Civilians battle Taliban for key city before U.S. exit
Civilians in Afghanistan have taken up arms to push back against the Taliban as the militants fight for control of a crucial northern city and make deeper territorial inroads with the U.S. set to withdraw all troops by September.
The insurgents are battling to take control of strategic cities in the country’s north, including its regional hub MazareSharif, after capturing dozens of districts over the last two months. Local warlords and civilians have joined Afghan troops to push back the advance.
“Thousands of Afghan forces and armed civilians are prepared to defend the city of MazareSharif, its outskirts and the districts that have been lost,” according to Mohammad Farhad Azimi, the governor of Balkh province, whose provincial capital is MazareSharif. Afghan soldiers recaptured two districts in Balkh and the nearby Baghlan province during a fierce overnight battle that left 80 Taliban fighters dead, the country’s defense ministry said Tuesday.
The spiraling violence underscores the Taliban’s intentions to grab power by force as the U.S. exits its twodecadeold war in the country. The push to control more territory comes even as the militants are negotiating with the government of President Ashraf Ghani to ostensibly reach a powersharing agreement.
Since the U.S. announcement to exit Afghanistan in midApril, the militant group has grabbed control of more than 50 districts, according to the Long War Journal. It now controls 118 of the country’s 407 districts, with another 190 being fought over. The U.S. will pull out its remaining 2,500 troops by Sept. 11 and American air support for Afghan forces will also end. NATO’s 7,000 troops who train and advise Afghan forces will follow the U.S.
Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah, the chairman of the country’s reconciliation council, will be heading to the U.S. on Friday to hold talks with President Biden.
Northern Afghanistan has a long history of fighting back against the largely Pashtun Taliban since the militants took over the country in 1996.
Dozens of armed civilians have joined the army in battles heating up elsewhere in thenorth, including the cities of Taloqan and PuleKhumri, both near MazareSharif, said Sayed Zahir Masroor, a member of parliament from Balkh province.