Taliban gains prompt government to arm volunteers

In recent days the Taliban have made quick gains in Afghanistan's north, overrunning multiple districts, some of them reportedly with barely a fight, even as the U.S. and NATO press forward their final withdrawal from Afghanistan.

By all accounts their departure will be complete long before the 11 Sept. deadline set by President Joe Biden when he announced in mid-April an end to America's "forever war."

The Taliban gains in north Afghanistan are significant because of the transportation routes they give to the insurgent movement.

But equally significant is that the north is the traditional stronghold of Afghanistan's minority ethnic groups, who aided the U.S.-led invasion that drove the Taliban from power nearly 20 years ago, and have been part of the ruling leadership since.

The traditional stronghold of the Taliban, who are mostly ethnic Pashtuns, has been in the country's south and east.

With the recent gains the Taliban now control Afghanistan's main border crossing with Tajikistan, a vital trade route.

They also hold the strategic district of Doshi, critical because the one road linking Kabul to northern Afghanistan runs through it.

As a result, a worried government this week launched what it called National Mobilization, arming local volunteers.

Observers, however, say the move only resurrects militias that will be loyal to local commanders or powerful Kabul-allied warlords, who wrecked the capital during the inter-factional fighting of the 1990s and killed thousands of civilians.

A member of Kunduz provincial council, Ghulam Rabani Rabani, has gathered a handful of Local militias in Kunduz city to fight alongside Afghan security forces.

Rabani said, it is the time for the people to support the Afghan security forces.

"For years, they (Afghan security forces) sacrificed their lives and blood for us, for our society and for our culture, and now that the 48 foreign countries are leaving in this bad situation it is up to us to support them," said Rabani.

The acceleration in fighting around the Kunduz province has taken a heavy toll on the civilians living around the province.

According to Kunduz regional hospital officials, more than 200 people, mostly civilians have been killed and wounded in the last five days.

Hospital director, Mohammad Naeem Mangal said 21 corpses have been brought to the hospital, six Afghan military personal and the rest civilians.

He also added that 121 wounded victims are still under treatment, while the rest have been discharged.

Hundreds of families from nearby districts have migrated to Kunduz city, mostly from Imam Saheb district.

While many families have taken shelter in their relatives' homes, a huge number of people have taken refuge in a school located in the center of the city.

Many families have spent days stuck in their villages because of the fighting, now their only demand is safety.

"We just ask the government that we don't need their food or water, we just want a secure place to stay alive" said Najiba, who left her home located in Imam Saheb district.

On Wednesday at Koh Daman on Kabul's northern edge, dozens of armed villagers in one of the first National Mobilization militias gathered in a rally. "Death to criminals!" and "Death to Taliban!" they shouted, waving their automatic rifles. Some had rocket propelled grenade launchers resting casually on their shoulders.

As the districts fell, President Ashraf Ghani cut a swathe through his Defense and Interior Ministers appointing new senior leadership, including reinstating Bismillah Khan as defense minister.

Khan was previously removed for corruption, and his militias have been criticized for summary killings.

They were also deeply involved in the brutal civil war that led to the Taliban's takeover in 1996.

Afghan and international observers fear a similar conflict could erupt once more.

During the 1990s war, multiple warlords battled for power, nearly destroying Kabul and killing at least 50,000 people, mostly civilians.

Those warlords returned to power after the Taliban's fall and have gained wealth and strength since.

They are jealous of their domains, deeply distrustful of each other, and their loyalties to Ghani are fluid.

Ethnic Uzbek warlord Rashid Dostum Uzbek, for example, violently ousted the president's choice for governor of his Uzbek-controlled province of Faryab earlier this year.

Taliban military spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told The Associated Press on Wednesday that the Taliban had captured 104 districts since 1 May, including at least 29 in recent fighting.

It brings the total area of Taliban control to 165 of Afghanistan's 471 districts nationwide.

There was no way to immediately verify his statements, and some areas often change hands back and forth.

Most analysts tracking the front lines say the Taliban control or hold sway in roughly half the country, mostly in rural areas.

Officials and observers say many across the country have allegiance to neither side and are deeply disillusioned by corruption, which has resulted in ordinary Afghans benefiting little from the trillions of dollars in international assistance pumped into the country the past 20 years.

The U.S. and NATO have committed to paying $4 billion annually until 2024 to support Afghanistan National Security and Defense Forces.

But even Washington's official watchdog that audits spending reports that Afghan troops are disillusioned and demoralized with corruption rife throughout the government.