The Taliban in the process of capturing entire Afghanistan, on Friday, established control over several major cities, with the terror group moving closer to the capital Kabul. Meanwhile, the United States is preparing to airlift thousands of people a day from Kabul.
The first U.S. Marine landed at the civilian airport in Kabul to airlift people. Some cities remain under government control even after the Taliban took over their spiritual stronghold Kandahar, which is Afghanistan’s second-largest city.
The scale and speed of the Taliban attack have shocked Afghans and the US-led coalition, which invested billions in the country after curbing the Taliban in the wake of the September 11 attacks nearly 20 years ago. Days before the order of U.S. President Joe Biden’s withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan made individual troops, units, and even entire divisions lay down their weapons. This helped the rebels move faster.
The Taliban also captured Pul-e-Alam, the capital of Logar province, on Friday. Kabul is now just 50 kilometres (30 miles) away from here. Khairdin Logari, a resident of the capital, has reported confusion, “We don’t know what’s going on?” the news agency told AFP.
Meanwhile, British Defence Minister Ben Wales said on Friday that London’s haste after US President Joe Biden ordered the withdrawal of the large US team was “a mistake”. Prime Minister Boris Johnson promised “not to turn away from Afghanistan,” but acknowledged that external powers have limited influence to impose solutions.
In the wake of the rapidly deteriorating situation in Afghanistan, the United States plans to send nearly 3,000 troops from the U.S. Embassy in Kabul to airlift people. On the other hand, Britain is also going to make a short-term deployment of 600 soldiers to airlift British citizens from Afghanistan.