Afghanistan: Taliban forces seize eighth provincial capital in one week | There are more than 4,000 war wounded, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross

the Taliban forces took control of Pul-e-Khumri. It is the second provincial capital of Afghanistan to fall on Tuesday and the eighth in less than a week. While the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, called for an end to the fighting in Afghanistan. The former Chilean president said that the Taliban takeover of many cities “sowed fear and dread”.

“The Taliban are now in the city, they hoisted their flag in the central square and in the governor’s office“, a d Mamoor Ahmadzai, Deputy of Baghlan Province, whose capital is Pul-e Khumri. The lawmaker also clarified that Afghan forces had withdrawn from the city.

Taliban advance

Pul-e-Khumri, located about 200 kilometers from the capital Kabul, was taken on Tuesday by the Taliban. A shortly before the insurgents took control of the town of Farah, in the west of the country, which became the seventh provincial capital to be captured by Taliban forces. “This afternoon (Tuesday), the Taliban entered Farah after briefly fighting security forces. They seized the governor’s office and the police headquarters. The security forces have withdrawn to a military base., declared Shahla Abubar, member of the provincial council.

So far the insurgents The Taliban already dominate six of the nine provincial capitals in the north. While in the south of the country, they took the towns of Zaranj and Farah in the southwest. the Sunday, In few hours they took control of Kunduz, a strategic point between Kabul and Tajikistan. While the fighting in the south of the country with cities like Kandahar and Lashkar Gah besieged for days.

Conversations in Qatar

For its part, the US government has warned that a Taliban government that came to power by force in Afghanistan would not be recognized. The United States’ envoy for peace, Zalmay Khalilzad, traveled to Qatar “Help formulate a joint international response to the rapidly deteriorating situation in Afghanistan”, assured the state department in a press release.

The US Foreign Office reported on Monday that Khalilzad was already in the Qatari capital, Doha, where the Taliban have a political office. Representatives from China, the United Kingdom, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Qatar, the United Nations and the European Union also arrived on Tuesday, who “will press for a reduction in violence and a ceasefire. fire, and undertake not to recognize a government imposed by force. “, According to American diplomacy in the press release.

Since September of last year, the city of Doha hosted talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban. The dialogues were established in the peace agreement signed in February 2020 by the Taliban insurgency and the United States (without the participation of Afghan government authorities), months before the withdrawal of foreign troops from the country.

Retirement of EE.UU.

With the departure of American troops, the Taliban launched a strong offensive since May with which they took under their control large rural areas, and now aim to dominate the cities. In this sense, the North American Ministry of Foreign Affairs has affirmed that Khalilzad “Will ask the Taliban to stop their military offensive and negotiate a political settlement, which is the only way to ensure stability and development in Afghanistan.”.

UN concern

While the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, called for an end to the fighting in Afghanistan. “The parties must stop fighting to avoid further bloodshed. The Taliban must end military operations in the cities. Unless all parties return to the negotiating table and reach a peaceful solution, the situation is already dire. For so many Afghans, it will only get worse. , “Bachelet said in a statement from his office.