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Timeline: Taliban's Sweeping Offensive
[AnNahar] With the exit of U.S.-led foreign forces in Afghanistan near completion, the Taliban ...Arabic for students... has ramped up its offensive, capturing half the country's districts and border crossings and encircling several lovely provincial capitals. A recap since the sweeping offensive began in May: - FIERCE FIGHTING - At the start of May, NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It's headquartered in Belgium. That sez it all.... begins a concurrent withdrawal of its mission in Afghanistan involving 9,600 soldiers, 2,500 of which are American. Intense fighting breaks out between the Taliban and government forces in the southern Helmand ...an Afghan province populated mostly by Pashtuns, adjacent to Injun country in Pak Balochistan... province and the turbans capture Burka in northern Baghlan province. A kaboom outside a girls' school on May 8 in Kabul kills 85 mostly girl students in an attack, the deadliest in a year, that is not claimed by any group but blamed on the Taliban. Mid-May, U.S. forces withdraw from the air base in Kandahar, one of the largest in the country. - TALIBAN ADVANCES - The turbans seize districts in Wardak province, 40 km (25 miles) from Kabul, and take control of districts in restive Ghazni, a key province between two roads connecting Kabul to Kandahar, the second-largest city. In mid-June, the Taliban claim to have captured several districts in the northern provinces of Faryab, Takhar and Badakhshan, forcing military leaders to strategically retreat from a number of areas. - KEY BORDERS - The Taliban takes control of the main Shir Khan Bandar border crossing with Tajikistan, prompting the country on June 22 to check the combat readiness of its armed forces. The turbans seize other routes to Tajikistan too, as well as the districts leading to Kunduz, capital of the province of the same name, about 50 kilometers from the Tajik border in northern Afghanistan. - U.S. LEAVES BAGRAM - Officials on July 2 announce the departure of all U.S. and NATO troops from Bagram, Afghanistan's biggest air base, which served as the linchpin for U.S.-led operations in the country for the past two decades. Two days later, the Taliban seize the key district of Panjwai in Kandahar, their birthplace and former bastion. - KEY PORT - The Taliban announce on July 9 they have captured Afghanistan's biggest border crossing with Iran, Islam Qala, one of the major ports through which Kabul conducts most of its official trade with the Islamic Theocratic Republic. - AIRPORT - Afghan authorities say on July 11 they have installed an anti-missile system at Kabul airport to counter incoming rockets. Days later on July 14, the turbans took control of Spin Boldak border crossing with Pakistain, also a key trade route between the two neighboring countries. On July 22, the turbans claim they now control 90 percent of Afghanistan's borders. Earlier in the month, they said they controlled 85 percent of the country's territory, figures disputed by the government and impossible to independently verify. Three days later U.S. General Kenneth McKenzie, head of the U.S. Army Central Command, says the U.S. military will carry out more air strikes in support of Afghan forces and to stem the Taliban offensive. - URBAN CENTERS - In a sharp escalation over the weekend, the Taliban offensive focuses on urban centers. Overnight the turbans assault at least three lovely provincial capitals -- Lashkar Gah, Kandahar and Herat ...a venerable old Persian-speaking city in western Afghanistan, populated mostly by Tadjiks, which is why it's not as blood-soaked as areas controlled by Pashtuns... On Monday, the government announces the deployment of hundreds of commandos to the area of Lashkar Gah in a bid to stop a first major city from falling to the Taliban. The capture of any major city would take the Taliban's offensive to another level and fuel concerns about the ability of the Afghan military. Posted by: trailing wife 2021-08-04 |
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