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Agence France-Presse

The Taliban on Wednesday launched their first assault on a provincial capital in Afghanistan since waging a major offensive against Afghan forces, as the pull-out of US troops from the country nears completion.
Fierce fighting has erupted in the western city of Qala-i-Naw, the capital of Badghis, with the militants seizing police headquarters and offices of the country’s spy agency.
The insurgents have pressed ahead with a dizzying campaign since US and Nato forces began the final withdrawal from the country, seizing dozens of rural districts and stirring fears that the Afghan government are in crisis.
But the attack on the city of Qala-i-Naw, in western Badghis Province, marks the first time the Taliban have attempted to overrun a provincial capital.
“The enemy has entered the city, all the districts have fallen. The fighting has started inside the city,” Badghis governor Hessamuddin Shams said in a text message.
Badghis provincial council chief Abdul Aziz Bek said some security officials had surrendered to the Taliban during the night.


The assault came as an Afghan government delegation met with Taliban representatives in Tehran, following months of stalled negotiations between the two warring sides.
Last week, all US and Nato forces left Bagram airbase near Kabul - the command centre for anti-Taliban operations - effectively wrapping up their exit after 20 years of military involvement that began in the wake of the September 11 attacks.
The assault also came hours after the Pentagon confirmed that the US pull-out was more than 90 per cent completed.
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For months the Taliban have been effectively surrounding several provincial capitals across the country, with observers predicting that the militants were waiting for the complete withdrawal of foreign forces before ordering an onslaught on urban areas.
After routing much of the north, the fall of Badghis would further tighten the Taliban’s grip on western Afghanistan as its forces have also inched closer to the nearby city of Herat near the border with Iran.
Afghan defence officials have said they intend to focus on securing major cities, roads and border towns in the face of the Taliban onslaught.


Hundreds of commandos have been deployed to counter the insurgents’ blistering offensive in the north.
“We have plans to retake the districts,” National Security Adviser Hamdullah Mohib said on Tuesday.
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby underscored that the US and Nato coalition partners would continue to support Afghan security forces in the fight with the Taliban, even if there were no coalition troops on the ground.
“We still have the authority to assist the Afghans in the field if they need it,” Kirby said, specifying the possibility of air strikes.
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He also said negotiations were under way to ensure that US civilian technicians, who have been essential to keeping Afghan air force aircraft flying, would be able to stay.
But he underscored that US forces were leaving by August.
“We have spent a lot of time, a lot of effort, a lot of resources in improving the competency and the capability of the Afghan national security forces, and now it’s their turn, it’s their time, to defend their people.”

Fighting in the country’s north has also forced Moscow to close its consulate in the large city of Mazar-i-Sharif, near the border with Uzbekistan.
And the US exit from Bagram, which provided essential air support, has heightened the crisis facing Afghan government forces.
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The speed and ease of the Taliban’s effective takeover of some areas represent a massive psychological blow to the Afghan government.
The northern area once served as the stronghold for the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance during the gruesome civil war in the 1990s and was never routed by the militants.

President Ashraf Ghani blamed the Taliban for all the “bloodshed and destruction”, adding that his government will not “surrender” to the militants, a palace statement said.
But on Monday, more than 1,000 Afghan troops fled into neighbouring Tajikistan.
“We had to abandon our base because there was no coordination or interest among our commanders to counter the attack,” said one of the soldiers, Mohammad Musa.
But Mohib said the soldiers who fled were returning and rejoining the security forces.
“They may have abandoned their posts because they ran out of ammunition or they ran out of supplies, but by no means has anyone defected to the Taliban,” he said.
Meanwhile a psychological war has also been taking shape online.
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The Taliban has used social media to post live updates on their takeover of districts and videos of Afghan soldiers surrendering.
The Afghan government in turn has released its own footage of air strikes on Taliban positions, boasting of inflicting heavy casualties on the jihadist group.
But the government appears to have been embarrassed by the stealthy US exit from Bagram early Friday morning, leaving many Afghans surprised and the base unoccupied for hours.
Kirby, the Pentagon spokesman, said that Afghan officials were told of the impending departure two days ahead of time, but not given the specific time.
“The exact hour of departure was not divulged for operational security purposes,” Kirby said.
“In general we felt it was better to keep that information as closely held as possible,” he said.


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Afghanistan: All stories

Taliban attack provincial capital as US forces exit Afghanistan

Afghan forces fight Taliban militants in Kandahar province, southern Afghanistan. The Taliban have seized dozens of rural districts in the country. Photo: Xinhua

Afghan militia forces stand guard at an outpost as they patrol against the Taliban fighters in the Tange Farkhar area of Taloqan in northern Takhar province on July 6, 2021. (Photo by NASEER SADEQ / AFP)

FILE PHOTO: Afghan commandos arrive to reinforce security forces in Faizabad, capital of Badakhshan province, after the Taliban captured neighbourhood districts of Badakhshan recently, July 4, 2021. Afghanistan Ministry of Defence//Handout via REUTERS/File Photo

An Afghan soldier plays a guitar that was left behind after the American military departed Bagram airbase north of Kabul, Afghanistan. Photo: AP

Looters invaded Afghanistan’s Bagram airbase after US left without telling new commander

An Afghan government soldier take a selfie inside Bagram airbase after US and Nato troops left. Photo: AFP

Empty bed is seen inside a clinic in Bagram U.S. air base, after American troops vacated it, in Parwan province, Afghanistan July 5, 2021. REUTERS/Mohammad Ismail

Runway is seen at Bagram U.S. air base, after American troops vacated it, in Parwan province, Afghanistan July 5, 2021. REUTERS/Mohammad Ismail

epa09324751 Mine Resistant Ambush Protection vehicles, MRAP, are seen inside the Bagram Air Base, some 50 kilometers north of the capital Kabul, Afghanistan, 05 July 2021. After nearly two decades, the US military has left the Bagram Airfield in central Afghanistan and has handed it over to Afghan National Defense and Security Forces on 02 July. EPA-EFE/HEDAYATULLAH AMID

Blast wallls and a few buildings can be seen at the Bagram air base after the American military left the base, in Parwan province north of Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, July 5, 2021. The U.S. left Afghanistan's Bagram Airfield after nearly 20 years, winding up its "forever war," in the night, without notifying the new Afghan commander until more than two hours after they slipped away. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)

epa09324741 Afghan army soldiers take a break inside a gym at Bagram Air Base, some 50 kilometers north of the capital Kabul, Afghanistan, 05 July 2021. After nearly two decades, the US military has left the Bagram Airfield in central Afghanistan and has handed it over to Afghan National Defense and Security Forces on 02 July. EPA-EFE/HEDAYATULLAH AMID

More than 1,000 Afghan troops flee into Tajikistan as Taliban advance, US forces leave

Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers stand guard on a road side check point in Herat, Afghanistan. Photo: EPA

In this handout photo released by Border Troops of the State Committee for National Security of the Republic of Tajikistan on Tuesday, June 22, 2021, Afghanistan's government soldiers sit at a bridge next to Tajikistan-Afghanistan border in Tajikistan. 134 servicemen of the government forces of Afghanistan were forced to retreat through of the Panj frontier detachment into the territory of the Republic of Tajikistan on Tuesday, June 22, 2021. The Taliban's march through northern Afghanistan gained momentum overnight with the capture of several districts from fleeing Afghan forces, several hundred of whom fled across the border into Tajikistan, officials said Sunday. More than 300 Afghan military personnel crossed from Afghanistan's Badakhshan province as Taliban fighters advanced toward the border, Tajikistan's State Committee for National Security said in a statement. (Border Troops of the State Committee for National Security of the Republic of Tajikistan via AP)

US vacates Bagram airbase, Afghanistan withdrawal imminent

A US military transport aircraft landing at Bagram on Thursday. Photo: AFP

American soldiers step off Chinook transport helicopters at Bagram Air Base after battling al-Qaida and Taliban forces in the mountains of eastern Afghanistan, Tuesday, March 12, 2002. Hundreds of soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division and the 10th Mountain Division have returned since Sunday. (AP Photo/Mikhail Metzel)

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Taliban enter western city of Qala-i-Naw after seizing dozens of rural districts
US troop pull-out is 90 per cent complete, Pentagon says



The Taliban launched their first assault on a provincial capital in Afghanistan since waging a major offensive against Afghan forces.


Taliban

Taliban attack provincial capital as US forces exit Afghanistan

Taliban enter western city of Qala-i-Naw after seizing dozens of rural districts US troop pull-out is 90 per cent complete, Pentagon says

Taliban enter western city of Qala-i-Naw after seizing dozens of rural districts

US troop pull-out is 90 per cent complete, Pentagon says