Taliban capture eighth provincial capital in six days

Taliban took control of another city in northern Afghanistan on Aug. 11, an official said, the eighth provincial capital to fall to the insurgents in six days as U.S.-led foreign forces complete their withdrawal.

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The Taliban capture of Faizabad - the capital of the northeastern province of Badakhshan - came as President Ashraf Ghani landed in Mazar-i-Sharif to rally its defenders as Taliban forces closed in on the biggest city in the north.

After a long battle in Faizabad, government forces retreated to a neighbouring district, Jawad Mujadidi, a provincial council member from Badakhshan, told Reuters.

He said Taliban fighters had taken most of the province and laid siege to Faizabad before launching an offensive on Aug. 10.

The far northeastern province of Badakhshan borders Tajikistan, Pakistan and China.
The Taliban are battling to defeat the U.S-backed government and reimpose strict Islamic law. The speed of their advance has shocked the government and its allies.

Taliban forces now control 65% of Afghanistan, have taken or threaten to take 11 provincial capitals and seek to deprive Kabul of its traditional support from national forces in the north, a senior European Union official said on Aug. 10.

U.S. President Joe Biden urged Afghan leaders to fight for their homeland, saying on Tuesday he did not regret his decision to withdraw, noting that the United States had spent more than $1 trillion over 20 years and lost thousands of troops.

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The United States was providing significant air support, food, equipment and salaries to Afghan forces, he said.

The north was for years Afghanistan's most peaceful region, with only a minimal Taliban presence.
During their 1996 to 2001 rule...