Former Bundeswehr base: Taliban conquer the city of Mazar-i

According to a representative of the province, the Taliban have taken the city of Mazar-i-Sharif.

Apparently the city fell without a fight, said the chairman of the local provincial council, Afsal Hadid.

Government soldiers have fled towards the border with Uzbekistan.

In a field camp on the outskirts of the city, the German Bundeswehr had its headquarters for the Afghanistan mission until it withdrew in June.

The Islamists had been attacking Mazar-i-Sharif intensely for about a week.

Again and again they tried from several sides to penetrate the economically strong metropolis with an estimated 500,000 inhabitants.

Militias of the ex-governor Mohammad Atta Nur and the ex-warlord Abdul Raschid Dostum had recently built an additional line of defense north of the city to support the security forces.

Prisoners released

In Mazar-i-Sharif, the German armed forces had a large field camp in Camp Marmal near the airport until recently. Around 1,000 German soldiers were stationed there until the summer. At the end of June, following the decision to withdraw from the US and NATO, the last remaining soldiers were flown out at night in four military aircraft. The Bundeswehr recently trained Afghan security forces as part of the NATO “Resolute Support” mission. There could be other local armed forces in the city. They fear acts of revenge by the Taliban against them.

From security sources it was said that the Islamists entered the city at around 9 p.m. (local time).

They then released prisoners from the city's central prison.

A large part of the security forces have withdrawn to the district of Tschahar Kent and to Camp Marmal near the airport.

Sabiullah Kakar Provincial Council said the city was completely under Islamist control.

The 209th Army Corps on the outskirts of the city also fell through a "deal" with the Islamists.

All the achievements of the past 20 years, said Kakar, have been nullified.

Mohammad Atta Nur and Abuld Raschid Dostum are said to have fled to the city of Hairatan on the border with Uzbekistan and are trying to cross the border.

Other security forces would try the same as well.

Taliban control 21 of 34 provincial capitals

Since the US and NATO troops began to withdraw in May, the Taliban have made huge territorial gains.

They now control 21 of the country's 34 provincial capitals.

Shortly before the fall of Mazar-i-Sharif, local officials also confirmed the case of the provincial capital Gardis in Paktia in the south-east of the country.

On Saturday two other small provincial capitals in the east - Asadabad in Kunar and Sharana in Paktika in the southeast - went to the Taliban without a fight.

This week, Herat and Kandahar, the third and second largest cities in the country, fell to the Islamists.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said in a short TV address on Saturday that he was aware of the dire situation the country is in.

Now the "historic task" is to prevent the death of more innocent people and to defend the achievements for civil society of the past 20 years.

In doing so, he did not respond to speculation that he could resign to pave the way for a possible political agreement with the Islamists.

He holds consultations with political leaders and international partners and wants to present results "soon".

A little later, after Ghani's meeting with political leaders, the presidential palace announced that they had agreed to set up an “authoritative” negotiating team to represent the republic in peace talks with the Taliban.

These have been running since September, but without any significant progress.

Observers recently said repeatedly that the Doha trial was dead.

Biden speaks to national security team

US President Joe Biden spoke to his national security team in view of the dramatic situation in Afghanistan. The White House wrote on Twitter on Saturday that the ongoing efforts to “reduce the civilian presence in Afghanistan” were discussed at a video conference. Vice President Kamala Harris was also involved in the meeting, which also dealt with the severe earthquake in Haiti. Biden is currently staying at Camp David, the US President's country residence in the US state of Maryland. Further details about the video switch were initially not known.

The US military announced on Thursday that it would move around 3,000 soldiers as reinforcements to Kabul Airport in order to support the reduction of the staff at the US embassy. You should arrive during the weekend. Around 5000 more soldiers are also stationed in the Middle East to stand by as possible reinforcements. Since the start of the withdrawal of US and NATO troops in May, the Islamist Taliban have recorded enormous territorial gains and have now also taken the city of Mazar-i-Sharif in the north.