San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Major hub falls to Taliban as insurgents near Kabul
KABUL — The Taliban captured a major, heavily defended city in northern Afghanistan in a critical setback for the government Saturday, and were approaching the capital of Kabul less than three weeks before the U.S. hopes to complete its troop withdrawal.
The fall of Mazar-eSharif, the country’s fourth largest city, which Afghan forces and two powerful former warlords had pledged to defend, hands the insurgents control over all of northern Afghanistan, confining the Western-backed government to central and eastern regions.
On Saturday, President Biden said he will send an additional 1,000 U.S. troops to Afghanistan to help evacuate U.S. and allied personnel. The move follows the deployment of 3,000 soldiers for the mission.
Abas Ebrahimzada, a lawmaker from the Balkh province where the city is located, said the national army surrendered first, which prompted progovernment militias and other forces to give up in the face of a Taliban onslaught.
Ebrahimzada said Abdul Rashid Dostum and Ata Mohammad Noor, former warlords who command thousands of fighters, had fled the province and their whereabouts were unknown.
Noor said in a Facebook post that his defeat in Mazar-e-Sharif was orchestrated and blamed government forces, saying
Taliban flags fly in Ghazni, about 90 miles southwest of the Afghan capital of Kabul.
they handed their weapons and equipment to the Taliban. He did not say who was behind the conspiracy, nor offer details, but said he and Dostum “are in a safe place now.”
The Taliban have made major advances in recent days, including capturing Herat and Kandahar, the country’s second- and third-largest cities. They now control about 24 of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces, leaving the Westernbacked government with a smattering of provinces, as well as the capital, Kabul.
On Saturday, the Taliban captured all of Logar province, just south of Kabul, and detained local officials, said Hoda Ahmadi, a lawmaker from the province. Later, the insurgents took over Mihterlam, the capital of Laghman province, northeast of Kabul, without a fight, according to Zefon Safi, a lawmaker from the province.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani had flown to Mazar-e-Sharif on Wednesday to rally the city’s defenses, meeting with several militia commanders,
including Dostum and Noor.
On Saturday, Ghani delivered a televised speech, his first public appearance since the recent Taliban gains. He vowed not to give up the “achievements” of the 20 years since the U.S. toppled the Taliban after the Sept. 11 attacks.
The U.S. has continued holding peace talks between the government and the Taliban in Qatar, and the international community has warned that a Taliban government brought about by force would be shunned. But the insurgents appear to have little interest in making concessions as they rack up victories on the battlefield.
Mazar-e-Sharif was a stronghold of the Northern Alliance, ethnic militias who helped the U.S. topple the Taliban in 2001.
Tens of thousands of Afghans have fled their homes, with many fearing a return to the Taliban’s oppressive rule.