Kabul: The Taliban seized the Sheberghan city in Jawzjan province. This is the second provincial capital captured by the militants in the last 24 hours.
‘The government forces and officials have retreated to the airport’, said Jawzjan deputy governor Qader Malia. The city was a stronghold of warlord Abdul Rashid Dostum. Dostum returned to Afghanistan this week from medical treatment in Turkey and is in Kabul now.
The deputy governor of Jawzjan province told AFP he was with government forces who had abandoned Sheberghan city and retreated to the airport on its outskirts, where they were preparing to defend themselves.
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Earlier on Friday, the Taliban had captured western province of Nimroz. According to the deputy governor of the city, the provincial capital fell ‘without a fight’.
‘The Afghan security forces lost their morale due to intense propaganda by the Taliban. Even before the Taliban attacks… most of the security forces put their weapons on the ground, took off their uniforms, and left their units and fled’, a senior official from the city told AFP.
Taliban is now controlling the large portion of the country. Taliban started capturing regions as the US troop started withdrawing from the country. Taliban is a challenge to government forces in other provincial capitals including Herat, near the western border with Iran, and Lashkar Gah and Kandahar in the south.
Meanwhile, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Friday that President Joe Biden still believed it was right to pull US troops out after 20 years of war. Both the US administration and Britain on Saturday again urged citizens to evacuate from the country as soon as possible.
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