Afghanistan: Violence continues in Kandahar province, residents in disarray

Kandahar still plagued by violence.

Here in July 2019, the Afghan soldiers secure an area after a bomb attack (Illustration).

AP - STR

Text by: RFI Follow

2 min

As peace negotiations resumed between the Taliban and Afghan authorities in Doha, Qatar on January 6, violence continues in Afghanistan.

The Taliban, who have repeatedly rejected the Afghan government's ceasefire offers, have even stepped up their offensives against government forces in recent months.

This is particularly the case in the south of the country, where nearly 1,000 families have fled their villages in Kandahar province over the past four months.

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With our correspondent in Kabul,

Sonia Ghezali

Makeshift camps were hastily set up all over Kandahar City.

It is in the provincial capital that more than 35,000 people have found refuge.

They live in extremely precarious conditions in tents without heating or electricity.

At night, the thermometer reads -7 degrees.

Soon a humanitarian crisis?

Local authorities fear a humanitarian crisis because they do not have the capacity to support the 10,000 families who have fled to Kandahar, nor the 7,000 others who have sought refuge with relatives or neighbors.

In some districts, the fighting continues.

Kandahar, cradle of the Taliban movement, has seen

an upsurge in violence

for several months.

Taliban insurgents regularly carry out attacks against government forces, attacking - among other things - checkpoints in districts of the province.

Position of strength

The Kabul government keeps calling for

a ceasefire from Taliban negotiators

in Doha.

But the latter refuse.

According to several experts, the military pressure exerted by the Taliban on the ground is one of their strategies to be in a position of strength in the peace negotiations.

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See also: Afghanistan: peace negotiations resume

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