Category: Afghanistan

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Stop pushing Islamabad to make efforts on Afghanistan: Pak NSA

But on the other hand, Pakistan and its Army continue to provide a safe haven to the insurgent groups and their affiliates…reports Asian Lite News

Pakistan National Security Advisor Moeed Yusuf on Sunday said that countries should stop urging Islamabad to make efforts in improving Afghanistan’s situation.

Yusuf’s remarks came while addressing a conference in the Pakistan embassy in Washington.

He also said that Islamabad is already facilitating a political settlement in Afghanistan while its land is being used to harm Pakistan, ARY News reported.

But on the other hand, Pakistan and its Army continue to provide a safe haven to the insurgent groups and their affiliates.

The Taliban with the help of the Pakistani Army has intensified attacks in the Nangarhar Province and captured some security check posts in border districts of Achin and Pacher wa Agam. Hesarak, Sherzad, Pacher wa Agam, Deh Bala (Hska Mina), Achin, and Surkhrod Districts have seen an increase in Taliban attacks.

In the wake of rising casualties among Taliban cadres and its affiliates, including Al-Qaeda, a number of injured terrorists have been relocated to Quetta city for medical treatment.

Meanwhile, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan met with his Pakistani counterpart Moeed Yusuf in Washington and discussed issues regarding regional security, including the urgent need for a negotiated political settlement to the Afghan conflict.

This meeting between the two NSAs holds significance in the backdrop of mounting violence in Afghanistan. Despite the fast-approaching August deadline of US and NATO troops’ withdrawal, the negotiations between the Afghan government and the Taliban are not moving forward.

Pakistan rally

Pashtuns rally against Pak in NY

Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) held a rally against the illegal detention of Ali Wazir and Pakistan’s proxy war in Afghanistan. Ali Wazir is one of the sane voices of human rights and against military oppression in Pakistan.

PTM said in a statement that members party in New York and Connecticut participated in large numbers in this car rally held on Saturday. They demanded the immediate release of Ali Wazir and the end of the Pakistani proxy war in Afghanistan. The legislature is in illegal detention for raising the voice for a Pashtun peaceful life, they said.

“The continued detention of Ali Wazir is illegal as the detention is ordered by General Bajwa. This shows the courts in Pakistan are not independent and we don’t expect justice from judges who are controlled by the military” said PTM USA leader Himat.

Although the Pakistani National Assembly is a rubber stamp but still off and, in the country, a mighty military briefs the legislatures on critical issues. In a recent off-camera briefing to the parliament on a question of Ali Wazir, the Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Bajwa replied in the parliament, “Ali will apologize and then can be released”.

An Afghan special force member attends a military operation against Taliban fighters in Kandak Anayat village of Kunduz city, Afghanistan, July 23, 2021. (Photo by Ajmal Kakar/Xinhua)

For the last four decades, Pashtuns on both sides of the Durand have been in an unending war. The uncertainty has destroyed the social, economic and political lives of the residents.

“Pakistani interference in Afghanistan is crystal clear. The Taliban leadership and shuras are residing and planning in Quetta, Peshawar and Miranshah. The Taliban can’t sustain a single day without Pakistani support. To end the war in Afghanistan will require pressing Pakistan to end its support to Taliban and other terrorist groups,” said Amin Jan Ibrahimi, PTM Vice Coordinator in Connecticut.

The car rally ended at the UN office and demanded the world to play a positive role and support the elected government in Afghanistan. (ANI)

ALSO READ: Pakistani Jihadis Join Taliban Troops in Afghanistan

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‘Tajik’ Taliban creating havoc in Northern Afghanistan

The Tajik Taliban is basically a group of militants of Tajikistan who have been fighting along with the Taliban in the Northern region of Afghanistan….reports Mrityunjoy Kumar Jha

Alarm bells are ringing loud and clear in three Central Asian Republics (CAR) which share borders with Afghanistan — Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

The assertion by Taliban – with an arch-extremist DNA – is generating deep anxiety among the largely secular minded trio, located in the heart of the Pamirs. The resurgence of the Pakistan-backed Taliban also poses a huge challenge to Russia, which has for long considered Central Asia as its backyard.

Unsurprisingly, Moscow has beefed up the combat capabilities of its military base in Tajikistan, which includes training local soldiers on a significant scale. Moscow is warning the leadership in Dushanbe about the danger posed by the Islamic State, which has entrenched itself across the border in Afghanistan.

The Taliban’s capture of the Northern region of Afghanistan, has in fact prompted Russia to significantly upscale its military profile on the borders with Afghanistan. To demonstrate its military clout Moscow is holding joint military drills, which will involve more than 1,000 Russian soldiers along with Uzbek and Tajik troops.

Taliban Pic credits ANI

The August 5-10 exercise – a show of collective muscle flexing – will take place amid reports that the Taliban has handed over charge to Tajik militants to “govern” the region close to the Tajik border.

According to a report by the gandhara.rferl.org, the Taliban has deployed these militants of the “Tajik Taliban” to defend the captured districts Kuf Ab, Khwahan, Maimay, Nusay, and Shekay of Afghanistan’s Badakhshan Province.

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Fawzia Koofi, a member of the peace negotiating team of the Afghan government, told Tolo news that these “Taibans” are creating havoc in northern regions of Afghanistan.

“Now the activities and movements of foreign militants have increased more than any time before along the border areas and in the strategic locations which have come under Taliban control, unfortunately,” said Koofi.

The Tajik Taliban is basically a group of militants of Tajikistan who have been fighting along with the Taliban in the Northern region of Afghanistan. According to the website, the Tajik militant group is led by Mahdi Arsalon , but whose real name is Muhammad Sharifov.

His 200-strong group of pro-Taliban Tajikistan militants are now controlling areas along Afghan-Tajik border.

Rise of Taliban in Afghanistan

Quoting the sources from Afghan officials, the website says that these Tajik fighters belong to the militant organisation Jamaat Ansarullah, also known as Ansarullah or Ansorullo�an organisation banned by the Tajikistan government.

Founded in 2009-10 by a former commander of Tajik army to overthrow the legitimate government in Dushanbe, the Ansarullah extremist group has been taking part in the Taliban offensives in Badakhshan, where the militant group captured large swaths of territory in recent months.

Tajik fighters in Badakhshan caught the Afghan government’s attention last year when the insurgents brutally killed a group of of Afghan Army soldiers after the fall of the Maimay district to the Taliban. The group Ansarullah has links with other militant groups in Afghanistan and Pakistan, including the Tehreek e Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) and al-Qaeda.

Under the US-Taliban deal in 2019, which was followed by the withdrawal of US troops has raised the morale of Central Asian Salafi-Jihadi groups. They did not hide their elation on social media, gushing praise for the Taliban. Central Asian Salafi-Jihadi groups are backed by al-Qaeda, Uzbek groups including Katibat Imam al-Bukhari (KIB), Katibat Tawhid wal Jihad (KTJ), and the Islamic Jihad Union (IJU), along with Tajik Jamaat Ansarullah (JA) and the Uyghur fighters of Turkestan Islamic Party (TIP) from China’s Xinjiang region.

Vladimir-Putin-

The US-Taliban agreement obliges the Taliban to sever ties with al Qaeda and other Central Asian terrorist groups and refuse them the possibility to threaten the security of the US and its allies using Afghan soil. However the Taliban did not keep its promise. Judging by their reactions, the Central Asian jihadists are not at all concerned over the Taliban’s commitment to sever contacts with themselves and al Qaeda.

Central Asian governments have this apprehension that the Taliban will control Afghanistan in the coming months and the “Taliban factor” could also provide inspiration and a morale boost to underground radical Islamists inside Central Asia, encouraging them to fight against the secular regimes. If the Taliban comes to power in the future and establishes Sharia rule in Afghanistan, this could increase the activity of the Islamic opposition in the five countries to the north.

Russian Defence Minister Sergey Shoyguv warned that Russia will act immediately if there is a threat emanating toward Central Asia from Afghanistan.

Taliban’s �friend”, China has been wary of Afghanistan becoming a hub for the al-Qaida-backed Uyghur Muslim militant group, the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), a separatist outfit waging an insurgency in volatile Xinjiang region. On Wednesday, the Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi made it clear to the Taliban delegation led by Taliban deputy political chief Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar to “make a clean break” from all terrorists, including the anti-China East Turkestan Islamic Movement, or ETIM and the TTP. China believes that recent attacks on its nationals in China was the handiwork of the Uyghur militants with the TTP.

(The content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com)

ALSO READ: Pakistani Jihadis Join Taliban Troops in Afghanistan

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Dark days ahead for Afghanistan as Taliban imposes ‘Sharia’

Taliban Pic credits ANI

Disturbing videos and photos circulating on social media show the Taliban torturing and killing people in Afghanistan as the extremist group has been seizing territories…reports Asian Lite News

The Deobandi groups larger objective is to impose Sharia in Afghanistan by converting it into an emirate and expand its influence all over the country at the cost of minorities and womens rights, Afghan media reports said.

Disturbing videos and photos circulating on social media show the Taliban torturing and killing people in Afghanistan as the extremist group has been seizing territories after international troops began withdrawing from the country in May 2021.

While both the US and the UN have warned the Taliban of international isolation and travel sanctions if the group unilaterally tries to seize power in Kabul, the Islamist group, with its leadership safely ensconced in neighbouring Pakistan, is in no mood to change from its 1996 version, reports said.

Taliban creating havoc in Northern Afghanistan

In one of the video clips on Twitter, several men are seen gathered around a man, picking up stones and repeatedly throwing them at him as he tries to save himself.

In another clip, a man is seen being beaten with sticks and stones and kicked by men. Yet another video was tweeted, which show the Taliban cutting the private parts of a man.

It was not possible to verify the authenticity of these videos or ascertain where they were shot, media reports said.

On Thursday, the Taliban said that they had killed a popular comedian. Nazar Mohammad, known as Khasha Zwan, was taken out of his home on July 22 and killed. The family of the comedian, who previously served in Kandahar Police, has blamed the Taliban for the attack.

Last week, viral videos showed Mohammad with his hands tied behind his back and sitting between two men in a car, being slapped repeatedly.

Earlier this month, reports said the Taliban has ordered women not to leave their home alone, set dowry regulations for girls and men to grow their beards, among other diktats.

According to reports, the Taliban has also issued a statement ordering local religious leaders to give them a list of girls over 15 years of age and widows under 45, reports said.

The Taliban, the reports said, has promised to get them married to its fighters.

In the past as well, the Taliban had enforced a strict interpretation of Islamic law, including public lashings, flogging and stoning. Women were required to cover their bodies and faces in a burqa and were barred from going to school or work or leaving the house without a male relative.

ALSO READ: Pakistani Jihadis Join Taliban Troops in Afghanistan

ALSO READ: Attack on UN mission in Afghanistan draws global attention

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Pakistani Jihadis Join Taliban Troops in Afghanistan

Captured Taliban fighters. Some of them are from the Madrasas of Pakistan

While Islamabad has been denying that Jihadis from Pakistan Pakistan are going to Afghanistan, the country has been receiving bodies of its citizens across the border on the Chaman-Spin Boldak and Torkhum border crossings … reports Asian Lite News

Social media is abuzz with reports of 50 Pakistanis who went to fight as part of Taliban and have been killed. The Times of India reported that several Pakistanis return dead or injured from Afghanistan.

In Balochistan, funerals and prayers are frequently held in the Pashtun-speaking areas along the border with Afghanistan, the TOI added.  The report also says Pakistani clerics are urging students at Madrasas to join the Taliban ranks and raising funds.

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

“Lists of people who went to fight Afghan army and were killed in the last few months. All are Pakistani nationals and there is no Afghan refugee. Yes Mr. @ImranKhanPTI, Pakistan is not a sanctuary, Pakistan is waging this war by itself against Afghanistan. #SayNoToTerrorism,” said Sohail Noor Khan in a tweet.

Khan has pointed out that Pakistani nationals are fighting the Afghan army and Pakistan is waging a war against Afghanistan.

Khan added in another tweet a madrassa head in Peshawar is given 10 commandos for his security and this man is goading youngsters to carry out terrorism in Afghanistan.

  “The man dressed in white is not a scientist or a politician but the superintendent of a madrassa in Peshawar’s Taj Bazaar, named Rahimullah Haqqani, which encourages the Taliban to carry out terrorism in Afghanistan. Pakistan has given him 10 commandos his his security.”

 In another tweet, he said that Taliban are amassing its new fighters near Durand line.

 “They’re waiting for the authorisation from Pakistani military to open secret doors in the fences. These new fighters will reinforced the Taliban in front line,” Khan said.

Ghani Slams Taliban

Amid the unrelenting violence in Afghanistan, President Ashraf Ghani said that in the past two decades, the Taliban has become “more cruel and more oppressive.”

During a virtual cabinet meeting, Ghani said, “Yes, they (Taliban) have changed but negatively. They have no wish for peace, for prosperity, or progress; we want peace but they want to surrender (subdued people and government).”

This comes as violence has been on the rise in Afghanistan in recent weeks as the Taliban stepped up its offensive after US and NATO troops began withdrawing from the country in June, Ariana News reported.

Blaming the Taliban for creating the conditions for the presence of foreign terrorists in Afghanistan, the Afghan President said that based on his plan, the country’s situation will witness a change within the next six months.

They will not engage in meaningful negotiations unless the situation changes on the battlefield; therefore, we should have a clear stance. For this, there is a need for a countrywide mobilization,” he said.

Ghani’s remarks come on a day when an Afghan watchdog released a report stating that 1,677 civilians were killed and 3,644 more were injured in Afghanistan in the first six months of this year. This shows an 80 per cent increase in casualties compared to the same period in 2020, the report said.

The Afghanistan  Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) said on Sunday said these killings took place in 1,594 different security incidents.

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UN Seeks Probe As Taliban Attack Kabul Compound

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres

As the Taliban engaged in fierce clashes with Afghan security forces in Herat on July 30, the UN’s main compound in the city came under attack by rocket-propelled grenades and gunfire

The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) called on the Taliban to undertake a full investigation and provide answers concerning a recent attack on its compound in Herat province.

As the Taliban engaged in fierce clashes with Afghan security forces in Herat on July 30, the UN’s main compound in the city came under attack by rocket-propelled grenades and gunfire, according to the UNAMA.

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

“So-called ‘anti-Government elements’ targeted entrances of the clearly marked UN facility with rocket-propelled grenades and gunfire just hours after Taliban fighters penetrated Herat city and clashed with Afghan security forces near UNAMA’s provincial headquarters,” the mission added.

The mission wrote on Twitter that perpetrators for “the attack that killed an Afghan guard needs to be held accountable”.

  Herat has been the scene of heavy fighting since early July 28 after Taliban launched a massive attack and tried to overrun the Afghan city.

  On Sunday, battles in the city resumed and entered its fourth day after reinforcement joined Afghan security forces and local Public Uprising Forces to prevent Taliban from advancing.

Civilian casualties

As many as 1,677 civilians were killed and 3,644 more were injured in Afghanistan in the first six months of this year, showing an 80 per cent increase of casualties compared to the same period in 2020, the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) said.

According to the AIHRC report , these killings took place in 1,594 different security incidents.

“Important to note that the total number of civilian casualties in the first six months of 2020 was

2,957, including 1,213 killed and 1,744 injured. A comparison of the abovementioned figures shows that civilian casualties have increased by 80 per cent in the first six months of 2021 compared with the first six months of 2020,” the report said.

The number of women civilian casualties in the first six months of 2021 is 504 in total which includes 154 killed, and 350 injured. The number of women civilian casualties in the first six months of 2020 was 297 in total which included 126 killed, and 171 injured.

According to AIHRC findings from armed conflicts in the country, out of the total number of civilian casualties in Afghanistan in the first six months of 2021, the Taliban is responsible for 56 per cent, pro-government forces are responsible for 15 per cent, Daesh is responsible for seven per cent, and unknown perpetrators are responsible for 22 per cent.

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, the report said.

The number of civilian casualties by the Taliban in the first six months of 2021 compared with the

same period in the previous year has been doubled. The Taliban was responsible for 1,438 civilian casualties (542 killed, and 896 injured) in the first six months of 2020.

Unknown perpetrators were responsible for another 1,190 civilian deaths and injuries in the first half of this year, including 425 civilians killed and 765 civilians injured. These attacks have not been claimed by any groups or individuals..

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Taliban revenge killings on rise again

Rise of Taliban in Afghanistan

In Kandahar, the Taliban have been detaining and executing suspected members of the provincial government and security forces, and in some cases their relatives….reports Asian Lite News

Taliban forces in Afghanistan are targeting known critics for attack despite claiming that they have ordered their fighters to act with restraint, Human Rights Watch said.

The International Criminal Court is currently investigating allegations of war crimes and serious human rights abuses by all parties to the conflict in Afghanistan, including the Taliban.

Taliban commanders who knew or should have known about abuses by forces under their control and took no action to prevent or stop them are culpable as a matter of command responsibility, Human Rights Watch said.

In Kandahar, the Taliban have been detaining and executing suspected members of the provincial government and security forces, and in some cases their relatives.

People transfer an injured man into a hospital in Lashkar Gah, Helmand province, Afghanistan,

Activists in Kandahar said that in villages surrounding the provincial capital, Taliban commanders have detained scores of people associated with the government or police.

In one case, on July 16, Taliban fighters abducted two men whose brothers had worked with NDS 03, a CIA backed strike force that has been responsible for summary executions and other abuses, from their homes in the Qasam Pol area, Dand district. Their relatives say that they have not heard from the two men since.

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Also in mid-July, a report said Taliban fighters detained Ahmadullah, a former police officer, in Spin Boldak. His family has not heard from him since. His uncle said that the Taliban had sent letters saying that anyone who had worked with the government or foreign forces would not be harmed so long as they reported to the Taliban leadership.

Among recent cases, the Taliban executed a popular Kandahari comedian, Nazar Mohammad, known as Khasha Zwan.

“Taliban forces apparently executed Khasha Zwan because he poked fun at Taliban leaders,” said Patricia Gossman, associate Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “His murder and other recent abuses demonstrate the willingness of Taliban commanders to violently crush even the tamest criticism or objection.”

“Advancing Taliban forces have no blank check to brutally target their critics,” Gossman said. “The Taliban leadership usually denies the abuses, but it’s their fighters carrying out these attacks and their responsibility to stop the killings.”

International humanitarian law prohibits summary executions, enforced disappearances, and other mistreatment of anyone in custody, which are war crimes. It is unlawful to detain civilians unless absolutely necessary for imperative security reasons. Retaliatory attacks are a form of collective punishment and are also prohibited.

ALSO READ: Taliban mortar attack kills Afghan civilians

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Pakistan turns its back on Afghan refugees

Afghan refugees

Pakistani National Security Advisor said that if a civil war erupts in Afghanistan, the asylum seekers should not be pushed towards Pakistan…reports Asian Lite News

Pakistani National Security Advisor (NSA) Moeed Yusuf has said that the country cannot accept additional Afghan refugees and the international community is obliged to make arrangements for them inside Afghanistan.

Yusuf said that if a civil war erupts in Afghanistan, the asylum seekers should not be pushed towards Pakistan, according to media reports.

The NSA and Faiz Hameed, head of Pakistan’s spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), had embarked on a visit to the US for discussions over Afghanistan and bilateral issues.

While Hameed has left Washington, Yusuf is still in the US.

When asked about Pakistan’s relations and influence over the Taliban, Yusuf said that they have minimum leverage.

Afghanistan kids

He said that if Pakistan had influence over the group they would have prevented them from destroying the Buddha idols in Bamyan province in the 1990s.

Earlier, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan had said the country is already hosting nearly three million Afghan refugees and it does not have the capacity to accept more.

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Reports said Tajikistan, a northern neighbour of Afghanistan, has announced to accept up to 100,000 Afghan refugees but also acknowledged to remain cautious while allowing the people in and will not give refuge to those who have worked with the US.

Pakistani officials are demanding that the world make arrangements for the refugees inside Afghanistan, amid fears that millions of Afghans may be forced to flee into neighbouring countries if fighting between Taliban and government forces intensify or deteriorate into a civil war.

“As a matter of fact, we are not in position to accept any more refugees,” Yusuf said during an earlier VOA interview.

Almost 3 million Afghan refugees, half of them unregistered, have been living in Pakistan since the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 and subsequent waves of violence and later a civil war, according to the UN.

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Attack on UN mission in Afghanistan draws global attention

Afghanistan

As the Taliban stepped up offensive, the UN’s main compound in the city came under attack by rocket-propelled grenades and gunfire…reports Asian Lite News

The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) on Sunday called on the Taliban to undertake a full investigation and provide answers concerning a recent attack on its compound in Herat province.

As the Taliban engaged in fierce clashes with Afghan security forces in Herat on July 30, the UN’s main compound in the city came under attack by rocket-propelled grenades and gunfire, according to the UNAMA.

“So-called ‘anti-Government elements’ targeted entrances of the clearly marked UN facility with rocket-propelled grenades and gunfire just hours after Taliban fighters penetrated Herat city and clashed with Afghan security forces near UNAMA’s provincial headquarters,” the mission added.

People transfer an injured man into a hospital in Lashkar Gah, Helmand province, Afghanistan,

The mission wrote on Twitter that perpetrators for “the attack that killed an Afghan guard needs to be held accountable”.

Herat has been the scene of heavy fighting since early July 28 after Taliban launched a massive attack and tried to overrun the Afghan city.

On Sunday, battles in the city resumed and entered its fourth day after reinforcement joined Afghan security forces and local Public Uprising Forces to prevent Taliban from advancing.

ALSO READ: B-52 bombers back in action as Taliban sweep across Afghanistan

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Taliban mortar attack kills Afghan civilians

People transfer an injured man into a hospital in Lashkar Gah, Helmand province, Afghanistan,

The district has been the scene of heavy clashes between the Taliban militants and the security forces in recent days…reports Asian Lite News

 Four Afghan civilians were killed after a mortar shell fired by Taliban militants struck a house in the country’s eastern province of Kapisa, local police confirmed on Sunday.

“The incident occurred late on Saturday in Nijrab district. The victims were part of a family, and a wounded civilian was shifted to a district hospital,” provincial police spokesman Abdul Shaeq Shurash told Xinhua news agency.

The district has been the scene of heavy clashes between the Taliban militants and the security forces in recent days.

The government security forces evicted the Taliban from Nijrab after the militants briefly overran the district in late July.

Afghan civilians continue to bear the brunt of armed conflicts as more than 1,650 civilians were killed and over 3,250 others wounded due to fighting in the first six months of 2021, according to a report of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA).

ALSO READ: B-52 bombers back in action as Taliban sweep across Afghanistan

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B-52 bombers back in action as Taliban sweep across Afghanistan

B-52 bombers played a crucial role in toppling the Taliban from power in late 2001, with the US using its bases in the Gulf to deploy the plane, reports Asian Lite News

A B-52 bomber has pounded Taliban positions in Afghanistan’s western Herat province after the group gained ground near the area amid intense clashes with government forces, officials and lawmakers said on Saturday.

The strike took place on the outskirts of Herat city on Friday, with flights to and from the area suspended after increased violence near its airport.

“Unfortunately, all flights to Herat have been canceled due to the fighting and the information we have received suggest that a B-52 was used in the fighting yesterday (Friday) in Herat,” provincial lawmaker Habib Ur Rahman Pedram said.

No further details were given, such as the number of casualties or the scale of the attack.

Violence has surged across Afghanistan since May 1, when the Taliban launched a sweeping offensive as the US began its troop withdrawal after 20 years of occupation.

In recent weeks, the group has captured several districts and vital border crossings, with the Pentagon estimating that the group now control more than half of Afghanistan’s 419 district centers.

Afghan security force members take part in a military operation against Taliban in Khwaja Khar district of Takhar province, Afghanistan

The Taliban have reportedly captured two border crossings in Herat, the second largest city after Kabul, located near the border with Iran and Turkmenistan.

Friday’s attack by the US military marks the second time in less than two weeks that it has deployed the long-range, nuclear-capable plane against the Taliban from distant bases after US-led troops cut vital air support for overstretched Afghan forces.

A B-52 was also sighted in Lashkar Gah, the provincial capital of southern Helmand province, and the scene of intense fighting between Taliban and government forces, “but appeared to have not carried out any attack on Friday,” Helmand lawmaker Mirwais Khadem said.

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According to security sources from the adjacent Kandahar province, the heavily armed plane hit a group of Taliban fighters in Spin Boldak bordering Pakistan two weeks ago as well, “killing scores of them.”

Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid could not confirm whether the B-52 was used to attack the group across Afghanistan.

Khadem confirmed Mujahid’s accounts, adding that the Taliban had taken over two districts within Lashkar Gah after “heavy fighting for successive days.”

Taliban fighters attend a surrender ceremony in Jowzjan province, Afghanistan. (Xinhua_Mohammad jan Aria_IANS)

“Government helicopters have hit the Taliban,” the lawmaker added. “People have been displaced and largely heading to Taliban-held areas as the situation in the city is not good.”

The US military in Afghanistan was unavailable for comment, while Afghan officials refused to discuss the decision to reinstate the B-52 to curb Taliban advances.

But Interior Ministry spokesman Mirwais Stanekzai said that “government forces had foiled Taliban’s attacks on the three cities and the enemy has suffered heavy losses.”

B-52 bombers played a crucial role in toppling the Taliban from power in late 2001, with the US using its bases in the Gulf to deploy the plane.

The strategy to deploy the B-52 appears to be a military necessity, as over-stretched Afghan troops are struggling to prevent the loss of more territory and provincial capitals to the Taliban and avoid the potential for renewed civil war without foreign forces to protect the Kabul government.

The clashes in Herat and Kandahar have forced tens of thousands of residents to flee to safer grounds, with government estimates placing the number of families displaced by the surge in violence since early May at more than 40,000.

During Friday’s fighting, the UN’s main compound in Herat came under attack by rocket-propelled grenades and gunfire, according to a statement from the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan.

“This attack against the United Nations is deplorable, and we condemn it in the strongest terms,” said Deborah Lyons, the UN secretary-general’s special representative for Afghanistan.

The halt of flights to Herat and the reuse of the B-52 were “worrying signs of an escalation in insecurity” across Afghanistan, according to security analyst and retired colonel Mohammad Hassan.

“It is getting worse day by day here. The cancelation of flights to Herat and the fact that America has back started using B-52 are not good signs. It will cause more panic among people at large and shows the precariousness of the situation,” he said.

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