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KABUL, Afghanistan – The Taliban took control of at least four provincial capitals in Afghanistan on Monday, as militants continued their offensive as US forces finalized their withdrawal from the war-torn country.
Fighters captured Sar-e Pul in the province of Sar-e Pul in northern Afghanistan and Taleqan in Takhar province in the northeast on Sunday.
Abdullah Bek, a lawmaker from Takhar province, said Afghan security forces and militias defended the town of Taleqan for 60 days before they had to give up and retreat. The city is now in the hands of the Taliban.
Hassan Sharifi, a lawmaker from Sar-e Pul province, told NBC News that the town of Sar-e Pul had fallen and only one district remained in government hands in the province.
The gains add two more provincial capitals to the Taliban’s rapidly growing list as US forces complete their withdrawal. The group captured its first provincial capital in Nimroz province on Friday.
On Saturday, insurgent fighters claimed control of Sheberghan, the capital of northern Jawzjan province, and a provincial lawmaker told the PA that fighters had entered the capital. NBC News has not independently confirmed that the city has fallen.
The next day, Taliban fighters captured the town of Kunduz, a major Afghan trading center.
It is not yet clear how long the group would be able to keep control of its urban earnings. Mirwais Stanekzai, spokesman for the Afghan Interior Ministry, said on Monday that Afghan forces were still fighting to defend the towns of Kunduz, Sheberghan and Sar-e-Pul. He said the Afghan security forces had made “good achievements” in the town of Kunduz.
The rapid fall of provincial capitals is a blow to crumbling Afghan government forces who have struggled to contain the rampant Taliban offensive as US and NATO troops withdraw from the country.
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The Taliban recently began to besiege provincial capitals after taking over rural administrative districts. The capitals he claims to have captured since Friday stretch from the country’s northeast, counterclockwise to the southwest next to the border with Iran.
The insurgent offensive drove thousands of people from their homes to seek refuge, both from the fighting and the prospect of a reimposition of the Islamist regime that ruled the country before 2001. While in power, the Taliban imposed a harsh version of Islam, and the lives of women in particular were strictly controlled.
As the Taliban turn to Afghan towns, attempts to assassinate government officials have also been reported in the capital, Kabul. On Saturday, the US and UK embassies in Kabul reiterated a warning to citizens still there to leave “immediately” as the security situation deteriorated.
A State Department spokesperson condemned the Taliban offensive on Sunday, but said Afghan forces outnumber militants and the United States will continue to support government forces.
The United States overthrew the Taliban government in 2001 after the group sheltered Osama bin Laden, the architect behind the September 11 attacks that sparked the US invasion of Afghanistan and the United States’ longest war. .
Biden said last month that the U.S. military mission to the country would end on Aug.31 earlier than originally announced. The conflict claimed the lives of approximately 2,300 American soldiers. From 2001 to 2018, some 58,000 Afghan soldiers and police were killed in the violence, according to a study by Brown University.
Between 2009, when the United Nations began documenting the impact of war on civilians, and 2019, an estimated 28 civilians were killed or injured every day, or more than 100,000 casualties.
Saphora Smith reported from London. Ahmed Mengli reported from London.
Mushtaq Yusufzai contributed.
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