The Taliban claim to already control 85% of Afghanistan / Article

With the withdrawal of NATO forces from Afghanistan, military pressure from Taliban fighters is growing. The Taliban, a radical group, has said it already controls about 85% of Afghanistan. Taliban fighters have conquered 250 of Afghanistan’s 398 districts.

Meanwhile, Russian officials who have received Taliban leaders in Moscow have confirmed that militants are already in control of two-thirds of Afghanistan’s border with Tajikistan.

However, international experts say the Taliban’s claim to controlled territory is too optimistic, with them currently controlling about a third of the country. It has also been said that the rapid military success has surprised the Taliban commanders themselves, who are even trying to limit operations so as not to provoke a US backlash.

The Taliban’s offensive against Afghan security forces comes at a time when the US-led international coalition force is leaving the country. More than 1,000 Afghan army soldiers this week fled to neighboring Tajikistan, thousands of Afghan civilians are also seeking refuge in neighboring countries. A Taliban delegation visited the Russian capital, Moscow, on Friday. Taliban spokesman Suhail Shahin said the group would not allow the Islamic State or other terrorist groups to gain ground in Afghanistan.

“We have a duty to prevent any person or organization from using Afghan territory to carry out attacks on neighboring countries, countries in the region or other countries in the world, including the United States and its allies.

We know that is not good. If the Islamic State operates in Afghanistan, we will not be able to form an Islamist government there. This is a threat not only to them, but also to us, “said Shahin.

The Moscow meeting was convened to try to allay concerns about the situation on Afghanistan’s border with Tajikistan, Russia’s military ally. Moscow claims that the border with Tajikistan has been violated several times during the fighting.

However, the Taliban promised not to cross any borders or to attack Afghan regional capitals in favor of political talks.

The Taliban have also announced the capture of the largest border crossing point on the border with Iran. Taliban fighters have published a video showing the victory in Islamkala, the city where the main border crossing with Iran is located.

Iranian media have widely shared this video, reportedly showing Taliban fighters taking down the flag of Afghanistan at the Islam Qala border crossing. pic.twitter.com/2s1SBeOoTq

— Kian Sharifi (@KianSharifi) July 9, 2021

US President Joe Biden has reiterated that the decision to leave Afghanistan will remain unchanged.

“I will not send another generation of Americans to war in Afghanistan without a reasonable expectation that another outcome will be possible. The United States cannot afford to remain tied to the political decisions that were made to respond to what the world was like twenty years ago. “

Joe Biden also emphasized that the US armed forces had achieved their goals of stopping the terrorist organization Al Qaeda in Afghanistan and preventing possible attacks on the United States.

The US president also announced the US military the mission will officially end on 31 August, less than two weeks before 9/11, the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington.

CONTEXT:

The Taliban regime was overthrown in 2001 when, following the 9/11 terrorist attacks in Afghanistan, a US-led international coalition invaded Al Qaeda. Since then, the Taliban have regularly attacked Afghan and foreign soldiers, but the civilian population has suffered the most.

US President Joe Biden has pledged to complete the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan by 31 August 2021.

Since the invasion of Afghanistan, Americans have spent more than $ 1 trillion on fighting and reconstruction in Afghanistan. More than 2,000 US troops have been killed in Afghanistan, as well as tens of thousands of Afghan army soldiers, Taliban fighters and Afghan civilians.

–