With less than three months before the total withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan, the Taliban continue to gain ground. In recent days, they have intensified their attacks on the province of Ba ...

Afghanistan: the Taliban gain ground and sow panic among the population

A family flees Panjwai district in Kandahar province on July 4, 2021, after the Taliban seized a key neighborhood in their former stronghold in Kandahar.

AFP - JAVED TANVEER

Text by: RFI Follow

3 min

With less than three months before the total withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan, the Taliban continue to gain ground.

In recent days, they have intensified their attacks on Badakhshan province in the northeast as well as around the provincial capital of Kandahar in the south.

Publicity

Badakhshan province is said to be on the verge of falling into Taliban hands, rumors say.

The Afghan authorities deny.

On social networks, many videos show dozens of Taliban fighters, waving victory flags, in police cars, in Humvee.

We see the armed men parading in the midst of military equipment which they have seized.

It is difficult to verify the authenticity of these images.

But the testimonies of the inhabitants, who fled the districts fallen under the control of the insurgents, corroborate them, reports our correspondent in Kabul,

Sonia Ghezali.

In the south of the country, the noose is tightening on the provincial capital of Kandahar.

The Taliban have taken control of Panjwai district in the past few hours.

According to local media, the insurgents conquered more than a dozen districts in the space of 24 hours.

The rapid advance of the Taliban is causing panic among the population.

A young musician in Kabul told RFI on Saturday that he was terrified to see them progress so quickly.

He says he will flee to neighboring Pakistan by road if the Taliban take over an entire province.

Religious fundamentalists cut off musicians' ears when they ruled Afghanistan, he recalls, livid.

"We will defend the cities with all our strength"

This capture around Kandahar comes two days after the

departure of American and NATO troops

from the Bagram base, their largest in Afghanistan and the nerve center of the coalition's operations against the Taliban for the past twenty years.

In an interview with Afghan television Tolo News, the Afghan interior minister stressed that the Afghan forces will defend the cities with all their might against the Taliban.

We will defend the cities with all our might.

We have a strong air force now.

We have the capacity [...] The cities are our red lines.

Abdul Satar Mirzakwal, Afghan Minister of the Interior

Jelena tomic

The withdrawal of coalition soldiers is set for September 11.

► To read also: Afghanistan: "The Americans leave without having done the necessary"

Afghanistan: the Taliban gain ground and sow panic among the population

Afghanistan: the Taliban gain ground and sow panic among the population

"We will defend the cities with all our strength"

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