Afghanistan's second largest city "Kandahar" captured by Taliban
Yet again in the world of Taliban and its extremism, the news of the Taliban capturing one of the largest cities of Afghanistan has come to the surface what is a crushing blow for the government and a major win for the militants.
The southern city was once the Taliban's stronghold and is strategically important as a trade hub.
The insurgents also seized the nearby city of Lashkar Gah and now control about a third of Afghanistan's provincial capitals.
Tens of thousands of civilians have fled the Taliban advance.
Many have travelled to the capital Kabul to seek safety and are sleeping on the streets there. citizens have no food to eat and money to spend, life has turned miserable on this side of the world.
More than 1,000 civilians have been killed in Afghanistan in the past month, according to the UN.
The insurgent advance comes as US and other foreign troops withdraw after 20 years of military operations.
The US is to send nearly 3,000 troops to Kabul airport to evacuate a "significant" number of embassy staff on special flights. The UK is deploying 600 troops to support British nationals leaving the country. Staff at the British embassy have been reduced to a core team.
Why is Kandahar so important?
Kandahar is the Taliban's birthplace, and so taking control of the city of 600,000 people is a significant prize for the militants.
They had occupied the city's outskirts for a number of weeks before launching their attack on the centre.
On Wednesday, the Taliban breached Kandahar's central prison, and on Thursday, images on social media reportedly showed insurgents in the city centre.
Kandahar: Afghanistan's turbulent province
Kandahar is considered strategically important because of its international airport, its agricultural and industrial output and its position as one of the country's main trading hubs.
Ghazni, captured on Thursday, is also a significant gain for the Taliban as it is on the Kabul-Kandahar motorway, linking militant strongholds in the south to Kabul.
Meanwhile Herat, an ancient silk road city, had been under siege for weeks before security forces on Thursday retreated to army barracks. Video on social media shows the insurgents running through a central street firing their weapons, and the Taliban flag was seen flying over the police headquarters.
And Lashkar Gah is of symbolic value to the insurgents as Helmand was the centrepiece of the US and British military campaign in Afghanistan.
The US embassy in Kabul said it was hearing reports that the Taliban were executing Afghan troops who were surrendering, saying it was "deeply disturbing and could constitute war crimes".
An estimated 72,000 children are among those fleeing to the capital in recent days and are mostly sleeping on the streets, according to Save the Children.
Makeshift camps have been established on scrubland on the outskirts of the capital, while many others have reportedly been sleeping on the streets or in abandoned warehouses.
In response to the insurgency, the German government has threatened to end its annual financial support of $500m (£360m) to Afghanistan if the Taliban gains complete control of the country. Germany has also suspended the forced repatriation of Afghan citizens whose asylum applications have failed. The French and Danish governments say they will also following the same policy.
source: BBC
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-58191638
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