Taliban sweep across Afghanistan's south; take 4 more cities - CBC.ca

The Taliban completed their sweep of Afghanistan's south on Friday as they took four more provincial capitals in a lightning offensive that is gradually encircling Kabul, just weeks before the U.S. is set to officially end its two-decade war.

The latest significant blow was the loss of Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand province, where American, British and allied NATO forces fought some of the bloodiest battles in the past 20 years. Hundreds of foreign troops were killed in the province, which is also a major opium hub.

The insurgents have taken half of the country's 34 provincial capitals in recent days, including its second- and third-largest cities, Herat and Kandahar. The Taliban now control more than two-thirds of the country just weeks before the U.S. plans to withdraw its last troops.

While the capital of Kabul isn't directly under threat yet, the losses and advances elsewhere further tighten the grip of a resurgent Taliban. The latest U.S. military intelligence assessment suggests Kabul could come under insurgent pressure within 30 days and that, if current trends hold, the Taliban could gain full control of the country within a few months.

In the south, the insurgents swept through the capitals of Zabul and Uruzgan provinces, in addition to Helmand.

Attaullah Afghan, the head of the provincial council in Helmand, said that the Taliban captured Lashkar Gah following weeks of heavy fighting and raised their white flag over governmental buildings. He said that three national army bases outside of Lashkar Gah remain under control of the government.

Atta Jan Haqbayan, the provincial council chief in Zabul province, said the local capital of Qalat fell and that officials were in a nearby army camp preparing to leave.

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Bismillah Jan Mohammad and Qudratullah Rahimi, lawmakers from Afghanistan's southern Uruzgan province, said local officials surrendered Tirin Kot to the Taliban. Mohammad said the governor was heading to the airport to depart for Kabul.

In the country's west, meanwhile, Fazil Haq Ehsan, head of the provincial council in Ghor province, said its capital, Feroz Koh, also fell to the insurgents.

Embassies going ahead with evacuations

With security rapidly deteriorating, the United States planned to send in 3,000 troops to help evacuate some personnel from the U.S. Embassy in Kabul. Separately, Britain said about 600 troops would be deployed on a short-term basis to support British nationals leaving the country, and Canada is sending special forces to help evacuate its embassy.

Denmark and Norway said on Friday they are closing their embassies in Kabul for now because of the worsening security situation in Afghanistan, and evacuating their staff.

Germany will reduce its embassy staff in Kabul to the bare minimum and increase security measures at the compound, Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said on Friday.

"I am once again calling on all German citizens to leave Afghanistan now. The government's crisis co-ordination team also decided to bring forward charter flights that were originally planned for the end of August. With these charter flights we will fly out the German embassy staff as well as the local staff still in Afghanistan," Maas said.

Thousands of Afghans have fled their homes amid fears the Taliban would again impose a brutal, repressive government, all but eliminating women's rights and conducting public executions.

Peace talks in Qatar remain stalled, though diplomats are still meeting, as the U.S., European and Asian nations warned that any government established by force would be rejected.

"We demand an immediate end to attacks against cities, urge a political settlement, and warn that a government imposed by force will be a pariah state," said Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. envoy to the talks.

Internally displaced Afghan families, who fled their homes due to fighting between Taliban and Afghan security forces, sit in the courtyard of the Wazir Akbar Khan mosque in Kabul on Friday. (Wakil Kohsar/AFP/Getty Images)

But the Taliban advance continued, as they pushed into the capital of Logar province, just 80 kilometres south of Kabul.

Hasibullah Stanikzai, the head of the Logar provincial council, said fighting was still underway inside Puli-e Alim, with government forces holding the police headquarters and other security facilities. He spoke by phone from his office, and gunfire could be heard in the background. The Taliban said they had captured the police headquarters and a nearby prison.

The onslaught represents a stunning collapse of Afghan forces after the United States spent nearly two decades and $830 billion trying to establish a functioning state. U.S. forces toppled the Taliban in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks, which al-Qaeda planned and executed while being sheltered by the Taliban government. The Taliban fighters now advancing across the country ride on American-made Humvees and carry M-16s pilfered from Afghan forces.

Bill Roggio, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said the Afghan army has rotted from within due to corruption and mismanagement, leaving troops in the field poorly equipped and with little motivation to fight. The Taliban, meanwhile, have spent a decade taking control of large swaths of the countryside.

That allowed them to rapidly seize key infrastructure and urban areas once President Joe Biden announced the timeline for the U.S. withdrawal, saying he was determined to end America's longest war.

"Whatever forces are left or remaining that are in the Kabul area and the provinces around them, they're going to be used for the defence of Kabul," Roggio said. "Unless something dramatically changes, and I don't see how that's possible, these provinces (that have fallen) will remain under Taliban control."

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A day earlier, in Herat, Taliban fighters rushed past the Great Mosque in the historic city — a structure that dates to 500 BC and was once a spoil of Alexander the Great — and seized government buildings. Afghan lawmaker Semin Barekzai acknowledged the city's fall, saying some officials there had escaped.

Herat had been under militant attack for two weeks, with one wave blunted by the arrival of warlord Ismail Khan and his forces. But on Thursday afternoon, Taliban fighters broke through the city's defensive lines.

The insurgents circulated photos and a video showing Khan in their captivity as well as video footage that appeared to show two Afghan military Black Hawk helicopters — provided by the U.S. — that were captured in Herat. Later on Friday, they released photos showing two alleged looters being paraded through the streets with black makeup on their faces.

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Taliban sweep across Afghanistan's south; take 4 more cities - CBC.ca
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