The Taliban are now in possession of six of the country's 34 provincial capitals.

On Monday, August 9, they seized a new provincial capital in northern Afghanistan and began to turn their gaze on Mazar-i-Sharif, the largest city in this part of the country.

After conquering Kunduz, the large northeastern city, Taloqan, 50 km to the east, and Sar-e-Pul, 400 km further west, in a few hours on Sunday, the Taliban added Aibak on Monday to this list.

Aibak, a town of 120,000 inhabitants located about 100 km southwest of Kunduz, fell without resistance.

"The Taliban have captured the city of Aibak and have complete control over it," Sefatullah Samangani, deputy governor of Samangan province, of which Aibak is the capital, told AFP.

"Last night a former senator surrendered to the Taliban" and on Monday notables asked the governor to withdraw his forces from the city to be spared from the fighting, which he accepted, he said. -he explains.

The rapidly advancing Taliban now control five of the nine provincial capitals in the north and fighting is ongoing in the other four.

The insurgents already have their next target in view and have announced that they have attacked Mazar-i-Sharif.

But residents and officials said they had not yet reached it.

Towards Mazar-i-Sharif

Police in Balkh province, of which Mazar-i-Sharif is the capital, said the closest fighting was at least km away.

She accused the Taliban of wanting to "create anguish among the civilian population with their propaganda".

"The enemy is now moving towards Mazar-i-Sharif, but fortunately the seat belts (around the city) are strong and the enemy has been pushed back," said Mirwais Stanikzai, spokesman for the ministry of 'Interior, in a message to the media.

Historic city and commercial crossroads, Mazar-i-Sharif is the pillar on which the government has always relied to control the north of the country.

His fall would be an extremely hard blow to power.

Mohammad Atta Noor, the ex-governor of Balkh province, a long-time strongman of Mazar-i-Sharif and the north, has vowed to resist "to the last drop of blood".

"I'd rather die with dignity than die in despair," he tweeted.

Northern Afghanistan has always been viewed as strongly opposed to the Taliban.

It was there that they encountered the fiercest resistance when they came to power in the 1990s.

The Taliban tighten their grip on the north

07:38

The Taliban ruled the country between 1996 and 2001, imposing their ultra-rigorous version of Islamic law, before being ousted from power by an international coalition led by the United States.

Kunduz is the best take so far by the Taliban, who launched a large offensive in early May with the withdrawal of international forces, to be fully completed by August 31.

Located 300 km north of Kabul, Kunduz, already conquered twice in recent years by the insurgents, in 2015 and 2016, is a strategic crossroads between Afghanistan and Tajikistan.

Offensives in the south and in the west

While the army proved incapable of halting their offensive in the north, it continued to face off against Kandahar and Lashkar Gah, two historic insurgent strongholds in southern Afghanistan, as well as Herat, in the 'Where is.

"Fortunately, the security situation has improved in the provinces of Kandahar, Lashkar Gah and Herat (...) The plan (of the enemy) to take these towns has been neutralized," said Mirwais Stanikzai.

But this resistance comes at the cost of heavy civilian casualties.

At least 20 children have been killed and 130 injured in the past three days in Kandahar province alone, Unicef ​​said Monday.

In Lashkar Gah, capital of Helmand province, which the Taliban entered early last week, authorities said they had cleared large areas of the city's east and northeast.

"The clean-up operation continues successfully but is slow because the Taliban have taken up positions in the homes of civilians," Defense Ministry spokesman Fawad Aman said on Twitter.

The Afghan government has pledged to take back all the territories lost since May, but without very tangible results so far.

With AFP

The summary of the week

France 24 invites you to come back to the news that marked the week

I subscribe

Take international news everywhere with you!

Download the France 24 application

google-play-badge_FR