Taliban race closer to complete Afghan takeover

Taliban fighters/ AFP

AFP

#BREAKING Taliban fighters enter Afghan capital Kabul: residents pic.twitter.com/zU4xt7uzTe

— AFP News Agency (@AFP) August 15, 2021

#UPDATE Taliban fighters were ordered Sunday to wait at the gates of #Kabul and not enter the Afghan capital, an insurgent spokesman said, after the complete collapse of the country's security forces, though residents reported insurgents had peacefully entered some outer suburbs pic.twitter.com/furPbNGgNy

— AFP News Agency (@AFP) August 15, 2021

The Taliban raced closer to a complete military takeover of Afghanistan Sunday after capturing more major cities, leaving only the isolated capital Kabul for them to conquer.

The insurgents took control of the key eastern city of Jalalabad on Sunday, just hours after the seizing the northern anti-Taliban bastion of Mazar-i-Sharif -- extending an astonishing rout of government forces and warlord militias achieved in just 10 days.

"We woke up this morning to the Taliban white flags all over the city. They entered without fighting," said Jalalabad resident Ahmad Wali, confirming a claim on social media made by the Taliban.

President Ashraf Ghani's government appeared to be left with few options as the Taliban effectively surrounded Kabul -- either prepare for a bloody fight for the capital or capitulate.

On Saturday he sought to project a semblance of authority with a national address in which he spoke of "re-mobilising" the military while seeking a "political solution" to the crisis.

But the loss of Mazar-i-Sharif and Jalalabad are huge back-to-back blows for Ghani and his government.

It left the Taliban -- who have fighters less than an hour's drive from Kabul -- holding all the cards in any negotiated surrender of the capital.

President Joe Biden ordered the deployment of an additional 1,000 US troops to help secure the emergency evacuation from Kabul of embassy employees and thousands of Afghans who worked for American forces and now fear Taliban reprisals.

That was on top of the 3,000 American soldiers deployed in recent days, and 1,000 left in-country after Biden announced in May that the final withdrawal of the 20-year military presence in Afghanistan would be completed by September 11.

That decision has come under increased scrutiny given the collapse of the Afghan armed forces, but he insisted Saturday there was no choice.

"I was the fourth president to preside over an American troop presence in Afghanistan -- two Republicans, two Democrats. I would not, and will not, pass this war onto a fifth," Biden said.

Videos posted on pro-Taliban social media accounts showed the group's heavily armed fighters in cities across the country, waving white flags and greeting locals.

Most of the fighters appeared young, suggesting they were most likely infants or unborn when the Taliban was toppled from power in 2001 by the US and their warlord allies.

- Heavy fighting -

In Mazar-i-Sharif, Taliban fighters quickly took charge.

"They are parading on their vehicles and motorbikes, firing into the air in celebration," said Atiqullah Ghayor, who lives near the city's famed blue mosque.

Warlords Abdul Rashid Dostum and Atta Mohammad Noor, who had led a militia resistance in the city to support government forces, had fled to Uzbekistan, about 30 kilometres to the north, an aide to Noor said.

Noor later tweeted that they had been betrayed by the military and were in a "safe place", adding: "I have a lot of untold stories that I will share in due course."

As the Taliban closed in on the capital, panicked residents swarmed banks for a second-straight day, hoping to withdraw their savings.

Many were already resigned to the Taliban taking power.

"My only wish is that their return leads to peace. That is all we want," said Kabul shopkeeper Tariq Nezami.

In his first address to the nation since the Taliban launched their sweeping offensive, Ghani said he wanted to stop the violence, but offered few specifics on what his administration was planning.

The presidential palace later said: "A delegation with authority should soon be appointed by the government and be ready for negotiation."

- Apprehension and fear -

For the tens of thousands who have sought refuge in Kabul in recent weeks, the overwhelming mood was one of apprehension and fear.

One doctor who arrived in the capital with his 35-strong family from Kunduz said he planned to return today.

"I am worried there will be a lot of fighting here. I would rather return home, where I know it has stopped," he told AFP, asking not to be named.

The scale and speed of their advance have shocked Afghans and the US-led alliance that poured billions into the country after toppling the insurgents in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Individual Afghan soldiers, units and even whole divisions have surrendered -- handing the Taliban even more vehicles and military hardware for their lightning advance.