KABUL: After seizing four more provincial capitals in a lightning offensive that took them closer to Kabul, the Taliban completed their sweep of Afghanistan’s south on Friday, in the process also taking into custody a well-known warlord.

In just the last 24 hours, the country’s second- and third-largest cities — Herat in the west and Kandahar in the south — have fallen to the insurgents as has the capital of the southern province of Helmand, where American, British and Nato forces fought some of the bloodiest battles of the conflict.

The blitz through the Taliban’s southern heartland means the insurgents now hold half of Afghanistan’s 34 provincial capitals and control more than two-thirds of the country weeks before the US plans to withdraw its last troops. The Western-backed government in the capital still holds a smattering of provinces in the centre and east, as well as the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif.

The Taliban also captured the capital of Logar province, just 50km from Kabul, with a local lawmaker saying the insurgents were in complete control of Pul-i-Alam city.

Herat strongman captured; UN urges neighbouring countries to keep borders open

In the south, the insurgents swept through three provincial capitals on Friday.

Attaullah Afghan, the head of the provincial council in Helmand, said that the Taliban captured Lashkar Gah following weeks of heavy fighting and raised their white flag over governmental buildings. He said that three national army bases outside of the city were still under control of the government.

Atta Jan Haqbayan, the provincial council chief in Zabul province, said the local capital of Qalat fell and that officials were in a nearby army camp preparing to leave.

Bismillah Jan Mohammad and Qudratullah Rahimi, lawmakers from Uruzgan province, said local officials surrendered Tirin Kot. Taliban fighters paraded through a main square there, driving a Humvee and a pickup seized from Afghan security forces.

In the country’s west, meanwhile, Fazil Haq Ehsan, head of the provincial council in Ghor province, said its capital, Feroz Koh, also fell to the insurgents.

Flags across Kandahar

The conflict has escalated dramatically since May, when US-led forces began the final stage of their troop withdrawal. After months of taking what were considered less strategically important rural areas, the Taliban zeroed in on the cities.

The insurgents have taken over more than a dozen provincial capitals in the past week and encircled the biggest city in the north, the traditional anti-Taliban bastion of Mazar-i-Sharif, which is now one of the few holdouts remaining.

In Kandahar, resident Abdul Nafi said the city was calm after the government forces pulled out on Friday morning.

“I came out this morning, I saw Taliban white flags in most squares of the city... I thought it might be the first day of Eid.”

Strongman captured

And in Herat on Friday, the Taliban said they had captured the city’s long-time strongman Ismail Khan, who helped lead the defence of the provincial capital along with his militia fighters.

Last month he was voicing defiance and anger as he vowed to defeat the Taliban. “We will soon go to the frontlines and with the help of God change the situation,” Khan 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,” Khan said.

But on Friday morning, the people of Herat woke to new rulers, with no visible signs of battle in the streets and no more defiance from Khan.

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 retreating government troops.

The warlord’s spokesman later confirmed Khan had been allowed to return to his residence following negotiations with the insurgents.

‘Not abandonment’

US President Joe Biden insists he does not regret his decision to pull out troops from Afghanistan, but the speed and ease of Taliban’s urban victories in recent days has been a surprise and forced new calculations.

Washington and London announced plans late on Thursday to pull out their embassy staff and citizens from the capital.

“We are further reducing our civilian footprint in Kabul in light of the evolving security situation,” US State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters, while noting the embassy would remain open.

“This is not abandonment. This is not an evacuation. This is not the wholesale withdrawal.”

The Pentagon said 3,000 US troops would be deployed to Kabul within the next 24 to 48 hours, underscoring they would not be used to launch attacks against the Taliban.

As the rout of Afghan forces unfolded, three days of meetings between key international players on Afghanistan ended in Qatar without significant progress on Thursday.

In a joint statement, the international community, including the United States, Pakistan, the European Union, and China, said they would not recognise any government in Afghanistan “imposed through the use of military force”.

Appeal to neighbouring countries

The United Nations refugee agency called on Afghanistan’s neighbours to keep borders open as Taliban insurgent advances heightened the country’s crisis.

“An inability to seek safety may risk innumerable civilian lives. UNHCR stands ready to help national authorities scale up humanitarian responses as needed,” a spokesperson for the agency told a briefing in Geneva.

The World Food Programme sees food shortages in Afghanistan as “quite dire” and worsening, a spokesperson added, saying the situation had all the hallmarks of a humanitarian catastrophe.

Published in Dawn, August 14th, 2021