Taliban capture Herat and Kandahar, as U.S. sends troops to help evacuate embassy staff
The Taliban have now seized 12 of 34 provincial capitals in Afghanistan
The Taliban captured two major Afghan cities — the country's second- and third-largest after Kabul — and a strategic provincial capital on Thursday, further squeezing the embattled government just weeks before the end of the U.S. military mission there.
The seizure of Kandahar and Herat marks the biggest prizes yet for the Taliban, who have taken 12 of Afghanistan's 34 provincial capitals as part of a weeklong blitz.
On Friday, The Taliban also captured the town of Lashkar Gah, the capital of the southern opium-growing province of Helmand, where British, U.S. and other foreign forces battled the insurgents for years.
The capture of the city of Ghazni, meanwhile, 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 U.S. and NATO troops invaded and ousted the Taliban government.
While Kabul itself isn't directly under threat yet, the losses and the battles elsewhere further tighten the grip of a resurgent Taliban, who are estimated to now hold more than two-thirds of the country and are continuing to pressure government forces in several other provincial capitals.
With security rapidly deteriorating, the United States planned to send in 3,000 troops to help evacuate some personnel from the U.S. Embassy in Kabul. Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby said one army and two Marine infantry battalions will enter Afghanistan within the next two days to assist at the Kabul airport with the partial embassy evacuation.
Separately, Britain said about 600 troops would be deployed on a short-term basis to support British nationals leaving the country.
The CBC's Murray Brewster reported Thursday that Canadian special forces are on standby to help evacuate Canada's own embassy in Kabul.
Thousands of Afghans have fled their homes amid fears the Taliban will again impose a brutal, repressive government, all but eliminating women's rights and conducting public amputations, stonings and executions. Peace talks in Qatar remain stalled, though diplomats met throughout the day.
Fears for Kabul
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 in the coming days if the Taliban keep up their momentum.
The onslaught represents a stunning collapse of Afghan forces and renews questions about where the more than $830 billion US spent by the U.S. Defence Department on fighting, training those troops and reconstruction efforts went — especially as Taliban fighters ride on American-made Humvees and pickup trucks with M-16s slung across their shoulders.
Afghan security forces and the government have not responded to repeated questions from journalists over the days of fighting, instead issuing video communiqués that downplay the Taliban advance.
Gunfire and also silence
In Herat, Taliban fighters rushed past the Great Mosque in the historic city — which dates to 500 BC and was once a spoil of Alexander the Great — and seized government buildings. Witnesses described hearing sporadic gunfire at one government building while the rest of the city fell silent under the insurgents' control.
Herat had been under militant attack for two weeks, with one wave blunted by the arrival of warlord Ismail Khan and his forces. But on Thursday afternoon, Taliban fighters broke through the city's defensive lines and later said they were in control.
Afghan lawmaker Semin Barekzai also acknowledged the city's fall, saying that some officials there had escaped. Witnesses described seeing Taliban fighters once detained at Herat's prison now freely moving on the streets.
It wasn't immediately clear what happened to Khan, who earlier had been described as under attack with his forces at a government building.
In Kandahar, the Taliban seized the governor's office and other buildings, witnesses said. The governor and other officials fled the onslaught, catching a flight to Kabul, the witnesses added. They declined to be named publicly as the defeat has yet to be acknowledged by the government.
The Taliban had earlier attacked a prison in Kandahar and freed inmates inside, officials said.
Earlier Thursday, the militants raised their white flags imprinted with an Islamic proclamation of faith over the city of Ghazni, just 130 kilometres southwest of Kabul.
Fighters crowded onto one seized Humvee and drove down a main road, with the golden dome of a mosque near the governor's office visible behind them, yelling: "God is great!" The insurgents, cradling their rifles, later gathered at one roundabout for an impromptu speech by a commander. One militant carried a rocket-propelled grenade launcher.
Ghazni provincial council member Amanullah Kamrani alleged that the provincial governor and police chief made a deal with the Taliban to flee after surrendering. Taliban video and photos purported to show the governor's convoy freely passing by insurgents as part of the deal.
Arrests of officials
Afghan Interior Ministry spokesperson Mirwais Stanekzai later said the governor and his deputies had been arrested over that alleged deal. The officials could not be immediately reached for comment.
Stanekzai also acknowledged in a video message that parts of Ghazni had fallen, though he insisted government security forces "do exist" in the city.
The loss of Ghazni — which sits along the Kabul-Kandahar Highway — could complicate resupply and movement for government forces, as well as squeeze the capital from the south.
Already, the Taliban's weeklong blitz has seen the militants seize nine other provincial capitals around the country. Many are in Afghanistan's northeast corner, pressuring Kabul from that direction as well.
In southern Afghanistan, the Taliban's heartland, heavy fighting continued in Lashkar Gah, where surrounded government forces hoped to hold onto the capital of Helmand province.
With a report from the CBC's Murray Brewster and Reuters