The Afghan military appears to be retreating as the Taliban capture key districts in the country’s north amid U.S. troop withdrawal. With the Islamist militia launching a major offensive to retake the country after two decades, soldiers of the Afghan National Army are deserting their positions — leaving their arms and equipment behind.
“Taliban fighters can be seen in recently released videos celebrating the seizure of US Humvees, tanks and assault weapons from Afghan security forces,” The New York Post reported Tuesday. The painful scenes are reminiscent of the collapse of the Iraqi Army in the face of the Islamic State’s advance in early 2014.
Instead of defending their homes, some Afghan soldiers in the north sought shelter in neighboring Tajikistan. “Nearly 1,000 Afghan soldiers have fled the Taliban advances by crossing the border into Tajikistan,” the EuroNews reported.
After a U.S.-led military campaign drove out the Taliban 20 years ago, they have taken back control of a third of the country’s nearly 400 districts, the BBC reported.
The Taliban offensive gathers strength as most of the U.S. and allied forces have left the country ahead of the September 11 deadline set by the Biden White House. “The Taliban surge came as U.S. Central Command in a statement Tuesday said 90% of the withdrawal of U.S. troops and equipment is complete,” the Associated Press confirmed on Tuesday.
Reuters news agency reported the latest Taliban latest offensive:
Regional officials in northern Afghanistan said on Wednesday they had recaptured government buildings in a provincial capital after Taliban fighters stormed it overnight, taking over the police headquarters and sparking panic among residents.Officials said air strikes were being carried out and special forces had been deployed to push the Taliban fighters back, after the latest dramatic advance by fighters surging across the country as Washington pulls out its last troops. (…)Taliban gains have been especially dramatic in northern provinces where they had long been kept at bay.Provincial governor Husamuddin Shams told Reuters the Taliban had attacked the city of Qala-e-Naw from three directions in the morning and Afghan security forces were fighting them back.
The Taliban gains have not been haphazard. It appears they have a strategic plan to oust the Kabul-based Afghan government. “The areas under Taliban control in the north are increasingly strategic, running along Afghanistan’s border with central Asian states. Last month the religious movement took control of Imam Sahib, a town in Kunduz province opposite Uzbekistan and gained control of a key trade route.” the AP reported.
The Islamist terror militia made no secret of its intention to return Afghanistan to a jihad-professing Islamic state. “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,” The BBC reported Monday.
If the Taliban manage to secure a foothold in Afghanistan, they will again unleash the Sharia-sanctioned bloodshed and repression on the Afghan population. The global jihad, which lost its base of operation in ISIS-held Syria and northern Iraq under President Donald Trump’s watch, will regain a bridgehead from which to export Islamic terrorism worldwide.
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