Taliban capture 4 provincial capitals including Kunduz in 3 days

Asia-Pacific, News, US August 8, 2021 , by IRIA No Comments

Kunduz, the key city in northern Afghanistan, fell to the Taliban

Taliban fighters have captured the strategic Kunduz city and the northern Sar-e-Pul city in the latest advances in a series of strategic gains in Afghanistan.

The capital of Kunduz is a significant military and political gain for the Taliban as the province is a key commercial hub near the border with Tajikistan.

“All security forces fled to the airport, and the situation is critical,” said Sayed Jawad Hussaini, the deputy police chief of a district in Kunduz city.

Meanwhile, Mohammad Hussein Mujahidzada, a council member from Sar-e-Pul province, told media that “Taliban surrounded an army battalion on the outskirts of the city. All other parts of the city are under Taliban control.”

With these two cities, the Taliban have now reportedly seized four provincial capitals in three days.

On Friday, Taliban fighters overran Zaranj, the capital of Nimruz province which shares a border with Iran and Pakistan, and also pushed into Shebergan, the capital of the northwestern province of Jowzjan province bordering Turkmenistan.

All four provinces where Taliban fighters are making gains sit along the country’s border and are home to key crossings where tax revenue could be financially profitable to the group.

In recent days, Taliban forces are advancing on critical provincial capitals as U.S. forces continue to conduct several airstrikes to defend their Afghan partners. The US has sent B-52 bombers and Spectre gunships to Afghanistan in a bid to stop Taliban fighters from marching towards key cities.

The Pentagon estimates that the Taliban now control half of Afghanistan’s 419 district centers.