Taliban take Afghanistan highway ‘crosses Tajik border’

Taliban take Afghanistan highway ‘crosses Tajik border’
Taliban take Afghanistan highway ‘crosses Tajik border’


KUNDUZ: The Taliban seized a large Afghan border crossing with Tajikistan on Tuesday, said an Afghan provincial official and a military official, as security forces left their posts at Shir Khan Bandar and some fled the border.


Kunduz provincial council member Khaliddin Hakmi said the Taliban had seized Shir Khan's port and city and all border controls when a military official told AFP separately he was forced to leave all posts ... and some of our soldiers crossed the border into Tajikistan.


Meanwhile, a United Nations envoy to Afghanistan said the Taliban had occupied more than 50 of the 370 provinces and was in charge of provincial capitals.


Tensions between Taliban and Afghan government forces have erupted on the outskirts of three provincial capitals in the northern provinces of Faryab, Balkh and Kunduz in recent days, officials said.


Read also: Secrets out of Afghanistan's military cabinet


Since the United States announced plans in April to withdraw its troops unconditionally on September 11 after nearly 20 years of conflict, violence has escalated across the country as Taliban seek more territory.


Negotiations for peace in Doha have stalled, officials said, despite meetings in recent days and the Taliban saying they are committed to the talks.


Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Afghanistan Deborah Lyons has called on the Security Council to do everything possible to bring the parties back to the negotiating table.


The increase in conflict in Afghanistan means increased insecurity in many other countries, near and far, he said.


The latest eruptions in the north are outside the traditional Taliban strongholds in the southern regions such as Helmand and Kandahar where there had been major fighting before.


The Taliban's plan to invade and strengthen the northern region has long been at odds with the rebel group, Afghanistan's top security official said on condition of anonymity.


They will face little opposition in some parts of the world where they are most influential and their presence.


US can reduce emissions: Pentagon


Meanwhile, U.S. troops could reduce their withdrawal from Afghanistan for the benefit of Taliban insurgents, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said Monday.


Kirby emphasized that President Joe Biden's deadline for full withdrawal in September was still pending, but added that the pace could be adjusted accordingly.


The situation in Afghanistan is changing as the Taliban continue to carry out these attacks and attacks in the region as well as violence, which is still rampant, he told reporters.


If there is a need for changes to be made at speed, or at the width and retrograde rate, on any given day or in any week, we want to maintain the flexibilities to do so, he added.


We keep an eye on this, every day: what the situation is on the ground, what skills we have, what additional resources we need to get out of Afghanistan and at what speed.


All of those decisions are literally made in real time, he said.


Pentagon officials said last week that the withdrawal, ordered by Biden in April after nearly two decades of fighting al-Qaeda and helping government forces fight the Taliban, was almost halfway completed.


At the time of Biden's command, about 2 5 Hundreds U S. troops and 16 Thousands contractors, most of them U S. citizens, were present in the country. The Pentagon has already turned a few of its foundations into state security forces, and has removed hundreds of cargo tools.