The Taliban on Thursday seized another provincial capital in Afghanistan – the tenth in less than a week, the BBC reported.
Ghazni city, the capital of Ghazni province, is situated 130 kilometers South West of Afghanistan’s capital Kabul, according to AP. This has led to concerns that the militant group may eventually seize Kabul.
Unidentified United States officials had told The Washington Post on Wednesday that the Taliban might seize Kabul within three months.
On Wednesday, the Taliban completed its overhaul of the provincial capital of Kunduz in Northern Afghanistan as an entire Afghan Army corps surrendered a military base, The Washington Post reported.
Taliban had overrun most of Kunduz over the past weekend but Afghan forces were holding on to the military base. By taking the city, Taliban has now asserted control over nine of the country’s 34 provincial capitals.
Videos and satellite images from the Kunduz airbase confirmed that the Taliban militants have taken control of the facility. A Taliban spokesperson also tweeted a video of the alleged surrender on Wednesday.
Clashes between the Taliban and Afghan forces have escalated as foreign troops prepare to withdraw from the country by the end of August. More than 1,000 people have been killed in Afghanistan in the last month, the BBC reported, citing the United Nations.
Stephane Dujarric, the spokesperson for United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said that nearly 4 lakh people had been displaced in Afghanistan since the beginning of 2021, PTI reported.
Meanwhile, the Afghanistan government sacked the country’s Army chief Wali Mohammad Ahmadzai, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday. Haibatullah Alizai replaced Ahmadzai, who had been appointed only in June. Alizai has a task at hand with the Taliban making rapid advances through the country.
The White House on Wednesday put the onus on the Afghan leadership to fight the Taliban.
“Ultimately, the Afghan National Security Defence Forces have the equipment, numbers and training to fight back. They have what they need,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters at a press briefing. “What they need to determine is if they have the political will to fight back and if they have the ability to unite as leaders to fight back.”
Psaki added that the US was closely watching the deteriorating security conditions in Afghanistan, but said that no particular outcome was inevitable.
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