Afghan security force members walk past coffins of comrades killed in a checkpoint attack by Taliban militants in Faiz Abad district of Jawzjan province. (Photo by Mohammad Jan Aria_Xinhua_IANS)
Taliban militants have taken control over three provincial capital cities of Taluqan, Sari Pul and Zaranj after heavy clashes in recent days….reports Asian Lite News
At least 20 Taliban militants were killed and eight others injured after Afghan government forces foiled an attack on Aybak city, capital of the northern province of Samangan, the Interior Ministry confirmed on Monday.
The Ministry said in a statement that Taliban fighters fled surrounding areas of the city after casualties were inflicted, reports Xinhua news agency.
The militants stormed the city from several directions on Sunday night, trying to take control.
Earlier on the day, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid wrote on social media that the insurgents seized control of several areas in Aybak.
On Sunday night, Taliban also attacked Pul-e-Khumri city, capital of neighbouring Baghlan province, triggering heavy battles, according to local sources.
Many Afghan cities and about half of the country’s 34 provinces have been the scene of heavy battles and street fighting in recent weeks as Taliban militants continued their fighting against security forces.
Taliban militants have taken control over three provincial capital cities of Taluqan, Sari Pul and Zaranj after heavy clashes in recent days.
The armed outfit has captured nearly 200 districts over the past three months.
Head of High Council for National Reconciliation Abdullah Abdullah along with State Minister in Peace Affairs Sayed Saadat Mansoor Naderi is due to leave Kabul for Doha on Monday evening….reports Asian Lite News
As the Taliban is gaining ground in Afghanistan amid intense fighting with the security forces, Qatar is hosting two meetings this week in an effort to end the bloody clashes in the war-torn country.
According to a Khaama News report, a meeting between representatives of Afghanistan, Russia, the US, and the UN will take place in Doha.
Head of High Council for National Reconciliation Abdullah Abdullah along with State Minister in Peace Affairs Sayed Saadat Mansoor Naderi is due to leave Kabul for Doha on Monday evening.
On Wednesday, the second meeting will be attended by US special representative to Afghan peace Zalmay Khalilzad and diplomats from Pakistan, Russia, and China, the Khaama News report said.
The report added that consultations were on between members of Taliban’s political office based in Doha and the negotiating team of the Afghan government.
An Afghan special force member attends a military operation against Taliban fighters
Wednesday’s meeting “is aimed at making both parties in Afghanistan resume meaningful intra-Afghan peace negotiations”, Khaama News said.
The two meetings will follow the lead of the UNSC’s special session on Afghanistan and will seek a political settlement in the war-ravaged country.
Meanwhile, the top defence officials of the United States and Pakistan during a phone conversation discussed the ongoing situation in Afghanistan as well as regional security, Pentagon said in a statement on Monday.
This phone call comes amid a meeting of the extended troika of Russia, China and the United States along with Pakistan on an Afghan settlement.
“Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin spoke by phone with Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff, General Qamar Javed Bajwa to discuss our mutual goals of security and stability in the region,” Department of Defence Press Secretary John Kirby said.
“Secretary Austin and General Bajwa discussed the ongoing situation in Afghanistan, regional security and stability, and the bilateral defence relationship more broadly,” the statement added.
Several rights groups have reported grave human rights violations and war crimes in the territory held by the Taliban. At least 27 children have been killed and 136 injured over the past 72 hours as violence escalated in Afghanistan, the UNICEF said on Monday.
The UN agency said it is “shocked by the rapid escalation of rights violations against children” in Afghanistan.
Austin and Bajwa had last discussed the US drawdown from Afghanistan in April. (ANI)
Many initially fled their homes in rural areas due to fighting, seeking refuge in provincial capitals….reports Asian Lite News
Afghanistan is witnessing a huge rise in internally displaced people (IDPs) due to the Taliban offensive, post the withdrawal of foreign troops.
According to data from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), at least 244,000 people were internally displaced since May, an increase of more than 300 per cent compared with the same period last year, reported Al Jazeera.
According to the report, most of the people are fleeing from northeastern and eastern Afghanistan. Nearly all lack adequate shelter, access to medical care and sufficient food, it said.
Many initially fled their homes in rural areas due to fighting, seeking refuge in provincial capitals.
However, the fighting has shifted to urban centres in recent weeks as the Taliban closes in on many of Afghanistan’s larger cities.
In the last few days alone, the Taliban has assumed control of five Afghan provincial capitals, mainly in the north of the country, including Kunduz, the sixth-largest city in Afghanistan, which fell to the group on Sunday, reported Al Jazeera.
As the Taliban advance across Afghanistan shows no sign of slowing, IDP numbers are expected to increase further.
At present, heavy fighting is continuing between the government and Taliban forces around the capitals of Helmand, Kandahar, Herat, and Badakhshan provinces, reported Al Jazeera.
Govt to arm civilian militias
Afghanistan government on Monday decided to provide civilian militias with arms and ammunition amid increasing offensives by the Taliban.
The decision follows the meeting of President Ashraf Ghani with prominent Afghan leaders to discuss the current situation in the country, Sputnik reported.
“In this meeting, a decision was made on supporting the security forces, to safeguard and keep the Republic, and on the cohesion, strengthening and rapid equipping of the public uprisings against the enemy’s attacks,” the Presidential office said in a statement.
Afghan security force members walk past coffins of comrades killed in a checkpoint attack by Taliban militants in Faiz Abad district of Jawzjan province. (Photo by Mohammad Jan Aria_Xinhua_IANS)
Meanwhile, massive fighting between the Afghan forces and the Taliban terrorists is underway in the country’s northern provinces of Balkh and Takhar since Sunday night, local media reports said quoting provincial officials.
The security forces supported by public uprising forces retook the control of Farkhar and Worsaj districts in Takhar on Sunday after they retreated from the capital city Taluqan.
The Taliban now controls all the districts of Helmand province and has been fighting the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces in the provincial capital, Lashkargah.
The Taliban’s aggressive offensive has killed many government forces and innocent civilians. Multiple reports have claimed that the group has been looting innocent civilians after capturing various areas.
The terror group’s recent skirmish became aggressive soon after the US troops started leaving war-torn Afghanistan in large numbers under the new peace deal signed between Washington and the Taliban in February last year. (ANI)
Ryan Crocker says the hardline group is being smart by not launching major strikes into Kabul and looking for a long haul, reports Asian Lite News
A prolonged civil war in Afghanistan is more likely than a rapid Taliban takeover as the United States’ full military withdrawal nears, Washington’s former ambassador to Kabul said.
The insurgents have snatched five provincial capitals since Friday in a lightning offensive, almost a month before the 20th anniversary of the September 11 attacks that sparked the American-led invasion.
“A prolonged civil war is a more likely outcome than a swift Taliban takeover of the entire country. They’re being very smart about this. They’re not launching major strikes into Kabul,” former US ambassador to Afghanistan, Ryan Crocker, told ABC’s “This Week”.
Kunduz, Sar-e-Pul and Taloqan in the north fell within hours of each other Sunday, lawmakers, security sources and residents in the cities confirmed.
Kunduz is the most significant Taliban gain since the insurgents launched an offensive in May as foreign forces began the final stages of their withdrawal.
It has been a perennial target for the Taliban, who briefly overran the city in 2015 and again in 2016 but never managed to hold it for long.
“They’re doing what they’re doing in part to create a climate of fear and panic. They are succeeding wonderfully,” Crocker added, referring to the Taliban.
The withdrawal of foreign forces is due to finish at the end of this month and Crocker said he could not see any circumstance under which the United States would send its troops back.
“President (Joe) Biden has made that clear. We’re going out and are staying out,” the diplomat added. “He owns it. It’s already an indelible stain on his presidency.”
US deploys B-52 bombers
Meanwhile, Washington has sent its B-52 bombers and Spectre gunships to Afghanistan to stop the advancement of Taliban insurgents. According to UK-based The Times, the bombers are flying into Afghanistan from an airbase in Qatar, hitting targets around Kandahar, Herat and Lashkar Gah.
The move comes following Taliban’s offensive in Afghanistan, seizing more territory – this time in the northern part of the country – including the city of Kunduz. Taliban forces mostly overran the provincial capital city of Sar-e-Pul, also in the country’s north, marking another loss for the government amid a series of unprecedented advances by the insurgent group.
Taliban’s actions have been criticised by the western powers as well as by people who are against the violence. Protests have been held in many cities across the world, in which people have sought United Nations’ intervention and denounced Pakistan for supporting the insurgent group.
At one such protest by Afghan citizens in Germany on Saturday, civil society activist Abdul Bari Samandar slammed Pakistan’s proxy war through Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). The protest was organised as a Pakistani terrorist was arrested by Afghan commando forces in the outskirts of Ghazni provincial centre. He was involved in terrorist activities and the killing of civilians.
The Taliban, meanwhile, said that all parts of the city of Kunduz were under its control, adding that it had also seized armoured vehicles, weapons and military equipment.
Videos on social media showed huge amount of arms and ammunition seized by Taliban from security forces and house of Marshal Abdul Rashid Dostum in Jawzjan province. One of the videos shows Taliban fighters loading guns, including AK-47, and other weapons looted from Dostum’s house into a vehicle in Khawja Do Koh district.
The former vice president last week returned from Turkey, where he was believed to be receiving medical treatment. Dostum has overseen one of the largest militias in the north (Northern Alliance) along with Ahmad Shah Massoud who was considered as Sher-e-Panjshir, which garnered a fearsome reputation in its fight against the Taliban in the 1990s.
US continues to depend on Pakistan, with a hope that it might need Pakistan again, least realising that its strategic choices are hostage to China and has no utility to US, as Its NSA recently threatened to say that if the President of US can’t talk to his PM “They have other options”…writes Maj Gen S.B. Asthana
As the Taliban captures two provincial capitals, UN envoy has reported to the UNSC about Afghan war entering deadlier and more destructive phase, with over 1,000 civilian casualties. The US may have declared ending its military mission in Afghanistan as “Mission Accomplished on ‘Global War on Terrorism (GWOT)”, but in reality, its embarrassing exit will continue to haunt its reputation for a long time. With Taliban gaining territory every passing day, simultaneously imposing horrifying restrictions on captured territory as ‘Islamic traditions it indicates transition of GWOT into global resurgence of terror, in collusion with Pakistan. Other regional stakeholders are concerned, but are watching helplessly, trying to mitigate the situation by talks. It is evident the strategy adopted by Taliban, assisted by Pakistan has done better than that of US. A critical analysis of strategies of each of the three, directly involved in Afghanistan is necessary to infer future possibilities.
Why the US lost GWOT in Afghanistan?
The US supported by multi-national forces entered GWOT, post 9/11 incident, with an aim to dislodge Taliban regime, which sheltered Al Qaeda under Osama Bin Laden, who masterminded execution of the barbarous terrorist act in New York. Their military aim encompassed ensuring that no terror group in Afghanistan becomes strong enough to hit their mainland again, besides eliminating Bin Laden and some other terrorist leaders. Peace and Development in Afghanistan was an expected side-effect, not their main aim. To execute it, US had to depend on Pakistan for logistics chain, intelligence and boots on ground, despite full knowledge of Pakistan’s support to Taliban and other terror groups, having gainfully used services of ISI and Pakistan Army against erstwhile USSR.
As per principles of war, had US stuck to its aim and exited after dislodging Taliban Regime, reinstating a democratically elected Government in place, eliminatingBin Laden, marginalising Al Qaeda and other terror groups, it would have been a graceful exit. It stretched its aim to impractical limit, of eliminating Taliban and other Islamic terror outfits from Afghan soil, least realising that the military power by itself can’t eliminate Wahabi ideology. Finding only military solution to problem of religious fundamentalism was a strategic misjudgement. This shifted achievement of the aim of multi-national forces (MNF), beyond their culmination point, operationally.
US soldiers prepare to depart from Kunduz, Afghanistan. (Photo Brian Harris_Planet Pix_ZUMA_dpa_IANS)
MNF was of fighting from urban bases, through technology and airpower could not eliminate Taliban from rural areas. People are centre of gravity in such operations; hence one innocent kill in collateral damage of airstrikes can lead to birth of many terrorist, strengthening ideology of fundamentalists. Battle fatigue and political considerations steered the desire of MNF to pull out. In exuberance to do so, sham peace negotiations of US with Taliban (which turned out to be an exit deal) was the next error committed by US. It legitimised Taliban as political entity from terrorist status; which led to a tired US military, fighting defensive battle against a resurged, legalised Taliban for a safe exit.
US consistently underplayed Pakistan’s support to Sunni terrorists in the region, making it a major beneficiary of monetary help and military hardware. It is to the credit of Pakistan that it lured US to extract maximum, by encashing their expertise in terrorism, and finally helped US in defeating itself in GWOT. Now after 20 years of war, losing 2,400 soldiers, more than $3 trillion, US and MNF have also lost the strategic space, bases in Pakistan, amounting to a walkover in Afghanistan-Pakistan region. A threat by US, not to recognise Taliban, if it takes over Afghanistan by force, forming Quad with Pakistan, Afghanistan and Uzbekistan, some drone strikes and evacuating informers are weak responses to mitigate embarrassment indicating its helplessness. US continues to depend on Pakistan, with a hope that it might need Pakistan again, least realising that its strategic choices are hostage to China and has no utility to US, as Its NSA recently threatened to say that if the President of US can’t talk to his PM “They have other options”.
Is Strategy Adopted by Taliban Superior?
A battle hardened Taliban having learnt some lessons after losing war against MNF, managed to survive in rural areas with full support of Pakistan, hosting some of their leaders in safe sanctuaries in their country, despite claiming to fight for US and MNF. When the MNF crossed their culmination point, Taliban with Pakistan’s support started expanding in rural areas. Taliban encashed on the combat fatigue of US forces and its political ramifications, encouraged US Administration to talk, establishing its legitimacy as an essential actor. Pakistan’s mediation in this exercise favoured Taliban and not US, although the optics was differently narrated. Thus a rejuvenated Taliban was fighting a tired US Forces, operating from their bases avoiding rough terrain and infantry dominated operations, relying more on technology and firepower, which has serious limitations in type of terrain in area of operation. The air and drone strikes proved inadequate to prevent growing influence of Taliban.
Afghan security force members walk past coffins of comrades killed in a checkpoint attack by Taliban militants in Faiz Abad district of Jawzjan province. (Photo by Mohammad Jan Aria_Xinhua_IANS)
With US Taliban Peace Deal signed and US withdrawal in progress, Taliban gained maximum strategic advantage by consolidating occupation of rural areas and then increasingly capturing various border districts to takeover crossings of Afghanistan with other countries to isolate Afghan National Defence and Security Forces (ANDSF), which have numerical superiority, but are based in urban areas, having defensive mindset. With few military gains the strategic momentum of Taliban has improved and initiative is on their side. This has increased the pace of capturing territory, while their political and diplomatic wing continues with sham talks.
Taliban also encashed on urgency of US Forces to exit, by putting up demands like release of 5000 prisoners, which Afghanistan Government had to agree under US pressure. This in effect increased the numbers of fighters of Taliban. In the meantime Pakistan, increasingly under pressure from FATF, diverted over 10,000 terrorist to fight alongside Afghan Taliban, besides some professional guidance from Pakistan Army and ISI, and occasional air support. Taliban is now in a position to insert itself between important towns to isolate ANDSF, struggling with low morale, due to some surrenders.
Taliban’s current strategic aim is to get into power structure on their terms, without fighting any elections, by putting maximum pressure on negotiating table, after capturing maximum territory. Taliban is aware that with Sharia Law tag it can never win an election (which it terms as non-Islamic governance model of West). It may not be keen to seize power by Force due to fear of being isolated, which will make it difficult for them to govern, giving rise to forces countering them within Afghanistan. They are aware that they don’t have mass people’s support, who have got used to democracy in last 20 years. Taliban thus finds talks and offensive simultaneously, as their best option for political solution in their favour. Terror attacks in Kabul is to strike minds of Afghan leadership to weaken their resolve and position on negotiation table. On political front Taliban has also successfully managed a photo session with Chinese hierarchy, seeking more legitimacy in exchange of promise of not supporting ETIM, which it may/may not fulfil.
All promises of Taliban leaders that it is moderate Taliban 2021 capable of meeting people’s aspirations, stand junked as ‘Shariah Law’ like curbs are back in place in Taliban controlled areas. Men lose freedom to shave & smoke, women lose freedom and most disgusting is listing of single girls between 15 to 45 years, to be married to Taliban fighters as reward. Even if Taliban leaders pose moderate, their fighters will not let the leaders settle down for anything but Shariah Law.
Pakistan’s Double Game: Unprecedented Opportunity with some Concerns!
Pakistan’s strategic aim has always been to seek strategic depth in Afghanistan by enforcing Durand Line over friendly or weak government in Kabul, and edging out other players from Afghanistan. It has been uncomfortable with Indian presence for developmental work in Afghanistan and growing closeness between the US and India to an extent that it was propagating an unsalable narrative that India is trying to encircle it. Its nexus with Taliban is quite old and its assistance to it was one of the causes of US failure in Afghanistan, as it manages to play a double game with US and Taliban. It was also an opportunity for Pakistan to send out large number of terrorists to fight alongside Afghan Taliban, whom it wanted to relocate, to avoid FATF fallouts and preserve what it terms them as their ‘Strategic assets’ to be used elsewhere later.
The opportunity is also marred with some serious concerns. Taliban in power never compromised on Durand Line and their stance in future is likely to be similar. Taliban also has many groups within including TTP, which will also get stronger to strike Pakistan, as power of Taliban grows. Innumerable refugees outflow along with some inimical terror groups is also a concern. Pakistan’s strategy of joining hands with Taliban, dumping Ghani’s Government and luring China in this strategic space has gone off well so far. It has also been successful in edging US and India out of Afghanistan, with its terrorists incrementally damaging Indian built assets.
What is Going Wrong with ANDSF Strategy?
ANDSF in numbers are two to three times more than Taliban fighters, but are low in morale, suffering a defensive mindset. They are not venturing out of urban areas and trying to halt Taliban with less potent air power in comparison to Americans. Over last 20 years they went into a syndrome of overdependence on foreign forces and foreign aid. The Afghan Government with fractured mandate and various groups eyeing to share power, weakened the homogeneity, as an effective establishment to govern. In
military strategy, a defender can never win, but can at best delay the defeat. Operationally ANDSF are making same mistake as MNF made by trying to win by airpower and defending bases, thus leaving the initiative with Taliban. If ANDSF fights with offensive mindset, effective use of available air power and sound strategy, small gains can improve sagging morale, which can change the tide against Taliban.
Response of Other Stakeholders!
The US also tried the idea of outsourcing regional peace in Afghanistan to regional stakeholders. All other stake holders are concerned with likelihood of export of terrorism, but are gravely short of options and leverages, as no one is keen to put boots on ground, knowing fully well that no foreign recipe of peace in Afghanistan has worked in past, nor will it work in future. Almost every neighbour (Russia, Pakistan, China, Iran, CAR and Qatar) are organising peace talks between various stakeholders, primarily to suit their own interests, making no headway. China, keen for connectivity and economic exploitation of Afghanistan, is hesitant of not becoming the third power (after USSR and USA) to suffer in “Graveyard of Empires”; hence will prefer working through Pakistan, till power structure stabilises.
India has always emphasised on Afghan led, Afghan owned, Afghan controlled, elected, democratic government and has invested tremendous amount of goodwill in people of Afghanistan and Ghani’s Government through large amount of development projects, and capacity building of various institutions including ANDSF, with a cumulative sunk cost of $3 billion. India suffers from a major handicap that despite being a legal neighbour of Afghanistan, it doesn’t physically hold the common border, thus has no direct land route. This reduces the capability of India to directly influence outcomes in Afghanistan; hence it was never taken seriously by other stakeholders even during talks. Diplomatically India has left no stone unturned to mitigate the crisis.
Way Ahead
There is a need to boost the morale of Afghan Forces, with air support, military assets and maintenance of its existing damaged air assets. An offensive mindset, and sound military strategy can turn the tide in ANDSF favour. They need to focus on recapturing border crossings, utilise other supporting non-state actors in engaging Taliban to weaken blockades with guerrilla tactics. The momentum of Taliban can break while fighting in urban areas due to weak peoples support, lesser numbers, and no air resources. There is a need to create a viable countervailing force within Afghanistan.
There is a need for UNSC to rein/sanction Pakistan in adding strength to Taliban by using its non-state actors against elected government of other country, for the sake of innocent people, ladies and children of Afghanistan. While the statements condemning violence have been issued, but there is a need for a resolution against sponsors and global condemnation of Taliban’s effort to takeover by force. India as President UNSC, continues to highlight the issue of violence and atrocities by terrorists in Afghanistan, and flag the reports of Afghan Government and UN regarding almost 10,000 Pakistani terrorists fighting alongside Taliban against democratically elected government.
If left to Afghan people, civil war will continue and Taliban even if in power, will also face unprecedented cycle of instability from angry population resenting Sharia law and rival groups in Afghanistan and within Taliban. Various tribes and terror groups will ensure that no single entity or foreign player gets that strategic space exclusively. It is unlikely that China-Pakistan will find it easy to exploit the situation amidst expected instability. This will certainly have a telling effect on regional and global security situation, as Afghanistan-Pakistan Region will become the largest breeding ground for terrorism, with some of the terror groups again becoming strong enough to strike US, EU, China, India or CAR. Afghanistan seems to be heading for a situation where in different areas will be under influence of different entities, leaving helpless population, suffering under the hands of fundamentalists, if no mid-course correction is done.
(Maj Gen S.B. Asthana is a veteran infantry general and strategic analyst. The views expressed are personal and of the author, who retains the copyright. He can be reached at shashiasthana29@gmail.com and @asthana_shashi on Twitter)
The bomb was fitted into a motorcycle. The injured were shifted to hospital, where an emergency was imposed….reports Asian Lite News
At least two policemen were killed and 13 others injured in an explosion near Quetta’s Serena Hotel, a luxury hotel, on Sunday evening.
Pakistan media reports said four passers-by were also wounded in the blast that targeted a police mobile near Tanzeem Chowk, Balochistan government spokesperson Liaquat Shahwani said in a statement.
He said the bomb was fitted into a motorcycle. The injured were shifted to hospital, where an emergency was imposed.
He condemned the attack, saying “terrorists want to disturb Balochistan’s peace and spread fear.”
“[We] will bring to justice the elements trying to create disturbance in peaceful Balochistan,” he added.
The incident comes more than three months after a powerful bomb exploded in the parking lot of the Quetta Serena Hotel, killing five people and wounding a dozen others.
Pakistan Taliban had claimed responsibility of blast at Serena Hotel in Balochistan’s Quetta in April.
Police said that the explosion took place at Zarghoon Road, near the city’s University Chowk, adding that the explosives were planted on a motorcycle. The explosion took place near a police van.
The injured, including two policemen, have been shifted to the city’s Civil Hospital, Deputy Inspector General Quetta said, adding that the windows of nearby buildings were shattered due to the explosion. Chief Minister of Balochistan Jam Kamal Khan has condemned the incident.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lDidRqwkyc
Cylinder blast kills 9
At least nine people were killed and seven others sustained burn injuries on late Sunday night in a cylinder blast in a passenger van in Gujranwala near Shah Kot area of Cantt police station.
According to rescue sources, the cylinder exploded, setting the van on fire, killing nine passengers and seriously injuring seven others, reported Dunya News.
After the gruesome incident, rescue teams rushed to the spot and started rescue operations to put out the fire in the passenger van.
The injured were rushed to the hospital, where the condition of several injured is said to be critical, reported Dunya News.
Pakistan’s Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar has expressed sorrow over the loss of precious human lives due to van fire in Gujranwala and demanded a report from Commissioner Gujranwala Division and RPO.
According to Dunya News, he ordered an inquiry into the incident and asked authorities to immediately conduct a comprehensive investigation and submit a report. (ANI)
Families fearing the Taliban’s advance have been sending women and girls to safer areas, including the Afghan capital Kabul, to prevent them being taken away….reports Asian Lite News
The Taliban is kidnapping and forcibly marrying off teenage girls and young women to its fighters as it recaptures huge areas of Afghanistan.
The Mail newspaper on Sunday reported that whenever the extremists capture a new town or district, they issue orders through the speakers of local mosques for the names of wives and widows of all local government and police personnel to be handed over.
The group has rounded up hundreds of young women to be married off to their militants as a “war booty”, local residents and officials told the newspaper.
Families fearing the Taliban’s advance have been sending women and girls to safer areas, including the Afghan capital Kabul, to prevent them being taken away.
There have been local reports of women being forcibly married off in at least two northern Afghan regions called Takhar and Badakhshan, while a similar attempt was made in the province of Bamyan, where the insurgent group was driven out by Afghan security forces after four days of fierce fighting.
The fundamentalist organisation has been closing down girls’ schools in towns it takes over. Women are ordered that they can only leave their homes if they wear a burqa, and are chaperoned by a male adult, the report said.
Witnesses told of the group’s sexual slavery after it took control of the remote district of Saighan, in the central highlands of Bamyan province.
According to local residents, Taliban fighters demanded to know the names and ages of girls and women they said would be rounded up to be married to their militants.
The militants even beat some men who resisted, and demanded residents open their wardrobes so they could work out the ages of women by looking at the clothes inside.
The group also demanded to know the names and ages of widows of men who died fighting the Taliban, as well as those of the wives of any serving government or security personnel.
Terrified villagers sent their wives and daughters out of the area. Some fled in hired cars, others using goods carts, while some walked, the report said.
Baes Sakhizada, 28, a maths teacher in Saighan, sent his wife, Basira, 30, sister, Nafisa, 27, and cousin, Tamanna, 19, out of Saighan by car.
In full burkqa, the women were driven 150 miles away, sometimes going through Taliban checkpoints, but managed to escape.
Sakhizada said: “Everyone got their women out of Saighan, especially young girls. They were the first to be evacuated.”
Nafisa said she, Basira and Tamanna first stayed in a nearby village overnight, then took a car to a neighbouring province to escape. She described huge traffic jams as thousands fled advancing Taliban troops.
The three women returned to their homes after local militia forces managed to drive the Taliban out after four days of fighting. They live in fear knowing the group will soon return.
Mohammad Tahir Zuhair, the provincial governor of Bamyan, said the plan to abduct and marry women was a “dangerous and cruel revenge on the wives and widows of the security forces who have fought” the Taliban.
Omar Sadr, a professor at the American University of Afghanistan, said: “Once jihadis capture territory, whatever property there is, their ideology allows them to claim it. This includes women – they don’t even have to marry them. It is a form of sex slavery.”
General Nick Carter, head of the British Armed Forces, warned that “grisly images of war crimes being committed against Afghan special forces, government buildings being wilfully destroyed, civilians being brutalised and women forced into marriages undermine any claim the Taliban might have to political, moral or ethical legitimacy”
In the past few days, Taliban militants have earlier captured Nimroz provincial capital Zaranj in west and Shiberghan city, the capital of Jawzan province….reports Asian Lite News
Amid intense fighting with the Afghan security forces, the Taliban on Sunday gained ground in the two key cities of Sari Pul and Kunduz, according to officials.
Taliban militants have overrun major parts of Sari Pul city, the capital of northern Sari Pul province, one of the officials told Xinhua news agency.
This is the second provincial capital after Shiberghan, the capital of Nimroz province, fell to the Taliban over the past three days.
“Major parts of Sari Pul city have fallen to the Taliban militants today morning and fighting has been continuing between government forces and Taliban fighters,” the official added.
Taking to Twitter, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed that the “Mujahidin captured all government departments in Sari Pul city today”.
In the past few days, Taliban militants have earlier captured Nimroz provincial capital Zaranj in west and Shiberghan city, the capital of Jawzan province.
Afghanistan Pic credit ANI
Meanwhile in Kunduz, the strategically important city along the border with Tajikistan, the “Taliban has captured police district (PD) 1, PD 3 and PD 4 and have been attempting to overrun Balahisar area to control the road leading to the Kunduz airport”, another official told Xinhua news agency.
Kunduz police chief Zabardast Safi also confirmed the fighting but said that the security forces would beat back the insurgents.
However, Ehasanullah Faizi, the head of Kunduz hospital told Xinhua that, “a dozen dead bodies and 60 injured civilians have been taken to hospital” since Saturday.
Meanwhile, Taliban spokesman Mujahid claimed that the militants have captured Kunduz city including the provincial governor’s office.
But the claim was rejected by officials as well as locals as baseless.
According to locals, the governor’s office, police headquarters and other government entities are in control of government forces.
Fighter planes, as well as military helicopters, are hovering over the city.
Taliban have captured one battle tank and three more were burned in the city, according to local residents.
Intense battles were also continuing in Taluqan city, the capital of Takhar, and the neighbouring Badakhshan provincial capital Faizabad.
A resident of Zardak village in Malistan district told that the Taliban arrested and murdered three of his sons who were under the age of 18, who had fled from the conflict areas and were returning home…reports Sanjeev Sharma
Disturbing eyewitness accounts have emerged of deliberate and unlawful killing of civilians by the Taliban in Malistan district of Ghazni province.
According to the Afghanistan Human Rights Commission’s findings, the Taliban killed civilians after capturing the center and parts of Malistan district. In addition to violence and inhumane treatment of people, looting of citizens’ property, destruction of houses and shops, and creating an atmosphere of fear, the Taliban displaced thousands of families, including women and children, from this district to other nearby and distant areas.
Taliban engaged in destroying telecommunication networks. They also searched people’s houses in some areas, including Zardak, Shirdagh, Pashi, Miradina, and Neyqul, in order to identify government employees and those involved in the local uprising group.
They instilled fear and terror in civilians by beating, abusing, and mistreating them. The Taliban also destroyed a number of homes and shops and looted civilian property. They destroyed an antenna base that belonged to Salam Telecommunication Network and transferred its equipment to Ajristan district, and also forcibly took away several vehicles and motorcycles of the residents of this district.
According to an eyewitness, the Taliban split into two groups after the fall of Malistan district. The first group fought the security forces, while the second attempted to search houses and identify and prosecute people associated with the security sector and members of local uprising group. The group mistreated civilians, evicted them from their homes, or arrested them outside their homes, and in several instances, murdered them after violent treatment and severe beatings.
According to one survivor and eyewitness, the Taliban brutally murdered seven members of his family and relatives who had no involvement in the clashes and were all farmers and ordinary men. According to this eyewitness, the Taliban strangled and killed his aunt’s husband, a 72-year-old farmer, with a scarf after pulling him out of his house, and taking 25,000 Afs away from him, the money he had earned by selling his trees.
Another eyewitness told the Commission that the Taliban came to the house of a Malistani resident who was a blacksmith and a car dealer late at night and asked for his car key, but he refused. The Taliban then shot him. The next night, his 16-year-old son, a ninth-grade student, goes to the Taliban to complain about his father’s murder. Taliban-affiliated gunmen beat him, and then shot him dead.
According to another eyewitness, the Taliban members searching homes for government employees and men involved in the local uprising, opened fire directly into the home of a local resident. Fearing the Taliban, the house’s owner seeks refuge in the basement, but the Taliban threw grenades into the basement, injuring the man in the legs and arms. The man’s 19-year-old son was in the house at the time, and when the Taliban noticed him, they dragged him out and shot him dead.
The Taliban is responsible for 2,978 civilian casualties (917 killed, and 2,061 injured) in the first six months of 2021. The war tactics by the Taliban include the use of IEDs, rocket fires, target killing, and ground battles
In another case, the Taliban loaded the bodies of their victims into a car with the help of a man guarding the Miradina Bazaar’s shops, then killed the man so as not to reveal the number of victims.
Another eyewitness told the Commission that after capturing Malistan district, the Taliban went to a tailor’s shop and asked him to provide information about the shops and properties owned by Hakim Shojaee, one of the uprising groups’ commanders. The Taliban shot and killed the man after he refused to share this information.
A resident of Zardak village in Malistan district told the Commission that the Taliban arrested and murdered three of his sons who were under the age of 18, who had fled from the conflict areas and were returning home.
Also, when the Taliban attacked the Shirdagh area of Malistan district, two women ran out of their houses to see what had happened. The Taliban opened fire on them right away, killing one and injuring another in the eye, causing her to go blind.
AIHRC findings illustrate that 2,500 families have been displaced from different parts of Malistan district to Kabul, Jaghori, and Nawor districts in order to escape Taliban violence. The displaced families are in a difficult situation due to a lack of basic and essential facilities, with many of them lacking access to food, safe drinking water, clothing, and shelter.
In addition, these families have no access to medical and educational services. According to local sources, due to the closure of schools and medical centers, families and individuals living in the Malistan district are also facing serious problems and challenges.
The Commission’s findings verify that the Taliban have informed the residents of Malistan district that women and girls will no longer be allowed to leave their homes and go to schools without Muharram and “Islamic covering”. The Taliban have also stressed that violators of this rule will be punished. Residents’ human rights in the Taliban-controlled area of Malistan district face serious challenges and concerns.
The US on Saturday asked its citizens to leave Afghanistan using available commercial flight options as the Taliban intensified its attacks…reports Asian Lite News
The US B-52 bombers targeted positions of Taliban in Afghanistan’s Shebergan city on Saturday evening.
Taking to Twitter, Afghan Defence Ministry’s official Fawad Aman wrote, “The Taliban’s gathering was targeted by B-52 in Shebergan city, Jawzjan province on Saturday at 6:30 pm. The terrorists have suffered heavy casualties as a result of US Air Forces.”
The US on Saturday asked its citizens to leave war-torn Afghanistan as the Taliban intensified its attacks in recent days.
“The US urges its citizens to leave Afghanistan immediately using available commercial flight options. Given the security conditions and reduced staffing, the Embassy’s ability to assist US citizens in Afghanistan is extremely limited even within Kabul,” the US Embassy in Kabul said in a statement.
Recently, the Taliban captured, Jawzjan province’s capital Sheberghan and Nimroz province’s capital Zaranj.
US embassy in Kabul said the recent rise in violence by the Taliban violates the human rights of Afghans and is bringing hardship to the people of the country.
US Deputy Ambassador, Ross Wilson, in his Twitter post wrote that the country is already going through a tough time struggling with poverty, coronavirus, and drought, and the surge in violence by the Taliban will double their problems. The tweet read that increase in these attacks is a violation of the human rights of Afghans, reported The Khaama Press.(ANI)
