War in Afghanistan will expand beyond borders as Taliban advance (negotiator)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – The Taliban blitz on Afghan territory spread on Wednesday, with insurgents asserting control of nine of the country’s 34 provincial capitals.

Afghan and US officials have warned of catastrophic violence in the war-torn country of 39 million people as the deadline approaches for the withdrawal of all US troops by the end of August.

Nader Nadery, a senior member of the Afghan peace negotiation team, expressed grave concern over the rapidly worsening situation in an interview with CNBC on Wednesday.

“If the Taliban advance militarily, the region will be burnt. This war will not be contained within the borders of Afghanistan,” Nadery told CNBC’s Capital Connection.

Asked what he saw as the most immediate danger to the international community, Nadery, who has lived through decades of turmoil in Afghanistan, described a potential increase in terrorist activity far beyond the country fueled by a sense of victory on Western forces.

The fear is “a consolidation of the power of all terrorist groups [under] the Taliban umbrella and the space the Taliban provides them, ”Nadery said.

“The slogan now of every jihadist-minded terrorist group is ‘now that we have defeated the United States and its 42 allies in Afghanistan, we can pursue them anywhere,’” Nadery added. “This slogan is a clear danger that will allow groups like Daesh (ISIS), Al Qaeda and others to rally more people, because they are on the march, they feel triumphant.”

“The members of the Taliban told us face to face that they had defeated the United States and the NATO allies,” he continued. “And it will not be an easy slogan for them to give up, it will be a danger to all the disenchanted young people in the region and in a larger global arena, where they will join forces around this slogan, and it is not easy danger. “

The international terrorism spawned by a war-torn state is all too familiar. Al-Qaeda flourished in the 1990s as the group was offered refuge by the Afghan Taliban government, providing a base for planning the September 11 attacks, which sparked the initial U.S. invasion of the Afghanistan almost 20 years ago.

The Taliban’s continued push for power in Afghanistan is also reinforced by the group’s recent international legitimacy, starting with the US-Taliban peace agreement and more recently the visit of its senior members to China which has seen what seemed to be a warming of relations with Beijing.

“China, unfortunately, gave them [the Taliban] a red carpet just recently, these things need to be completed if we are to see a stable region, ”Nadery said.

At the White House on Tuesday, President Joe Biden told reporters he did not regret his decision to withdraw US troops from Afghanistan, despite the shocking gains by the Taliban.

“Look, we have spent over a trillion dollars over twenty years, we have trained and equipped with modern equipment over 300,000 Afghan forces,” Biden said.

“Afghan leaders must come together,” the president added. “They have to fight for themselves, to fight for their nation.”

In April, Biden ordered the complete withdrawal of approximately 3,000 US troops from Afghanistan by September 11.

The Pentagon’s colossal task of removing military and equipment from Afghanistan is nearing completion, with the US military mission scheduled to end by August 31.

Since the United States began to withdraw from this war-torn country, the Taliban have made amazing strides on the battlefield despite being largely outnumbered by the Afghan military.

On Wednesday, the Taliban seized three Afghan provincial capitals as well as a local army headquarters in Kunduz, according to the Associated Press. Wednesday’s gains give the Taliban about two-thirds of control of the nation.

Additionally, the Taliban quickly captured five Afghan provincial capitals over the weekend, taking three in a single day.

At the Pentagon, spokesman John Kirby told reporters on Monday that while the Biden administration planned to continue providing air support, there was little else that the U.S. military could do.

“We will certainly provide air support, where and when possible, but it does not replace leadership on the ground, it does not replace political leadership in Kabul, it does not replace the use of capabilities and capabilities that we know they have, ”Kirby mentioned.

Kirby added that while the Pentagon is worried about such advances by the Taliban, the Afghan military must now capitalize on years of training by US coalition and NATO forces.

“They have an air force, the Taliban don’t. They have modern weapons and organizational skills, the Taliban don’t. They have more numbers than the Taliban,” Kirby said. “They have the benefits, and now is really their time to use those benefits.”

As the security situation in Afghanistan worsens, the State Department is looking for ways to downsize the United States Embassy in Kabul. There are approximately 600 American soldiers guarding the Embassy grounds.

“Obviously it’s a tough security environment and if we could, if we were confident and comfortable having a greater staff presence there, we would,” said Tuesday at press spokesman for the State Department, Ned Price, questioned about the reduction of personnel in Kabul.

“We assess the threat environment on a daily basis. The Embassy is in regular contact with Washington with the most senior people in this building, who in turn are in regular contact with our colleagues at [National Security Council] in the White House, ”Price added.

Amanda macias contributed to this report from Washington.