Afghanistan || The Taliban Conquer The Sixth Provincial Capital, Albak In Northern Afghanistan

The Taliban have conquered the sixth provincial capital, Albak in northern Afghanistan. The Taliban controlled five of Afghanistan's 34 provincial capitals on Monday after conquering three cities, including the strategic Kunduz, in a broad offensive that the army seems unable to counter.

Within hours of each other and after intense fighting, the insurgents seized control of Kunduz, which they had been besieging for weeks. They then conquered Sar-e-Pul and at the end of the day Taloqan, the capitals of the provinces to the south and east of Kunduz.

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According to Zabihullah Hamidi, a resident of Taloqan, the capital of Takhar province , the clashes began in the morning and the Taliban ended up taking control of the city "without much fighting", as official authorities and security forces fled. from the city.

A security official confirmed the flight of Afghan forces and local leaders to a neighboring district. "The government failed to send us aid and we withdrew from the city this afternoon," he said.

Zabihullah Mujahid , a spokesman for the Taliban, confirmed the taking of Taloqan, and ensured the "restoration of security", as well as in Kunduz and Sar-e-pul. The Taliban control all key buildings in the city, an Afp correspondent in Kunduz found.

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This city of about 300,000 inhabitants , which has already been conquered twice in recent years by insurgents (in 2015 and 2016), is a strategic point in northern Afghanistan, between Kabul and Tajikistan.

The taking of Kunduz constitutes the main military success of the Taliban since the beginning, in May, of the offensive they launched after the withdrawal of international troops, which should be completed by August 31.

NERVE AXIS

In late June, the Taliban conquered the Shir Khan Bandar border crossing in southern Tajikistan, a nerve center for economic relations with Central Asia.

The Defense Ministry said that government troops are trying to regain control of key areas in Kunduz . "The commandos launched a cleaning operation. Some parts, such as the national radio and television buildings, have been cleared," said a source from the ministry.

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"The recovery of Kunduz is really important as it is going to release large numbers of Taliban fighters who could be mobilized to other parts of the north" of the country, said Ibraheem Thurial Bahiss , a consultant with the International Crisis Group (ICG).

After Kunduz, Sar-e-Pul also fell into the hands of the Taliban, who on Saturday took control, further north, of Sheberghan, the fiefdom of the famous war chief Abdul Rashid Dostom.

Parwina Azimi, a human rights defender, assured by telephone that the administrative officials and the rest of the armed forces had withdrawn from the barracks about three kilometers from Sar-e-Pul.

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Mirwais Stanikzai , the Interior Ministry spokesman, assured for his part that the reinforcements, including members of the special forces, were sent to Sar-e-Pul and Sheberghan. "The cities that the Taliban want to take over will soon be their graveyards," he added.

SPEED OF ADVANCE

The inability of the authorities in Kabul to maintain control in the north of the country could be crucial to the government's chances of survival. Northern Afghanistan has always been viewed as a place of opposition to the Taliban. It was there that they encountered the greatest resistance when they came to power in the 1990s.

The Taliban ruled the country between 1996 and 2001, enforcing their ultra-rigorous version of Islamic law , before being ousted by the US-led international coalition.

On Friday, the insurgents seized control of the city of Zaranj , the capital of the province of Nimroz (south), on the border with Iran.

Kandahar (south) and Herat (west), the second and third largest Afghan cities, have been targeted for several days, as has Lashkar Gah (south), the capital of Helmand province , one of the fiefdoms of the insurgents.

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The rapidity of the Taliban advance has surprised observers and the Afghan security forces themselves, despite the help they have received from the US military.

The United States intensified the aerial bombardments, acknowledged Commander Nicole Ferrara, spokeswoman for the US Army Central Command, who declared: "The US forces carried out several aerial bombardments in recent days to defend our Afghan allies."

The fighting and shelling have driven hundreds of thousands of Afghans to flee their homes.

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