Taliban overrun another provincial capital, Faizabad in northern Afghanistan

Taliban have gained control over three more key provincial capitals, including Mazar-i-Sharif and Faizabad on Tuesday by defeating the Afghan National Forces and cutting the main highway connectivity to the Capital Kabul and northern Afghan provinces. In what is being called an alarming situation, the Taliban advanced to the city of Pul-i-Khumri located 150 miles north of Kabul in Baghlan Province, the capital of the western province Farah and Faizabad, in remote Badakhshan Province, sources told foreign correspondents on the ground.

These were the seventh, eighth, and ninth provincial cities to be captured by the Talibani forces as witnesses described the there was hue, cry and exhaustion among the civilians as insurgents maintained their stronghold within these territories. 

Taliban’s relentless victories are a major blow to the Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s government and the drawdown of NATO and US-led coalition troops that spent millions of dollars in training the Afghan police and the Afghan armed forces. The infighting has now swelled to nearly every single of the most populous cities of the country just three weeks ahead of American troops' complete withdrawal from the territory on the anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks on the New York twin towers.

Afghan security forces fighting against the Taliban have come under intense pressure, lawmaker Zabihullah Attiq told agencies, adding that both sides suffered a huge loss.

[Afghan security personnel patrol after they took back control of parts of the city of Herat following fighting between Taliban and Afghan security forces, on the outskirts of Herat, 640 kilometers (397 miles) west of Kabul, Afghanistan. AP Photo/Hamed Sarfarazi]

All areas of the city have fallen, Mohammad Kamin Baghlani, a pro-government militia commander in Baghlan said, as cited by news agency ANI. "All areas of the city fell, we were under a lot of pressure, and we were not able to resist anymore,” he continued. The Afghan forces have now completely abandoned Pul-i-Khumri, giving the Taliban terror faction the total access and control of the strategic junction that links Kabul to the north and west.

The Taliban attacked through the frontlines and barged into the province, resulting in heavy clashes with Afghan national forces, who eventually surrendered and pulled out of the governorate, intelligence, and police headquarters. Insurgents circulated the images of the now captured populous cities with the Taliban’s flag unfurling at city gates. 

[Taliban fighters stand guard at a checkpoint in Kunduz city. AP Photo]

Biden asks Afghan forces to 'fight for nation' 

US President Joe Biden condemned the infighting, saying that Afghan leaders “have to come together and that the Afghan troops outnumber the Taliban and must want to fight. They’ve got to fight for themselves, fight for their nation,” Speaking to the reporters at the White House, Biden reiterated that the US has rendered continued support to Afghan forces via air, continuous food supply and equipment provisions and salaries.

US peace envoy to Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, meanwhile, headed to Doha, Qatar to remind the Taliban that there was “no point” in pursuing victory after bloody battle with Afghan forces as any government planted with force in Afghanistan will not be recognised globally.  In a statement on Tuesday, the US State Department said Khalilzad was in Doha to help formulate a joint international response to the rapidly deteriorating situation in Afghanistan. "That response will reinforce a repeated warning to the Taliban against seeking power through force."

[US peace envoy for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad arrives for talks in Doha, Qatar. AP Photo/Hussein Sayed]