Taliban seize three more Af provincial capitals

Insurgents take fight to cities after seizing much of countryside

Kunduz, Aug. 8: The Taliban tightened the noose around northern Afghanistan Sunday, capturing three more provincial capitals as they take their fight to the cities after seizing much of the countryside in recent months.

The insurgents have snatched up five provincial capitals in Afghanistan since Friday in a lightning offensive that appears to have overwhelmed government forces.

Kunduz, Sar-e-Pul and Taloqan in the north fell within hours of each other Sunday, lawmakers, security sources and residents in the cities confirmed.

In Kunduz, one resident described the city as being enveloped in “total chaos”. “After some fierce fighting, the mujahideen, with the grace of God, captured the capital of Kunduz,” the Taliban said in a statement Sunday.

“The mujahideen also captured Sar-e-Pul city, the government buildings and all the installations there.”

The insurgents said on Twitter on Sunday evening that they had also taken Taloqan, the capital of Takhar province.

Parwina Azimi, a women’s rights activist in Sar-e-Pul, said by phone that government officials and the remaining forces had retreated to an army barracks about three kilometres (two miles) from the city.

The Taliban had the compound “surrounded”, said Mohammad Hussein Mujahidzada, a member of the provincial council.

Taloqan was the next to go Sunday, with resident Zabihullah Hamidi saying by phone that he saw security forces and officials leave the city in a convoy of vehicles.

“We retreated from the city this afternoon, after the government failed to send help,” a security source said.

“The city is unfortunately fully in Taliban hands.”

Kunduz is the most significant Taliban gain since the insurgents launched an offensive in May as foreign forces began the final stages of their withdrawal.

It has been a perennial target for the Taliban, who briefly overran the city in 2015 and again in 2016 but never managed to hold it for long. The ministry of defence said government forces were fighting to retake key installations.

“The commando forces have launched a clearing operation. Some areas, including the national radio and TV buildings, have been cleared of the terrorist Taliban,” it said.

Spokesman Mirwais Stanikzai said later that reinforcements including special forces had been deployed to Sar-e-Pul and Sheberghan. “These cities that the Taliban want to capture will soon become their graveyards,” he added. Kabul’s ability to hold the north may prove crucial to the government’s long-term survival.

Northern Afghanistan has long been considered an antiTaliban stronghold that saw some of the stiffest resistance to militant rule in the 1990s.

The region remains home to several militias and is also a fertile recruiting ground for the country's armed forces.

“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,” said Ibraheem Thurial, a consultant for International Crisis Group.

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