Taliban seize three other provincial capitals in Afghanistan

“After fierce fighting, the Mujahedin, by the grace of God, took the capital of Kunduz province today,” the Taliban said in a statement.

The text added: “Kunduz has fallen; the Taliban have taken control of all key buildings in the city. “

Kunduz is a large commercial center, about 300 kilometers from the country’s capital, Kabul, and about 50 kilometers from Tajikistan.

In Sar-e-Pul, “the Taliban have surrounded an army battalion on the outskirts of the city” and “all other parts of the city are under Taliban control,” said Mohamad Hussein Mujahidzada, a council member of the city. the province of the same name. .

Later, insurgents seized Taloqan in Tajar province, where security forces withdrew “after the government failed to send aid,” according to an official source.

The Taliban had seized two other provincial capitals since Friday, but Kunduz – in the far north – was their biggest capture since the insurgents launched their major offensive.

The Taliban seized Saturday of Sibargan, in the north-west of the country and capital of the province of Jawzjan, a day after taking control of Zaranj, in the southwest, capital of the province of Nimroz , near the border with Iran. “It’s total chaos,” said Abdul Aziz, a resident of downtown Kunduz.

Since May, the rebels have seized large rural areas and key border posts in a blitzkrieg, but now they are focusing their offensive on major cities, such as Kandahar and Herat, the country’s second and third, as well as Kunduz, surrounded by the Taliban for years, weeks.