Taliban might capture Kabul within 3 months, US expresses concern

President Biden has reiterated his stance of continuing with the withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan by the end of August, stating explicitly that the matter is not up for debate.

US President Joe Biden’s administration is worried that Afghan capital Kabul might fall to the Taliban sooner than expected. A government official who spoke to the Washington Post on grounds of anonymity said the US military now estimates Kabul’s imminent fall will occur within three months, while others cautioned that it might happen within a month.

A senior European Union official told the Associated Press on August 10 that the insurgent forces are threatening to take over 11 other provincial capitals to cut off Kabul’s support system (REUTERS) (HT_PRINT)

This news came hours after the Taliban took Faizabad, capital of the northeastern province of Badakhshan, and the eighth provincial capital to fall to the insurgent forces in six days. Badakhshan borders Tajikistan, Pakistan and China. The Taliban had laid siege to Faizabad before launching the final offensive on August 10. The Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) retreated after heavy fighting for hours, Jawad Mujadidi, a provincial council member from Badakhshan told reporters.

With the fall of Faizabad, entire northeast Afghanistan will come under the Taliban’s rule, which now controls 65% of the country. A senior European Union official told the Associated Press (AP) on August 10 that the insurgent forces are threatening to take over 11 other provincial capitals to cut off Kabul’s support system, which is reliant on the northern forces. For years the northern part of Afghanistan was the only peaceful region with little presence of the Taliban.

President Biden has reiterated his stance of continuing with the withdrawal of US forces by the end of August, stating explicitly that the matter is not up for debate. “We spent over a trillion dollars over 20 years. We trained and equipped, with modern equipment, over 300,000 Afghan forces. And Afghan leaders have to come together,” Biden told reporters in the White House. The Taliban had promised the US that their troops won’t be attacked and Afghanistan won’t be used as fostering international terrorism in exchange for the withdrawal of US troops but it had never agreed to a ceasefire with the Afghan government.