Kandahar: Afghan forces clashed on Friday with Taliban fighters at Spin Boldak after launching the operation to reclaim the main border with Pakistan, when the rebels tightened their grip in the north and fight for the famous warlord fortress.
Dozens of traceable Taliban fighters were treated at Pakistani hospital near the border after a malignant overnight battle, AFP correspondent at the scene reported.
“We have suffered one death and dozens of our fighters have been injured,” Mullah Muhammad Hassan, who identified himself as Taliban rebels, told AFP near Chaman in Pakistan, about five kilometers (three miles) from the border.
Reuters news agency said Friday one of his photographers was killed in Battle Spin Boldak, quoting an Afghan army commander.
Denmark Siddiqui, an Indian citizen, is part of the team that shares Pulitzer’s prize in 2018 and has been embedded with Afghan Special Forces, the agency said.
The fight for the border came when the Taliban approached the old Foe Fortress Abdul Rashid Dostum, with a spokesman for the rebel group, said the Warlord militi forces had escaped from Seberghan, the capital of Jowzjan Province.
The group has “captured the gate” of the city, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a message WhatsApp, added: “Dostum militia left the city and fled to the airport.” Deputy Governor of Jowzjan confirmed that the Taliban had reached the gate of the provincial capital, but said government forces pushed back against militants.
Over the years, Dostum has oversees one of the largest militias in the north, which collects a frightening reputation in his fight with the Taliban in the 1990s – along with allegations that his troops guide thousands of rebel war prisoners.
Kerute or retreat of his warriors will do hope recently the Kabul government that militia groups can help increase the military.
When battles went berserk throughout the country, the word war heated between Kabul and Islamabad after the Afghan vice president accused the Pakistani military giving “near air support to the Taliban in certain regions”.
Pakistan strongly denied that claim, with the statement of the Foreign Ministry who said the country “took the steps needed in his area to protect our own troops and population”.
“We recognize the rights of the Afghan government to take action in the Sovereign region,” he added.
Spin Boldak residents, who fell to the Taliban on Wednesday, said the rebels and soldiers struggled in the main market of the border city.
“There is a heavy battle,” said Mohammad Zahir.
The border intersection provides direct access to Pakistan Balochistan Province, where Top Taliban leadership is based on decades, along with unknown reserve fighters who regularly enter Afghanistan to improve their ranks.
As a continuing battle, Pakistan said Thursday will hold a special conference in Afghanistan in Islamabad on weekends, although Taliban officials have not been invited.
There are also signs that official talks in Doha – which stopped for months – can come back to life.
A Assistant Afghan President Ashraf Ghani told local media, his government asked the Islamabad conference to be postponed when negotiators had headed to Qatar.
The Taliban has utilized the last stage of the withdrawal of foreign troops to launch a series of offensive lightning throughout the country, capturing district plots and border crossings, and circling the provincial capital.
Foreign troops have been in Afghanistan for almost two decades after the US-led invasion was launched after the September 11 attacks.
They have mostly come out of the picture in recent months, but fear grows that government forces will be overwhelmed without the support of the vital air they provide.
The speed and scale of the Taliban attack has been surprisingly very surprising, with analysts say it seems aimed at forcing the government to demand peace on rebel requirements or suffer military defeat.
A Afghan official said on Thursday, the local ceasefire with Taliban leaders was negotiated for Qala-i-Naw, the capital of Badghis Province who saw the battle last week.
“The ceasefire was brought by the tribal elders,” said the Governor of Badghis Hesamuddin Shams to AFP
Afghan troops struggled to reclaim the intersection of the Pakistani border
