The Taliban captured Kunduz, the eighth largest city in Afghanistan and an important trading center, as well as Sar-e-Pul in the north of the country. These are the capitals of the following provinces captured by the Taliban from government forces, which, when international forces withdraw from Afghanistan, seek to take control of the entire country.
Kunduz has fallen. An AFP correspondent reported that the Taliban had captured all the main public buildings in the city center.”
Taliban fighters captured the city of 375,000 people After fighting that lasted less than 48 hours.
Clashes between the fundamentalists and government forces continued today in several parts of the city since the early hours of the morning.
There is a fight for every street. – In an interview with Agence France-Presse, Omar Al-Din Wali, a member of Kunduz Provincial Council, reported. . added Police and army who remain loyal to the authorities in Kabul, “Collected next to the airport.”
As reported by Agence France-Presse, citing eyewitness accounts, the Taliban managed to seize Kondozo Square in the center of the country, but Their positions are bombed by the Afghan Air Force.
Chaos reigns in the city – AFP correspondents reported in a phone call to a resident of Kondozo Abdelaziz.
Today’s fight for Sar-e-Pol also ended with Taliban success in northern Afghanistan. A city of half a million is like Kunduz, the capital of the region.
“The Taliban are already in the city centre. Street fighting continues” – Aziza Galis, a member of the regional parliament, reported before noon. By late afternoon, the city was in the hands of the fundamentalists.
“The Taliban have surrounded a battalion of government forces. It took place on the outskirts of the city. Another member of parliament, Muhammad Hussein Mujahid, said in an interview with AFP correspondents that the rest of the districts are in their hands.
Even before the capture of Kunduzu, AFP reported that the capture of this city, located in the center of the country and 300 kilometers from the border with Tajikistan, was of great importance for the Taliban.
“The control of this city will be An unprecedented victory in the Taliban’s march to regain power in Afghanistan – Agence France-Presse noted.
On Friday and Saturday, the Taliban took control of the capitals of two other provinces: In southwestern Afghanistan, the city of Zaranj in Nimroz province and above the city of Zaberghan, is the capital of the northern province of Jafzjan. On Saturday, they also announced that they would take control of Jafzdan District Prison and release all prisoners held there.
Jafzgan is a district that is considered the political base of the former Afghan Vice President, General Abdul Rashid Dostum, the leader of the Afghan political party Jambesh Milli Islami and the political leader of the entire Uzbek community in Afghanistan.
As the BBC points out, other capitals of the areas that could be controlled by the Taliban are Herat in the west, Lashirkah in southwest Afghanistan, which is the capital of Helmand province, and Kandahar in the province of the same name.
International news agencies indicate that the specter of the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan from 1996 to the end of 2001, by imposing a hardline version of Islam, is It raises concern for the people of this country and the international community.