Taliban hit Afghan provinces despite growing virus threat

KABUL, Afghanistan — The Taliban on Saturday attacked several provinces in northern Afghanistan, overrunning large parts of one district even as U.S. diplomats expressed optimism that a peace process stalled over the release of prisoners was getting back on track.

Insurgents launched assaults in three provinces — in Kunduz, whose capital was overrun by the Taliban repeatedly in recent years, and in Faryab and Badakhshan. Some of the worst fighting occurred in Badakhshan, where insurgents took control of much of the district of Yamgan and inflicted heavy casualties on Afghan forces in another district, Jurm.

The fighting rages despite an appeal for a ceasefire on humanitarian grounds to slow the spread of the coronavirus across the country.

Though the Taliban say they have begun a public health campaign to combat the virus, they also have launched more than 300 attacks in the past week in the roughly dozen Afghan provinces that have reported positive cases.

“This might be the dumbest war in the world’s history — that the world is going to quarantine, and we are busy fighting each other,” said Naqibullah Faiq, a doctor and the governor of Faryab province, where the Taliban have tried to overrun the Almar district in days of fighting..

The violence continues even as U.S. diplomats and Afghan officials reported progress on plans to release prisoners and on preparations for direct talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government. Both steps are laid out in a deal signed between the Taliban and the U.S. last month.