Taliban surround central Afghan city of Ghazni: officials
Taliban fighters have surrounded the city of Ghazni in central Afghanistan, taking over civilians' homes to fight security forces, officials said on Monday, the latest urban centre under threat from the insurgents.
The offensive was the latest on a provincial capital as the Taliban make a fresh push to surround cities and gain territory, emboldened by the departure of foreign forces.
"The situation in Ghazni city is very critical ... the Taliban use civilian houses as hideouts and fire upon the ANDSF (Afghan security forces), this makes the situation very difficult for the ANDSF to operate against the Taliban," said Hassan Rezayi, a member of Ghazni's provincial council. Violence has surged in the country since US President Joe Biden announced in April that American troops would withdraw by Sept 11, ending 20 years in Afghanistan.
The US general leading the war in Afghanistan, Austin Miller, is to relinquish command on Monday, in a symbolic end to America's longest conflict.
Peace talks between the Taliban and the government have nominally been continuing in Qatar's capital but officials say they are making little progress. Clashes between the two sides are also continuing in the southern province of Kandahar where the Taliban traditionally have had a strong presence, locals said. Ghazni is on the main road between Kabul and Kandahar city.
"Since the past four days, armed Taliban are attacking ... Kandahar city from the western direction," said Hamidzai Lalay, a former member of parliament who is fighting with armed men against the Taliban in Kandahar. "Afghan security forces, including special forces, are fighting the Taliban and trying to push them back."
Fawad Aman, a spokesman for the Ministry of Defence said the situation in Kandahar was "completely under control of ANDSF" which had carried out air and ground operations in recent days.
So far, the Taliban have not been able to hold provincial capitals but they have put pressure on Afghan security forces to respond to offensives around the country. On Sunday, security forces, with the help of air strikes, repelled an assault by Taliban fighters on Taluqan, the provincial centre of a key northern province bordering Tajikistan.
Last week, Taliban fighters entered the capital of the western province of Badghis, seizing police and security facilities and attempting to take over the governor's office before special forces pushed them back.
Afghan security forces and armed citizens clashed with Taliban fighters on the outskirts of Kunduz on Saturday (July 10) in a bid to drive them out of the northern city. Video footage obtained by Reuters showed armed citizens and Afghan forces at the battlefield on the outskirts of the city, with gunfire heard in the background.
An Afghan army commander in Kunduz claimed they had repelled the Taliban fighters. "Afghan forces are ready to defend their homeland and during the past few days, the enemy carried out a massive offensive in the city of Kunduz, but they faced strong resistance from the Afghan forces and as a result the enemy suffered heavy casualties."
Taliban gains have been especially dramatic in northern provinces where they had long been kept at bay. Most Kunduz districts have now fallen to the Taliban.
The Islamist insurgents have been advancing for weeks in an offensive that has accelerated as the US pulled out of its main base, effectively ending its two-decade intervention in the country. The US agreed last year under thenPresident Donald Trump to pull out its troops subject to Taliban security guarantees.
Talks between Afghan government and Taliban negotiators in Qatar have failed to make substantive progress, though both sides have been holding meetings in recent days.