Afghanistan will fall to the Taliaban again!

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Another 9-11? Afghanistan fall to the Taleban on Sep 11, 2021?
The world will be less safe.

Taleban could take Afghan capital in 90 days: US intelligence​

Afghan National Army officers keep watch at a checkpoint in Kabul, on July 8, 2021.PHOTO: REUTERS

Aug 11, 2021

KABUL (REUTERS) - Taleban fighters could isolate Afghanistan's capital in 30 days and possibly take over it in 90, a US defence official told Reuters on Wednesday (Aug 11) citing US intelligence, as militants took control of an eighth provincial Afghan capital.
The Taleban now control 65 per cent of Afghanistan and have taken or threatened to take 11 provincial capitals, a senior EU official said on Tuesday.
The US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that the new assessment of how long Kabul could stand was a result of the rapid gains the Taleban had been making around the country as US-led foreign forces leave.
"But this is not a foregone conclusion," the official added, saying that the Afghan security forces could reverse the momentum by putting up more resistance.
Wednesday's loss of Faizabad, capital of the north-eastern province of Badakhshan, was the latest setback for the Afghan government, which has been struggling to stem the momentum of Taleban.
It came as President Ashraf Ghani flew in to Mazar-i-Sharif to rally old warlords to the defence of the biggest city in the north as Taleban forces close in.

Mr Jawad Mujadidi, a provincial council member from Badakhshan, said the Taleban had laid siege to Faizabad before launching an offensive on Tuesday.
"Unfortunately, after hours of heavy fighting the ANDSF retreated," Mr Mujadidi told Reuters, referring to national security forces. "With the fall of Faizabad, the whole of the north-east has come under Taleban control."
Badakhshan borders Tajikistan, Pakistan and China.
The Taleban are battling to defeat the US-backed government and reimpose strict Islamic law. The speed of their advance has shocked the government and its allies.

US President Joe Biden urged Afghan leaders to fight for their homeland, saying on Tuesday that he did not regret his decision to withdraw, noting that the United States had spent more than US$1 trillion (S$1.36 trillion) over 20 years and lost thousands of troops.
The US was providing significant air support, food, equipment and salaries to Afghan forces, he said.
The US will complete the withdrawal of its forces this month in exchange for Taleban promises to prevent Afghanistan being used for international terrorism.
The Taleban promised not to attack foreign forces as they withdraw but did not agree to a ceasefire with the government. A commitment by the Taleban to talk peace with the government side has come to nothing as they eye military victory.

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Some Afghans feel abandoned as the US and other Western powers withdraw, leaving the Taleban to make their move.
"The US did not provide support... now we see the result," Mr Dawlat Waziri, a retired general and military analyst, told Reuters.

Regional appeal​

The Taleban advances have raised fears of the return to power of the hardline militants, who emerged in the early 1990s from the chaos of civil war and controlled most of the country from 1996 to 2001, when they were ousted by a US-led campaign for harbouring Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden.
A new generation of Afghans, who have come of age since 2001, fears that the progress made in areas such as women's rights and media freedom will be squandered.
UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet said on Tuesday that reports of violations that could amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity were emerging, including "deeply disturbing reports" of the summary execution of surrendering government troops.
Afghan officials have appealed for pressure on Pakistan to stop Taleban reinforcements and supplies flowing over the border. Pakistan denies backing the Taleban.
The government has withdrawn its forces from some hard-to-defend rural districts to focus on holding population centres. In some places, government forces have given up without a fight.

During their 1996-2001 rule, the Taleban were never completely in control of the north but this time, they seem intent on securing it before closing in on the capital.
Mr Ghani is now appealing for help from the old regional warlords he spent years sidelining as he attempted to project the authority of his central government over wayward provinces.
He was due to meet powerbrokers in Mazar-i-Sharif to work out coordination between the security forces and militias and operations to take back areas the Taleban captured, the president's office said.
In the south, government forces were battling Taleban fighters around the city of Kandahar and thousands of civilians from outlying areas had taken refuge there, a resident said.
Fighting was also taking place in city of Farah in the west, near the Iranian border, while the Ministry of Defence said in a statement security forces had also battled Taleban in Laghman, Logar, Paktia, Uruzgan, Zabul, Ghor, Balkh, Helmand, Kapisa and Baghlan provinces and 431 Taleban had been killed.
It gave no figure for casualties on the government side and a Taleban spokesman was not immediately available for comment.
The Taleban have captured districts bordering Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Iran, Pakistan and China, heightening regional security concerns.

 

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Taleban's swift advance leaves Germany struggling with costly Afghanistan engagement​

German soldiers line up for the final roll call after returning from Afghanistan at the airfield in Wunstorf, Germany, on June 30, 2021.PHOTO: REUTERS

Markus Ziener
Global Affairs Correspondent

Aug 11, 2021

BERLIN - Kunduz city was a symbol of Germany's involvement in Afghanistan. Its troops operated a military foothold in the northern city that became a synonym for the good and the bad of the intervention in the South Asian country.
Now, 10 months after the last German soldiers had left the city, Kunduz has been recaptured by the Taleban - almost 20 years after the militant group was routed by an American-Tajik coalition in November 2001.
The fall of Kunduz on Sunday (Aug 8) has ignited a big debate in Berlin about the purpose of the whole German deployment in Afghanistan. More than 150,000 German soldiers had been deployed, many of them serving more than once. In total, 59 lost their lives and more than €12 billion (S$19 billion) were spent.
Ms Dunja Neukam, a former sergeant in the German army medical corps in Kunduz, summed up her feelings in a recent interview.
"This was a city in the process of a new start. Our camp was supposed to be turned into a university and we already had planted roses. Seeing all that being taken by the Taleban so quickly really hurts. You think of all the fallen who gave their lives in vain - it's very bitter," she said.
Germany's Minister of Defence Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer echoed those sentiments in a string of tweets earlier this week.


"The reports from Kunduz and all across Afghanistan are bitter and deeply painful. We fought there with our allies. Bundeswehr soldiers died in Afghanistan," she said.
The minister then cited the shortcomings of the engagement: "What we apparently failed to do was effect long-term positive change in Afghanistan. We should learn from that when defining the aims of future foreign deployments."
But she was adamant in rejecting calls to again send German troops into Afghanistan.
"Are society and Parliament prepared to send the Bundeswehr into a war and keep large numbers of troops there for at least a generation? If we are not, then the joint withdrawal with our partners remains the right decision," she wrote in her tweets.
Mr Norbert Rottgen, conservative chairman of the influential Parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee, had advocated the use of the military to stop Taleban advancements. He was concerned about a possible wave of refugees resulting from a renewed Taleban rule in Afghanistan.
Some observers are already painting a situation similar to that in 2015 when millions of Syrians fled their country to find a safe haven in Europe.
Against this backdrop, several European Union countries, including Germany, have urged the EU to continue deportations of illegal immigrants back to Afghanistan. They believe that ending the deportations would encourage even more Afghan citizens to leave their homeland for the EU.
Kunduz was a symbolic place for the German army, associated with the many fallen soldiers as well as with the devastating Nato air strike ordered by a German colonel in 2009 after two tankers were hijacked by Taleban fighters.
At the request of the German army, US warplanes attacked the tankers. At least 91 insurgents and civilians were killed in the air strike that eventually led to the resignation of then Defence Minister Franz Josef Jung.

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At the same time, the German military provided the safety needed for many non-government organisations that were rebuilding and modernising Afghanistan. Germany was also the lead nation to train Afghan police forces.
However, right from the start, the main obstacle for lasting success in Afghanistan was the lack of loyalty within the Afghan army and police towards the government in capital Kabul.
Their loyalty lies with the local clansmen and warlords who are the key providers of safety to the people.
As soon as the local leaders ordered the soldiers and police home, they defected from their units. As a result, the government had to deal with a high number of army and police deserters. This is one reason why the Taleban can advance so quickly.
It is, however, unlikely that the Taleban will be free to do what it wants once it controls most of the country.
Neighbouring Pakistan, which provided a safe haven for the Islamist fighters after they were ousted in 2001, will certainly exert influence on any new Taleban government.
The same is true for Iran and Saudi Arabia. The Taleban mainly consists of Sunni Pashtuns that have a troubled relationship with the Shia leadership in Teheran.
Sunni Saudi-Arabia, for years, has channelled funds to anti-Shiite militants like the Taleban to retain influence. Before the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan by the United States, Saudi Arabia was one of only three countries to recognise the Taleban government in Kabul.
Outgoing Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif recently pointed to the future problems a Taleban rule in Afghanistan could cause.
"If Iran doesn't play well and makes an enemy out of the Taleban soon, I think some Arab countries... and the United States would attempt to finance and direct the Taleban to weaken Teheran and divert its attention away from Iraq and other Arab countries. The biggest threat for us would be the formation of an anti-Iran political system in Afghanistan," said Mr Zarif, as quoted by senior fellow James Dorsey at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore.

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While ties between Iran and the Taleban had somewhat warmed lately - with an official visit of a high-ranking Taleban delegation to Teheran in July - and with their common enemy, the US, gone from Afghanistan, things are again about to change.
One of the concerns in Teheran is that Taleban extremism may lead to many thousands of Afghans trying to seek refuge in Iran.

 

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Imagine SG's Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat resigning and fleeing to Malaysia.

Afghan finance minister quits, leaves country as Taleban advance​

Afghanistan's acting finance minister Khalid Payenda tweeted on Aug 10, 2021, to say he was quitting his post.PHOTO: KHALID PAYENDA/TWITTER

Aug 11, 2021


KABUL (BLOOMBERG) - Afghanistan's acting finance minister, Mr Khalid Payenda, has resigned and left the country after the Taleban captured key Customs posts, bleeding the administration of revenue and reinforcing the government's isolation as the militants make swift gains.
Mr Payenda has "resigned and left the country because Afghanistan is grappling with declining revenues after the takeover of the Customs posts", Finance Ministry spokesman Mohammad Rafi Tabe said in a phone interview on Wednesday (Aug 11).
"The deteriorating security situation" and travelling to be with his ailing wife abroad, were the other reasons Mr Tabe gave.
It was not immediately clear where Mr Payenda was going.
The former minister tweeted on Tuesday to say that he was quitting his post but gave no reasons for it.
The deputy minister for Customs and revenues, Mr Alem Shah Ibrahimi, will be in charge until a new appointment is announced.

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Mr Payenda was not immediately available for comment.
With United States and Nato troops slated for a complete exit by Aug 31, a resurgent Taleban have overrun several provincial capitals in recent days.
The militants have also seized several crucial Customs posts, causing President Ashraf Ghani's government to lose as much as US$30 million (S$41 million) in import duties last month alone.
The taxes account for about half of Afghanistan's total domestic revenues, estimated to be about 216.5 billion afghanis (S$3.6 billion) this year.

 

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Afghans flee horrors as Taleban sweep through the north​

Internally displaced Afghan men, who fled from Kunduz province due to battles between Taleban insurgents and Afghan security forces, gather as they register to receive food at a park in Kabul on Aug 10, 2021.PHOTO: AFP

AUG 11, 2021


KABUL (AFP) - Thousands of Afghans are fleeing Taleban-captured cities in the north, some telling of brutal treatment by the insurgents: bodies left in the streets, girls being kidnapped to become Taleban brides, and young men press-ganged into fighting.
Many have arrived in Kabul just this week, following a five-day Taleban blitz that has seen them seize eight provincial capitals - some with barely a fight.
But where there has been resistance, those who fled described harrowing scenes.
"We saw bodies lying near the prison... there were dogs next to them," said Friba, 36, a widow who fled Kunduz on Sunday with her six children as the Taleban took the city.
Like many who spoke to AFP, she asked not to be fully identified for fear of reprisal.
The war has gathered pace since early May, when foreign forces began the final stage of a troop withdrawal due to be complete at the end of the month.

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During their first stint in power - from 1996 until the Sept 11, 2001 attacks that prompted the US-led invasion - the Taleban earned notoriety for a strict interpretation of Islamic law that punished even petty crime with public floggings and executions.
But they have also been accused of war crimes on this campaign, targeting government officials and security personnel - particularly in areas where they have met resistance.

'He was just a barber'​

"Three days ago the Taleban killed a barber because they thought he was working for the government. But he was just a barber," said Mirwais Khan Amiri, 22, whose car was struck by bullets as he fled Kunduz three days ago.
"They killed people who worked in government even if they had quit four to five years ago."

Another evacuee from Kunduz, Abdulmanan, told AFP the Taleban beheaded his son.
"They took him... as if he was a sheep and cut off his head with a knife and threw it away," he said.
AFP had no way of independently verifying these reports.
The Taleban routinely deny committing atrocities and last week announced they had set up a WhatsApp hotline to deal with complaints.
But several humanitarian organisations, including the UN, say possible war crimes have been carried out that need to be investigated.
Taleban now control 'over half of Afghanistan'

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The UN's International Organisation for Migration said on Tuesday that more than 359,000 people have been displaced by fighting this year alone.
In a public park in central Kabul on Tuesday (Aug 10), hundreds of the latest arrivals were camping in the open - sheltering from the sun in the shade of trees, or under sheets stretched between them.
Occasionally, a volunteer would offer food or snacks, causing chaotic scenes as the evacuees clamoured for handouts.

Forced to marry​

One newcomer, 25-year-old widow Marwa, fled Taloqan on Saturday as fighting raged for the city - terrified she would be ordered to marry a Taleban fighter.
"I heard my 16-year-old cousin has been forcibly taken by the Taleban for marriage with one of them," she said.
"She was engaged, and her fiance is in France," she added, bursting into tears.
"When there are two girls in a family they take one to marry her to a fighter; when there are two boys they take one to make him fight."
US says it's up to Afghans to defend country

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Widow Bibi Ma told AFP how she found her only son Azizullah, 20, dead on her doorstep - hit by shrapnel from a Taleban rocket.
"After my husband died, my son was everything to me... our guardian, and source of joy," she said.
"My heart died that moment, it was horrible to see him dead."
Another Azizullah, who worked in the justice department in Kunduz, could find no comfort even in the relative safety of the capital.
"The way they are fighting, without care for others, they will be coming to Kabul soon," he said.
"Where will we have to run to then?"

 

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If the US loses interest in Southeast Asia, SE Asia is f**ked.

Biden stands by US pullout from Afghanistan as Taleban gains​

AUG 11, 2021


WASHINGTON (BLOOMBERG) - President Joe Biden said he has no plan to reverse the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan despite advances by the Taleban, arguing that the Afghan army must fight for itself while the US provides military and financial support.
"We lost thousands - death and injury, thousands of American personnel," Biden said on Tuesday (Aug 10) at the White House.
"They've got to fight for themselves, fight for their nation."
The Taleban have advanced quickly across Afghanistan as the US has withdrawn troops as part of an agreement signed by former president Donald Trump.
The group has taken several provincial capitals and targeted senior government officials.
Nonetheless, Biden said he does not regret his decision to honour the commitment Trump made.

He said the US would continue to provide close air support, pay military salaries and supply Afghan forces with food and equipment.

 

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US asks Taleban to spare its embassy in coming fight for Kabul​

A 2001 photo shows a flag-raising ceremony for the opening of the US embassy in the Afghan capital of Kabul.PHOTO: AFP


Aug 13, 2021

WASHINGTON (NYTIMES) - US negotiators are trying to extract assurances from the Taleban that they will not attack the US Embassy in Kabul if the extremist group takes over the country's government and ever wants to receive foreign aid, three American officials said.
The effort, led by Zalmay Khalilzad, the chief US envoy in talks with the Taleban, seeks to stave off a full evacuation of the embassy as they rapidly seize cities across Afghanistan.
On Thursday, the State Department announced it was sending home an unspecified number of the 1,400 Americans stationed at the embassy and drawing down to what the agency's spokesman, Ned Price, described as a "core diplomatic presence" in Kabul.
The embassy also urged Americans who were not working for the US government to immediately leave Afghanistan on commercial flights.
The Taleban's march has put embassies in Kabul on high alert for a surge of violence in coming months, or even weeks, and forced consulates and other diplomatic missions in the country to shut down.
US diplomats are trying to determine how soon they may need to fully evacuate the embassy should the Taleban prove to be more bent on destruction than a detente.



"Let me be very clear about this: The embassy remains open," Price said on Thursday (Aug 12). "And we plan to continue our diplomatic work in Afghanistan."
Price said the heightened pace of the Taleban's rout, leading to increased violence and instability across Afghanistan, was of "grave concern."
"So, given the situation on the ground, this is a prudent step," he said.
Five current and former officials described the mood inside the embassy as increasingly tense and worried, and diplomats at the State Department's headquarters in Washington noted a sense of depression at the specter of closing it, nearly 20 years after US Marines reclaimed the burned-out building in December 2001.

Several people gloomily revived a comparison that all wanted to avoid: the fall of Saigon in 1975, when Americans stationed at the US Embassy were evacuated from a rooftop by helicopter.
The fears underscore what was unfathomable just a few years ago, when thousands of US forces were in Afghanistan and the US Embassy in Kabul hosted one of the largest diplomatic staffs in the world.
US sending troops to Kabul airport for safety, security: Pentagon

Khalilzad is hoping to convince Taleban leaders that the embassy must remain open, and secure, if the group hopes to receive US financial aid and other assistance as part of a future Afghan government.
The Taleban leadership has said it wants to be seen as a legitimate steward of the country, and is seeking relations with other global powers, including Russia and China, in part to receive economic support.
Two officials confirmed Khalilzad's efforts, which have not been previously reported, on condition of anonymity to discuss the delicate negotiations. A third official said on Thursday that the Taleban would forfeit any legitimacy - and, in turn, foreign aid - if it attacked Kabul or took over Afghanistan's government by force.
Other governments are also warning the Taleban that they will not receive aid if they overrun the Afghan government, given the rampage its fighters have waged across the country in recent days.
Taleban seizes Ghazni on road to Afghan capital

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On Thursday, Foreign Minister Heiko Maas of Germany said Berlin would not give the Taleban any financial support if they ultimately rule Afghanistan with a hard-line Islamic law.
In other posts around the world, US diplomats said they were closely watching the perilous situation in Kabul to see how the State Department would balance its long-standing commitment to stabilising Afghanistan against protecting the Americans who remain there as military forces withdraw.
Ronald E. Neumann, who was the US ambassador to Afghanistan from 2005-07, described a push and pull between the Pentagon and the State Department in similar situations, given the military's responsibility for carrying out evacuations and diplomats' duty to maintain US assistance and influence even in danger zones.
"If the military goes too early, it may be unnecessary, and it may cost you a lot politically," said Neumann, who is now the president of the American Academy of Diplomacy in Washington. "If the diplomats wait too late, it looks like Saigon off the roof or the departure from Mogadishu after everything was already lost, and it puts the military people at risk. So there's no guaranteed right side."
Doha delegations hold meetings on Afghan peace talks

Another senior US official expressed alarm this week at the fall of the provincial capitals across Afghanistan, and said that if other cities follow, particularly Mazar-e-Sharif, the only major northern city still under government control, the situation could disintegrate quickly.
Officials in Washington and Kabul said the embassy was holding regular meetings of an emergency action committee, which is set up in every US diplomatic post to assess whether or how soon an evacuation may be necessary. The content of the meetings is classified because, in part, they review intelligence about specific attack scenarios.
Representatives from the State Department headquarters in Washington and the US Embassy in Kabul would not discuss how often the committee was meeting, but other officials said its members were holding discussions daily.
The committee can only make recommendations, and it would be up to the embassy's top-ranking diplomat - in this case, Ross Wilson, the charge d'affaires in Kabul - to order an evacuation after consulting with senior officials in Washington.
On Thursday, Wilson warned the Taleban that "attempts to monopolise power through violence, fear and war will only lead to international isolation."
Starting in April, the embassy began sending home nonessential employees as security became more untenable in Kabul. Other staff members have been allowed to leave, without penalty to their careers, if they feel in danger.

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One diplomat said a number of what he described as small military elements have recently been brought in to reinforce the embassy, which is inside what is probably already the most hardened compound in Kabul's international zone, where diplomatic missions and the Afghan government are based.
At the same time, officials said, fewer diplomats are rotating into Kabul to replace colleagues who have left to further cull the number of Americans posted there. That has raised concerns in the US diplomatic corps that the embassy would have trouble recruiting staff for years to come.
"It's a wrenching time," said Eric Rubin, president of the union that represents career foreign service officers and who is a former ambassador to Bulgaria. He said about one-quarter of the current US diplomatic corps have been posted to either Afghanistan or Iraq over the past 20 years and remain emotionally invested in the war zones in which they worked.
"There was a lot of sacrifice," Rubin said. "Everyone who served there for the most part served without their families, and under difficult conditions; at times under mortar fire. So it wasn't easy."
As recently as last month, senior officials at the embassy in Kabul voiced confidence that personnel there could be evacuated quickly if necessary, noting a sufficient number of commercial flights leaving from the capital's international airport every day could accommodate the compound's staff.
It is not clear, however, whether an evacuation would include all of the embassy's foreign personnel along with US citizens, and the fate of Afghan employees who would all but certainly be targeted by the Taleban for aiding the United States is of acute concern to senior officials, according to several people familiar with the discussions.

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Officials also said the Biden administration is concerned that an evacuation of the US Embassy could create a domino effect that accelerates the departure of other diplomatic missions and international support - and, in turn, leads to the collapse of the Afghan government.
"I am quite sure that no one in our Foreign Service who's involved in this effort is advocating closing down the embassy and evacuating," Rubin said.
While decisions about the embassy's security are on the horizon, he said, "there's no reason to think that there's an imminent security threat to our people."
"The first thing is, obviously, the mission, and the mission is changing," Rubin said. "But I don't think anybody's going to propose to walk away."

 

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US has hung Afghanistan 'out to dry,' former ambassador says​

A doctor (right) checks internally displaced children who fled from Afghanistan's Kunduz, Takhar and Baghlan provinces due to battles between Taleban and Afghan security forces, at a temporary tent in Kabul on Aug 11, 2021.PHOTO: AFP

AUG 12, 2021


WASHINGTON (BLOOMBERG) - The Biden administration is abandoning Afghanistan's government in its hour of need and all but giving the country to Taleban fighters through its decision to withdraw troops, a former US ambassador said on Wednesday (Aug 11).
"This is a handover to the Taleban," Ryan Crocker, who served as ambassador to Afghanistan during the Obama administration, said in an interview on Bloomberg TV's Balance Of Power With David Westin.
The Afghan government, he said, now perceives "rightly that we have hung them out to dry. We did a deal with their enemy."
Taleban fighters have taken control of a number of provincial capitals in recent days as the US completes its plan to withdraw remaining troops by the end of the month, ahead of the anniversary of the Sept 11 terrorist attacks on the US.
"It is ironic that as we approach the 20th anniversary of those attacks, we are handing the country over to those who sheltered the Al-Qaeda planners who put the whole thing together for 9/11," Crocker said.
"We are watching history repeat in a very bad way."

The speed of the Taleban's march has surprised even senior US officials, who had anticipated a takeover, if it happened, could take at least six months.
In a briefing on Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said the US is "closely watching the deteriorating security conditions in parts of the country, but no particular outcome, in our view, is inevitable."
She said the Taleban has to "make an assessment of what they want their role to be in the international community."
Taleban could take Afghan capital in 90 days: US intelligence
Crocker offered sharp criticism of the Trump administration's decision to negotiate with the Taleban as former president Donald Trump sought to deliver on an Afghanistan troop withdrawal.
The veteran diplomat also lambasted President Joe Biden's argument that the Taleban will need to form an inclusive government or lose international legitimacy.
"The Taleban was the one Islamic group that could force the United States to retreat," Crocker said.
"That is worth way more to them than any level of international legitimacy."

A Taleban fighter (centre) is seen surrounded by locals at Pul-e-Khumri on Aug 11, 2021, after the Taleban captured Pul-e-Khumri, the capital of Baghlan province about 200km north of Kabul. PHOTO: AFP

 

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Taleban control 65% of Afghanistan, EU official says, after series of sudden gains​

Afghan security officials patrol after they took back control of parts of Herat city following intense battle with Taleban militants, on Aug 7, 2021.PHOTO: EPA-EFE

AUG 11, 2021

KABUL (REUTERS) - Taleban insurgents tightened their grip on captured Afghan territory on Tuesday (Aug 10) as civilians hid in their homes, with an EU official saying the militants now controlled 65 per cent of the country after a string of sudden gains as foreign forces pull out.
President Ashraf Ghani called on regional strongmen to support his government, while a UN official said advances made in human rights in the 20 years since the hardline Islamists were ousted from power were in danger of being erased.
In the capital Kabul, Mr Ghani’s aides said he was seeking help from regional militias he has squabbled with over the years to rally to the defence of his government. He also appealed to civilians to defend the country’s "democratic fabric", aides said.
In the town of Aibak, capital of Samangan province on the main road between Mazar-i-Sharif and the national capital, Kabul, Taleban fighters were consolidating their control, moving into government buildings, residents said.
Most government security forces appeared to have withdrawn.
“The only way is self-imposed house arrest or to find a way to leave for Kabul,” said Mr Sher Mohamed Abbas, a provincial tax officer, when asked about living conditions in Aibak.

“But then even Kabul is not a safe option anymore,” said Mr Abbas, the sole bread winner for a family of nine.
Mr Abbas said Taleban had arrived at his office and told workers to go home. He and other residents said they had not seen nor heard fighting on Tuesday.
For years, the north was the most peaceful part of the country with only minimal Taleban presence.
The militants’ strategy appears to be to take the north, as well as main border crossings in the north, west and south, and then close in on Kabul.

The Taleban, battling to defeat the US-backed government and reimpose strict Islamic law, swept into Aibak on Monday meeting little resistance.
Taleban forces now control 65 per cent of Afghan territory, are threatening to take 11 provincial capitals and are trying to deprive Kabul of its traditional support from national forces in the north, a senior EU official said on Tuesday.
Taleban now control 'over half of Afghanistan'

The government has withdrawn forces from hard-to-defend rural districts to focus on holding major population centres while officials have appealed for pressure on neighbouring Pakistan to stop Taleban reinforcements and supplies flowing over the porous border. Pakistan denies backing the Taleban.
The United States has been carrying out air strikes in support of government troops but said it was up to Afghan forces to defend their country.
"It's their struggle," Mr John Kirby, a Pentagon spokesperson, told reporters on Monday.
Taleban and government officials have confirmed that the Islamists have overrun six provincial capitals in recent days in the north, west and south.

Security forces in Pul-e-Khumri, capital of Baghlan province, to the southeast of Aibak, were surrounded as the Taleban closed in on the town at a main junction on the road to Kabul, a security official said.
Mr Gulam Bahauddin Jailani, head of the national disaster authority, told Reuters fighting was going on in 25 of the 34 provinces and 60,000 families had been displaced over the past two months, with most seeking refuge in Kabul.
About 400,000 Afghans have been displaced in recent months and there has been an increase in numbers of people fleeing to Iran over the past 10 days, the EU official said.
A resident of Farah, the capital and largest city of Farah province in the west near the border with Iran, said the Taleban had taken control of the governor’s compound and there was heavy fighting between the Taleban and government forces.
Civilians said the Taleban had captured all key government buildings in the city.
UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet said reports of violations that could amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity were emerging, including “deeply disturbing reports” of the summary execution of surrendering government troops.
"People rightly fear that a seizure of power by the Taleban will erase the human rights gains of the past two decades," she said.
The Taleban, ousted in the weeks after the Sept 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, appeared to be in a position to advance from different directions on Mazar-i-Sharif. Its fall would deal a devastating blow to Ghani’s government.
Mr Atta Mohammad Noor, a northern militia commander, vowed to fight to the end, saying there would be "resistance until the last drop of my blood".
"I prefer dying in dignity than dying in despair," he said on Twitter.
India sent a flight to the city to take its citizens home, its embassy said, asking Indians to leave. The United States and Britain have already advised their citizens to leave Afghanistan.
The United States will complete the withdrawal of its forces at the end of this month under a deal with the Taleban, which included the withdrawal of foreign forces in exchange for Taleban promises to prevent Afghanistan being used for international terrorism.
The Taleban promised not to attack foreign forces as they withdraw but did not agree to a ceasefire with the government.

 

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US says it's up to Afghans to defend country as Taleban take more territory​

An Afghan commando at a frontline position in a civilian house in Kunduz on July 6, 2021.PHOTO: NYTIMES

AUG 12, 2021

KABUL (REUTERS) - The United States said it was up to Afghan security forces to defend the country after Taleban militants captured a sixth provincial capital on Monday (Aug 9), along with border towns and trade routes.
President Joe Biden has said the US military mission in Afghanistan will end on Aug 31, arguing that the Afghan people must decide their own future and that he would not consign another generation of Americans to the 20-year war.
US envoy for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad has left for Qatar where he will “press the Taleban to stop their military offensive and to negotiate a political settlement,” the State Department said on Monday.
In talks over three days, representatives from governments and multilateral organisations will press for “a reduction of violence and ceasefire and a commitment not to recognize a government imposed by force,” the State Department said.
The Taleban, fighting to reimpose strict Islamic law after their 2001 ouster, have stepped up their campaign to defeat the government as foreign forces withdraw.
On Monday, they took Aybak, capital of the northern province of Samangan.

"Right now the Taleban are fighting with Afghan forces to capture the police headquarters and compound of the provincial governor," said Ziauddin Zia, a lawmaker in Aybak.
"Several parts of the capital have fallen to the Taliban." The insurgents took three provincial capitals over the weekend - Zaranj in the southern province of Nimroz, Sar-e-Pul, in the northern province of the same name, and Taloqan, in northeastern Takhar province.
They had already taken the northern provincial capital of Kunduz and Lashkar Gah, capital of Helmand province.
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said the United States was deeply concerned about the trend but that Afghan security forces had the capability to fight the insurgent group.

"These are their military forces, these are their provincial capitals, their people to defend and it's really going to come down to the leadership that they're willing to exude here at this particular moment," Kirby said.
Asked what the US military can do if the Afghan security forces are not putting up a fight, Kirby said: "Not much."
US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that while the military had warned Biden earlier this year that provincial capitals would fall with a withdrawal of troops, they were still surprised at how quickly some of them were being taken by the Taleban.
The United States carried out less than a dozen strikes over the weekend as the Taleban overran the provincial capitals, in one instance simply destroying equipment.
One official said the Afghan forces did not ask for any support as Kunduz was being overtaken.
Taliban seeking ‘battlefield victory’: US State Dept.

Recriminations​

The Taleban gains have sparked recriminations over the withdrawal of foreign forces. British Defence Secretary Ben Wallace told the Daily Mail that the accord struck last year between the United States and the Taleban was a "rotten deal".
Washington agreed to withdraw in a deal negotiated last year under Biden's Republican predecessor, Donald Trump.
Wallace said his government had asked some Nato allies to keep their troops in Afghanistan once the US troops departed, but failed to garner enough support.
"Some said they were keen, but their parliaments weren't. It became apparent pretty quickly that without the United States as the framework nation it had been, these options were closed off," Wallace said.

Germany's defence minister rejected calls for its soldiers to return to Afghanistan after Taleban insurgents took Kunduz where German troops were deployed for a decade.
Afghan commandoes had launched a counterattack to try to beat back Taleban fighters who overran Kunduz, with residents fleeing the conflict describing the almost constant sound of gunfire and explosions.
In the west, near the border with Iran, security officials said heavy fighting was under way on the outskirts of Herat.
Arif Jalali, head of Herat Zonal Hospital, said 36 people had been killed and 220 wounded over the past 11 days. More than half of the wounded were civilians, and women and children were among the dead.
Unicef said 20 children were killed and 130 children had been injured in southern Kandahar province in the past 72 hours.
"The atrocities grow higher by the day," said Hervé Ludovic De Lys, Unicef's representative in Afghanistan.
In Helmand, a hotbed of Taliban activity, security officials reported a loud explosion in Lashkar Gah on Monday morning.

Families flee​

In Kunduz, many desperate families, some with young children and pregnant women, abandoned their homes, hoping to reach the relative safety of Kabul, 315 km (200 miles) to the south - a drive that would normally take around 10 hours.
Ghulam Rasool, an engineer, was trying to hire a bus to get his family to the capital as the sound of gunfire reverberated through the streets of his hometown.
"We may just be forced to walk till Kabul, but we are not sure if we could be killed on the way. ... Ground clashes were not just stopping even for 10 minutes," Rasool told Reuters.

He and several other residents, and a security official, said Afghan commandoes had launched an operation to clear the insurgents from Kunduz.
In Kabul itself, suspected Taliban fighters killed an Afghan radio station manager, government officials said, the latest in a long line of attacks targeting media workers.
Thousands were trying to enter Kabul, even after the city has witnessed attacks in diplomatic districts.
Speaking to Al Jazeera TV on Sunday, Taleban spokesman Muhammad Naeem Wardak warned the United States against further intervention to support government forces.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

How do the Afghan forces and the Taleban compare?​

Afghan militia gather with their weapons to support Afghanistan security forces against the Taleban in Herat on July 9, 2021. PHOTO: AFP

AUG 4, 2021

KABUL (AFP) - The Taleban now control around half of Afghanistan's districts after lightning offensives in the months since foreign troops began their final withdrawal from the country.
But analysts and officials said their military victory is far from guaranteed, pointing to the ability and resources of the Afghan defence forces, who remain in control of major cities.
Here is how the two forces compare:

Personnel​

The total strength of the Afghan national security forces - including the army, special forces, the air force, police and intelligence - was more than 307,000 at the end of April, the United States Special Inspector General for Afghan Reconstruction (Sigar) said in a report last week.
The combat forces available on any given day are likely around 180,000, according to an estimate by Dr Jonathan Schroden of military think-tank CNA.
The precise strength of the Taleban, on the other hand, is not accurately known. United Nations Security Council monitors last year said the group had between 55,000 and 85,000 fighters.

Funding​

Foreign assistance is critical for Afghanistan, one of the poorest nations in the world.
Its military has required US$5 billion ($6.8 billion) to US$6 billion a year, according to the US Congressional Research Service. Washington has usually provided around 75 per cent of it, and has pledged continued support.
Taleban finances are unclear. Their revenues are estimated between US$300 million to US$1.5 billion a year, according to UN monitors.
They generate funds from the country's huge narcotics industry, through extortion of businesses, other criminal activities and by imposing taxes in the areas under their control, the monitors said.

"Based on information available... it is clear that the Taleban are not struggling with respect to recruitment, funding, weapons or ammunition," they added.
Pakistan, Iran and Russia have been accused by Washington and Kabul of supplying the Taleban with resources and advisory support, but all three deny the allegations.

Weapons and equipment​

The US spent tens of billions of dollars to raise and equip the Afghan military after it toppled the previous Taleban regime in 2001.
Afghan forces possess a technological advantage over the Taleban, using a wide variety of Western-made weapons, including modern assault rifles, night-vision goggles, armoured vehicles, artillery and small surveillance drones.
They also have something the Taleban cannot match: an air force. The Afghan military has an available fleet of 167 aircraft, including attack helicopters, Sigar reported.
The Taleban, on the other hand, have mainly used the small arms and light weapons that flooded Afghanistan over decades of conflict - such as Soviet-designed AK-47 assault rifles - while also procuring them from regional black markets, analysts say.
In addition to sniper rifles and machine guns, the insurgents have also deployed rocket-propelled grenades, mortars and other small rockets, while also trying to use some anti-aircraft and anti-tank weapons with mixed success, Taleban expert Antonio Giustozzi wrote in a 2019 book on the group.
Suicide bombers and improvised explosive devices have been among the deadliest weapons the Taleban have used against Afghan and foreign forces.
The Taleban have also captured and used Western-made weapons and equipment supplied to the Afghan military, including night-vision devices, assault rifles and vehicles.

Cohesion and morale​

Afghan forces have had their confidence tested for years, suffering high casualties, corruption, desertions and now the departure of foreign troops and the end of US air support.
Poor planning and leadership have also been blamed for low morale.
The Taleban, on the other hand, have displayed greater cohesion despite reports of internal rifts in recent years, analysts say, pointing to religious zeal as well as the promise of material gains as contributing factors.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Taleban take Ghazni city on road to Afghan capital​

In a photo taken on June 3, 2021, Taleban fighters stand along a road with their motorcycles at a local bazaar in the Andar district of Ghazni province.PHOTO: AFP

AUG 12, 2021

KABUL (REUTERS) - Taleban fighters captured the strategic Afghan city of Ghazni on Thursday (Aug 12), taking them to within 150km of Kabul following days of fierce clashes as the Islamist group ruled out sharing power with the government.
The speed and violence of the Taleban advance, including heavy fighting in their heartland and the second-biggest city of Kandahar, have sparked recriminations among many Afghans over US President Joe Biden’s decision to withdraw US troops and leave the Afghan government to fight alone.
The gateways to the capital have been choked with people fleeing violence elsewhere in the country this week, a Western security source said. It was hard to tell whether Taleban fighters were also getting through, the source added.
With the last of the US-led international forces set to leave by the end of the month and end the United States’ longest war, the Taleban now control about two-thirds of the country. On Wednesday, a US defence official cited US intelligence as saying the Taleban could isolate Kabul in 30 days and possibly take it over within 90.
Al Jazeera reported a government source saying it had offered the Taleban a share in power, as long as the violence comes to a halt.
Afghan government spokesmen were not immediately available for comment and it was not clear to what extent the reported offer differed from terms already discussed at stalled talks in Qatar.

​

Taleban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said he was unaware of any such offer but ruled out sharing power.
“We won’t accept any offer like this because we don’t want to be partner with the Kabul administration. We neither stay nor work for a single day with it,” he said.
Under a deal struck between the United States and the Taleban last year, the insurgents agreed not to attack US-led foreign forces as they withdraw, in exchange for a promise not to let Afghanistan be used for international terrorism.
The Taleban also made a commitment to discuss peace. But intermittent talks with representatives of the US-backed government have made no progress, with the insurgents apparently intent on a military victory.

Route to Kabul​

Ghazni, southwest of Kabul on the ancient route between the capital and Kandahar, was the ninth provincial capital the Taleban have seized in a week.
The militants on Thursday occupied Ghazni’s government agency headquarters after heavy clashes, a security official said.
“All local government officials, including the provincial governor, have been evacuated towards Kabul,” said the official, who declined to be identified.
Taleban seizes Ghazni on road to Afghan capital

Kandahar and other southern and eastern provinces bordering Pakistan have long been Taleban heartlands but they have made their biggest gains in recent weeks in the north. Even when the group ruled the country from 1996-2001, it never controlled all of the north.
There were heavy clashes in Kandahar. A Taleban commander told Reuters most parts of the city were in their control but fighting was still going on. In western Herat, a Taleban spokesman said their fighters had captured police headquarters.

Rallying old warlords​

The Taleban said they had seized airports outside the cities of Kunduz and Sheberghan in the north and Farah in the west, making it even more difficult to supply government forces.
They said they had also captured the provincial headquarters in Lashkar Gah, the capital of the southern province of Helmand, a hotbed of militant activity.
Government officials there were not immediately available for comment. Fighting had also flared in the northwestern province of Badghis, its governor said.
President Ashraf Ghani flew to northern Mazar-i-Sharif on Wednesday to rally old warlords he had previously tried to sideline, now needing their support as the enemy closes in.
The Taleban risk isolating the country if they do seize overall control.
“Attempts to monopolise power through violence, fear, and war will only lead to international isolation,” the charge d’affaires at the US Embassy, Ross Wilson, said on Twitter.
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said Berlin would not provide financial support to Afghanistan if the Taleban take over and introduce sharia religious law.
The violence has also raised concerns in Europe of more refugees arriving there.
The Taleban controlled most of Afghanistan before they were ousted in 2001 for harbouring Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden.
A generation of Afghans who have come of age since 2001 worry that the progress made in areas such as women’s rights and media freedom over the past two decades will be lost.
The United Nations said more than 1,000 civilians had been killed in the past month, and the International Committee of the Red Cross said some 4,042 wounded people had been treated at 15 health facilities since Aug 1.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Taleban poised to capture Afghan cities of Herat, Kandahar​

An Afghan security force personnel member stands guard along the roadside in Herat on Aug 12, 2021, as Taleban insurgents took over the police headquarters in Herat, Afghanistan's third-largest city.PHOTO: AFP

AUG 13, 2021


KABUL (REUTERS) - Afghanistan's third largest city, Herat, was on the verge of falling to the Taleban on Thursday (Aug 12) amid heavy fighting, as the militant group also established a bridgehead within 150km of the capital Kabul.
The Taleban claimed control of Herat, near the border with Iran. And in what would be its most significant two victories since it began cutting a swathe through the country in May, the group also appeared close to capturing Kandahar, a diplomatic source said.
Kandahar, Afghanistan's second largest city, is the group's spiritual home.
The spiralling violence and the militants' swift advances prompted the United States and Germany to urge its citizens to leave the country immediately, just under three weeks before the last of the US-led international force are due to pull out.
Earlier on Thursday, the Taleban, who now control about two-thirds of the country, captured Ghazni, situated on the Kandahar to Kabul road some 150km from the capital.
The group on Thursday also ruled out sharing power with the government.


The speed and violence of its offensive have sparked recriminations among many Afghans over US President Joe Biden's decision to withdraw US troops and leave the government to fight alone.
On Wednesday, a US defence official cited US intelligence as saying the Taleban could isolate Kabul in 30 days and possibly take it over within 90.
The gateways to the capital have been choked with people fleeing violence elsewhere in the country this week, a Western security source said.
Urging its citizens to leave the country, the US Embassy said that given security conditions and reduced staffing, its "ability to assist US citizens in Afghanistan is extremely limited even within Kabul," according to a notice on its website.
Germany issued a similar warning to its citizens.
Al Jazeera reported a government source saying it had offered the Taleban a share in power, as long as the violence comes to a halt.

Afghan security force personnel stand guard along the roadside in Herat on Aug 12, 2021, as Taleban insurgents took over the police headquarters in Herat, Afghanistan's third-largest city. PHOTO: AFP
Afghan government spokespeople were not immediately available for comment and it was not clear to what extent the reported offer differed from terms already discussed at stalled talks in Qatar.
Taleban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said he was unaware of any such offer but ruled out sharing power.
"We won't accept any offer like this because we don't want to be partner with the Kabul administration. We neither stay nor work for a single day with it," he said.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

US, British troops to aid Afghan evacuation as Taleban poised to take key cities​

A general view of the consular section at the US embassy is pictured in Kabul on July 30, 2021.PHOTO: AFP

Aug 13, 2021

KABUL (REUTERS, AFP) – The United States and Britain said on Thursday (Aug 12) they would send thousands of troops to Afghanistan to help evacuate civilians, as the Taleban stood poised for their two biggest military victories since they began a broad offensive in May.
In response to the militants’ swift and violent advances that are further loosening the Afghan government’s hold on the country, the Pentagon said it would temporarily send about 3,000 extra troops within 48 hours to help evacuate embassy staff.
Britain said it would deploy around 600 troops to help its nationals and local translators get out.
While it is common for the US military to send in troops to evacuate personnel in combat zones, the reinforcements will fly in just weeks before the departure of the last of the US-led international force that has had a core role in maintaining security in the country.
South and west of Kabul, the country’s second- and third-largest cities were on the verge of being seized by the Taleban.
The fall of major cities was a sign that Afghans welcome the Taleban, a spokesman for the group said, according to Al Jazeera TV. The Taleban were ousted by US-led troops in 2001 after the Sept 11 attacks on the United States.

The Islamist group claimed control over Herat close to the Iranian border, and a diplomatic source and a witness said it also appeared close to capturing Kandahar in the south, the spiritual home of the group that now controls about two-thirds of the country.
Earlier in the day, the Taleban established a bridgehead within 150km of Kabul.
As the United Nations warned that a Taleban offensive reaching the capital would have a “catastrophic impact on civilians,” the United States, as well as Germany, urged their citizens to leave Afghanistan immediately.
In Qatar, international envoys to Afghan negotiations called for an accelerated peace process as a “matter of great urgency,” and for an immediate halt to attacks on cities.

‘We are returning to a dark time’​

If its capture is confirmed, Herat would be the 10th provincial capital – and the most significant – that the Taleban have taken in the past week.
“As you can see, we are inside the Herat police headquarters right now,” a Taleban fighter said in a video that the group’s spokesman, Qari Yousuf Ahmadi, shared.
US sending troops to Kabul airport for safety, security: Pentagon

In Kandahar, most parts of the city were under the group’s control but fighting was still going on, a Taleban commander told Reuters.
A women’s rights activist there, who asked not to be named for security reasons, said heavy clashes were under way and only the city’s military bases and airport remained under government control.
She felt certain that restrictions imposed on women by the Taleban when the group ruled the country from 1996-2001 would return.
“We can no longer talk about women’s rights. We are returning to a dark time where there is no hope,” she said.
Earlier on Thursday, the Taleban captured Ghazni, situated on the Kandahar-to-Kabul road some 150km south-west of the capital.
Taleban seizes Ghazni on road to Afghan capital

On Wednesday, a US defence official cited US intelligence as saying the Taleban could isolate Kabul in 30 days and possibly take it over within 90 days.
With phone lines down across much of the country, Reuters was unable to contact government officials to confirm which of the cities under attack remained in government hands.

Urged to leave​

The speed and violence of the Taleban offensive have sparked recriminations among many Afghans over President Joe Biden’s decision to withdraw US troops and leave the government to fight alone.
Biden said on Tuesday he does not regret his decision, noting that Washington has spent more than US$1 trillion (S$1.3 trillion) over 20 years in America’s longest war and lost thousands of troops. He added the United States continues to provide significant air support, food, equipment and salaries to Afghan forces.
Al Jazeera reported a government source saying it had offered the Taleban a share in power if the violence stopped. It was not clear to what extent the reported offer differed from terms already discussed in Qatar.
Taleban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said he was unaware of any such offer but ruled out sharing power.
“We won’t accept any offer like this because we don’t want to be partner with the Kabul administration. We neither stay nor work for a single day with it,” he said.
Doha delegations hold meetings on Afghan peace talks

In a deal struck with former US President Donald Trump’s administration last year, the insurgents agreed not to attack US-led foreign forces as they withdraw. The Taleban also made a commitment to discuss peace.
But intermittent talks with representatives of the US-backed government have made no progress, with the insurgents apparently intent on a military victory.
The international envoys in Doha, who met with Afghan government negotiators and Taleban representatives, also reaffirmed that foreign capitals would not recognise any government in Afghanistan “imposed through the use of military force".
Given the speed of the Taleban’s advance, prospects for diplomatic pressure to affect the situation on the ground seemed limited, although the Taleban spokesman told Al Jazeera: “We will not close the door to the political track.”

'Reckless' policy​

Top Republican in Congress Mitch McConnell on Thursday blasted Mr Biden for his “reckless policy” on Afghanistan, saying that “Afghanistan is careening towards a massive, predictable, and preventable disaster”.
Senator McConnell said: “The Biden administration has reduced US officials to pleading with Islamic extremists to spare our embassy as they prepare to overrun Kabul.”
His broadside was the strongest criticism yet by a senior official. He said Mr Biden should step up military support for the Afghan forces rather than complete the withdrawal he set for Aug 31.
“President Biden’s strategy has turned an imperfect but stable situation into a major embarrassment and a global emergency in a matter of weeks,” Mr McConnell said.
He added that if the US let the Taleban dominate Afghanistan and Al-Qaeda return, it will resonate throughout the global Islamist movement.
Critics said the rapid erosion of Afghan government-held territory and the hasty American evacuation called to mind the fall of Saigon during the Vietnam War.
“This is a huge foreign policy failure with generational ramifications just shy of seven months into this administration. Everything points to a complete collapse,” said former State Department spokesman Morgan Ortagus.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Afghan evacuations - echoes of US exit from Saigon?​

In June, US President Joe Biden himself addressed the Saigon parallels - and dismissed them out of hand.PHOTO: AFP

Aug 13, 2021

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Thousands of American soldiers being sent to Afghanistan to evacuate embassy staff from Kabul as the Taleban pushes towards the city has revived painful US memories of the fall of Saigon.
A photo that immortalised America's defeat in Vietnam, showing evacuees boarding a helicopter on the roof of a building, spread fast on social networks after the United States announced the emergency deployment on Thursday (Aug 12).
"The latest news of a further drawdown at our embassy and a hasty deployment of military forces seem like preparations for the fall of Kabul," leading Republican lawmaker Mitch McConnell said.
"President (Joe) Biden's decisions have us hurtling towards an even worse sequel to the humiliating fall of Saigon in 1975."
Back in June, as the Taleban advance built momentum, Mr Biden himself addressed the Saigon parallels - and dismissed them out of hand.
"There's going to be no circumstance where you'll see people being lifted off the roof of an embassy of the United States from Afghanistan," he said.

The same month - since when the Taleban's lightning offensive has surprised many US military officials - the chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff, General Mark Milley, also rejected comparisons to the desperate exit from Saigon.
"I do not see that unfolding," Gen Milley said. "I may be wrong, who knows, you can't predict the future, but I don't see Saigon 1975 in Afghanistan. The Taleban (forces) just aren't the North Vietnamese Army. It's not that kind of situation."

'Not walking away'​

To carry out the evacuation of American staff from its embassy in Kabul, 3,000 US troops will secure the airport, 1,000 will be sent to Qatar for technical and logistical support, while 3,500 to 4,000 will be positioned in Kuwait to deploy if needed.
On Thursday, US officials scrambled to answer questions about the mission, with Pentagon spokesman John Kirby declining to describe it as an NOE (Non-combatant Evacuation Operation).
He indicated it had no name, and avoided talking about evacuations.
The most famous NOE mission was Operation Frequent Wind, during which more than 7,000 Vietnamese civilians were evacuated from Saigon on April 29 and 30 in 1975 by helicopter.
Asked about the image of American diplomats departing under military protection and the inevitable comparisons with the fall of Saigon, Mr Kirby tried to underline the differences.
"We are not completely eliminating our diplomatic presence on the ground," he said.
"Nobody is abandoning Afghanistan. It's not walking away from it. It's doing the right thing at the right time to protect our people."
The Taleban on Friday claimed that it had captured Afghanistan's second city Kandahar, capping an eight-day blitz that has left only the capital and pockets of other territory in government hands.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

'Lion of Herat' silent as warlord's Afghan city falls to Taleban​

Mr Ismail Khan has for decades been a force in Herat, Afghanistan's third biggest city.PHOTO: EPA-EFE

Aug 13, 2021

HERAT, AFGHANISTAN (AFP) - A month ago, one of Afghanistan's most famous warlords vowed to defend his city from the Taleban as he called for locals to join the fight.
Mr Ismail Khan, 75, has for decades been a force in Herat, Afghanistan's third biggest city that is of huge strategic value partly due to its close proximity to Iran.
But on Friday (Aug 13), after government forces had left the city and Taleban militants had taken control without a battle, the "Lion of Herat" was nowhere to be seen.
Hours after seizing the city, a group of insurgents pulled down an Afghan flag from a police station as cars and bicycles passed in seemingly normal traffic.
Others stood on the bonnet of a humvee vehicle that had been abandoned by the retreating government troops.
One insurgent gave the hint of a smile while looking into a camera, with a rocket-propelled grenade on his shoulder.

The white flag of the Taleban waved through the air on a pole pegged to a motorcycle.
Like in other cities lost to the Taleban over the past week, authorities claimed they gave up to avoid bloodshed among civilians.
"We had to leave the city in order to prevent further destruction," a senior security source from Herat told Agence France-Presse, adding that troops and city officials had retreated to army barracks outside of Herat.
Mr Khan's vast militia had a series of successes against the Taleban when the hardline Islamist group first came to power.
But he was forced to flee to Iran with thousands of his men in 1995 after an ally defected to the insurgents.
He was captured by the Taleban in 1997 when he returned to organise an uprising, but escaped from prison two years later and was at large until the US invasion in 2001.
Last month, he was again breathing defiance.
"We will soon go to the frontlines and with the help of God change the situation," Mr Khan, 75, told a news conference. "We hope that men and women of Herat decide at this moment to support the resistance front to defend their freedom and safeguard their honour."
He blamed the government for the rapidly deteriorating situation and urged the military to show more backbone.
"We demand all the remaining security forces resist with courage," he said.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Afghanistan spiralling into failed state where Al-Qaeda will thrive, says UK​

Taleban fighters in Herat, Afghanistan's third biggest city, after government forces pulled out the day before following weeks of being under siege.PHOTO: AFP

Aug 13, 2021

LONDON (REUTERS) - Afghanistan is spiralling into a failed state and a civil war in which militant groups such as Al-Qaeda will thrive and likely pose a threat again to the West, Britain's Defence Minister said on Friday (Aug 13).
After a 20-year war in Afghanistan, the United States has withdrawn most of its troops, allowing Taleban forces to sweep across the country in what diplomats have cast as a humiliation for the world's pre-eminent superpower.
"I'm absolutely worried that failed states are breeding grounds for those types of people," Defence Secretary Ben Wallace told Sky News when asked about Afghanistan.
"Al-Qaeda will probably come back."
Mr Wallace had told the BBC: "Britain found that out in the 1830s, that it is a country led by warlords and led by different provinces and tribes, and you end up, if you're not very careful, in a civil war, and I think we are heading towards a civil war."
Mr Wallace cautioned that the Taleban was not a single entity but rather a title that encompassed "all sorts of different interests".

The speed of the Taleban advance has shocked the Afghan government and its Western allies.
The Taleban controlled most of Afghanistan from 1996 until 2001, when it was ousted for harbouring Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden after the Sept 11 attacks on the United States.
Mr Wallace said the West had to understand that it could not instantly fix countries such as Afghanistan, but should manage situations.
He said that if the Taleban started to harbour Al-Qaeda, then "we could be back".
Mr Wallace said that Afghanistan's second-biggest city of Kandahar and the town of Lashkar Gah were "pretty much now in the hands of the Taleban".

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Taleban capture Afghanistan's major cities including Kandahar as embassies get staff out​

Afghan security force officers standing guard in Herat, Afghanistan's third-largest city, on Aug 12, 2021.PHOTO: AFP

Aug 13, 2021

KABUL (REUTERS) - The Taleban have captured Afghanistan’s second-biggest city of Kandahar, officials said on Friday (Aug 13), fuelling fears the United States-backed government could fall to the insurgents as international forces complete their withdrawal after 20 years of war.
The Taleban also captured the towns of Lashkar Gah in the south and Qala-e-Naw in the north-west, security officers said.
The Taleban claimed to have captured the third-largest city of Herat in the west after days of clashes there, but Reuters was unable to confirm that.
Kandahar is the heartland of the Taleban, ethnic Pashtun fighters who emerged in the province in 1994 amid the chaos of civil war to sweep through most of the rest of the country over the next two years.
“Following heavy clashes late last night, the Taleban took control of Kandahar city,” a government official told Reuters.
Government forces were still in control of Kandahar’s airport, which was the US military’s second-biggest base in Afghanistan during their 20-year mission.

​

Lashkar Gah is the capital of the southern opium-growing province of Helmand, where British, US and other foreign forces battled the insurgents for years.
A police officer said officials and commanders had flown by helicopter out of the last government stronghold there around midnight on Thursday and some 200 soldiers had surrendered to the Taleban after tribal elders intervened.
The fall of major cities was a sign that Afghans welcomed the Taleban, a spokesman for the group said, according to Al Jazeera TV.
The speed of the offensive has sparked recriminations among many Afghans over President Joe Biden’s decision to withdraw US troops, 20 years after they ousted the Taleban in the wake of the Sept 11 attacks on the US.

Mr Biden said this week he did not regret his decision, noting Washington has spent more than US$1 trillion (S$1.4 trillion) in America’s longest war and lost thousands of troops.
US Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said the exit strategy was sending the US “hurtling towards an even worse sequel to the humiliating fall of Saigon in 1975”, urging Mr Biden to commit to providing more support to Afghan forces.
Taleban seizes Ghazni on road to Afghan capital

“Without it, Al-Qaeda and the Taleban may celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Sept 11 attacks by burning down our embassy in Kabul.”
The US State Department said Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke to President Ashraf Ghani on Thursday and told him the US “remains invested in the security and stability of Afghanistan”.
They also said the US was committed to supporting a political solution.

Getting out​

In response to the Taleban advances, the Pentagon said it would send about 3,000 extra troops within 48 hours to help evacuate US embassy staff.
Britain said it would deploy around 600 troops to help its citizens leave while other embassies and aid groups said they too were getting their people out.
The Taleban had until recent days focused their offensive on the north, a region they never fully controlled during their rule and the heartland of Northern Alliance forces who marched into Kabul with US support in 2001.
On Thursday, the Taleban also seized the historic central city of Ghazni, 150km south-west of Kabul.
Security sources said Firuz Koh, capital of Ghor province, was handed over to the Taleban on Thursday night without a fight.
The government still holds the main city in the north - Mazar-i-Sharif – and Jalalabad, near the Pakistani border in the east, as well as Kabul.
On Wednesday, a US defence official cited US intelligence as saying the Taleban could isolate Kabul in 30 days and possibly take it within 90.

‘Great urgency'​

The United Nations has warned that a Taleban offensive reaching the capital would have a “catastrophic impact on civilians” but there is little hope for negotiations to end the fighting with the Taleban apparently set on a military victory.
In the deal struck with former US president Donald Trump’s administration last year, the insurgents agreed not to attack US-led foreign forces as they withdrew.
They also made a commitment to discuss peace, but intermittent meetings with government representatives have proved fruitless.
International envoys to Afghan negotiations in Qatar called for an accelerated peace process as a “matter of great urgency” and for a halt to attacks on cities.
A Taleban spokesman told Al Jazeera: “We will not close the door to the political track.”
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan said this week the Taleban had refused to negotiate unless Mr Ghani resigned from the presidency.

Many people on both sides would view that as tantamount to the government’s surrender, leaving little to discuss but terms.
Pakistan officially denies backing the Taleban but it has been an open secret that Taleban leaders live in Pakistan and recruit fighters from a network of religious schools in Pakistan.
Pakistan’s military has long seen the Taleban as the best option to block the influence of arch-rival India in Afghanistan and to neutralise Pashtun nationalism on both sides of a border that Afghanistan has never recognised.
Afghans, including many who have come of age enjoying freedoms since the Taleban were ousted, have vented their anger on social media, tagging posts #sanctionpakistan, but there has been little criticism from Western capitals of Pakistan’s role.

 

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Taleban seize more Afghan cities, assault on capital Kabul expected​

Taleban fighters in Kandahar on Aug 13, 2021.PHOTO: AFP

Aug 14, 2021

KABUL (REUTERS) - Taleban insurgents have seized Afghanistan’s second- and third-biggest cities, local officials said on Friday (Aug 13), as resistance from government forces crumbled and fears grew that an assault on the capital Kabul could be just days away.
A government official confirmed that Kandahar, the economic hub of the south, was under Taleban control as US-led international forces complete their withdrawal after 20 years of war.
Herat in the west also fell to the hardline Islamist group.
“The city looks like a frontline, a ghost town,” provincial council member Ghulam Habib Hashimi said by telephone from the city of about 600,000 people near the border with Iran.
“Families have either left or are hiding in their homes.”
A US defence official said there was concern that the Taleban – ousted from power in 2001 after the Sept 11 attacks on the United States – could make a move on Kabul within days.

Washington on Thursday announced plans to send 3,000 additional troops to help evacuate US embassy staff, and the Pentagon said most would be in Kabul by the end of the weekend.
Britain also confirmed the start of a military operation to support the evacuation of its nationals.
“Kabul is not right now in an imminent threat environment, but clearly… if you just look at what the Taleban has been doing, you can see that they are trying to isolate Kabul,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said on Friday.
The US embassy in the Afghan capital informed staff that burn bins and an incinerator were available to destroy material including papers and electronic devices to “reduce the amount of sensitive material on the property,” according to an advisory seen by Reuters.

A State Department spokesman said the embassy was following standard procedure to “minimise our footprint.”
The United Nations has said it would not evacuate its personnel from Afghanistan but was relocating some to Kabul from other parts of the country. Many other Western embassies and aid groups said they were bringing some staff home.
Taleban seizes Ghazni on road to Afghan capital

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged the Taleban to immediately halt the offensive. Warning that “Afghanistan is spinning out of control,” he urged all parties to do more to protect civilians.
“This is the moment to halt the offensive. This is the moment to start serious negotiation. This is the moment to avoid a prolonged civil war, or the isolation of Afghanistan,” Guterres told reporters in New York.
Afghan First Vice-President Amrullah Saleh said after a security meeting chaired by President Ashraf Ghani that he was proud of the armed forces and the government would do all it could to strengthen resistance to the Taleban.

‘Humanitarian catastrophe’​

The explosion in fighting has raised fears of a refugee crisis and a rollback of gains in human rights. Some 400,000 civilians have been forced from their homes since the start of the year, 250,000 of them since May, a UN official said.
Families were camping out in a Kabul park with little or no shelter, having escaped violence elsewhere in the country.
“The situation has all the hallmarks of a humanitarian catastrophe,” the UN World Food Programme’s Thomson Phiri told a briefing.

Under Taleban rule from 1996 to 2001, women could not work, girls were not allowed to attend school and women had to cover their faces and be accompanied by male relatives if they wanted to venture out of their homes. In early July, Taleban fighters ordered nine women to stop working in a bank.
Of Afghanistan’s major cities, the government still holds Mazar-i-Sharif in the north and Jalalabad, near the Pakistani border in the east, in addition to Kabul.
The Taleban has taken the towns of Lashkar Gah in the south and Qala-e-Naw in the north-west, security officials said. Firuz Koh, capital of central Ghor province, was handed over without a fight, officials said.

Kandahar’s loss is a heavy blow to the government. It is the heartland of the Taleban – ethnic Pashtun fighters who emerged in 1994 amid the chaos of civil war.
The militants have taken control of 14 of Afghanistan’s 34 provincial capitals since Aug 6.
After seizing Herat, the insurgents detained veteran commander Ismail Khan, an official said. They had promised not to harm him and other captured officials.

People stranded at the Pakistani-Afghan border wait to cross the border after it was reopened, on Aug 13, 2021. PHOTO: EPA-EFE

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A Taleban spokesman confirmed that Khan, who had been leading fighters against the insurgents, was in their custody.
Al-Jazeera later reported Khan had boarded a plane to Kabul bearing a message from the Taleban. The report could not immediately be confirmed.
The speed of the Taleban offensive has led to recriminations over President Joe Biden’s decision to withdraw American troops.
Biden said this week he did not regret his decision, noting Washington has spent more than US$1 trillion (S$1.3 trillion) in the country’s longest war and lost thousands of troops, and calling on Afghanistan’s army and leaders to step up.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin told Ghani on Thursday the United States remained “invested” in Afghanistan’s security.
Opinion polls showed most Americans back Biden’s decision to withdraw the troops. But opposition Republicans criticised the Democratic president’s decision.
US Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said the exit strategy was sending the United States “hurtling towards an even worse sequel to the humiliating fall of Saigon in 1975,” referring to Hanoi’s victory in the Vietnam war.

 

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Afghanistan capital Kabul not facing 'imminent threat', says Pentagon​

Taleban militants gather around a provincial government office after taking control of Herat, on Aug 13, 2021.PHOTO: EPA-EFE

Aug 14, 2021

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Kabul does not face an "imminent threat" from the Taleban but the insurgents are seeking to isolate the capital amid rapid gains elsewhere in Afghanistan, the US Defence Department said on Friday (Aug 13).
"Kabul is not right now in an imminent threat environment," Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told reporters.
"But clearly," he said, "if you just look at what the Taleban has been doing you can see that they are trying to isolate Kabul."
"It is not unlike the way they have operated in other places of the country, isolating provincial capitals and sometimes being able to force a surrender without necessarily much bloodshed," Kirby said.
The Taleban on Thursday overran Afghanistan's second and third largest cities, Kandahar and Herat, days after the United States completed most of its withdrawal from a 20-year military involvement.
President Joe Biden has stood firm on his decision to end the US war but authorised the deployment of 3,000 troops to evacuate embassy staff and Afghan allies from Kabul.

The Pentagon acknowledged its concerns about the situation on the ground but made clear that the United States believed that the Afghan military was now responsible.
"We have noted with great concern the speed with which they have been moving and the lack of resistance that they have faced, and we have been nothing but honest about that," Kirby said.
"We want to see the will and the political leadership - the military leadership - that's required in the field," he said.
"Whether it pans out or not, that's really for the Afghans to decide," he added.
"No outcome has to be inevitable."

 

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US Embassy shredding, burning documents in case Taleban wins​

The US flag is reflected on the windows of the US Embassy in Kabul.PHOTO: REUTERS

Aug 14, 2021

KABUL (BLOOMBERG) - The US embassy staff in Kabul has been told to start destroying sensitive material, underscoring that the Biden administration is preparing for the possibility that the embassy will be overrun by the Taleban despite public assurances that the building remains in operation.
The management notice to all American personnel, sent early on Friday from the embassy facilities manager, asks staff to "reduce the amount of sensitive material on the property," according to a copy obtained by Bloomberg News.
It asks that they destroy anything with US logos, flags "or items which could be misused in propaganda efforts".
The email details the ways diplomats can destroy material: Use burn bins and shredders for paper, a disintegrator for electronics, incinerators for medical waste and a compactor that "can crush items that are too big for the disintegrator."
It says the embassy will offer what it calls "destruction support" between 8.30am and 4pm until further notice.
"These destruction methods are not appropriate for weapons, ammunition and similar items," it reads.

Two administration officials, who discussed the internal memo on condition of anonymity, said the destruction procedure is standard when a US outpost abroad is being scaled down.
One of the officials said it is consistent with established plans for most US forces in Afghanistan to depart by the end of the month but acknowledged the Taleban's advances played a role.
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told reporters on Friday that it appears the Taleban is "trying to get Kabul isolated" but that the capital city was not under "imminent threat."
He said the speed at which the Taleban has taken over provincial capitals is "deeply concerning."
The first of 3,000 troops being brought in to help evacuate many of the embassy's employees have arrived.
State Department spokesman Ned Price said at a briefing on Thursday that the embassy remains open for now.
"This is not abandonment, this is not an evacuation, this is not a wholesale withdrawal," Price said.
The Taleban took three more cities across Afghanistan on Friday, adding to the tally of major population centers they have taken in recent days.
The US has been similarly surprised - and frustrated - by the Afghan army's inability or, in some cases, unwillingness, to fight back. Many fighters and officials have given up their weapons and surrendered to the Taleban.