KABUL, Afghanistan
The Taliban seized two more Afghan cities Tuesday -- including one just 200 kilometers from Kabul -- as tens of thousands of people fled their homes in the north for the relative safety of the capital and other centers.
Afghan Taliban fighters have captured two more cities from government forces in the past 24 hours amid an escalation |
But despite
the bloodshed, and with eight provincial capitals now toppled in the
insurgents' sweeping advance, US President Joe Biden gave no hint of delaying
his deadline to withdraw all American troops by August 31, instead urging
Afghan leaders to "come together" and "fight for
themselves."
"I do
not regret my decision" to withdraw US troops after two decades of war,
Biden told reporters in Washington.
He spoke
after the insurgents won control of Farah city, capital of the same-named
province, and Pul-e-Khumri in Baghlan, within hours of each other, officials in
both centres said.
"The
Taliban are now in the city," Baghlan MP Mamoor Ahmadzai said.
"They
have raised their flag in the main square and on governor's office
building."
The Taliban
confirmed their seizure in separate tweets.
Six of the
other provincial capitals to have fallen since Friday are in the country's
north, with the insurgents setting their sights on Mazar-i-Sharif, the region's
biggest city.
Its fall
would signal the total collapse of government control in the traditionally
anti-Taliban north.
Government
forces are also battling the hardline Islamists in Kandahar and Helmand, the
southern Pashto-speaking provinces from where the Taliban draw their
strength.
Meanwhile,
Washington's special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad was in Qatar to try and convince
the Taliban to accept a ceasefire.
Envoys from
hosts Qatar, Britain, China, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, the United Nations, and
European Union were also due to discuss the situation in Afghanistan, a source
told AFP.
The United
States has already all but left the battlefield.
Biden
stressed that Washington would continue to support the Afghan security forces
with air strikes, food, equipment and money for salaries.
"We
trained and equipped with modern equipment over 300,000 Afghan forces"
over two decades, he said.
"They
have got to want to fight. They have outnumbered the Taliban."
The Taliban
have appeared largely indifferent to peace overtures, and seem intent on a
military victory to crown a return to power after their ouster 20 years ago in
the wake of the September 11 attacks.
As fighting
raged, thousands of people were on the move inside the country, fleeing newly
captured Taliban cities with tales of brutal treatment by the insurgents.
"The
Taliban are beating and looting," said Rahima, now camped out with hundreds
of families at a park in the capital, Kabul, after fleeing Sheberghan province.
"If
there is a young girl or a widow in a family, they forcibly take them. We fled
to protect our honour."
The UN's
International Organization for Migration said Tuesday that more than 359,000
people have been displaced by fighting this year alone.
In the
northern city of Kunduz that was captured by the Taliban over the weekend,
residents said shops had begun to reopen in the centre as the insurgents
focused their attention on government forces who had retreated to the airport.
"People
are opening their shops and businesses, but you can still see fear in their
eyes," said shopkeeper Habibullah.
Another
resident, living close to the airport, reported days of heavy fighting.
"The
Taliban are hiding in people's houses in the area and government forces are
bombing them," said Haseeb, who only gave his first name.
On Tuesday,
the threat to Mazar-i-Sharif grew after the Taliban captured Sheberghan to its
west, and Kunduz and Taloqan to the east.
The Indian
consulate in Mazar called on its nationals to board a "special
flight" scheduled for later in the day.
But Fawad
Aman, spokesman for the ministry of defence, said Afghan forces had the upper
hand in the city, a linchpin for government control of the north.
From
Geneva, the UN warned the war was unleashing another humanitarian crisis.
"Unless
all parties return to the negotiating table and reach a peaceful settlement,
the already atrocious situation for so many Afghans will become much
worse," said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle
Bachelet.
No comments:
Post a Comment