Image source,Getty Images
The Afghan government forces tried to retake part of the Taliban control area.
With the rapid advancement of Taliban militants in Afghanistan, the Afghan government announced that it will impose a one-month curfew almost nationwide to prevent the Taliban from invading the city.
As international forces withdrew from Afghanistan, fighting between the Taliban and the Afghan security forces has intensified in the past two months.
The United Nations said on Monday (July 26) that in May and June this year, fighting between the two sides caused nearly 2,400 Afghan civilians to be killed or injured, the highest record in the two months since the 2009 record.
The militant group was so powerful in many remote areas that it reoccupied border crossings and rural areas. It is believed that they have occupied more than half of the country’s territory.
It is feared that as peace negotiations progress slowly, the focus of the battle will shift to densely populated urban centers.
This prompted Kenneth MacKenzie, commander of the U.S. Central Command, to say that the U.S. will continue its air strikes to support the Afghan army from the air. He also said that the victory of the Taliban is not inevitable.
However, he did not say whether the air strikes will continue after the US military mission is completely ended on August 31.
Image source,EPA
The Taliban is an Islamic fundamentalist extremist organization that originated in the Kandahar region of southern Afghanistan. It seized Kabul in 1996 and established a national regime.
After the 9/11 incident in the United States in 2001, the Taliban have been providing asylum to Osama Bin Laden and other figures related to the 9/11 attacks in the United States. The US-led army subsequently invaded Afghanistan and overthrew the Taliban regime.
Today, the comeback Taliban is occupying many major roads in Afghanistan, trying to cut off supply lines. The militants have surrounded some major cities, but they have not yet succeeded in occupying them.
During the curfew, people will be prohibited from engaging in any activities from 10 pm to 4 pm the next day. However, except for the capital Kabul and the other two provinces Panjshir and Nangarhar.
The Afghan Ministry of Interior stated that the new curfew is to “contain violence and restrict Taliban activities.” As the Taliban continue to advance, fierce clashes have occurred outside Kandahar, which has 650,000 inhabitants, this week.
In response, the United States launched an air strike on militants in the area last Thursday. But as the US operations in Afghanistan officially ended on August 31, people are worried about the coming months.
U.S. President Joe Biden stated that the U.S. withdrawal is reasonable because the U.S. military has ensured that Afghanistan will not once again become a base for foreign jihadists to plot against the West.
Image source,EPA
The US military hurriedly withdrew from the Bagram military base. Thousands of civilian vehicles were discarded, but most of them did not leave their car keys.
Earlier this month, US troops quietly withdrew from Bagram Airport. Bagram Airport is a huge base for US military operations in Afghanistan, where tens of thousands of US troops were stationed.
According to reports, the Taliban also raised a white flag representing the organization over a key border post in Afghanistan and Pakistan in the middle of this month, but Kabul denied that the post had fallen.
The militants also previously seized control of a series of border posts, including several border crossings near Iran, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.
Image source,Getty Images
The Afghan government’s military equipment seems to be powerful, but all walks of life generally question its actual combat capabilities. Recently, there has been an incident in which more than 1,000 Afghan government forces fled to neighboring Tajikistan for asylum as soon as they exchanged fire with the Taliban.
According to Reuters, negotiators from the Afghan government and the Taliban have been holding meetings in Doha, the capital of Qatar, in recent weeks, but diplomats have warned that since the peace talks began in September, there has been little substantive progress.
Some US analysts worry that the Taliban may control Afghanistan within six months.
But Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said that the security forces will make progress, and their first task should be to slow the Taliban’s advancement and regain lost ground from the Taliban.
The Taliban recently claimed that their armed men have controlled 85% of the country’s land, but the Afghan government expressed doubts about this figure. The BBC could not independently verify.
Image source,Reuters
After a car bomb blast in 2017, a local woman was frightened.
Milestones of the 20-year conflict in Afghanistan
- September 11, 2001: Al-Qaeda, led by Osama Bin Laden in Afghanistan, launched the largest terrorist attack in the history of the United States. Four civil aviation airliners were hijacked. Two planes crashed into the World Trade Center in New York, causing the building to collapse. One crashed into the Pentagon in Washington, and the other crashed in Pennsylvania. Nearly 3,000 people were killed.
- October 7, 2001: The coalition forces headed by the United States began airstrikes, bombing the Taliban and Al-Qaida facilities in Afghanistan. Including multiple targets in Kabul, Kandahar and Jalalabad. The Taliban’s air defense system and small fighter fleet were destroyed.
- November 13, 2001: The “Northern Alliance”, an anti-Taliban organization supported by multinational coalition forces, invaded Kabul, and the Taliban fled the capital. As of that day, Taliban members in Afghanistan had either fled to remote areas or were wiped out. Taliban rule in other cities also quickly ended.
- January 26, 2004: After long-term negotiations by the tribal leaders’ assembly, Afghanistan promulgated a new constitution, which paved the way for the presidential election in October of that year.
- December 7, 2004: Hamid Karzai became the first president under the new constitution. He then served as president for ten years.
- May 2006: The British arrived in Helmand, a stronghold of the Taliban in southern Afghanistan. Their initial mission was to support the reconstruction project, but they were soon involved in the war. More than 450 British soldiers were killed in the conflict in Afghanistan.
- February 17, 2009: The then President of the United States, Barack Obama, approved a substantial increase in US troops to Afghanistan. At its peak, there were approximately 140,000 people.
- May 2, 2011: The US Navy SEALs raided a compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. The leader of Al Qaeda who was hiding there was shot dead. This operation ended the 10-year hunt for the Chief of the Central Intelligence Agency of the United States.
- April 23, 2013: The Taliban founder Mohammed Omar (Mohammed Omar) passed away. The news of his death was kept secret for more than two years.
- December 28, 2014: NATO ended its combat operations in Afghanistan, and the United States withdrew thousands of soldiers.
- 2015: The Taliban launched a series of suicide attacks and bombings. The Kabul Parliament Building and Kunduz were attacked. “Islamic State” militants began operations in Afghanistan.
- February 29, 2020: The United States and the Taliban signed a peace agreement in Doha, Qatar. The United States and NATO allies agreed that if the militants abide by the agreement, allied forces will withdraw all troops within 14 months.
- September 11, 2021: The US military plans to complete its withdrawal before the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 incident. There are indications that the withdrawal may be completed before the official deadline.