The international troika meeting on Afghanistan kicked off Tuesday in the Qatari capital, Doha, to discuss the latest developments in the Afghan file in light of the recent accelerating transformations on the ground, amid attacks and remarkable progress by the Taliban movement in several axes in Afghanistan.

Al-Jazeera correspondent quoted a member of the Taliban delegation to the Afghanistan peace talks that the movement's delegation will meet to decide whether or not to participate in the international troika meeting, while Afghan government sources previously told Al-Jazeera that the head of the Afghan reconciliation committee, Abdullah Abdullah, will participate in the meeting today.

Earlier, the US State Department said that the US special envoy to Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, went to the Qatari capital, Doha, to pressure the Taliban movement to stop its military operations and negotiate a political settlement.

In a statement, the Foreign Ministry said that during several rounds of meetings over a period of 3 days, representatives of countries in the region and international organizations will press for a reduction in violence, a cease-fire, and a commitment not to recognize a government that comes to power by force.

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

Earlier, the US Department of Defense (Pentagon) said that the Afghans are responsible for defending their country, while the Taliban movement continues to advance in northern Afghanistan and vows to storm the capital, Kabul.


The US statements came from Pentagon spokesman John Kirby, who said that the Taliban movement has made progress on the ground, adding that Washington will continue to support the Afghan forces through air strikes, and said that the Afghan forces have the military capabilities to make a difference on the ground.

Former US President Donald Trump decided to withdraw international forces from Afghanistan.

His successor, Joe Biden, has delayed the withdrawal deadline for a few months, but US and foreign forces will leave by the end of August.

In recent weeks, the Biden administration has made clear that Washington will maintain its "support" for the government in Kabul, especially with regard to military training, but that, as for the rest, Afghans must decide their own fate.

Afghan-Iranian meeting and Russian statements

In a related development, Afghan Foreign Minister Hanif Atmar met with the Iranian special envoy to Afghanistan, Ibrahim Taherian, to discuss the latest security developments in the country.

In a statement, the Afghan Foreign Ministry said that Atmar praised the results of the recent meeting of the UN Security Council and considered them important to end violence and find a political solution in Afghanistan.

He welcomed what he called the constructive role of regional and international countries, especially Iran, in stopping Taliban attacks and persuading the movement to return to the negotiating table.

The two sides also discussed the upcoming Doha meeting today on Afghanistan, and ways to enhance regional cooperation to address the security situation in the country.

For his part, Taherian expressed concern about the security situation in Afghanistan, and stressed Tehran's readiness for comprehensive cooperation with Kabul.

On the other hand, Russian Special Envoy to Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov said - in a press statement - that his country's expectations are good regarding the Troika meeting on Afghanistan, which will be held in Doha today, Tuesday.

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

Mazar-i-Sharif battles

On the ground, Al-Jazeera correspondent in Afghanistan quoted the governor of Balkh province as saying that violent battles are still taking place between Afghan forces and Taliban militants on the outskirts of Mazar-i-Sharif.

The governor of Balkh province added that a new commander of government forces and military reinforcements arrived in the city yesterday evening.

For his part, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid announced that the movement's fighters had taken control of several locations in the vicinity of Mazar-i-Sharif, as well as in Nangarhar province.

He also said that they killed and wounded government forces, destroyed vehicles and seized weapons.

The Afghan Ministry of Defense had said that 150 Taliban militants were killed in air strikes carried out by Afghan forces in the northern province of Balkh, while the Taliban denied the killing of its militants and said that Afghan forces bombed residential areas.

A source at the Afghan Defense Ministry also reported that the air force had launched a raid that killed 47 Taliban militants in Kandahar province in southern Afghanistan.

The source also indicated that 25 of the movement's fighters were wounded, pointing out that ground operations took place in the area on Monday.

The situation in northern Afghanistan is changing rapidly. After the Taliban seized the large city of Kunduz in the northeast of the country, as well as the cities of Sari Pul and Taleqan on Sunday, within a few hours, the Taliban added two to their list the city of Aybak, with a population of 120,000, which fell without resistance. .

The Taliban now controls 6 of the capitals of the 34 Afghan provinces, after they captured Sheberghan, the stronghold of warlord Abdul Rashid Dostum, about 50 km north of Sari Pul, and on Friday at Zaranj, the capital of the far southwestern province of Nimroz, on the border with Iran.

The rapidly advancing Taliban now controls 5 of the nine provincial capitals in the north, while fighting continues in the other four capitals.

By attacking Mazar-i-Sharif, the largest city in northern Afghanistan and the capital of Balkh province, it appears that the movement is not thinking of slowing the frantic pace of its advance in the north.

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


Muhammad Atta Noor, the former governor of Balkh province and a strongman in Mazar-i-Sharif and the north, vowed to resist "until the last drop of blood".

"I'd rather die with dignity than die in despair," he wrote on Twitter.

Mazar-i-Sharif is a historic city and a commercial crossroads, and it is one of the pillars on which the government relied to control the north of the country.

Its fall would be a very severe blow to the authorities.

In the face of these accelerating developments, Al-Jazeera correspondent in Afghanistan, Younes Ait Yassin, said that the Afghan president recently met with Abdul Rashid Dostum, amid talk and news reported by Bloomberg that the president is thinking of creating popular uprisings and arming civilians as the last wall against the Taliban's progress, after the withdrawal of forces. American.

Civilians in the eye of the storm

Thousands fled the north of the country and many more arrived in Kabul on Monday after a 10-hour drive through several Taliban checkpoints.

And the International Red Cross announced that hundreds of thousands of civilians are at risk with the intensification of fighting in several Afghan cities.

On Monday, UNICEF reported that at least 20 children were killed and 130 wounded in the last three days in Kandahar province alone.

For its part, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights warned of the continuing violence in Afghanistan, and said that the violations may amount to war crimes.