The Taliban Are Unstoppable In Their Momentum

By SouthFront,

The Taliban seem unstoppable all over Afghanistan, as their gains are followed by even more gains.

In recent days, the Taliban’s march through northern Afghanistan gained momentum with the capture of several districts from fleeing Afghan forces. More than 300 Afghan military personnel crossed from Afghanistan’s Badakhshan province as Taliban fighters advanced towards the border. The Afghan soldiers escaped to neighboring Tajikistan, saving their lives from the enemy.

On July 4th, the Taliban was on the verge of taking Faizabad, the provincial capital of the Badakhshan province.

Senior local officials have already taken a flight and escaped to Kabul.

Following the fall of dozens of districts of the Badakhshan province, Afghan commandos of special operation forces were deployed to the strategic city. The gains in northeastern Badakhshan province in recent days have mostly come to the insurgent movement without a fight.

The areas under Taliban control in the north are increasingly strategic, running along Afghanistan’s border with central Asian states. Last month the religious movement took control of Imam Sahib, a town in the Kunduz province opposite Uzbekistan and gained control of a key trade route.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid confirmed the fall of the districts and said most were captured without a fight. The Taliban in previous surrenders have shown video of Afghan soldiers taking transportation money and returning to their homes. From those who didn’t return, many have joined the Taliban ranks as deserters from the Afghani army.

The Taliban reportedly captured the city of Farah, another provincial capital, and the largest city of the Farah Province in western Afghanistan. Footage of the city showed dozens of Afghani army soldiers, many of which were killed.

Hundreds are being killed on each side every day, with reports coming in from scores of Taliban being killed by Afghan security forces, and still the Taliban are the ones coming in on top and capturing even more areas. A significant impetus to the Taliban was the fact that the US abandoned its key position – the Bagram air base – and has turned it over to the Afghanistan Army.

Initially, the Taliban spokesman said that everything had been either been taken by the Americans or destroyed, but it seems that U.S. forces have left behind radar and navigation systems as well as hundreds of vehicles.

On July 3, the Afghan Civil Aviation Authority revealed that the U.S. military left behind Radar and Very-Small-Aperture Terminal (VSAT) systems at the air base. The systems, which were deactivated by U.S. troops before withdrawal, were successfully reactivated by Afghan engineers.

Seeing as how there’s significant equipment there, the Taliban may change their decision not to attempt to capture the base, and in exchange turn their gaze towards it, as it would be a great boon to their operations.