The Afghan Ministry of Defense announced the killing of 22 Taliban militants in a raid carried out by Afghan forces in the northern province of Baghlan, while the outskirts of Mazar-i-Sharif witnessed fierce battles between government forces and the movement's fighters after the latter announced its control of the city of Aibak, the capital of Samangan province.

While Doha is preparing to host the troika meeting on peace in Afghanistan tomorrow, Tuesday, Berlin said that the Taliban movement can only be defeated with another combat mission, while the US Central Command - to the island - said that its forces launched air strikes in the past days in Afghanistan in defense of the Afghan partners.

While the Taliban announced attacking the city of Mazar-i-Sharif, the center of Balkh province, from several axes, the local authorities denied that the movement's militants had stormed the city.

A spokesman for the governor of Balkh province, Munir Farhad, said that clashes took place between Afghan forces and Taliban militants in Dehdadi district of the province.

While a source at the Afghan Defense Ministry told Al Jazeera that the commander of the Afghan forces in Balkh province had returned to the capital, Kabul, without mentioning the reason for that.

continuous expansion

Earlier today, Al-Jazeera correspondent said that the Taliban had taken control of the city of Aibak, the capital of Samangan province, to join several capitals of the states that the movement had seized during the past three days.

Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, announced on Twitter that the movement's forces had taken control of the Hazrat Sultan district and government headquarters in Semangan, in the north of the country.

He added that the movement is attacking the city of Mazar-i-Sharif - the capital of Balkh province - from 4 sides and that the fighting is continuing, explaining that the latest information indicates that the movement's gunmen have entered the city from the side of Kota Barq.


The Taliban spokesman also said - in a tweet on Twitter - that the militants of the movement had taken control of a military base of the Afghan forces in the Rabat area of ​​Paktika province.

Yesterday, Sunday, the Taliban announced its control over the centers of 3 states, bringing the number to 6 within 24 hours. The three centers are Kunduz city, capital of a province of the same name, Sari Pul city (north) capital of a province of the same name, and Taleqan city, capital of Takhar province. North) bordering Tajikistan.

A spokesman for the Taliban's political office - Muhammad Naim - told Al-Jazeera that the Afghan government chose war, as it began military operations against the Taliban on the second day of Eid al-Adha, considering that what the Taliban is doing is a reaction.

He added that there is no agreement on a cease-fire, warning that any external interference will exacerbate the situation and increase problems, according to him.

Kandahar (south) and Herat (west), the second and third cities of the country, have been under Taliban attacks for several days, similar to what is happening in Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand Province (south).

recovery attempts

On the other hand, an Afghan government source told Al-Jazeera that a detonation of an explosive device targeted a vehicle belonging to the government forces in Kandahar province.

The Afghan Interior Ministry said that the government forces launched a military operation to retake the city of Kunduz, and that they regained control of many areas in it.

She added that the military operations will expand against Taliban militants in the states of Jowzjan and Sari Pul.

An Afghan soldier on a military vehicle guards Bagram base after the withdrawal of US forces from it (Reuters)

The Taliban had previously taken control of the city of Kunduz in 2015 and 2016, which is a strategic crossroads between Kabul and Tajikistan, and its control constitutes the largest military success for the Taliban since the start of the last battles that erupted in May with the start of the withdrawal of international forces.

The Afghan Ministry of Defense also announced the killing and wounding of 30 Taliban militants in an artillery bombardment on Shirzad in Nangarhar province, coinciding with the ministry's announcement of regaining control of the Warsaj district headquarters in Takhar province in the north of the country.

A new task

In a related context, German Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer said that the Taliban movement in Afghanistan can only be defeated by another difficult and very long combat mission.

The minister added that the reports from Kunduz and all over Afghanistan were "very bitter and painful", expressing her belief that the Taliban would have been hit even if the German army was still in the country.

The German minister wondered if society and parliament were ready to send the German army to war, and to stay there for at least another generation, noting that if Germany did not do that, then withdrawing with the partners is the right decision.

The Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the German Parliament, Norbert Röttgen, called for a new mission of the German army to Afghanistan.

Iran and Pakistan

For his part, Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said that Pakistan will not bear the mistakes of others in Afghanistan, whether they are internal or foreign parties.

Qureshi added that Pakistan stands at the same distance from all the warring parties in Afghanistan, and that it rejects the continued foreign presence there, and supports the American withdrawal on time.

Recently, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan revealed that he had rejected a request by Afghan President Ashraf Ghani to carry out military action by the Pakistani army against the Taliban movement.

Imran Khan recently revealed that he was asked to intervene militarily to stop the progress of the Taliban movement (Al-Jazeera)

Not only did Khan reject direct military intervention against the Taliban, but he also rejected security involvement in the crisis.

In a related context, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif accused unidentified foreign parties of being responsible for deepening the crisis in Afghanistan, describing the situation as very dangerous.

During his meeting in Tehran, the UN Secretary-General's envoy to Afghanistan, Jean Arnaud, Zarif expressed his country's readiness to facilitate intra-Afghan dialogue as the only way to resolve the crisis.

For his part, the UN envoy stressed that no country or a limited group of countries will succeed in resolving the Afghan crisis, and that the way to do so is collective cooperation, as he put it.

Doha meeting

In a related context, Al-Jazeera correspondent in Afghanistan quoted a source close to the Afghan negotiations that the State of Qatar will hold meetings on the 10th and 12th of this month for a group of countries, with the aim of mobilizing regional and international support and consensus to achieve peace and stability in Afghanistan.

On the other hand, the Russian Special Envoy to Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov, said in press statements that his country's expectations are good regarding the Troika meeting on Afghanistan, which will be held in Doha tomorrow, which is a meeting of the four Troika countries Russia, the United States, China and Pakistan.


Meanwhile, the Russian official emphasized that "no tangible progress in the intra-Afghan negotiations" should be expected until the fall.

Al-Jazeera correspondent in Afghanistan quoted a government source as saying that the head of the Afghan reconciliation committee, Abdullah Abdullah, will participate in the meeting tomorrow.

The New York Times also quoted a US official as saying that what the Taliban had achieved on the ground did not prompt Biden to re-evaluate his decision to end combat missions by the end of this month.

The newspaper said that the silent American response to the Taliban's control of Afghan cities shows unequivocally that the American war in Afghanistan is over, and that the Afghan forces must defend themselves, and take over the task of recovering the cities from the Taliban or leaving them under the control of the movement.

A US official also said that with only 650 US troops remaining in Afghanistan, a coordinated air campaign was unlikely to undo the progress made by the Taliban.

The newspaper reported that the views of US administration and Defense Ministry officials differed on whether Washington should continue its air strikes after the completion of the withdrawal of its forces by the end of this month to avoid the fall of Afghan cities and the government of Ashraf Ghani.