Police headquarters fall to Taliban in southern Afghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) – The Taliban on Thursday captured a police headquarters in a provincial capital in southern Afghanistan, on the verge of losing insurgents as suspected US airstrikes pounded the region, said a manager.

Fighting raged in Lashkar Gah, one of Afghanistan’s largest cities in the Taliban heart of Helmand province, where surrounded government forces hoped to retain the capital after the week-long blitz by militants. has already made it possible to seize nine others across the country..

Afghan security forces and the government did not respond to repeated requests for comment during the days of fighting. However, President Ashraf Ghani is attempting to rally a counteroffensive by relying on his country’s special forces, warlord militias, and American air power before the United States and NATO withdrew from it. the end of the month.

While the capital of Kabul itself was not directly threatened by the advance, the staggering speed of the offensive raises questions about how long the Afghan government will be able to maintain control of the shreds of the country it left. The government could eventually be forced to withdraw to defend the capital and a few other towns as thousands of people displaced by the fighting fled to Kabul and now live in open fields and parks..

The fighting around Lashkar Gah has been raging for weeks. A suicide car bomb attack on Wednesday marked the latest wave targeting the regional police headquarters in the capital. The Taliban took the building on Thursday, with some police surrendering to the militants and others retreating to the neighboring governor’s office which is still being held by government forces, said Nasima Niazi, a lawmaker from Helmand.

Niazi said she believed the Taliban attack killed and injured members of the security forces, but did not cause any casualties. Another suicide car bomb targeted the provincial jail, but the government still detained her, she said. Further Taliban advances have allowed militants to free hundreds of their members over the past week, bolstering their ranks while seizing weapons and vehicles provided by the United States.

Niazi criticized the ongoing airstrikes targeting the area, saying civilians were likely injured and killed.

“The Taliban used civilian homes for protection, and the government, without paying any attention to civilians, carried out airstrikes,” she said.

With Afghan air power limited and in disarray, the US Air Force would conduct a series of strikes to support Afghan forces. Aviation tracking data suggests US Air Force B-52 bombers, F-15 fighter jets, drones and other planes were involved in the overnight fighting across the country , according to Australian security firm The Cavell Group.

It is not known what losses the American bombing campaign caused. Qatar-based U.S. Air Force Central Command did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the Taliban appeared to be pressing in the provincial capital of Ghazni, some 130 kilometers (80 miles) southwest of Kabul. Wahidullah Jumazada, spokesman for the governor of Ghazni province, admitted that the insurgents had launched attacks from several directions on the capital, but insisted that the government remained in control.

The Taliban posted videos and photos online claiming to show they had successfully entered the provincial capital. Some corresponded to known characteristics of Ghazni.

Ghazni provincial council chief Nesar Ahmad Faqiri said government forces still had an intelligence headquarters in the town. Another provincial council member still in Ghazni, Amanullah Kamrani, said the government also runs the governor’s guesthouse.

The success of the Taliban offensive also raises the question of whether they would one day join the long-stalled peace talks in Qatar aimed at moving Afghanistan towards an inclusive interim administration, as the West hoped. . Instead, the Taliban could come to power by force – or the country could split into factional fighting as it did after the Soviet withdrawal in 1989.

In Doha, US envoy Zalmay Khalilzad met with Chinese, Pakistani and Russian diplomats to warn the Taliban that they could again be considered international outcasts if they continued their offensive, said the spokesperson for the government. State Department, Ned Price. Khalizad also plans to meet with the Afghan government and Taliban officials as the fighting continues with no signs of abating.

Multiple battlefronts have strained the government’s special operations forces – while regular troops have often fled the battlefield – and violence has forced thousands of civilians to seek refuge in the capital.

The latest US military intelligence assessment is that Kabul could come under insurgent pressure within 30 days and if current trends continue, the Taliban could take full control of the country within months.

___

Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Faiez from Istanbul.