Taliban will take over Kabul within a month, US intelligence reports fear

Washington/Kabul – The Afghan army has killed 439 Taliban insurgents in the past 24 hours. In the past 24 hours, the Taliban have taken control of the capitals of three Afghan provinces. In the last six days, the capitals of eight provinces have fallen to the Taliban, which is a matter of concern for the US and the Afghan government. Given the pace of the Taliban’s operations, US intelligence has warned that the militant group will separate the capital, Kabul, from Afghanistan within the next month and take control of Kabul in the next three months.

According to US intelligence, it could take the Taliban six months or more to gain control of Kabul. But US intelligence has also expressed serious concern over the Taliban’s success in recent weeks. In the last 24 hours, the Taliban have seized Badakhshan, Farah and Kunduz provinces. Of these, success in Badakhshan and Kunduz is considered the Taliban’s biggest lead to date. It is also claimed to be a major blow to the Ghani government in Afghanistan.

After capturing the capital of the Kunduz province, Taliban militants have released photographs of themselves with an ‘MI-35 Hind’ helicopter at the military airport here. Two years ago, India gifted the helicopters to the Afghan army. There are reports of Afghan soldiers taking surrendering in front of Taliban militants during the conflict in Kunduz. But neither the Afghan government nor the military has responded.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has rushed to Mazar-e-Sharif after the Taliban took control of Faizabad, the capital of Badakhshan. President Ghani and former Afghan Vice President Rashid Dostum are expected to hold talks on taking action against the Taliban. The meeting between Ghani and Dostum is claimed to be taking place in the wake of US President Joe Biden’s announcement on Tuesday.

Journalists have reminded President Biden that the Taliban has been forging ahead in view of the rapid US military withdrawal from Afghanistan. Reacting to this, Biden said he had no regrets about the decision for military withdrawal. Biden also recalled that the United States had spent trillions of dollars in the Afghanistan conflict, losing thousands of American troops over the past 20 years. Biden also said that there were more Afghan soldiers than the Taliban and should fight the Taliban.

Against this backdrop, Afghan media say President Ghani and Dostum are meeting to intensify anti-Taliban actions. Against the background of this conflict, President Ghani appointed General Haibatullah Alizai as the new Chief of Army Staff, replacing Lieutenant General Ahmadzai. Meanwhile, Afghan Foreign Minister Hanif Atmar has called on the international community to unite and impose sanctions on the Taliban, a threat to global security, including Afghanistan.