The Taliban yesterday seized the stronghold of an Afghan warlord, the second provincial capital to fall to the insurgents in less than 24 hours, Afghan government officials said.
Government forces and officials had retreated to the airport on the outskirts of the northern Afghan city of Sheberghan, where they were preparing to defend themselves, Jawzjan Deputy Governor Qader Malia told reporters.
“The city has unfortunately fallen completely,” he said.
Photo: AP
The city is home to notorious warlord Abdul Rashid Dostum, who only returned to Afghanistan this week from medical treatment in Turkey.
Dostum is believed to be in Kabul.
The Taliban has gained vast parts of rural Afghanistan since launching a series of offensives in May to coincide with the start of the final withdrawal of foreign troops.
On Friday, Zaranj city in Nimroz Province fell to the Taliban “without a fight,” Nimroz Deputy Governor Roh Gul Khairzad said.
It was the first provincial capital to be taken by the insurgents during their recent offensive.
There was more resistance in Sheberghan, several sources said.
However, an aide to Dostum confirmed that the city had been taken.
Dostum has overseen one of the largest militias in northern Afghanistan, which garnered a fearsome reputation in its fight against the Taliban in the 1990s — along with accusations that his forces massacred thousands of insurgent prisoners of war.
A rout or retreat of his fighters would dent the central government’s hopes that militia groups could help bolster the overstretched Afghan military.
Social media posts suggested that Taliban fighters were welcomed by some residents of Zaranj.
The posts showed captured military vehicles, as well as luxury vehicles and pickup trucks, speeding through the streets, flying white Taliban flags as local residents — mostly young men — cheered them on.
One of the first things the insurgents did on entering Zaranj was to open the gates of a local jail, freeing Taliban prisoners along with common criminals, officials said.
Videos on Twitter showed mobs looting government offices, stealing furniture and TVs.
The veracity of the clips could not immediately be confirmed.
“The Afghan security forces lost their morale due to intense propaganda by the Taliban,” said a city official, who asked not to be named.
“Even before the Taliban attacks ... most of the security forces put their weapons on the ground, took off their uniforms, and left their units and fled,” he said.
The central government has made no official comment yet on the fall of either city.
The capture of Sheberghan comes a day after the head of the Afghan media information department was shot dead in Kabul in an attack claimed by the Taliban.
After a failed attempt to assassinate the Afghan minister of defense on Tuesday, the Taliban said it was targeting senior administration officials in retaliation for increased airstrikes.
The Taliban already controls large portions of the countryside and is now challenging government forces in other provincial capitals, including Herat, near the western border with Iran, and Lashkar Gah and Kandahar in the south.
From Kunduz, rights advocate Rasikh Maroof told reporters by telephone that fighting raged overnight on the outskirts of several parts of the city, with the Taliban apparently unable to gain significant inroads.
Government forces were using airstrikes against Taliban mortars and heavy weapons, he said.
Despite the deteriorating situation, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki on Friday said that US President Joe Biden still believed it was right to pull US troops out after 20 years of war.
The US and the UK separately urged citizens to evacuate from the country as soon as possible.
The withdrawal of foreign forces is due to be complete at the end of this month, ahead of the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks on the US that sparked the invasion that toppled the Taliban.
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