Taliban continue their assault in Afghanistan. They claim that they have seized a border crossing with Pakistan on Wednesday. This is the latest in a series to be seized by them.
This was the latest development in Taliban victories on the ground, as American and NATO troops pull out from war-torn country. A senior Afghan official stated Tuesday that a delegation of government officials, including the head the country’s reconciliation committee, would meet with the Taliban in Doha (Qatar) to kick-start long-stalled peace negotiations between the two countries.
Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesperson, tweeted a video showing Taliban fighters Wednesday in Spin Boldak, a town located along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. Residents of Chaman, Pakistan’s border town, reported seeing the white flag of the Taliban flying across the boundary and the Taliban fighters driving through the area.
A southern Kandahar provincial official of the Afghan government denied that the Taliban had taken over. Spin Boldak is also located in this province. Without explaining why, the official refused to identify himself by name.
In recent weeks, the Taliban have taken several major Afghan border crossings with Iran, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan. It is a lucrative route for trade and a key border crossing with Iran at Islam Qala, Afghanistan’s western Herat region.
SpinBoldak is the main crossing point for all goods between Pakistan’s southern port of Karachi and Afghanistan. This landlocked nation, which is dependent on the Arabian Sea port, is not able to afford a regular air transport.
The Taliban claimed last week that they now control 85% Afghanistan’s territory. This claim is difficult to verify, but it was significantly higher than the previous Taliban statements that over a third of Afghanistan’s 421 districts were under their control.
Many Afghan districts fell to the Taliban without fighting, as Afghan forces left their posts. According to reports, Spin Boldak was also defeated.
More than 1,000 Afghan soldiers fled north Afghanistan last week to escape the Taliban-advancing Taliban, which is a stronghold for U.S.-allied warlords. Iran reported that a few hundred Afghan troops had crossed into Iran.
They will be able to make significant revenue and strengthen their position in future negotiations with Kabul.
Tens of thousands of Afghans fled their homes due to the Taliban surge. Some flee because of fighting, others fear for their lives under Taliban rule.
In remarks Wednesday, Zalmay Khalilzad (the U.S. special representative to Afghanistan reconciliation) acknowledged the chaos that continues. He did however point to the many decades of unrest that have characterized Afghanistan since the Soviet invasion in 1979.
Khalilzad stated that Afghanistan has been at war since 43 years. “It isn’t that Afghanistan was peaceful, but now we are withdrawing from it and it’s becoming an important battlefield,” he said to an online seminar hosted by the Beirut Institute. “The Taliban made progress every year in the past several years, while we were still there.”
Taliban leaders have tried to project a more positive image, even saying that girls will be able to attend school once they are back in power in Afghanistan. Reports from villages indicate that women in areas they control are being forced to stay inside and allowed to leave only when accompanied with a male relative.
Unidentified Taliban fighter claims that they could have killed Afghan soldiers at the border crossing. However, their leadership ordered them not to harm them and to send them home.
Expected to attend the Doha talks were the Taliban’s senior leaders. Doha is where the insurgent movement has had a long-standing political office.
These negotiations aim to end the violence that has steadily grown since the U.S. made a deal in February with the insurgent movement, which stipulated the withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan.
With growing concerns about what lies ahead, thousands of Afghans are fleeing the country. The outgoing U.S. commander General Scott Miller, who resigned on Monday at Kabul’s ceremony, warned that Afghanistan’s prospects of peaceful resolution to decades of conflict are seriously diminished by increasing violence.
Miller warned of civil war because U.S.-allied warlords are resurrecting militias to counter the Taliban surge. These militias have a violent past.
