KABUL: The Taliban controlled the six capitals of the Afghan Province on Tuesday after a Blitz in the north forced tens of thousands of people to escape from their homes for relatively kabul safety and other centers.
The rebels now have eyes on Mazar-i-Sharif, the largest city in the north, which falls will indicate the collapse of the total control of the government in an area that has traditionally become anti-Taliban.
Government forces also struggled against hardline Islamists in Kandahar and Helmand, South Pashto provinces from which the Taliban attracted their strength.
The United States – because it completes the withdrawal of troops at the end of the month and ends the longest war – has everything except leaving the battlefield.
However, the special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad has been sent to Qatar to try and convince the Taliban to receive a ceasefire.
Khalilzad “will suppress the Taliban to stop their military attacks”, the State Department said, and “help formulate international responses with a deteriorating situation”.
Officials from neighboring Afghanistan – Pakistan, China and Iran will also attend meetings.
But Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said it went down to the Afghan government and his troops to change the tide, and there was a “not much” that could be done by the United States to help.
Michael Kugelman, at Woodrow Wilson International Center for scholars, doubt Washington has the means to change anything.
“I’m afraid that the Taliban (being) is so strong and the Afghan military is so besieged at this time, it will be difficult to find some kind of momentum-changer from the US,” he said.
The Taliban had emerged largely indifferent to the demands of peace, and seemed to mean a military victory to nurture the return to power after their Ouster 20 years ago after the September 11 attacks.
When the battle raged, tens of thousands of people moved domestically, with families escaping from the newly captured Taliban cities with brutal care stories in the hands of the rebels.
“The Taliban beats and loots,” said Rahima, now camping with hundreds of families in a park in the capital of Kabul after escaping from Sheberghan Province.
“If there is a young girl or widow in the family, they forcibly take it.
We run away to protect our honor.” “We are very tired,” Farid added, Evakuee from Kunduz who did not want to be further identified.
In the northern city of Kunduz who was arrested by the Taliban during the weekend, residents said shops had begun to open in the center when rebels focused their attention to government forces who had retreated to the airport.
“People open their shops and businesses, but you can still see fear in their eyes,” said Habibullah shopkeeper.
Other residents, living close to the airport, said there had been a heavy battle for days.
“The Taliban is hiding in people’s homes in the area and government forces bombing them,” Haseeb said, who only gave his first name.
“From the window of my house, I can see women, children and humans leave.
Some of them are barefoot …
some interesting children crying with them.” The Taliban gained fame during their first assignment from 1996-2001 for introducing a harsh interpretation of Islamic government which prohibits women from education and women from work.
Crime is punished by public floggings or execution, while a number of activities – from playing music to non-religious TVs – also prohibited.
They have given a little indication of how they will rule if they take power again, regardless of saying it will be in accordance with the Qur’an, because the opponents are afraid of losing rights won.
After the arrest of AIBAK on Monday, the rebels have now flooded five provincial capitals in the north, triggering fears the government has lost its grip in the region.
They have also taken Zaranj, the capital of Nimroz Province, in the southwest.
On Monday, the Taliban said they moved in Mazar-I-Sharif – the largest city in the north and Linchpin for government control towards the region – after capturing Seberghan to the west, and Taloqan to the east.
But Fawad was safe, a spokesman for the defense ministry, said the Afghan forces were up there.
“Great success,” he tweeted.
But when the battle edged closer to the city, the Indian Consulate in Mazar called for a citizen of the country to climb “special flights” scheduled for the end of the day.
“Every Indian citizen inside and around Mazar-i-Sharif is asked to go to India,” read the official statement posted on social media.