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Taliban Storm Afghan Provincial Capital, Free Hundreds of Prisoners

Ayaz Gul

   ISLAMABAD - Authorities in Afghanistan said Wednesday pro-government
   forces had pushed back Taliban insurgents from parts of a northwestern
   city and regained control of official buildings after hours of fierce
   clashes.
   Fighting erupted in parts of Qala-e-Naw, the capital of Badghis
   province, after the Taliban assaulted it overnight from multiple
   directions. Residents and officials said insurgent fighters pushed
   their way into the city, taking over key security installations,
   including provincial police headquarters, and freeing about 600 inmates
   from the central prison.
   Video footage released by the Taliban showed the prisoners escaping
   from the facility and insurgent fighters riding motorbikes moving into
   different parts of the city.
   Provincial governor Hessamuddin Shams told VOA the Taliban captured all
   the districts around Qala-e-Naw in recent days, enabling them to attack
   the provincial capital.
   Clashes continued in the city throughout Wednesday before Afghan
   forces, backed by airstrikes, pushed the insurgents out of the city
   later in the afternoon.
   Shams later claimed while talking to reporters that most of the
   prisoners had been recaptured.
   An Afghan Defense Ministry spokesman, Fawad Aman, tweeted government
   forces inflicted heavy casualties on the "fleeing" insurgents.

     Taliban [1]#terrorist suffered heavy and sustained casualties in
     their failed attempt to capture Qala-e-Naw, [2]#Badghis province.
     The bravery of the [3]#ANDSF and their swift and decisive action was
     highly commendable. [4]pic.twitter.com/hXbDBH9QAm
     -- Fawad Aman (@FawadAman2) [5]July 7, 2021

   Taliban fighters have made rapid territorial advances across
   Afghanistan since May 1, when the United States and NATO allies
   formally began withdrawing their last remaining troops from the
   country.
   The insurgents have since overrun at least 150 of Afghanistan's more
   than 400 districts.
   The assault on Qala-e-Naw was the first by the Taliban against a
   provincial capital, fueling fears the insurgents intend to regain power
   in Kabul by force instead of returning to the table for peace talks
   with Afghan government representatives to negotiate a political
   settlement.
   The Taliban also have encircled other provincial capitals, particularly
   those in northern and northeastern Afghanistan, raising alarms in
   neighboring Central Asian states.
   The insurgents there have captured dozens of districts in recent days,
   largely because pro-government forces either retreated to safety or
   surrendered. About 1,600 soldiers also fled to Tajikistan from the
   embattled border province of Badakhshan to escape Taliban attacks.
   U.S.-led foreign forces are supposed to fully withdraw from Afghanistan
   by the September 11 deadline set by President Joe Biden mid-April.
   The foreign troop exit is the outcome of a peace deal negotiated by
   Washington with the Taliban in February 2020 under then-President
   Donald Trump. It requires the insurgents to fight terrorism on Afghan
   soil and negotiate a political peace deal with the Kabul government.
   FILE - An Afghan National Army soldier stands guard at the gate of
   Bagram U.S. air base, on the day the last of American troops vacated
   it, Parwan province, Afghanistan, July 2, 2021.

   But the U.S.-brokered intra-Afghan peace negotiations have moved slowly
   since they started last September in Qatar and have met with little
   success.
   On Tuesday, the U.S. military announced the withdrawal process was more
   than 90 percent complete. Officials have said the entire process is
   expected to finish by late August. NATO troops also are following suit,
   and most of them already have left the country.
   American troops vacated Bagram Air Base, the largest such facility in
   Afghanistan, before dawn on Friday, prompting criticism and complaints
   by Afghan commanders that they were kept in the dark about the
   departure plans.
   U.S. officials maintain the transfer of Bagram was fully coordinated
   with Afghan leaders, just like the handing over of other military bases
   in the country.
   The abrupt exit, Afghan officials insisted, allowed looting on the
   military base by locals before Afghan forces arrived and took control
   of the facility.
   Iran hosted Taliban and Afghan government delegates Wednesday and urged
   them to move quickly to negotiate a settlement to the crisis.
   Afghanistan's neighbors, including Iran, Pakistan and Central Asian
   states, are worried intensifying hostilities are likely to cause
   deteriorating security and prompt Afghans to seek refuge on their
   respective soil.

References

   1. https://twitter.com/hashtag/terrorist?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
   2. https://twitter.com/hashtag/Badghis?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
   3. https://twitter.com/hashtag/ANDSF?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
   4. https://t.co/hXbDBH9QAm
   5. https://twitter.com/FawadAman2/status/1412776098484699141?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

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