Taliban sweep across Afghanistan’s south; take 4 more cities

KABUL, Afghanistan — The Taliban completed their expanse of the country’s southbound connected Friday arsenic they took 4 much provincial capitals successful a lightning violative that is gradually encircling Kabul, conscionable weeks earlier the U.S. is acceptable to officially extremity its two-decade war.

The latest important stroke was the nonaccomplishment of the superior of Helmand province, wherever American, British and allied NATO forces fought immoderate of the bloodiest battles successful the past 20 years. Hundreds of overseas troops were killed successful the province, which is besides a large opium hub.

The insurgents person taken fractional of the country’s 34 provincial capitals successful caller days, including its second- and third-largest cities, Herat and Kandahar. The Taliban present power much than two-thirds of the state conscionable weeks earlier the U.S. plans to retreat its past troops.

While the superior of Kabul isn’t straight nether menace yet, the losses and advances elsewhere further tighten the grip of a resurgent Taliban. The latest U.S. subject quality appraisal suggests Kabul could travel nether insurgent unit wrong 30 days and that, if existent trends hold, the Taliban could summation afloat power of the state wrong a fewer months.

In the south, the insurgents swept done the capitals of Zabul and Uruzgan provinces, successful summation to Helmand’s.

Attaullah Afghan, the caput of the provincial assembly successful Helmand, said that the Taliban captured Lashkar Gah pursuing weeks of dense warring and raised their achromatic emblem implicit governmental buildings. He said that 3 nationalist service bases extracurricular of Lashkar Gah stay nether power of the government.

Atta Jan Haqbayan, the provincial assembly main successful Zabul province, said the section superior of Qalat fell and that officials were successful a adjacent service campy preparing to leave.

Bismillah Jan Mohammad and Qudratullah Rahimi, lawmakers from Afghanistan’s confederate Uruzgan province, said section officials surrendered Tirin Kot to the Taliban. Mohammad said the politician was heading to the airdrome to depart for Kabul.

In the country’s west, meanwhile, Fazil Haq Ehsan, caput of the provincial assembly successful Ghor province, said its capital, Feroz Koh, besides fell to the insurgents.

With information rapidly deteriorating, the United States planned to nonstop successful 3,000 troops to assistance evacuate immoderate unit from the U.S. Embassy successful Kabul. Separately, Britain said astir 600 troops would beryllium deployed connected a short-term ground to enactment British nationals leaving the country, and Canada is sending peculiar forces to assistance evacuate its embassy.

Thousands of Afghans person fled their homes amid fears the Taliban would again enforce a brutal, repressive government, each but eliminating women’s rights and conducting nationalist executions.

Peace talks successful Qatar stay stalled, though diplomats are inactive meeting, arsenic the U.S., European and Asian nations warned that immoderate authorities established by unit would beryllium rejected.

“We request an contiguous extremity to attacks against cities, impulse a governmental settlement, and pass that a authorities imposed by unit volition beryllium a pariah state,” said Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. envoy to the talks.

But the Taliban beforehand continued, arsenic they pushed into the superior of Logar province, conscionable 50 miles southbound of Kabul.

Hasibullah Stanikzai, the caput of the Logar provincial council, said warring was inactive underway wrong Puli-e Alim, with authorities forces holding the constabulary office and different information facilities. He spoke by telephone from his office, and gunfire could beryllium heard successful the background. The Taliban said they had captured the constabulary office and a adjacent prison.

The onslaught represents a stunning illness of Afghan forces aft the United States spent astir 2 decades and $830 cardinal trying to found a functioning state. U.S. forces toppled the Taliban successful the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks, which al-Qaida planned and executed portion being sheltered by the Taliban government. The Taliban fighters present advancing crossed the state thrust connected American-made Humvees and transportation M-16s pilfered from Afghan forces.

Bill Roggio, a elder chap astatine the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said the Afghan service has rotted from wrong owed to corruption and mismanagement, leaving troops successful the tract poorly equipped and with small information to fight. The Taliban, meanwhile, person spent a decennary taking power of ample swaths of the countryside.

That allowed them to rapidly prehend cardinal infrastructure and municipality areas erstwhile President Joe Biden announced the timeline for the U.S. withdrawal, saying helium was determined to extremity America’s longest war.

“Whatever forces are near oregon remaining that are successful the Kabul country and the provinces astir them, they’re going to beryllium utilized for the defence of Kabul,” Roggio said. “Unless thing dramatically changes, and I don’t spot however that’s possible, these provinces (that person fallen) volition stay nether Taliban control.”

A time earlier, successful Herat, Taliban fighters rushed past the Great Mosque successful the historical metropolis — a operation that dates to 500 BC and was erstwhile a spoil of Alexander the Great — and seized authorities buildings. Afghan lawmaker Semin Barekzai acknowledged the city’s fall, saying that immoderate officials determination had escaped.

Herat had been nether militant onslaught for 2 weeks, with 1 question blunted by the accomplishment of warlord Ismail Khan and his forces. But connected Thursday afternoon, Taliban fighters broke done the city’s antiaircraft lines.

The insurgents circulated photos and a video showing Khan successful their captivity arsenic good arsenic video footage that appeared to amusement 2 Afghan subject Black Hawk helicopters — provided by the U.S. — that were captured successful Herat. Later connected Friday, they released photos showing 2 alleged looters being paraded done the streets with achromatic constitution connected their faces.

In Kandahar, the birthplace of the Taliban, insurgents seized the governor’s bureau and different buildings, witnesses said. The politician and different officials fled the onslaught, catching a formation to Kabul, the witnesses added. They refused to beryllium named publically arsenic the decision has yet to beryllium acknowledged by the government, which has not commented connected the latest advances.

The Taliban had earlier attacked a situation successful Kandahar and freed inmates inside, officials said.

Earlier Thursday, the militants raised their achromatic flags imprinted with an Islamic proclamation of religion implicit the metropolis of Ghazni, which sits connected a important north-south road conscionable 130 kilometers (80 miles) southwest of Kabul.

The U.N. bureau for humanitarian affairs warned that civilians successful confederate Afghanistan faced cut-off highways and mobile telephone outages. It described assistance groups arsenic being incapable to find however galore radical had fled arsenic aggravated warring and airstrikes continued there.

On Thursday, Nasima Niazi, a lawmaker from Helmand, criticized airstrikes targeting the area, saying civilians apt had been wounded and killed. U.S. Central Command has acknowledged carrying retired respective airstrikes successful caller days, without providing details oregon commenting connected the concerns implicit civilian casualties.

Pakistan meantime opened its Chaman borderline crossing for radical who had been stranded successful caller weeks. Juma Khan, the Pakistan borderline town’s lawman commissioner, said the crossing was reopened pursuing talks with the Taliban.

Even arsenic diplomats met successful Doha, Qatar connected Thursday, the occurrence of the Taliban violative called into question whether they would ever rejoin long-stalled bid talks with the authorities successful Kabul. Instead, the radical could travel to powerfulness by unit — oregon the state could splinter into factional warring similar it did aft the Soviet withdrawal successful 1989.

Associated Press writers Jon Gambrell successful Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Munir Ahmed successful Islamabad contributed to this report.