Offensive on provincial centers: the Taliban announced the capture of several cities in Afghanistan in a day

Members of the radical Taliban * stated that they had succeeded in capturing five major cities in Afghanistan: Herat, Kandahar, Ghazni, Kalayi Nau and Talinkot.

The organization's spokesman Zabihula Mujahid reported on the seizure of the city of Herat on Twitter. 

Prior to this, the Taliban also announced the capture of Kandahar, the second largest city in Afghanistan.

The country's authorities did not officially confirm this information, but confirmed that the Taliban entered the city.

Also on August 12, the Taliban announced that they had established control over the city of Ghazni in the province of the same name, and the city of Talinkot.

In addition, in the evening, members of the radical movement announced the capture of the provincial capital of Badghis.

“This evening, the center of Badghis province, the location of the National Security and Intelligence Directorate were captured, a large number of soldiers surrendered, a large number of weapons, ammunition and vehicles were seized,” Interfax quoted Taliban spokesman Qari Ahmadi as saying.

After information about the seizure of Kandahar appeared, the US Embassy in Afghanistan asked American citizens in the country to leave the state using commercial flights.

In addition, the newspaper The New York Times, citing two unnamed American officials, reported that the United States is negotiating with members of the movement, trying to get them to ensure that if they seize Kabul, they will not attack the American embassy.

The publication also reported that at the moment the American authorities are trying to determine at what time the employees of their diplomatic mission in Kabul may need to be evacuated if the Taliban continue their offensive.

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby also said that the department intends to transfer about 3 thousand troops to Kabul in the next two days. 

“They will complement the troops already in Kabul.

We now have over 650 troops in Kabul.

These 3 thousand will join them, "TASS quotes him.

These forces, he explained, will provide security during the operation to evacuate part of the staff of the American embassy in Kabul.

In addition, the head of the press service of the State Department Ned Price said that the US authorities intend to reduce the number of employees of the American embassy in Kabul in the coming weeks against the backdrop of a changing security situation.

“In the coming weeks, we expect to reduce our presence in Afghanistan to a base diplomatic mission.

The embassy is still open, we plan to continue our diplomatic work in Afghanistan, ”Price said.

According to him, the US Department of Defense will temporarily send additional personnel to the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul to evacuate the diplomatic missions.

At the same time, the head of the Supreme Council for National Reconciliation in Afghanistan, Abdullah Abdullah, called for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council on the crisis in the country.

During a regional conference in the capital of Qatar, Doha, he said that the progress achieved so far in resolving the crisis is under threat.

We will remind, on August 10 in the capital of Qatar, Doha, a regular meeting started, dedicated to the peaceful settlement of the situation in Afghanistan.

In the final statement, the participants of the meeting noted the need to "accelerate the course of the peace process in Afghanistan" and noted their readiness to assist in the restoration of the republic in the event of a settlement of the conflict.

"The participants in the meeting call to prevent the transformation of Afghanistan into a source of threat to the security of other countries," the TASS statement quoted.

It also notes that the Afghan government and the Taliban need to take steps to build mutual trust.

If the movement seizes power in Afghanistan and "the Islamic Caliphate is re-established, it will face international rejection, isolation, lack of international support and the prospect of further aggravation of the conflict and instability in Afghanistan," the statement said.

The EU also called on the Taliban to immediately end the offensive and begin negotiations.

“The ongoing attacks are causing unacceptable suffering to Afghan citizens, as well as increasing the number of internally displaced persons and those leaving Afghanistan in search of security,” the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell said in a statement.

We will remind, the militants of the radical Taliban movement launched a large-scale offensive against the background of the withdrawal of the US and NATO armed forces from Afghanistan.

In 2020, the Donald Trump administration entered into a peace agreement with the Taliban, which provided for the withdrawal of the American military in exchange for a promise not to use the country's territory for actions that threaten US national security.

Recently, the militants have taken possession of significant territories in rural areas, as well as border areas of the country.

In late July, the Taliban reported that they control about 90% of Afghanistan's border, including the border with Iran, Pakistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

* "Taliban" - the organization was recognized as terrorist by the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of February 14, 2003.