MoI to Probe Govt Forces Withdrawal from Districts’ Centers

Afghanistan’s Ministry of Interior Affairs (MoI) will probe recent evacuations by government forces from the centers of various districts across the country.

Over the last two months, the Taliban has taken over dozens of districts across Afghanistan, raising strong criticisms among the public and analysts who are citing poor leadership and mismanagement of the war as key reason that the Taliban has taken over large swaths of land in the country.

Reports say that in some districts as instances in Shireen Tagab and Pashtun Kot and Qaisar districts of Faryab, and Qarabagh and Muqur districts of Ghazni, hundreds of security force members surrendered to the Taliban without any resistance.

“There is speculation that the security forces were asked not to fight, but it is not confirmed who said this,” said MP Khan Agha Rezaee.

In the past two months Taliban has taken control of more than 120 districts.

“Investigation is underway to find out the main reason,” said Gen. Abdul Sattar Mirzakwal, the acting minister of interior.

Referring to the factors behind the evacuations, the Ministry of Defense said that lack of equipment and delay in the delivery of emergency assistance to the security forces are among the factors that have led to the problem.

“We evacuated some areas in order to prevent casualties among civilians and military personnel, and to prevent the damage to residential areas and delay in on time delivery of supplies to our personnel,” said Rohullah Ahmadzai, spokesman for the Ministry of Defense.

Rahmatullah Nabil, the former head of Afghan intelligence agency, said that the Taliban is seeking to takeover some strategic and important areas.

“The Taliban want to expand fighting in central provinces and to take control over the supply routes to Kabul and then go to the negotiating table where they will make major demands, and if their demands not met, they will focus on other objectives they seek,” said Nabil.

Taliban significantly increased their offensive after foreign troops started withdrawal from Afghanistan.