Mon 09 August 2021:
The Taliban has captured the sixth province in Afghanistan in four days.
The armed group’s spokesman on Monday morning sent messages to the media, claiming it has overtaken Aibak, the capital of the northern province of Samangan.
Samangan’s deputy provincial governor confirmed the takeover to the AFP news agency.
The Taliban is “in full control”, he said, shortly after a Taliban spokesman tweeted that all government and police installations in Aibak had been “cleared”.
The armed group said its fighters now control the provincial governor’s compound, the intelligence directorate, police headquarters and all other official buildings.
Samangan is the fifth northern province to fall to the Taliban in less than a week, and the sixth overall.
Unlike Jowzjan, Kunduz and Sar-e-Pol, Samangan was once known to be one of the safest provinces in Afghanistan, with a minimal Taliban presence.
However, the last three years saw a growing presence of the group in the province.
The fall of Samangan will put further strain on an already stretched Afghan security establishment, as commandos and backup forces are dispatched to the restive provinces.
Meanwhile, residents in Kandahar, Herat and Lashkar Gah say fighting still rages near their capitals, which the Taliban has been trying to overrun for more than a month.
On Sunday, the Ministry of Defence claimed they had launched clearance operations in Kunduz, but residents speaking to Al Jazeera said the Taliban spent much of Monday trying to get closer to the airport.
TALIBAN CLAIMS CAPTURE OF KUNDUZ AS SAR-E-PUL ALSO FALLS AFTER HEAVY FIGHTING WITH GOVT FORCES
According to sources on the ground, the armed group has made it within three kilometers of the Airport and fighting continues in the city.
Health officials in Kunduz say they have treated dozens of injured civilians since Sunday afternoon, when the Taliban first flew their white flag from the city’s main square.
SOURCE: AL JAZEERA
———————————————————————————————————————-
FOLLOW INDEPENDENT PRESS:
TWITTER (CLICK HERE)
https://twitter.com/IpIndependent
FACEBOOK (CLICK HERE)
https://web.facebook.com/ipindependent
Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!
