A symbolic take for the Taliban.

By seizing Mazar-i-Sharif, Saturday evening August 14, the insurgents took up their quarters in the fourth largest city of Afghanistan and especially in the last large city in the north of the country still controlled by the government.

The Taliban "parade their vehicles and motorcycles, firing in the air to celebrate," said Atiqullah Ghayor, who lives near the famous blue mosque of Mazar-i-Sharif, adding that Afghan forces have withdrawn. from the city.

Abas Ebrahimzada, a lawmaker from Balkh province where the city is located, said the national army surrendered first, prompting pro-government militias and other forces to lose morale and give up in the face of the Taliban assault launched earlier on Saturday.

Abas Ebrahimzada said Abdul Rashid Dostum and Ata Mohammad Noor, former warlords who command thousands of fighters, fled the province and their whereabouts were unknown.

The Taliban have made major strides in recent days, including seizing Herat and Kandahar, the country's second and third largest cities.

They now control around 21 of Afghanistan's 34 provinces, leaving the Western-backed government with a small number of provinces in the center and east, as well as the capital, Kabul.

Taliban moving closer to Kabul

On Saturday, the Taliban captured the whole of Logar province, just south of Kabul, and detained local officials, said Hoda Ahmadi, a provincial lawmaker.

She said the Taliban had reached Char Asyab district, just 11 kilometers south of the capital.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani traveled to Mazar-i-Sharif on Wednesday to rally the city's defenses and meet with several militia commanders, including Dostum and Noor.

On Saturday, he pledged not to abandon the "achievements" of the past twenty years since the United States overthrew the Taliban after the September 11, 2001 attacks.

The United States continued peace talks between the government and the Taliban in Qatar this week, and the international community has warned that a force-established Taliban government will be shunned.

But the insurgents seem to have little interest in making concessions as they rack up the victories on the battlefield.

Mazar-i-Sharif, stronghold of resistance to the Taliban

Mazar-i-Sharif, home to a famous blue-tiled Muslim shrine, was a stronghold of the Northern Alliance, ethnic militias that helped the United States topple the Taliban in 2001.

In 1997, nearly 2,000 Taliban fighters were captured and killed by forces loyal to Mohammed Mohaqiq, a Shiite Hazara leader, and his Uzbek allies.

The following year, the Taliban returned and killed thousands of Hazaras in Mazar-i-Sharif in a revenge attack.

In recent weeks, thousands of Afghans fleeing outlying areas have flocked to Mazar-i-Sharif for refuge.

Tens of thousands of Afghans have fled their homes, many fearing a return to the oppressive Taliban regime.

The group had previously ruled Afghanistan under a harsh version of Islamic law, in which women were not allowed to work or attend school, and could not leave their homes unaccompanied by a male parent.

With AFP and AP

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