency in support of the
‘COMMITTED TO DETERRENCE’: Washington would stand by its allies, but it can only help as much as countries help themselves, Raymond Greene said The US is committed to deterrence in the first island chain, but it should not bear the burden alone, as “freedom is not free,” American Institute in Taiwan Director Raymond Greene said in a speech at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research’s “Strengthening Resilience: Defense as the Engine of Development” seminar in Taipei yesterday. In the speech, titled “Investing Together and a Secure and Prosperous Future,” Greene highlighted the contributions of US President Donald Trump’s administration to Taiwan’s defense efforts, including the establishment of supply chains for drones and autonomous systems, offers of security assistance and the expansion of
RSS