Taliban takes over 18 Afghan cities; US prepares to send 3,000 marines

Kabul/Washington: – In the last 24 hours, the Afghan army has killed 202 Taliban militants. In the same schedule, the Taliban took control of the capitals of eight more provinces of Afghanistan. As a result, it has captured 18 of the 34 provinces, more than half of the Afghan provincial capitals. The Taliban has since moved on to Kabul, prompting the United States to issue the orders to deploy 3,000 Marines in Kabul. However, the deployment is claimed to be for the safe return of US citizens from Kabul.

On Thursday evening, the Taliban took control of Ghazni province, 130 kilometres from the Afghan capital Kabul. Concerns were raised that the Taliban had taken control of Ghazni. But by Friday evening, the Taliban had established control over the provincial capitals of Helmand, Kandahar, Herat, Zabul, Uruzgan, Logar, Ghor and Badghis. What the Taliban have achieved in just 24 hours is considered to be their biggest success so far.

Pul-e-Alam, the capital of Logar province, is just 50 kilometres from Kabul. The Afghan government and army control the belt connecting Kabul and Pul-e-Alam. But the Taliban’s handling of the conflict in Afghanistan over the past two days is a matter of concern for the international community. If the Taliban’s momentum continues, a warning given by the US intelligence community seems to be coming true that the Taliban will succeed in capturing Kabul in the next few days.

Realizing that the government in Afghanistan would collapse if the capital, Kabul, fell to the Taliban, the United States has stepped up its military operations. The United States is preparing to deploy 3,000 Marines for the safe return of its citizens working at the US embassy in Kabul. The leading US newspaper, The New York Times, published the information. The US newspaper has said that it has made preparations to launch an operation in Afghanistan, using Pakistan’s airspace, if the Taliban played mischief while the citizens were being evacuated from Kabul.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken held talks with the foreign ministers of Canada and Germany and NATO chiefs. NATO then called an emergency meeting of all its member states on the issue of conflict in Afghanistan. Germany announced a reduction of staff at its embassy in Kabul. European countries such as Denmark, the Netherlands and Norway announced the closure of their embassies.

The United States has not officially announced this. For a few months, 3,500 US troops were stationed in Afghanistan. US President Joe Biden had announced that most of the troops had been withdrawn. But after the Taliban‘s footsteps turned to Kabul, the United States will send 3,000 Marines through the Pakistani airspace to Afghanistan. Anti-US and pro-Taliban militants in Pakistan are warning that US use of Pakistan’s airspace would be dangerous.