Category: Afghanistan

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Will Taliban takeover give TAPI gas pipeline project a formal burial?

Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India natural gas pipeline.(wikipedia)

The ambitious 1,814 km trans-country natural gas pipeline project is important not only for India but also for Turkmenistan…reports Mahua Venkatesh

As political uncertainties grip Afghanistan with the withdrawal of US troops, what will be the future of the proposed Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) pipeline? Energy experts told India Narrative that India will have to carefully adopt a wait and watch policy as Taliban has already started making rapid inroads in Afghanistan.

The ambitious 1,814 km trans-country natural gas pipeline project is important not only for India but also for Turkmenistan, as this gives a new export market to Ashgabat.

In fact, in February, Turkmenistan invited a Taliban delegation to discuss the future of this pipeline. Though the delegation led by Mullah Abdul Gani Baradar expressed full support and promised to protect the project, worries are rising for India.

“The global energy landscape is changing faster than ever before, with new emerging geopolitical equations in Central Asia and in the Middle East in particular. The growing – and even muscular in some places – influence of China is omnipresent, resulting in a big recast in the energy chessboard all across from the north of Kazakhstan to Saudi Arabia and beyond,” India’s leading energy expert Narendra Taneja said.

Taneja however said that India, over the last few years, has diversified its sources of oil and natural gas.

“India does not need to worry much in terms of oil and gas supply from the two regions as it (the supply) already stands quite diversified, but what should worry us is threat to the size of our presence in the energy chessboard, in the great energy game. The silence everywhere on TAPI is a classic example,” Taneja said.

“China hates TAPI,” he noted.

ALSO READ: Taliban warns foreign troops will be at risk as occupiers

Though speculations are rife on whether the project will get a quiet burial, Subhomoy Bhattacharjee, Senior Adjunct Fellow at RIS (Research and Information System for Developing Countries) told India Narrative that it is too early to write it off.

“It is true that the situation is tricky and we will have to wait to understand the dynamics in Afghanistan,” he said.

“Often totalitarian governments depend on natural resources and oil and gas will be an important one. So, it is possible that Taliban, if it comes to power, protects or provides support to the project there could be other international repercussions. India will have to weigh those implications,” Bhattacharjee said.

Even if the TAPI project gets wings, will India be ready to pay royalty to the Taliban government if the situation arises?

Earlier an Observer Research Foundation report said that in light of these developments in Afghanistan’s politics, it would be interesting to see what position India adopts vis-�-vis TAPI gas pipeline and whether New Delhi would be ready to continue its participation in the project.

“The US withdrawal from Afghanistan and its weakened appetite for a big foot in Central Asia are disrupting developments and can prove to be unfortunate for energy deficit giants like India,” Taneja added.

According to Upstream Online, an oil and gas weekly, Turkmenistan currently delivers the bulk of its gas production to China via a three-line gas export pipeline across Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, with some volumes going to Russian gas monopoly Gazprom via an old route across Kazakhstan.

“The route to China is understood to be running at almost maximum capacity, preventing Turkmenistan from increasing gas production at its highly prolific Galkynysh group of fields, while Gazprom prohibits Turkmenistan from transiting its gas to Europe,” it said.

For Ashgabat, the TAPI project gives a lease of fresh life.

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

ALSO READ: Will Taliban Keep Promise to Preserve Afghanistan’s Cultural Legacy?

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After troops exit, safety of US Embassy in Kabul top concern

After troops exit, safety of US Embassy in Kabul top concern

A US Embassy spokesperson said that security assessments are frequent these days….reports Asian Lite News

As the end to America’s “forever war” rapidly approaches, the U.S. Embassy and other diplomatic missions in Kabul are watching a worsening security situation and looking at how to respond.

In the countryside, districts are falling to the Taliban in rapid succession. America’s warlord allies are re-arming their militias, which have a violent history, raising the specter of another civil war once the US withdrawal is finished, expected in August.

A US Embassy spokesperson said that security assessments are frequent these days. Speaking on condition of anonymity in line with briefing rules, she said the embassy is currently down to 1,400 US citizens and about 4,000 staff working inside the compound the size of a small town.

US troops in Afghanistan. (File Photo DoD_IANS)

A well-fortified town, that is. Besides its own formidable security, the embassy lies inside Kabul’s Green Zone, where entire neighborhoods have been closed off and giant blast walls line streets closed to outside traffic. Afghan security forces guard the barricades into the district, which also houses the Presidential Palace, other embassies and senior government officials.

The only route out is Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport, currently protected by U.S. and Turkish troops. Before America can declare its war over, the security of the airport will have to be settled. Ankara is in talks with Washington, the United Nations and the Afghan government to decide who will protect the airport and who will foot the bill.

For now, the airport is running without interruption, except for restrictions imposed by a deadly third COVID surge that has prompted some countries to suspend flights to Kabul. However, India is not one of them — as many as eight flights arrive weekly from India — and as a result, the virus’ delta variant, first identified in India, is rampant in Afghanistan.

ALSO READ: Will Taliban Keep Promise to Preserve Afghanistan’s Cultural Legacy?

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Bagram exit was coordinated, says Pentagon

Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby says “final conversations” with the Afghans took place 48 hours prior and there had been a general understanding, reports Asian Lite News

The United Sates on Tuesday said the Bagram base was turned over after discussions and coordination at “higher levels” in both the Afghanistan government and forces and disputed an Afghan commander’s account of Americans leaving quietly in the night without notifying anyone.

Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby told reporters the “final conversations” with the Afghans took place 48 hours prior and there had been a “general understanding and again, as we got closer, more detail was provided to Afghan leaders”.

But, he conceded, “we didn’t go into the exact hour at which all US would leave Bagram” for operational security reasons.

A top Afghan general who is the new commander of the Bagram base, Mir Asadullah Kohistani, had told reporters earlier, “We (had heard) some rumour that the Americans had left Bagram … and finally, by seven o’clock in the morning [last Friday], we understood that it was confirmed that they had already left Bagram.”

Bagram Airfield(Pic credits Wikipedia)

Asked about the Afghan commander’s remarks, Kirby said, “I can’t speak for the level of information that went down the Afghan chain of command, but I can tell you that Afghan leaders, civilian and military, were appropriately coordinated with and briefed about the turnover.”

Kirby said these conversations with Afghans included a walk-through of the Bagram base to give them a preview of what was being turned over to them.

Bagram is the seventh and last of such bases the US has handed over to Afghan forces as it winds down its military presence there of two decades and leave much ahead of the self-imposed deadline of September 11 announced by President Joe Biden.

ALSO READ: US pull-out puts Afghanistan at risk of turning into next Cambodia

A smaller number of US military personnel will be stationed in Afghanistan to provide security to the sprawling American diplomatic compound in Kabul and guard the Kabul airport till Turkish forces take over at the conclusion of a final agreement currently in discussion.

The US Central Command, which has military jurisdiction over US deployment in Afghanistan, has said 90% of the drawdown has been finished.

The US has said it is also watching closely the tightening military grip of the Taliban on the country. Though it has declined to change its drawdown schedule or slow it down, the US has said politically negotiated settlement is the only way forward in Afghanistan, and not a military solution.

State department spokesperson said at a separate briefing that “any Afghan government that comes to power at the barrel of a gun, that comes to power through the use of force, is almost certainly going to lack … critical ingredients” that will be needed – international assistance, international legitimacy and popular support of the Afghan people.

The Taliban have sought to assure the world of their commitment to a negotiated settlement but have stalled talks till the US forces are out. The last round that was supposed to take place in Istanbul, Turkey was never held.

As an important stakeholder in Afghan peace, India has watched US drawdown with some concern. On a recent US visit, external affairs minister S Jaishankar attributed US drawdown to “political expediency”. And at a UNSC debate, he reiterated India’s call for a “permanent and comprehensive ceasefire” in Afghanistan and for the United Nations to play a leading role.

ALSO READ: Will Taliban Keep Promise to Preserve Afghanistan’s Cultural Legacy?

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Pakistan Again Betrays Afghans and the World

Not a single item or transport vehicle sent by the American government or NATO was allowed to travel from the ports in the South of the country to reach Kabul without demands of hefty sums of money (NATO Transit Tax) that would amount to billions of dollars, writes Amjad Ayub Mirza

Finally, US troops handed over the control of Bagram America military base to Afghan authorities on July 2.

A massive US air force cargo aircraft took off carrying the last remaining troops at the base. For the Afghans, Bagram was a symbol of America’s commitment and resolve to bring peace to the war- torn country. The compound itself spoke volumes about American’s dedication to the cause of establishing peace in a country. Bagram had a 50-bed hospital and a state-of-the-art trauma bay, a dental clinic and three operation theatres. It had two runways, one 3.6 km long, wrote BBC chief international correspondent Lyse Doucet, that was built only recently to facilitate the landing of large cargo and bomber aircrafts.

US troops had moved into Bagram base in December 2001 less than three months after the terrorist attack on the Twin Towers in New York. The objective was simple. To remove the Government of the Taliban {1996-2001} which was harbouring terrorist master-mind Osama Bin Laden responsible for the attack on New York’s landmark buildings that housed the World Trade Centre that was second home to thousands who worked there. When American troops set their foot on Afghanistan, they had just one mission– to eliminate the Taliban regime. That objective was achieved with lightning speed.

Only then the true nature of the Taliban regime was revealed. A horrified world community was able to witness the atrocities that the Taliban medievalists had inflicted upon women, children and anyone who disagreed with the extremist Jihadi doctrine of the Taliban.

Democracy was established and guarded by American and NATO troops. Women were liberated from the yolk of primitive bondage. Thousands of girl schools that were destroyed by the Taliban were now made operational, while clinics, maternity hospitals, parks, community centres, universities colleges now began to produce a generation of free Afghans that would carry forward the baton of peace and progress.

Meanwhile, a rogue ruling elite and its military generals in neighbouring Pakistan were busy siphoning off the US aid and NATO’s material goods and equipment that passed through Pakistan and was destined for Afghanistan.

ALSO READ: Will Taliban Keep Promise to Preserve Afghanistan’s Cultural Legacy?

Ruled by the religious right-wing military generals for 35 years of its 70 odd years of creation, Pakistan saw the American resolve to rebuild Afghanistan as an opportunity to enrich its army generals and middlemen. Not a single item or transport vehicle sent by the American government or NATO was allowed to travel from the ports in the South of the country to reach Kabul without demands of hefty sums of money (NATO Transit Tax) that would amount to billions of dollars
Over the past decade, only Pakistan has received US $ 7.7 billion through USAID alone!

Similarly, between 2002 and 2013 Pakistan received US $ 26 billion in economic and military aid and sales of military equipment. In 2002, the US gave Pakistan over $14 billion in aid to combat terrorism which was part of the total help of $ 33 billion that Pakistan received.

In return Pakistan offered sanctuary to Taliban leaders who escaped from Afghanistan. In southern Balochistan, Pakistani ISI orchestrated the formation of a quasi-government in exile of the Taliban and named it the Quetta Shura (2001). It was headed by Mullah Omer. Lately, US president Joe Biden announced that the last of the remaining US troops shall be brought home no later than September 11 this fall.

The US request for using Pakistan’s airspace to target Taliban in case they become a threat to Afghan democracy was rudely declined. The Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan, even said that if Taliban take over the country, he will not interfere.

The Pakistan army created the Taliban as a proxy. Pupils from Islamic seminaries of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and southern Punjab were transformed into foot soldiers for fighting against the advancing armies of non-Pashtun Northern Alliance. The purpose? To gain strategic depth against India. By refusing Pakistan air space to the Americans to target the Taliban, and aligning with China against the US, Pakistan is playing an opportunistic but dangerous diplomatic game in the region that could cost Islamabad dearly. The Americans lost just under 4000 fine young men along with thousands of brave Afghans who fought the Taliban. It is the sacrifices made by those martyred fine young Americans and Afghans that Pakistan has betrayed. As a matter of fact, Pakistan has betrayed the people of Afghanistan and the democratic world again.

(Dr Amjad Ayub Mirza is an author and a human rights activist from Mirpur in Pakistan occupied Jammu Kashmir. He currently lives in exile in the UK. This content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com)

ALSO READ: Pakistan warned of famine-like situation due to water scarcity

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Will Taliban Keep Promise to Preserve Afghanistan’s Cultural Legacy?

There are many who pin their hopes on the US brokered talks between the Taliban and the Afghan Government hoping that the region’s past will be protected, but many others are growing anxious, reports S. Ravi

While there is a widespread speculation as to what awaits Afghanistan after the departure of the US-led foreign troops in the country, historians and heritage experts globally, are keeping their fingers crossed as to the fate of cultural legacy of the embattled nation.

The concern is justified since Afghanistan’s rich historical and cultural heritage dates back to several centuries. From being part of Indus Valley Civilisation to being invaded by Alexander, several empires including Greco-Bactrians, Kushans, Saffarids, Ghaznavids, Timurids, and Mughals among others have started from this region.

According to an article in National Geographic some cultural heritage experts are hopeful; others are growing anxious with the forthcoming departure of US and European forces.

The fear on the part of those who are tasked with taking care of the nation’s uniquely diverse cultural heritage is not unfounded. It is still fresh in their memory, as it is of others, when the Taliban in 2001, destroyed the planet’s largest statues, the Bamiyan Buddhas. They also vandalised the National Museum in Kabul and looted antiques from ancient sites. Their attitude towards the past relics, especially the pre-Islamic ones, portrayed them in a bad light at the international level.

This time, however, there appears to be a change as Taliban have given their word to respect the nation’s history. In a statement they commanded their followers to “robustly protect, monitor and preserve” relics, halt illegal digs, and safeguard “all historic sites.” But time will tell whether the commitment is only tactical, to reduce the resistance of the world community to their re-emergence or a genuine change of heart born out the bitter experience of the past.

Interestingly, they have forbidden selling of artefacts in the art market. Their statement said: “No one should try to disturb such sites or think about using them for profit.”

According to the NG article, the statement did not come as a surprise to Cheryl Benard of Washington-based Alliance for the Restoration of Cultural Heritage (ARCH). The write-up states that she told her group last fall that both sides need to address the issue.

ALSO READ: Civilians pick up arms as Taliban imposes new rules

Not everyone shares this optimism. Afghanistan’s Institute of Archaeology’s Noor Agha Noori is not convinced. He told NG: “To be honest, we are very worried about the future of cultural heritage were the Taliban to come into power,” he said while informing that Islamists were indulging in looting historical sites in order to raise finances.

Speaking in the same vein, Mohammad Fahim Rahimi, Director of Kabul’s National Museum observed: “Unfortunately the statement is not clear, especially concerning the pre-Islamic heritage. You know what happened to the collection during the civil war and in 2001.”

The museum conservators over the years painstakingly pieced together many wooden and stone sculptures which were broken deliberately.

There are many who pin their hopes on the US brokered talks between the Taliban and the Afghan Government hoping that the region’s past will be protected. Last year, the Government had said yes to discuss “ensuring the security of historical and Islamic sites” during their talks while the statement of February gives an indication on part of Taliban to do so as well
Nasratullah Hewadwall of the Kabul branch of ARCH remarked: “It’s a great and positive step.” He shared that last year the Taliban had distanced itself from the destruction of Bamiyan Buddhas in 2001 while blaming it on al Qaeda.

According to Hewadwall, the leadership of the group has realised the economic significance of ancient heritage and sites as tourist attractions while perceiving that destroying them damages their image.

In terms of historical significance, there is much to be lost in case Afghanistan’s cultural heritage is not preserved. Being at the geographical crossroads of Central Asia, the region has attracted traders, merchants, scholars, pilgrims, and armies since the arrival of Alexander the Great.

Afghanistan is from where Buddhism spread to China and it is this place where Zoroastrianism, Christianity, Judaism, and Hinduism flourished, both before and after the advent of Islam in the 7th Century AD.

Also as part of the Silk Road which connected India with China and Iran, it boasts of remains of several ancient cities, monasteries, and sarais, which housed travellers.

Besides the threat of the Taliban, a greater fear which grips cultural conservators is that of chaos that will follow after the departure of American and NATO troops that has already begun.

According to Jolyon Leslie, who is working as a preservationist at an ancient Buddhist stupa outside Kabul: “Our fears are less about a possible threat posed by the Taliban than the prospect of a breakdown in law and order.”

Chaos already exists, informs Hewadwall, especially in rural areas. The twin factors of lack of security and shifting alliances, has enabled poverty-stricken villagers, gangs, different militia and Taliban to steal artefacts for smuggling them.

Many place their hopes on the Afghan officials who have so far done well to preserve the sites, museums and artefacts from decay and destruction. The article quotes NG’s archaeologist Fredrik Hiebert, who talking about Afghan officials said: “They will be good caretakers. I have total confidence in them.” According to him, they have braved arrest and even death in their call of duty.

It also finally boils down to normalcy returning to Afghanistan ravaged by civil war and battles for years. Murtaza Azizi, a senior Ministry official averred: “Once lasting peace comes to our country, we are eager to share this heritage with the world. We hope our tourism industry — and with it, the economy — will grow, not only in Balkh, but all over Afghanistan.” But given the Taliban’s idiosyncrasies of the past, and the strong connection of some of powerful factions, such as the Haqanni network with Pakistan’s ISI, few will guarantee that the Taliban’s basic DNA has changed

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

ALSO READ: Taliban warns foreign troops will be at risk as occupiers

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Taliban warns foreign troops will be at risk as occupiers

It comes amid reports that 1,000 mainly US troops could remain on the ground to protect diplomatic missions and Kabul’s international airport….reports Asian Lite News

Any foreign troops left in Afghanistan after Nato’s September withdrawal deadline will be at risk as occupiers, the Taliban has told the BBC.

It comes amid reports that 1,000 mainly US troops could remain on the ground to protect diplomatic missions and Kabul’s international airport.

Nato’s 20-year military mission in Afghanistan has all but ended. But violence in the country continues to rise, with the Taliban taking more territory, BBC reported.

Under a deal with the militant group, the US and its Nato allies agreed to withdraw all troops in return for a commitment by the Taliban not to allow al-Qaeda or any other extremist group to operate in the areas they control.

President Joe Biden set a deadline of 11 September – the 20-year anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the US – for American troops to fully withdraw, but reports suggest the pullout may be complete within days.

As Afghan forces prepare to take charge of security alone, concern is growing for the future of Kabul.

Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen said seizing Kabul militarily was “not Taliban policy”.

But speaking to the BBC from the group’s office in Qatar, he said no foreign forces – including military contractors – should remain in the city after the withdrawal was complete.

“If they leave behind their forces against the Doha agreement then in that case it will be the decision of our leadership how we proceed,” Shaheen told the BBC.

“We would react and the final decision is with our leadership,” he added.

Diplomats, NGOs and other foreign civilians would not be targeted by the Taliban, he insisted, and no ongoing protection force for them was needed.

“We are against the foreign military forces, not diplomats, NGOs and workers and NGOs functioning and embassies functioning – that is something our people need. We will not pose any threat to them,” he said.

Shaheen described last week’s withdrawal from Bagram Airfield – once the largest US military base in Afghanistan – as a “historic moment”.

But Farzana Kochai, a female MP, said the withdrawal was being carried out irresponsibly.

Afghan government spokesman Razwan Murad told the BBC that the government was ready for talks and a ceasefire and the Taliban should now prove that they were committed to peace.

Shaheen denied that the militant group had played any part in the recent uptick in violence.

He insisted that many districts had fallen to the Taliban through mediation after Afghan soldiers refused to fight.

On Sunday, the Taliban captured another area in southern Kandahar province. The militants say they now control about a quarter of the country’s nearly 400 districts.

The Taliban spokesman described the current government as “moribund” and referred to the country as the “Islamic emirate” – an indication that the group envisaged a theocratic basis for governing the country and were unlikely to agree to Afghan government demands for elections.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, meanwhile, insists that the country’s security forces are fully capable of keeping insurgents at bay, but many believe the withdrawal risks casting the country back into the grip of the Taliban.

ALSO READ: Civilians pick up arms as Taliban imposes new rules

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Civilians pick up arms as Taliban imposes new rules

Under the new rules, the men have been asked to grow beards and the women have been forbidden to leave home. The Taliban also has set dowry rules for girls….reports Asian Lite News

The worst fears are coming true. Terror outfit—the Taliban has imposed new rules and regulations in districts which it has snatched from the Afghan forces.

Under the new rules, the men have been asked to grow beards and the women have been forbidden to leave home. The Taliban also has set dowry rules for girls.

The fears had been swirling for months after it became clear that US and NATO troops would be vacating Afghanistan after a stay of two decades—in the aftermath of the devastating attacks on the World Trade Centre in New York on 11 September 2001.

Afghan news website Ariana News said: “Civil society activists in the north-eastern province of Takhar said on Thursday that the Taliban have issued new laws and regulations in recently captured districts in the province”.

The news item quoted Merajuddin Sharifi, a civil society activist in Takhar, as saying: ” They urged women in a statement to not leave without a relative and also urged men to have beards. Taliban insist on trials without evidence”.

The news gives credence to fears expressed earlier by a cross-section of Afghan and international groups that Afghanistan could see the Taliban make a comeback, which would be detrimental for the society, particularly women. Such fears had been expressed in an assessment by the US National Intelligence Council besides human rights groups. German Broadcaster DW quoted the US intelligence council as saying: “The Taliban would “roll back much of the past two decades of progress if it regains national power”.

In May, Yamini Mishra, Amnesty International’s Asia-Pacific Director, said: “Afghanistan is at a tipping point. As peace talks falter, the conflict continues to take the lives of civilians on an almost daily basis. Taken alongside the forthcoming withdrawal of international troops, Afghanistan is drifting towards an outcome that threatens to undo more than twenty years of progress for women and girls”.

Once it became clear that the US troops would withdraw from Afghanistan after the US government signed the Doha Accord in February 2020 with the Taliban, Afghan women had written an open letter to the Taliban in August 2020 highlighting how they had suffered in the 40-year-old conflict.

Among other things, the letter to the Taliban said: “… Your willingness to enter peace talks has given us hope but your public statements and behavior on the ground have continued to trouble us. We have heard from some in your leadership that you have changed and recognize that Afghanistan is not the same country that you reigned over in 1996-2001, and recognize women’s rights to education and work according to “Shari’a and Afghan traditions”.

The letter also highlighted how women in other parts of the Islamic world have progressed: “…Muslim women across the Muslim world – in Tunisia, Morocco, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Jordan, Turkey, Bangladesh, Senegal, Mauritius, even Pakistan and in many others are enjoying freedom of movement, access to education, employment and access to services, but we are still fighting for our survival…”

Now, as the Afghan National Defence Security Forces (ANDSF) battle the Taliban and other militant groups across the strife-torn land without the backing of the US and NATO troops, it is becoming clear that the Taliban is slowly getting an upper hand.

As the conflict intensifies in the South Asian country, women and civilians have begun to pick up arms against the Taliban. A news report by Afghan media organisation TOLO News says that women in Ghor took up arms and marched to the capital Feroz Koh to show solidarity with the government of president Ashraf Ghani.

As the situation in Afghanistan worsens, it is the girls and women who are most scared. Knowing the past and witnessing the gory present, girls and women in Afghanistan look to a future that provides little hope.

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

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US pull-out puts Afghanistan at risk of turning into next Cambodia

Nearly after two decades, the US along with other foreign forces has decided to completely withdraw its troops from Afghanistan…reports Asian Lite News

Former Ambassador John Gunther Dean had described April 12, 1975, as the day when the U.S. “abandoned Cambodia and handed it over to the butcher”, there are apprehensions that Afghanistan may be in a similar situation following the US troop pullout from the country.

Writing in Nikkei Asia, Denis D Gray said that the Taliban may not prove as brutal as the ultra-communist Khmer Rouge of Cambodia, but their record during their five years in power (1996-2001) speaks for itself: suppression of women, including selling many into sex slavery, executions, destruction of traditional culture and education, executions and systematic massacres of perceived opponents.

Nearly after two decades, the US along with other foreign forces has decided to completely withdraw its troops from Afghanistan, and many believe that the Taliban is headed for victory in the 20-year conflict.

US troops in Afghanistan. (File Photo DoD_IANS)

Bob Mulholland, a Vietnam War combat veteran, and senior Democratic Party member said, “Only an intern in the Pentagon would not know that the Taliban will be the government in control this year or next”.

Another expert Michael D Eiland expressed, “Getting out now may be a strategic and political imperative. But I think there is a moral imperative to take care of those who have been with us.”

Eiland further said, “It happens every time. We seduce and abandon. The people we coerce, rent or otherwise draw into our web have a choice, of course, but they really don’t. If it’s a choice it’s a cruel Hobson’s choice.”

The Taliban have taken control of several districts across the country, US intelligence assessments have suggested the country’s civilian government could fall to the terror group within months of US forces withdrawing completely. (ANI)

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Taliban capture 3 districts including one in Kandahar

They had also captured two districts in Afghanistan’s northeastern provinces of Takhar and Badakhshan….reports Asian Lite News

Amid the ongoing US troop withdrawal from Afghanistan, the Taliban on Sunday took control of three districts including key a key one in their former bastion of Kandahar.

Citing officials, Geo News reported that after fierce overnight fighting with Afghan forces, the Taliban took over Panjwai district.

They had also captured two districts in Afghanistan’s northeastern provinces of Takhar and Badakhshan.

According to the movement, it seized Takhar’s Warsaj district, including a local police headquarters and got hold of weapons, vehicles and ammunition.

In Badakhshan, they took over the Yawan district, with approximately 150 Afghan soldiers allegedly surrendering and joining the Taliban.

The group has pressed on with their campaign to capture territory across Afghanistan’s rural areas since early May when the US military began the pull-out.

The fall of Panjwai district in the southern province of Kandahar comes just two days after US and NATO forces vacated their main Bagram Air Base near Kabul, from where they led operations for two decades against the Taliban and their Al-Qaeda allies, reported Geo News.

The exit of foreign troops from Bagram Air Base, north of Kabul, has fuelled concerns that the Taliban will ramp up their campaign to capture new territory.

ALSO READ: Germany completes troop pull-out from Afghanistan

Bagram Air Base has great military and symbolic significance, with foreign forces previously stationed there offering vital air support in the fight against the Taliban.

Afghan authorities, who have taken control of the base, said that they will use it to fight terrorism, and have already re-activated its radar system, reported Geo News.

Over the years, the Taliban and Afghan forces have regularly clashed in and around Panjwai, with the Taliban aiming to seize it given its proximity to Kandahar city, the provincial capital.

The province of Kandahar is the birthplace of the Taliban, who went on to rule Afghanistan until being overthrown by a US-led invasion in 2001.

Panjwai District Governor Hasti Mohammad said Afghan forces and the Taliban clashed during the night, resulting in government forces retreating from the area, reported Geo News.

Kandahar provincial council head Sayed Jan Khakriwal confirmed the fall of Panjwai, but accused government forces of “intentionally withdrawing”.

Fighting has raged across several provinces of Afghanistan in recent weeks and the Taliban claim to have seized more than 100 out of nearly 400 districts in the country, reported Geo News.

Meanwhile, Afghan officials disputed the claims but acknowledged that government troops have retreated from some districts. It is difficult to independently verify the situation. (ANI)

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Afghan forces anticipate possible Taliban attacks on major cities

There is also a criticism of how the administration has handled security in the country….reports Asian Lite News

Afghan National Defence and Security Forces (ANDSF) on Sunday expressed that annihilating the Taliban is their top priority. The commander of Special Operations Corps, Maj. Gen. Hibatullah Alizai said that “strong belts” have been created for the protection of big cities, highways and border towns.

Pakistani terrorists are also involved in recent Taliban attacks, these terrorists are majorly from Pakistan’s Punjab and hundreds of these terrorists have been killed by ANDSF, TOLO News reported citing Maj Gen Hibatullah Alizai.

“Our main goal is to inflict as many casualties on the enemy as possible. Besides that, our goal is to protect major cities, highways and key border towns that are important for our major cities and the country,” Alizai said

Alizai, who returned after operations in Ghazni and Laghman on Saturday evening, said that foreign Taliban and al Qaeda fighters have a presence among the Taliban.

Afghan security force members take part in a military operation in Chahar Dara district of Kunduz province, Afghanistan, Jan. 16, 2018. The Kunduz province, as well as neighboring Baghlan and Takhar provinces, have been the hotbeds of heavy clashes over the past couple of months as Taliban has been trying to attack the government forces in the once relatively peaceful region. (Xinhua/Ajmal Kakar/IANS)

“Pakistani Taliban is mostly seen these days and those Taliban terrorists who belong to Punjab even have Pakistani arm ID cards. The number of Afghan Taliban is dwindling,” he added.

Alizai also said that political, regional and social issues are behind the evacuation of dozens of districts by Afghan forces and the issue will be investigated.

Afghan forces also expressed the need to retake the districts that have fallen to the Taliban, at least 10,000 members of commando forces are engaged in suppressing the Taliban across the country and that their number will increase over time.

ALSO READ: Bagram: The Heart of US Military in Afghanistan

There is also a criticism of how the administration has handled security in the country.

On Sunday, a magnetic improvised explosive device (IED) blast claimed two lives in Afghanistan’s Kandahar on Sunday, including the secretary of Kandahar’s governor. Local sources confirmed that the blast occurred in a parking area in the governor’s compound.

The blast took place on Sunday afternoon in Kandahar city as Mansour Ahmad, the secretary of Kandahar’s governor, entered the parking area in his vehicle, the sources informed TOLO News.

“Mansour and a security guard were killed in the blast and another security guard was wounded,” said the sources.

However, no group including the Taliban has immediately claimed responsibility for the blast, reported TOLO News.

Afghan security force members are seen at the site of a bomb attack in Kabul, Afghanistan

Afghanistan is witnessing a surge in violence as the Taliban has intensified its offensive against civilians and Afghan defence and security forces. This comes as foreign forces are withdrawing from the war-torn country.

Earlier, at least three civilians and 24 Taliban terrorists were killed in two eastern Afghan provinces as fighting intensify in the war-torn country.

In Laghman province, nine terrorists were killed and 17 wounded after Afghan National Defence and Security Forces (ANDSF) targeted their position in the Alishing district Saturday night.

On Saturday afternoon, three civilians were killed and 30 others wounded during fierce battles between Taliban and the security forces in Omarzai, a locality near Mehtarlam, capital of Laghman, according to the director of provincial hospital Abdul Maruf.

Afghanistan is witnessing a surge in violence as the Taliban has intensified its offensive against civilians and Afghan defence and security forces. This comes as foreign forces have withdrawn from the war-torn country.

As the Taliban have taken control of several districts across the country, US intelligence assessments have suggested the country’s civilian government could fall to the terror group within months of US forces withdrawing completely. (ANI)

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