Taliban insurgents have seized Afghanistan’s second- and third-biggest cities as resistance from authorities forces crumbled, stoking fears that an assault on the capital Kabul might be simply days away.
A authorities official confirmed that Kandahar, the financial hub of the south, was below Taliban management as worldwide forces full their withdrawal after 20 years of battle.ALSO READ: How wealthy is the Taliban? And the place does their cash come from?Herat within the west additionally fell to the hardline Islamist group.”The city looks like a frontline, a ghost town,” provincial council member Ghulam Habib Hashimi stated by phone from Herat, a metropolis of about 600,000 folks close to the border with Iran.”Families have either left or are hiding in their homes.”A senior U.S. defence official stated there was concern that the Taliban – ousted from energy by U.S-led forces in 2001 after the 9/11 assaults on the United States – may make a transfer on Kabul in days.But Washington hoped the Afghan safety forces would put up extra resistance because the insurgents transfer nearer to the capital.ALSO READ: Pak safety forces conflict with Afghans at Chaman border shut by TalibanAfghan First Vice President Amrullah Saleh stated he was happy with the nation’s armed forces.”It was decided with conviction & resolve that WE STAND FIRM AGAINST TALIBAN TERRORISTS & DO EVERYTHING TO STRENGTHEN THE NATIONAL RESISTANCE BY ALL MEANS AND WAYS. PERIOD,” he tweeted after a nationwide safety assembly chaired by President Ashraf Ghani.The preventing has raised fears of a refugee disaster and a rollback of positive factors in human rights because the Taliban have been ousted. Some 400,000 civilians have been compelled from their properties because the starting of the 12 months, 250,000 of them since May, a U.N. official stated.”The situation has all the hallmarks of a humanitarian catastrophe,” the U.N. World Food Programme’s Thomson Phiri informed a briefing.ALSO READ: Taliban seize two main Afghan cities; Western nations ship troops to evacuate embassy workersThe WFP was involved a few “larger tide of hunger,” he stated.Under Taliban rule, girls couldn’t work, women weren’t allowed to attend faculty and ladies needed to cowl their face and be accompanied by a male family member in the event that they needed to enterprise out of their properties. In early July, Taliban fighters ordered 9 girls to cease working in a financial institution.Of Afghanistan’s main cities, the federal government nonetheless holds Mazar-i-Sharif within the north and Jalalabad, close to the Pakistani border within the east, along with Kabul.SHELTERING IN PARKSIn response to the Taliban advances, the Pentagon stated on Thursday it could ship about 3,000 further troops inside 48 hours to assist evacuate U.S. Embassy workers.ALSO READ: Afghan President Ashraf Ghani to handle nation as Taliban advance, seize 18 provincesBritain stated it could deploy about 600 troops to assist its residents go away whereas different embassies, together with these of the Netherlands, Germany and Norway, and help teams stated they have been additionally getting their folks out.British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will maintain an emergency assembly on Friday to debate Afghanistan, a spokesperson stated.NATO allies additionally held consultations on the Afghan state of affairs.Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg tweeted: “Our aim remains to support the Afghan government & security forces. We maintain our diplomatic presence in Kabul & the security of our personnel is paramount.”ALSO READ: Afghan official: Taliban take capital of Ghor provinceThe United Nations has stated a Taliban offensive reaching Kabul would have a “catastrophic impact on civilians”. But there’s little hope for a negotiated finish to the preventing, with the insurgents apparently set on a navy victory.Families have been tenting out in a Kabul park with little or no shelter, having escaped violence elsewhere within the nation.The Taliban additionally took the cities of Lashkar Gah within the south and Qala-e-Naw within the northwest, safety officers stated. Firuz Koh, capital of central Ghor province, was handed over with no combat, officers stated.The militants, preventing to defeat the federal government and impose their strict model of Islamic rule, have taken management of 14 of Afghanistan’s 34 provincial capitals since Aug. 6.ALSO READ: Taliban detain veteran militia chief Mohammad Ismail Khan in Afghanistan’s HeratAfter seizing Herat, the insurgents detained veteran commander Ismail Khan, an official stated. They had promised to not hurt him and different captured officers.A Taliban spokesman confirmed that Khan, who had been main fighters towards the Taliban, was of their custody.BIDEN’S DECISIONThe velocity of the offensive as U.S.-led overseas forces put together to finish their withdrawal by the tip of this month has led to recriminations over President Joe Biden’s determination to withdraw U.S. troops.Biden stated this week he didn’t remorse his determination, noting that Washington has spent greater than $1 trillion in America’s longest battle and misplaced 1000’s of troops.The lack of Kandahar is a heavy blow to the federal government. It is the heartland of the Taliban – ethnic Pashtun fighters who emerged in 1994 amid the chaos of civil battle.LONG READ | Who are the Taliban? U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke to Ghani on Thursday and informed him the United States remained “invested” in Afghanistan’s safety.But at house, criticism of Biden’s coverage has been mounting.The U.S. Senate’s Republican chief Mitch McConnell, stated the exit technique was sending the United States “hurtling toward an even worse sequel to the humiliating fall of Saigon in 1975”, referring to North Vietnam’s victory within the Vietnam battle. He urged Biden to decide to giving extra help to Afghan forces.Reporting by Kabul, Islamabad, Geneva and Washington bureaus, Writing by Robert Birsel, Nick Macfie and Gareth Jones, Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan, Frances Kerry, Mark Heinrich and Angus MacSwanALSO READ: The case for sanctioning Pakistan over Taliban advances in Afghanistan | OPINION