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Taliban target civilians in Afghanistan in push towards Kabul
Taliban fighters have been attacking Kabul over the past few days. On Monday, they threw a grenade at a camp of displaced families in Kabul's District 17, in which three people were injured. UNICEF said that 27 children have been killed in ongoing fighting in Kandahar, Khost and Paktia provinces.
The Taliban on Tuesday captured the eighth provincial city in Afghanistan, in their push towards the country's capital Kabul. Pul-e-Khumri, the capital of Baghlan province in the north, fell after the pro-government militias retreated to Kelagi desert, home to a large Afghan army base.
Pul-i-Khumri is on the highway connecting the northern provinces to Kabul. Its fall not only increases pressure on the security forces to keep the Sunni Pashtun fighters away from the country's capital, but also poses a risk of complete isolation of the north of the country.
The insurgents have been attacking Kabul over the past few days. On Monday, they threw a grenade at a camp of displaced families in Kabul's District 17, in which three people were injured.
Six provincial capitals, mainly in the north of the country, including Kunduz, Taluqan city, Sheberghan, Zaranj, and Samangan province's capital Aybak city were already under Taliban control. Two more - Farah and Baghlan - were captured on Tuesday.
The Taliban are also entrenched in Kandahar and Lashkar Gah in the south and outside Faizabad, the capital of Badakhshan, the remote Northern Province that was once considered an anti-Taliban stronghold.
The fighters have also increased attacks on the civilians. Three civilians were killed and 18 others injured when a mortar shell struck the Green Hat area in the first district of Ghazni city on Tuesday.
UNICEF said in a statement that 27 children have so far been killed and 136 injured in ongoing fighting in Kandahar, Khost and Paktia provinces. The UN agency expressed "shock" at the rapid escalation of grave violations against children in Afghanistan. The International Committee of the Red Cross stressed that hundreds of thousands of civilians are at risk in the country.
The Taliban kidnapped a journalist named Nematullah Himmat from his home in Helmand province on Monday. This comes days after Toofan Omari, a journalist and head of radio station Paktia Voice, was shot dead by the insurgents in Kabul.
Fighting has intensified on the outskirts of Mazar-e-Sharif, the fourth largest city of Afghanistan and capital of Balkh province. India on Tuesday commenced an evacuation process for its diplomats and nationals from Mazar-e-Sharif, a month after it had undertaken a similar move to move out officials and security persons from the consulate in Kandahar.
The Afghan National Security and Defence Forces (ANDSF) are determined to not let the Taliban take Mazar-e-Sharif; they successfully pushed back the insurgents' offensive and regained control over Nahr-e-Shahi, Tolo News reported.
Afghanistan is witnessing a surge in violence as the Taliban have intensified their offensive in wake of the pullback of US and Nato forces. These forces will be out of the country by August 31.
US President Joe Biden on Tuesday said he does not regret his decision to withdraw American forces from Afghanistan amid the Taliban offensive and urged the leaders of the war-torn country to unite and "fight for their nation".
