More than 300 members of Afghan security forces have fled to Tajikistan to escape Taliban fighters who continue to seize Afghan territories, British newspaper The Guardian has reported
“More than 300 members of the Afghan security forces have fled across the border into Tajikistan to escape the militants, and Badakhshan and Takhar provinces are now largely under Taliban control outside their respective regional capitals”, – the paper wrote.
Some 400 districts are now under Taliban control. They have not yet captured the provincial capitals, but they have started encircling several of them, from the city of Ghazni in the east to Maymana in the northern province of Faryab. In many areas, security forces surrendered without a fight.
The British broadcaster Sky News noted that the Taliban were waging an active propaganda war using numerous clips on social media and boasting of their territorial successes. The Afghan government appears timid and silent when compared to the militants, and few representatives are willing to speak to the media.
The Taliban invited Sky News journalists to visit the Sultan Khil military base in Wardak province a few days after it was seized. The base is a huge military facility located in one of the most strategic positions.
“The commander who accompanied us said his fighters had captured 70 sniper rifles, 900 guns, 30 Humvees, 20 army pick-ups and 15 articulated military trucks. Taliban fighters showed us container after container at a base packed with the world’s most sophisticated weapons. There were satellite phones, grenades, mortars, bullets, empty containers for sniper rifles and various ammunition. Many were labelled ‘Property of the US government'”, – the journalists said.
It is also noted that the militants are confident, encouraged by their recent successes on the battlefield and revel in the knowledge that they have overturned an army hiding behind security walls in bases packed with sophisticated weapons.