Taliban take 10th Afghan provincial capital, squeezing Kabul

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By TAMEEM AKHGAR, RAHIM FAIEZ and JON GAMBRELL

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The Taliban captured a strategic provincial capital near Kabul on Thursday, the 10th the insurgents have taken in a weeklong sweep across Afghanistan just weeks before the end of the American military mission there.

Seizing Ghazni cuts off a crucial highway linking the Afghan capital with the country’s southern provinces, which similarly find themselves under assault as part of an insurgent push some 20 years after the foreign troops arrived to oust the Taliban government.

While Kabul itself isn’t directly under threat, the loss of Ghazni tightens the grip of a resurgent Taliban estimated to now hold some two-thirds of the nation, and thousands of people have fled their homes.

The latest U.S. military intelligence assessment suggests Kabul could come under insurgent pressure within 30 days and that, if current trends hold, the Taliban could gain full control of the country within a few months. The Afghan government may eventually be forced to pull back to defend the capital and just a few other cities.



A Taliban flag flies at a square in the city of Ghazni, Afghanistan, after fighting between Taliban and Afghan security forces Thursday, Aug. 12, 2021. The Taliban captured the provincial capital near Kabul on Thursday, the 10th the insurgents have taken over a weeklong blitz across Afghanistan as the U.S. and NATO prepare to withdraw entirely from the country after decades of war. (AP Photo/Gulabuddin Amiri)


Read more: https://apnews.com/article/middle-east-afghanistan-taliban-26d485963b7a0d9f2107afcbc38f239a

[Roy Rolling]

1. What Price?

Did we not pay enough for Afghanistan’s freedom? How much should we pay? $1 trillion? $2 trillion?

Can’t American business buy freedom anymore? Or is the money just to line somebody’s pockets?

[Lonestarblue]

2. I agree with the decision to leave Afghanistan, but the Biden administration should have spent

a month at least before starting troop withdrawal getting the Afghans who worked with the US out of the country. Many of them and their families may now be slaughtered by the Taliban. I read somewhere that around 60,000 people are affected and we have brought out only 1500. Get the rest out now and worry about immigration processing later!

[TheProle]

3. Let's hope this profile is more than a fluff-piece.

Provincial cities in the north have fallen like dominoes this week – in some cases after government forces retreated or surrendered without a fight – but in Lashkar Gah, a Taliban heartland, the army appears to be providing stiffer resistance.

Leading them is Sami Sadat, 36, the highest-ranking army officer in southern Afghanistan, in an intense fight in defence of a provincial capital the Taliban are desperate to seize.

And as the insurgents flood social media with images of surrendering Afghan soldiers and snap selfies with locals, the young general is also using Twitter and Facebook as a slick public relations tool in the fight against the hardline Islamists.

He and the 20,000 men under his command in the Maiwand 215th Corps have garnered thousands of followers, with their Twitter accounts awash with images of the general among the troops, posing for selfies with young civilians and meeting local shopkeepers.

https://www.france24.com/en/asia-pacific/20210812-young-afghan-general-takes-fight-against-taliban-to-social-media

[greenjar_01]

4. Very unlikely that Kabul will last the month - evacuate Embassy staff NOW!

Half a trillion fucking dollars in Afghanistan alone.

[manicdem]

5. Return of terrorism

My fear is that terrorist camps reopen and another 911 terror attack occurs. Attacking Afghanistan would be a lot harder as our allies will either have been slaughtered or feel abandoned and not help.