Taliban fighters have taken over more than a fifth of Afghanistan’s provincial capitals in less than a week, prompting Afghan President Ashraf Ghani to fly to the besieged northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif on Wednesday to rally his embattled forces.
Ghani landed in Mazar after the Taliban took control of Faizabad overnight, making it the Taliban’s ninth city to fall since Friday.
According to a statement provided by the palace, he intends to “examine the general security in the northern zone.”
As Taliban forces drew closer to Mazar’s outskirts, the Afghan commander was expected to conduct meetings with the city’s long-time strongman Atta Mohammad Noor and infamous warlord Abdul Rashid Dostum concerning the city’s defence.
Mazar’s loss would be a devastating blow to Kabul’s administration, signaling the end of the government’s grip over the north, which has long been a stronghold for anti-Taliban forces.
Dostum and a team of commandos boarded a jet in Kabul hours before Ghani arrived, according to photos shared on official government social media pages.
Since May, when the US-led military coalition began the final part of a drawdown due to be completed by the end of the month, fighting in Afghanistan’s long-running conflict has risen drastically.
A local politician in Faizabad, Badakhshan’s capital, told AFP that security troops had retreated after days of fierce battles east of Mazar.
“The Taliban have now taken control of the city,” Zabihullah Attiq claimed.
In a social media statement, the militants also stated that their fighters had taken control of the city.
