ANDSF Retakes 3 Districts, Loses 2 in Heavy Fighting

As clashes continue between security forces and the Taliban in many parts of the country, the Defense Ministry said it had recently recaptured areas of Kaldar district in Balkh province and Pashtun Kut and Khan Chahar Bagh districts in Faryab province. Operations are underway to retake other districts that are under Taliban control, the MoD said.

It was also reported that the Taliban has captured the center of Kandahar’s Khakriz district and Logar’s Baraki Barak district in the last 24 hours.

Fighting is raging between government forces and the Taliban in many provinces of the country, and the escalation of fighting around the provincial capitals of Ghazni, Kunduz, Baghlan, Takhar, Faryab, and Maidan Wardak provinces is causing alarm among residents and members of Parliament.

Clashes between government forces and the Taliban have been ongoing for several weeks in many parts of the center of Kunduz province and the fighting has displaced hundreds of families.

“The Taliban are on one side of the war and the government is the other side. We do not know where to take shelter,” said Zarmeena, a Kunduz resident displaced by the fighting. “We do not have electricity, food or water,” she said.

Gol Mohammad, another displaced person in Kunduz, said: “Everything has become tougher for us, we do not have food or water.”

Kunduz MPs are calling for serious action to repel Taliban attacks in Kunduz and to address the problems of the displaced people.

“Clashes are going on inside Kunduz city. If serious and timely actions are not taken, I assure you that the Kunduz city, for the third time, will get closer to the brink of collapse,” said Nilofar Jalali Kofi, an MP from Kunduz.

Meanwhile, the prolonged fighting in provincial centers Maimana in Faryab, Taluqan in Takhar, Maidan Shahr in Maidan Wardak, and Ghazni city in Ghazni have caused MPs to raise the alarm in Kabul.

Amir Mohammad Khaksar, an MP from Takhar, stated: “Violence has soared in the country, if it continues, I don’t think we will reach a sustainable peace in the country.”

Government forces on the front lines in the Shinwari district of Parwan province say they are attempting to retake lost districts and to expel the Taliban from the province.

“In the next one or two days we will arrive in Seya Gerd district in Ghurband Valley,” said Sharifullah, an army officer in the Shinwari district in Parwan.

Fawad Aman, the Deputy Spokesman for the Ministry of National Defense, said: “Advances have been made in Balkh, Takhar, Baghlan, and Kunduz provinces and this will continue in other parts of the country as well.”

Today President Ghani in a video conference with governors and provincial police chiefs called the Taliban attacks a crime against human rights and stressed that military and civilian officials must abide by human rights laws.