On August 11, local time, the Afghan Taliban announced that they had occupied the city of Faizabad in northern Afghanistan. This was the ninth capital city announced by the Taliban in less than a week.
US intelligence agencies estimate that the Taliban is likely to take the capital Kabul within 90 days.
According to reports, at present, the Taliban have occupied two-thirds of Afghanistan’s land, including a large area in the northeast that was originally a stronghold of anti-Taliban forces, and besieged the local government forces in Balkh Province.
In response to the latest situation, a US official quoted a US intelligence assessment report saying that the Taliban may isolate Kabul within 30 days and may take over it within 90 days.
The anonymous U.S. official said the new assessment was made after the Taliban made rapid progress.
The official added, "But this is not the final conclusion," and said that the Afghan security forces can reverse this momentum by engaging in more resistance.
Regarding the current situation in Afghanistan, US President Biden said on the 10th local time that “Afghan government forces must fight for themselves and for the country” and he promised that the US will continue to provide military assistance to Afghanistan.
(Produced by Le Xiaomin)
Editor in charge: [Sun Jingbo]