On Friday, the Taliban completed their sweep of the country’s south, seizing four more provincial capitals in a lightning offensive that is slowly encircling Kabul, just weeks before the US officially ends its two-decade war.
The country’s second and third largest cities, Herat in the west and Kandahar in the south, have fallen in the last 24 hours, as has the capital of the southern Helmand province, where American, British, and NATO forces fought some of the war’s bloodiest battles.
The Taliban now control half of Afghanistan’s 34 provincial capitals and more than two-thirds of the country, thanks to the blitz through the insurgents’ southern heartland.
A smattering of provinces in the centre and east, as well as the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif, are still held by the Western-backed government in Kabul.
While Kabul is not directly threatened, the resurgent Taliban were fighting government forces in Logar province, about 80 kilometres (50 miles) from Kabul. According to the US military, Kabul could be under insurgent attack in 30 days, and the Taliban could take over the rest of the country in a few months. They’ve already taken action.
The blitz prompted the United States to send 3,000 additional troops to Afghanistan on a temporary basis in order to expedite evacuation flights for some American diplomats and thousands of Afghans. The Pentagon was also deploying another 4,000 to 5,000 troops to bases in Qatar and Kuwait, including 1,000 to Qatar to expedite visa processing for Afghan translators and others who fear Taliban retaliation for previous work with Americans, as well as their family members.
India, Germany, Qatar, Turkey, and a number of other countries have stated that they will not recognise any government in Afghanistan imposed by military force and have called for an immediate end to violence and attacks in the war-torn country.
A statement issued by Qatar on Friday following two separate meetings on Afghanistan in Doha said the participating countries agreed that the Afghan peace process needs to be accelerated as a matter of “great urgency”.
