The Taliban keep advancing in Afghanistan. With Gasni they conquered the tenth of 34 provincial towns within a week. Gasni is only 150 kilometers from the Afghan capital Kabul.
As three provincial councilors of the German press agency confirmed, the Taliban took the provincial capital Gasni in the southeast of Afghanistan on Thursday. This brings them very close to the Afghan capital Kabul with their conquest – Kabul is only 150 kilometers away from Gasni. With Gasni, the militant Islamists took control of what is now the tenth provincial capital in less than a week.
The Taliban had long wanted to take Gasni
The city of Gasni has about 180,000 inhabitants. It is located on the important ring road that connects the largest cities in the country. Because of its proximity to Kabul, the Taliban had tried to take it several times. They had been holding two police districts in the city since around mid-July. In the summer of 2018, more than 1,000 Taliban fighters killed more than 100 police officers and soldiers and around 20 civilians in a major attack on the city.
Two provincial councils reproached the governor of the province of the same name. He had concluded a secret agreement with the Taliban and thus practically surrendered the city to the Islamists. The governor left Gasni City in the direction of Kabul, it was said that morning. A little later, the Interior Ministry announced that the governor and several of his employees had been arrested in Wardak province, which lies between Gasni and Kabul.
Complete takeover of the city
The Taliban are all over the city, said the provincial councils. They would have taken over the prison, the governor’s seat and the police headquarters. The Islamists began their attack on the city shortly before midnight and overran two police districts after five in the morning. The security forces then fled up a hill about 15 kilometers from the city.
A provincial council said it had been quiet in the city since early afternoon. The Taliban told residents that they were concerned about their safety. There are hardly any people on the streets and most of the shops are still closed.
Fall of ten of the 34 provincial capitals in Afghanistan
Ten of the 34 provincial capitals, including the city of Gasni, fell to the Islamists in less than a week. Most of it is in the north of the country. Gasni is the closest of all the fallen cities to Kabul.
The Taliban also made progress in other parts of the country. In the already fallen provincial capital Schiberghan in the north, they took the airport. Yar Mohammad Chan, the son of ex-warlord Abdul Raschid Dostum, who had withdrawn there with his militias and other security forces, was brought to Mazar-i-Sharif by plane, two provincial councilors said. What happened to the other soldiers and police officers was initially unclear. With the fall of the airport, there is no longer any area in the entire Jausdzhan province that the government holds.
Foreign Minister Maas warns Taliban
Provincial councils in the important city of Kandahar have confirmed that the Taliban have captured the city’s prison. The Islamists also attacked the provincial capital Kala-e Nau in the northwest and an area just outside Mazar-i-Sharif in the north on Thursday night.
Foreign Minister Heiko Maas (SPD) warned the Taliban against establishing a caliphate in the embattled country. Then there will be “not a cent” of German development aid, which is currently around 430 million euros per year, said Maas on Thursday in the ZDF “Morgenmagazin”. “The Taliban know that too.” He reckons that the Islamists will participate in the government in Afghanistan and want to dominate it. It is then crucial what the future constitution of the country will look like and what rights there will be for the people.
Bad security situation: Foreign Office calls for German citizens to leave the country quickly
The Foreign Office called on German citizens to leave Afghanistan quickly on Thursday. Against the background of the significantly deteriorated security situation in the entire national territory, including the capital Kabul, the embassy in Kabul urgently advises all German nationals to leave the country by scheduled flight as soon as possible, the message said.
The embassy expressly pointed out that, due to their limited work opportunities and limited capacities, they could not guarantee that consular support could be guaranteed even if the security situation worsened, which could possibly also result in the cessation of commercial air traffic .
The USA, Great Britain and other countries have also called on their citizens to leave the country as quickly as possible in recent weeks. France or India have already operated return flights. Denmark said on Thursday that it wanted to get its local employees who work for the embassy and the military out of the country.
Increased internally displaced persons from conquered areas
Caritas warned on Thursday that the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan would worsen in view of the situation. Internally displaced persons are increasingly coming to Kabul from the conquered areas, some of whom spend the night there in the open air in the city’s parks. The organization called for humanitarian aid to be increased despite all the risks posed by current developments.
You can see in the video: Since the German troops withdrew from Kabul, many interpreters have been scared to death. Some of them are shot in the street and considered traitors. You are asking for help from Germany.
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