Tag: taliban

This comes in the middle of a surge in violence as the Taliban has increased its activities since the start of the US-led forces pull out on May 1….reports Asian Lite News

Fifty out of Afghanistan’s 370 districts have fallen to Taliban terrorists since May, informed the United Nations’ special envoy on Afghanistan Deborah Lyons on Tuesday, as the United States continues its military withdrawal from the country.

“The Taliban recent advances are even more significant and are as a result of an intensified military campaign; more than 50 of Afghanistan’s 370 districts have fallen since the beginning of May,” Lyons told the UN Security Council (UNSC), reported CNN.

“Most districts that have been taken surround provincial capitals, suggesting that the Taliban are positioning themselves to try and take these capitals once foreign forces are fully withdrawn,” she added.

This comes in the middle of a surge in violence as the Taliban has increased its activities since the start of the US-led forces pull out on May 1.

Over the past 24 hours, Taliban fighters have taken control of several districts in Kunduz province and the important border crossing with Tajikistan, according to Rabani Rabani, a member of the Kunduz provincial council.

A local power company in Afghanistan also informed on Tuesday that violent clashes had damaged key electrical infrastructure, causing power outages in 11 provinces including Kabul.

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CNN reported that over the weekend, the Taliban claimed it had overrun an Afghan Army base in Balkh governorate in the north of the country. A Taliban propaganda video shows the group of militants inside a military base confiscating military vehicles and weapons.

As the US and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation’s (NATO) foreign forces continue to scale down their presence in Afghanistan, the Taliban have been gaining ground in some parts of the country.

In April, US President Joe Biden formally announced his decision to end America’s ‘forever war’, deeming the prolonged and intractable conflict in Afghanistan no longer in alignment with American priorities.

Biden said he would withdraw US troops from Afghanistan before September 11, the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks in the US.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and chairman of Afghanistan’s High Council for National Reconciliation Abdullah Abdullah are set to visit the United States next week to meet President Joe Biden.

“President Biden looks forward to welcoming Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, Chairman of the High Council for National Reconciliation, to the White House on June 25, 2021,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement on Sunday.

The visit by President Ghani and Dr Abdullah will highlight the enduring partnership between the United States and Afghanistan as the military drawdown continues, the statement added. (ANI)

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Without providing more details, the official said the government forces are in control of both the restive districts….reports Asian Lite News

Afghan government forces in an overnight counter-offensive have recaptured two districts in the northern Takhar province, an army spokesman in the northern region, Abdul Hadi Nazari said Monday.

“The security forces launched a counter-offensive early Monday in Khawja Ghar and Bangi districts and have regained control of them, forcing the insurgents to flee,” Nazari told Xinhua.

Without providing more details, the official said the government forces are in control of both the restive districts.

The Taliban terrorists have overrun a number of districts in the northern Takhar province and have been mounting pressure on Takhar’s provincial capital Taluqan city.

The terrorist group has not made comment on the report yet.

Meanwhile, five civilians were killed and four others wounded as a roadside bomb struck a vehicle in Ahmad Abad district of Afghanistan’s Paktia province, an official said.

“The deadly roadside bombing which targeted a civilian vehicle in Machalgo area of Ahmad Abad district on Monday afternoon claimed five lives comprising a woman, two children and two men and also injured four others. All the victims are civilians,” provincial government spokesman Abdul Rahman Mangal said.

All the victims were members of the same family who were going to attend a funeral service at a neighbouring village, the official added.

The spokeman blamed the Taliban militant group for the bombing.

The Taliban outfit, which is active in parts of Paktia province, is yet to make comment.

China has warned its nationals to leave Afghanistan immediately as the Taliban continues to capture more and more territories ahead of the final drawdown of US and NATO troops.

“This year, the conflicts in Afghanistan are constant, the terrorist attacks are frequent and the security situation is becoming more severe and complicated,” the embassy said in a notice, as quoted by the South China Morning Post (SCMP).

Meanwhile, amid the unrelenting violence in the war-torn country, China’s embassy in Afghanistan on Saturday had urged its citizens to “be more cautious” and to “urgently depart from the country through international commercial flights”.

According to security analysts, the US withdrawal from Afghanistan presents an opportunity for China and Russia to compete for influence in the country. “Afghanistan is clearly a place of interest” for China, Gen. Frank McKenzie, the commander of US Central Command (CENTCOM), said last week.

“Anywhere you see (these projects) across the Middle East, that’s where in fact nations are vulnerable. I think Afghanistan is going to be one of those areas as we go forward.”

Nearly 20 years ago, China had opposed the US invasion of Afghanistan, but now it opposes an American withdrawal which, Beijing says, could leave the country in even more turmoil, Voice of America (VOA) reported.

Last month, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson had said, “The recent abrupt US announcement of complete withdrawal of forces from Afghanistan has led to a succession of explosive attacks throughout the country, worsening the security situation and threatening peace and stability as well as people’s life and safety.” (ANI/Xinhua)

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In the eastern province of Nangarhar, unidentified gunmen killed five aid workers providing polio vaccines and wounded four more…reports Asian Lite News

At least 20 civilians have been killed in various regions of Afghanistan during clashes between the security forces and the Taliban in the past 24 hours. Three district centres have fallen to the Taliban during this period.

In the eastern province of Nangarhar, unidentified gunmen killed five aid workers providing polio vaccines and wounded four more, reported TOLO News.

“After this incident, the provincial leadership and our international partners decided to halt the vaccination campaign in Nangarhar province,” said Najib Kamawal, the head of the polio vaccination campaign in the east, adding that this was the second attack on workers administering the polio vaccine in Nangarhar.

Meanwhile, lawmakers from Sar-e-Pul province in the Parliament said that four districts in the province have fallen to the Taliban during the past week. They said that the government has control of only one centre in the province.

According to TOLO News, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has led meetings over the past three days to address the fragile security situation, but during this period ten districts fell to the Taliban.

“The war has reached the main gates of the city, Balkh district is also under threat, we are very concerned,” said Musa, a resident in Sar-e-Pul.

“What should the people expect from this approach? The people think there might be a deal behind the scenes, they think that the government in a sense wants to arm the Taliban and give territory to the Taliban,” said MP Sayed Hayatullah Alimi.

Meanwhile, the Afghan Ministry of Defense said that the security forces will change the current security situation, reported TOLO News.

Earlier, it was reported that the Pentagon is mulling to authorise airstrikes in Afghanistan if the country falls into crisis due to the rise in violence by the Taliban in the country following US troops pull-out. (ANI)

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In Ghazni province, the militants overran two security checkpoints in Ab Band district….reports Asian Lite News

For a third consecutive day, Taliban insurgents have captured yet another district in Afghanistan on Tuesday, officials said.

Government forces abandoned the Dawlat Abad district centre in Faryab province before dawn and fled to neighbouring Andkhoi district without engaging the militants, dpa news agency reported citing the local officials as saying.

The fate of more than a dozen members of the security forces in the district remained unclear because the telecommunications system was down, provincial councillor Abdul Ahad Alibek said.

Dawlat Abad was under siege for three years. Forces could only receive logistical support by air, ground support was impossible because the militants controlled all routes leading to the district, Alibek added.

In Ghazni province, the militants overran two security checkpoints in Ab Band district.

Officials said on Monday that heavy clashes were ongoing in at least three districts of the province.

The districts could collapse if the government fails to send air support, warned Arif Rahmani, an MP representing Ghazni.

It is the third straight day of the insurgents overrunning districts.

On Monday, government forces abandoned Qaysar district in Faryab after days of heavy fighting.

In addition, the insurgents took control of Shahrak district in Ghor province.

The militants have made a string of gains in the country.

Since the beginning of the official withdrawal of the United States and other NATO troops in Afghanistan on May 1, at least 10 districts have fallen to the Taliban.

Afghanistan has 34 provinces and around 400 districts.

District centres serve as secondary-level administrative units, one level below the provinces.

According to a UN report, in the past year the Taliban were able to capture five districts, four of which were recaptured by the government within several days.

10 deminers killed

At least ten people were killed in an attack on deminers in the northern province of Baghlan, the Interior Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

At least 14 more were injured when a camp of deminers was attacked on Tuesday night in the province’s Baghlan-e Markazi district, the statement added.

So far, no one has claimed the incident, though the Interior Ministry blamed the militant Taliban, DPA reported.

A Taliban spokesperson said he had to look into the incident.

Local media reported that the attacked demining camp was run by the international mine clearance organization Halo Trust.

According to the website of the non-governmental organization, Halo Trust has 2,600 employees in Afghanistan. The demining program in the country is completely Afghan-led.

In the past, aid projects and NGOs in Afghanistan have been repeatedly attacked.

According to non-governmental organization Inso, 180 incidents involving NGOs in Afghanistan were registered in 2020. Fourteen employees were killed, 27 injured and 42 kidnapped.

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