Taliban claims to control 90% of Afghanistan borders; warns foreign troops to stay out

Having earlier declared that it captured the strategic border crossing of Spin Boldak along the frontier with Pakistan which the Afghan forces stated they “reclaimed”, the Taliban on Thursday asserted that it now controls 90 per cent of Afghanistan's borders. "Afghanistan's borders with Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and Iran, or about 90 per cent of the border, are under our control," the official spokesman for the Taliban, Zabihullah Mujahid, told Moscow’s RIA Novosti news agency on July 22. 

Separately in a tweet, the former announced that the Taliban captured the centre of Ghazi Abad district as 80 soldiers of the Afghan forces surrendered and their vehicles and ammunition were seized. Mujahid stated that the Talibani terrorists took hold of the strategic Marjah district of Helmand province as “ the mercenary enemy [Afghan military] fled.” Marjah in Helmand province is Afghanistan’s most violent stronghold for the Talibani outfit. 

During the US President Barack Obama’s Presidency, 30,000 American soldiers landed in the province with thousands of US Marines, British soldiers, and Afghan troops and launched a major offensive, described as one of the biggest of the eight-year-old war in 2010 that tested Obama’s Afghanistan strategy. In the recent footages, as Taliban made advancement capturing key regions in the war-torn territory after the US-led coalition troops drawdown, Humvees that belonged to Afghan Special Forces were seen ablaze, and Afghan police’s check posts were besieged as the offensives by the Islamic hardliners continued. 

'Will not tolerate foreign troops on Afghan soil,' says Taliban 

With the withdrawal of US and Nato troops, and the weakening of foreign military aid for the Afghan forces, the Taliban has taken over half of Afghanistan, that’s roughly 400 districts, Mujahid told RIA Novosti. He stressed that the Taliban would not tolerate the Islamic State (Daesh) terror outfit or the ISIS in Afghanistan. “We assure you that we will not allow ISIS [Daesh] to become active in the country, in areas under our control. There are no militants from Central Asia or China in the county,” Mujahid said.

Taliban’s spokesperson reiterated that it will not tolerate any “foreign troops” on the Afghan soil, including from Turkey, which has been negotiating with Washington to dispatch military forces to take control of Afghanistan’s main Kabul airport. Taliban further warned that any remaining foreign troops in Afghanistan must exit after the 9/11 deadline, or they would be "at risk." The date marks the 20-year anniversary of Al-Qaeda's 9/11 terror attack on the US twin towers.