Original Title: Afghanistan announces curfew in 31 provinces to curb Taliban offensive
[环球时报综合报道]Afghanistan announced on the 24th that it will impose a curfew in 31 of the country’s 34 provinces to curb the recent full-scale offensive launched by the Taliban.
According to Afghan media reports, with the exception of Kabul Province, where the capital Kabul is located, and Nangarhar and Panjshir Provinces in the east, people in 31 other Afghan provinces must stay at home from 22:00 to 4:00 the next day and are not allowed to go out. Qatar Al Jazeera quoted experts to analyze that night martial law helps the Afghan Air Force to distinguish and attack Taliban militants that are being assembled, preventing them from forming in scale and posing a threat to the major capital cities of Afghanistan.
The situation in Afghanistan continues to deteriorate. According to AFP reports, Afghan officials said on the 25th that more than 20,000 families in Kandahar Province had fled their homes during the fighting in a month. The chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Mili said on the 21st that the Taliban currently controls about half of the 419 regions in Afghanistan.
After the Eid al-Adha, the Afghan government forces stepped up their offensive, hoping to expel the Taliban in many areas. The United States has also stepped up air strikes against the Taliban. In addition, U.S. President Biden spoke with President Ghani on the 23rd, promising to allocate 3.3 billion U.S. dollars in the 2022 fiscal year budget to support the Afghan government forces. The two reached a consensus that the Taliban’s offensive in Afghanistan violated the organization’s statement of support for a political solution. After the U.S. airstrikes on the Taliban, the organization stated that the move will have consequences. In an interview with the Associated Press a few days ago, Taliban spokesman Shahin said that unless a new government is formed through negotiations and the current President Ghani is ousted, there will be no peace in Afghanistan. However, Naim, a spokesman for the Taliban’s political office in Doha, said that the Taliban did not make Ghani’s resignation as a condition for the ceasefire. (Cheng Shijie)
.