Taliban make rapid advances, overrun three northern Afghan cities in one day

The Taliban militant group continues to make rapid advances across Afghanistan, overrunning a number of provincial capitals and aggressively pushing back the demoralized Afghan forces.

In a significant development with far-reaching security implications, the insurgents this week wrested control of strategic northern provinces, which have traditionally been the bastion of anti-Taliban resistance in the war-ravaged country.

They have seized at least five provincial capitals since Friday.

The latest city to fall was Taloqan, the capital of the northern province of Takhar, which was overrun by the marauding militants Sunday afternoon. It became the third major provincial center to fall to the Taliban in one day, according to local reports.

Earlier in the day, the strategic hub of the northeastern province of Kunduz was seized by the militant group, before it pushed into other key provincial cities, sending shock waves across the country.

Within hours of the deadly ambush, the militant group controlled the city center of Kunduz while government forces were pushed back to the nearby airport and residents fled in panic.

“The enemy left behind vehicles, weapons and equipment,” Taliban’s spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid tweeted, while pledging to continue military advances.

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The Taliban militants had previously launched the ambush on the strategic northern city two times – in 2015 and 2016 – but failed to maintain control.

US forces were also accused of war crimes in the province. A US airstrike in 2015 targeted a trauma hospital in the restive province, which was operated by Doctors Without Borders, killing 42 people.

In addition to Kunduz, which represents the most significant gain for the militants since they launched the offensive in May, the Taliban also captured the provincial capital of Sar-e-Pol province.

Security forces and the provincial governor retreated to an army post on the outskirts following the Taliban attack on the city, reports said. The Taliban group later posted a video on social media claiming the situation inside the besieged city was “back to normal.”

“Sar-e Pol city fell to the Taliban this morning and now it’s under Taliban control. They now have control over the wider Sar-e Pol province”, a local was quoted as saying by the Guardian.

“They [the Taliban] started their assault on the city last night. The attack came from several directions. They overran the provincial capital at around 9 am this morning. The very first thing they did was to break into the prison and release the inmates,” an unnamed official was quoted as saying.

Upping the ante

The militants have upped the ante since Friday, launching all-out attacks on multiple provinces. On Friday and Saturday, the Taliban seized two provincial capitals while fierce battles between government forces and the militants continue on the outskirts of major urban centers Herat and Kandahar, according to reports.

The Taliban first seized Zaranj in the southwestern province of Nimroz on the border with Iran, and followed it up by taking Sheberghan in the northern province of Jawzjan the next day.

Sheberghan is the stronghold of Afghan warlord and former Vice President Abdul Rashid Dostum, whose militiamen had reportedly retreated to east to Mazar-i-Sharif in Balkh province.

Dostum has been a celebrated anti-Taliban lynchpin in the north, fighting the group in the 1990s, when he was accused by human rights groups of massacring thousands of Taliban prisoners of war.

The US government last month announced the draw-down of its troops from Afghanistan after 20 years of occupation. Washington has already pulled out all combat forces, except for a few hundred troops protecting the US embassy in Kabul.

Taliban capture first provincial capital in Afghanistan

The Taliban take control of the first provincial capital since intensified attacks on the Afghan government.

The US diplomatic mission in Kabul on Saturday asked its citizens to leave Afghanistan “immediately.”

“The US Embassy urges US citizens to leave Afghanistan immediately using available commercial flight options,” the US mission in Kabul said in a statement. “Given the security conditions and reduced staffing, the embassy’s ability to assist US citizens in Afghanistan is extremely limited even within Kabul.”

Importantly, Washington has already withdrawn the military contractors who would service the warplanes and military helicopters for Afghan security forces, which has deprived the country’s beleaguered military to resist the marauding Taliban.

The Afghan government’s ability to hold the northern provinces may prove crucial to its long-term survival, according to observers.

“The capture of Kunduz is quite significant because it will free up a large number of Taliban forces who might then be mobilised in other parts of the north,” IbraheemThurial, a consultant for International Crisis Group, was quoted as saying by AFP.

Vivid footage of the fighting was posted on social media over the weekend, including what appeared to be large numbers of prisoners being freed from jails in besieged cities.

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