Live Conflict War in Afghanistan

Nilgiri

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I agree it will degrade @Kaptaan ....remains to be seen how much since there is lot of things in play as to how other neighbours see Taliban.

We will simply catch up early summer 2022 on this and see how many of your predictions came true.
 

Kaptaan

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I agree it will degrade @Kaptaan ....remains to be seen how much since there is lot of things in play as to how other neighbours see Taliban.

We will simply catch up early summer 2022 on this and see how many of your predictions came true.
One thing never forget. Afghans and Pakistani's are brothers and often the children of the same parents. Our geography and history is intertwined. Just like sibling rivalry can be harsh and so has our relationship but these facts won't change. I like to think of Af-Paks as Irish and English. Bitter hostories but for all that they are one. I hope one day we will have a open border with Pakistan with our people able to go to and from like the Irish and English do today despite a bloody history.

In fact the progress and prosperity of Khyber Pakhtunkwa and Balochistan are premised on Afghanistan as well as the wider Turko-Iran Central Asia. The history of cities like Peshwar are linked with Kabul, Tashkent, Khiva, Samarkand etc
 

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From the first day of Turkey's ISAF involvement Turkey haves different approach at Afghanistan. Turkey trough its involvement took critical command tasks as command of ISAF, Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRT) Wardak, Kabul Airport Command, Regional Command Capital (Turkey is still running the Train Advice Assist Command- Capital after the RCC was reconstructed) and is actively participating with its personnel in the HQs of other command structures.

Turkey declined participation in combat operations in Afghanistan. The main objectives in Turkey in Afghanistan is provide security to the capital Kabul and involve in humanitarian aid. Turkey is leading its own training center providing training to the security forces in the capital. Turkey is also a major contributor with aid program of 1.1 billion dollars. Between 2018-2020 Turkey provided 60 million dollars of aid. Turkish business is developing relations and providing Afghanistan with hygiene and cleaning products. TIKA with its efforts opened a 168 water wells and supplied clean drinking water to more than 500.000 Afghani citizens (2013). In 2005 a healthcare agreement was signed providing the possibility of healthcare education to Afghanis and possibility for Turkish and Afghanistan healthcare personnel to serve in the other country's healthcare system. Turkey established multiple hospitals where Afghani health personnel are receiving training. Turkey also is training Afghani police officers in Turkish academies. Tens of schools are also built by TIKA where millions of Afghani youth received education.

Turkey followed a route of a soft power rather than violence and is acting differently to its Western partners. The results are there and there are many Afghanis that respect the Turkish initiative. Organizations like TIKA, Turkish Red Crescent play a critical role in the whole process. It is a known fact that there were cases where NATO troops were putting Turkish flags in order not to get attacked. Turkey also supported Dostum and tried to keep the same distance to all the tribes and their leaders. Turkey vocally expressed its concerns over the drug traffic in Afghanistan and even provided other ways for income and also aids to the tribes in order to try and cut that malign practice. Turkish intelligence played important role in the relationship with Dostum and also managed to win positions for Turkey in the hearths and minds of tribal leaders. Turkey also managed to maintain neutral position towards the Afghani internal affairs and also managed to keep ties with the Taliban on a good level. There were many Turks that were kidnapped during their humanitarian work by Taliban but they were all rescued with the good will of Taliban and the initiatives of the Afghani and Turkish intelligence. Afghanistan authorities are also cooperating with Turkey on security matters including FETO terrorist organization and there are no problems with them.

When we take all these things into consideration, the Turkish soft power and the achievement that Turkey made with its neutrality I think the prospects of the Afghanistan-Turkey relationship is very good. Even if Taliban grab the power in Afghanistan I don't think it will surely negatively impact the relationship. For me the unknown part in all this is what position Dostum will have in possible Taliban ruled Afghanistan. Will Dostum allow a Taliban rule? Will Turkey ditch Dostum and keep ties with Taliban or take a stance against the Taliban in favor of Dostum? We know Dostum have a mercantile side in his character and we know that he also is a fighter. We know that in his controlled areas there is another much more secular law and Dostum is known for his secular point of view. Will people living under Dostum allow Taliban rule? What is the possibility of Afghanistan disintegrating and Uzbek territories to declare independence (we know that there were people in Uzbekistan considering that in the past acting as a buffer State). With this uncertainty its hard to make a conclusion. Afghanistan is a tough topic with all its ethnical diversity, tribal wars, government structure etc. It is really hard to predict what will happen in such environment.

Thanks for the generous reply.

During the last peace conference Dostum was drawing cartoons b/z peace talks were boring for him. He approached the head of Taliban's negotiation team (Abdul Ghani Baradar) and told him how is his health while placing his hand on Baradar shoulder, he told Dostum "remove your hand traitor, killer of Afghans". Abdul Ghani Baradar was send to Guantanamo with many more by the Dostum, SO for Taliban's there is no Dostum.

Dostum doesn't care about Islamic law as demanded by Taliban's but US agreed to it with the Taliban's among other things. The dude and his goons banged about a separate state a week ago due to some guy appointed by Kabul government he wasn't fond of or some thing. He (Dostum) escaped to Uzbekistan when the Taliban's came to power before the US invasion & Taliban's have unsettled score with him.

As US is leaving and trying to find a way to drag the Afghan men they trained out of Afghanistan to Guam or US and grant them citizenship. Dostum will either escape or be killed by Taliban's in post US Afghanistan.

So betting on Dostum is a lost cause.
 

Kartal1

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Thanks for the generous reply.

During the last peace conference Dostum was drawing cartoons b/z peace talks were boring for him. He approached the head of Taliban's negotiation team (Abdul Ghani Baradar) and told him how is his health while placing his hand on Baradar shoulder, he told Dostum "remove your hand traitor, killer of Afghans". Abdul Ghani Baradar was send to Guantanamo with many more by the Dostum, SO for Taliban's there is no Dostum.

Dostum doesn't care about Islamic law as demanded by Taliban's but US agreed to it with the Taliban's among other things. The dude and his goons banged about a separate state a week ago due to some guy appointed by Kabul government he wasn't fond of or some thing. He (Dostum) escaped to Uzbekistan when the Taliban's came to power before the US invasion & Taliban's have unsettled score with him.

As US is leaving and trying to find a way to drag the Afghan men they trained out of Afghanistan to Guam or US and grant them citizenship. Dostum will either escape or be killed by Taliban's in post US Afghanistan.

So betting on Dostum is a lost cause.
Hmm... Very interesting. So indeed he is pushing towards the direction I thought (independent Uzbek State). If that is the case I am wondering if the US and Turkey support such a scenario. This can easily turn into another bloodbath and the only option for Dostum would be a ethnic cleansing of Tajiks so he can get enough and important territory.

Interestingly there are 1.8 billion barrels oil reserve in the north. There are also 1.75 cubic feet natural gas reserve. If we take the possibility of such a State this will be enough to make the State the UAE of Central Asia. With such a large oil and natural gas reserve this is a very interesting area and according an article the US should import 80% of its petroleum from that area.

If we think of possible US-Turkish intervention on the side of Dostum we must think about the political situation in the region and if such a move can take place. We know that both Uzbekistan and Tajikistan hosted bases of NATO countries. Uzbekistan hosted a US base. After the new government formed in Uzbekistan their whole game changed. They opened to the world and started exploring for new opportunities and allies. Some of the most notable countries that responded to this call were the US and Turkey. A theme of talks for a long time is if the US could establish a new military base in Central Asia and if such thing happens my bet would be Uzbekistan. It could possibly be used for many scenarios including supporting operations in Afghanistan, backing Dostum push into the oil and natural gas reach areas, pressuring Russia and exerting influence over Central Asia.

We should not underestimate the fact that Uzbekistan is also a part of the Turkic Council and is one of the most active members of the organization. The Turkic Council aims at coordination in international and regional issues including economic and security cooperation between the Turkic countries. In order to understand how important the Turkic Council for Uzbekistan is we must see at the Uzbek President Mirzyoyev speech at one of the recent conferences saying:

"In the epoch of development we should be ready for all challenges and use our potential jointly. Strengthening of our economic relations has always been one of the key goals [for the Turkic Council]"

"It is high time for the Turkic Council to establish its own Investment Fund and the Development Bank. We are ready to start working in this direction" (Source: https://www.inform.kz/en/uzbek-pres...lish-turkic-council-development-bank_a3770654)

I think it's worth that we think of possible Turkey/Uzbekistan/Turkic Council intervention in such scenario. Of course it is still to early for the Central Asian States for a such an open pro-US alignment and maybe it could never happen but such a thing would mean that the cooperation level between the Turkic Council and the US would be on strategic level and also it would mean a Turkish-US reconciliation in Central Asia.

Of course that is only my brain working around some of the issues and the possible development of the situation but there are many uncertain things as I said both on regional level and also what path will Turkey choose in its strategic and geopolitical stance because as we know Turkey's relationship with its strategic allies is very turbulent on many regional issues including issues regarding Turkey's national interests and national security ranging from Northern Iraq, Northern Syria, Northern Africa and also elections are coming in 2023 that can change many things in the way Turkey operates but it is interesting to think about all these scenarios.
 

Kaptaan

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Kartal1

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Your entire premise overlooks some facts even if Turkey were to go down this very bold but risky move. Central Asia is way too tilted toward Russia. Moscow remains the dominant influence on Central Asia countries.

That is why I pointed out that it is still to early for Central Asian countries for such a cooperation with the US and on such strategic matter but looking at the developments regarding the development of the Turkic Council mission connected initiatives in the Turkic countries I think there is a process going on aimed at gaining more independency from Russia. A sign of that is an ongoing trend of changing a country's Cyrillic alphabet to a Latin one after decades of use. Another trend among the young population is to talk much more their native language rather than Russian. Of course all that transition will happen in a slow and controlled manners but we know for sure that Russian political circles are concerned over these trends.

Another question is what position will the Turkic Council take on regional issues when it takes more serious shape. Would it go for strategic cooperation with the US or it will chose more of an Eurasian position increasing cooperation with Russia and China? Those are issues of which we don't have the answers. My post is just aimed to cover a one possible of maybe tens or hundreds of possible scenarios.
 

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Thanks for the generous reply.

During the last peace conference Dostum was drawing cartoons b/z peace talks were boring for him. He approached the head of Taliban's negotiation team (Abdul Ghani Baradar) and told him how is his health while placing his hand on Baradar shoulder, he told Dostum "remove your hand traitor, killer of Afghans". Abdul Ghani Baradar was send to Guantanamo with many more by the Dostum, SO for Taliban's there is no Dostum.

Dostum doesn't care about Islamic law as demanded by Taliban's but US agreed to it with the Taliban's among other things. The dude and his goons banged about a separate state a week ago due to some guy appointed by Kabul government he wasn't fond of or some thing. He (Dostum) escaped to Uzbekistan when the Taliban's came to power before the US invasion & Taliban's have unsettled score with him.

As US is leaving and trying to find a way to drag the Afghan men they trained out of Afghanistan to Guam or US and grant them citizenship. Dostum will either escape or be killed by Taliban's in post US Afghanistan.

So betting on Dostum is a lost cause.

Dostum is a opportunist and a warlord.

The better we ditch him the better because I know one day he will use us Turks then ditch us too for a different master.

I know the Taliban are not good either but they seem to have kept their word and did not harm us Turks.

Afghanistans future is without warlords lets remember how the Taliban was founded it was founded as a vigilante group against the warlords and their abuses.
 

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China, Afghanistan, Pakistan do better when they work together
Bobby Naderi

5b224baf095d4470ac491cad5a213806.png


VCG
Editor's note: Bobby Naderi is a London-based journalist, guest contributor in print, radio and television, and documentary filmmaker. The article reflects the author's opinions, and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

On June 3, China's State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi hosted the fourth trilateral dialogue via video link with Afghan Foreign Minister Mohammad Haneef Atmar and Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi.
At the end of the meeting, the three foreign ministers reached an eight-point consensus under which they will push forward the peace and reconciliation process, strengthen relations, expand economic and trade exchanges, cooperate on the Belt and Road Initiative as well as healthcare and education, fight the COVID-19 pandemic, strengthen counter-terrorism and security cooperation, and deepen the trilateral foreign ministers' dialogue mechanism.
Make no mistake. The eight-point consensus is an important contribution to revive the peace and reconciliation process in Afghanistan. China's decision to help Afghanistan fight the pandemic comes despite the fact that no other country seriously did so. This is important because COVID-19 cases are again climbing sharply in Afghanistan, and health officials admit that a vaccine shortage means it will be another 18 months before they hit their goal of protecting three-fifths of adults.
It is expected China will send even more vaccines to Afghanistan – the same China that is providing COVID-19 vaccines to nearly 40 African countries. And no, this is not "vaccine diplomacy."
The United States and its coalition allies are expected to finish the troop withdrawal before the September 11 deadline set by President Joe Biden. The U.S. might try to leave a small troop presence in Afghanistan to protect its interests. Training Afghan security forces is not a reason to stay. While some technical assistance and finance may be needed, foreign soldiers and training will not change the economics of the situation.

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A U.S. soldier stands guard next to Air Force One as then U.S. President Donald Trump visits U.S. troops at Bagram Air Field in Afghanistan, November 28, 2019.

Despite the troop withdrawal, the potential for violence and radicalization among disaffected youth remains high. U.S. military and drone bombings have always been a critical irritant to the people and a primary tool for the recruitment of militants. Social defragmentation and poverty can only be solved through reconstruction, economic development, and social institutions. China has the will and the capability to help the Afghan government to address these challenges.
It is wrong to spend more on war than on investing in the people. As foreign troops withdraw, much of the fragile infrastructure remains destroyed and the costs of reconstruction rise amid the pandemic. The lessons of Iraq, Syria, Yemen and Libya are being ignored. Like them, Afghanistan needs social and economic development, not clandestine air war and troop presence, to be anything other than a failed state.
China's aid, development projects and reconstruction efforts can only commence once all war forces have withdrawn and security has been established. The Taliban cannot win even after the U.S.-led troop withdrawal, but they remain emboldened so long as they have "some" U.S. troops to fight. We can still remember vividly how in June 2010, former U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said there were less than 100 members of al-Qaeda left in Afghanistan.
War profiteers continue to support America's endless war in Afghanistan. They come up with bogus excuses to justify their counter-terrorism programs. The reality is that their botched war on terror only brought destruction and carnage to the people of Afghanistan and the rest of the region.
Any peace process that ignores Afghanistan's neighbors is not even worth the ink. A real peace process between Afghanistan's warring parties that also involves its neighbors could result in significant achievements, leading to permanent ceasefire and de-escalation across the conflict-ridden country. There should be no not attempt to create a separate peace process that would undermine the United Nations' efforts. This is the one and the only solution to the crisis in the West Asian country. And the reasons are plenty.
The eight-point consensus between China, Pakistan and Afghanistan seeks no breakup of Afghanistan. It will improve the security situation in the country and the region. China and Pakistan have no illicit interests in Afghanistan; they are neighbors and regional partners. The agreement to deepen the trilateral foreign ministers' dialogue mechanism and hold face-to-face dialogue among the three foreign ministers can and will work as a test for commitment.
After all, China, Pakistan and Afghanistan are determined to speed up the current political process, and the absence of interventionists will not hinder that meaningful progress. Regardless of who else supports this, the eight-point consensus will proceed as planned. The region has seen enough destruction and chaos to afford any delay. The political process is well underway and the war in Afghanistan is finished.
 

Bogeyman 

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Hmm... Very interesting. So indeed he is pushing towards the direction I thought (independent Uzbek State). If that is the case I am wondering if the US and Turkey support such a scenario. This can easily turn into another bloodbath and the only option for Dostum would be a ethnic cleansing of Tajiks so he can get enough and important territory.

Interestingly there are 1.8 billion barrels oil reserve in the north. There are also 1.75 cubic feet natural gas reserve. If we take the possibility of such a State this will be enough to make the State the UAE of Central Asia. With such a large oil and natural gas reserve this is a very interesting area and according an article the US should import 80% of its petroleum from that area.

If we think of possible US-Turkish intervention on the side of Dostum we must think about the political situation in the region and if such a move can take place. We know that both Uzbekistan and Tajikistan hosted bases of NATO countries. Uzbekistan hosted a US base. After the new government formed in Uzbekistan their whole game changed. They opened to the world and started exploring for new opportunities and allies. Some of the most notable countries that responded to this call were the US and Turkey. A theme of talks for a long time is if the US could establish a new military base in Central Asia and if such thing happens my bet would be Uzbekistan. It could possibly be used for many scenarios including supporting operations in Afghanistan, backing Dostum push into the oil and natural gas reach areas, pressuring Russia and exerting influence over Central Asia.

We should not underestimate the fact that Uzbekistan is also a part of the Turkic Council and is one of the most active members of the organization. The Turkic Council aims at coordination in international and regional issues including economic and security cooperation between the Turkic countries. In order to understand how important the Turkic Council for Uzbekistan is we must see at the Uzbek President Mirzyoyev speech at one of the recent conferences saying:

"In the epoch of development we should be ready for all challenges and use our potential jointly. Strengthening of our economic relations has always been one of the key goals [for the Turkic Council]"

"It is high time for the Turkic Council to establish its own Investment Fund and the Development Bank. We are ready to start working in this direction" (Source: https://www.inform.kz/en/uzbek-pres...lish-turkic-council-development-bank_a3770654)

I think it's worth that we think of possible Turkey/Uzbekistan/Turkic Council intervention in such scenario. Of course it is still to early for the Central Asian States for a such an open pro-US alignment and maybe it could never happen but such a thing would mean that the cooperation level between the Turkic Council and the US would be on strategic level and also it would mean a Turkish-US reconciliation in Central Asia.

Of course that is only my brain working around some of the issues and the possible development of the situation but there are many uncertain things as I said both on regional level and also what path will Turkey choose in its strategic and geopolitical stance because as we know Turkey's relationship with its strategic allies is very turbulent on many regional issues including issues regarding Turkey's national interests and national security ranging from Northern Iraq, Northern Syria, Northern Africa and also elections are coming in 2023 that can change many things in the way Turkey operates but it is interesting to think about all these scenarios.
The United States had 20 years to implement this scenario. But now they are busy withdrawing from the country they occupy. I think it would be a healthier approach to think about why the invasion of Afghanistan failed.
I do not think that such a plan will enter the agenda of Uzbekistan or the Turkish Kenesh (beyond Russia's influence in the region). Because no one is rich enough to do it. The United States has spent 1-2 trillion dollars, but has not succeeded. The Russians tried, but the result was the collapse of Soviet Russia. If the attempt by the Turkish Keneshi to try something like this fails, it can also lead to the collapse of these states. Moreover, China and Russia will most want the collapse of these states.

China already claims over East Turkestan. In the event of the collapse of Kazakhstan, they will not hesitate to claim West Turkestan. They're already putting Cossacks in jail. Again, the Russians claim that the north of Kazakhstan belongs to the Russians. A similar annexation scenario could apply there. I think that the West will not care about the Kazakh Turks at all if Kazakhstan collapses. So when considering these issues, it is worth considering the balances in the region.
 

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Taliban delegation met with UN secretary general's special representative for safety and security :

Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai, Deputy Head of the Political Office, IES (Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan) and his accompanying delegation met with Gilles Mishaud, UN Secretary General's Special Representative for Safety and Security, and Deborah Lyons, Head of UNAMA, and their delegation in Doha today.
Delegation of the Islamic Emirate reiterated its strong commitment to the Afghan peace process in the meeting and assured them about the security and safety of all relevant UN agencies staff and other diplomats based in Afghanistan.
Similarly, role of UN in the Afghan peace process, as well as the UN humanitarian aids in post-peace period came up for discussion.
 

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The Taliban Are Getting Stronger In Afghanistan As U.S. And NATO Forces Exit​

June 5, 20218:00 AM ET
FAZELMINALLAH QAZIZAI

gettyimages-1229998332_slide-bc4b3f60437f6b49480d5a3774322441dadb686f-s800-c85.jpg


A view of what the locals call the "green zone," an area Afghan National Police say is controlled by the Taliban, as seen from a police outpost along the Kabul-Kandahar highway, outside Maidan Shahr, Afghanistan, on Nov. 7, 2020.

KABUL, Afghanistan — At a dusty bus station on this city's outskirts, ticket hawkers call out for passengers to the southern city of Kandahar. It's a 300-mile route and the Taliban control key parts of the highway.
There are gun battles along the route, and the Taliban undertake violent ambushes of Afghan forces.
But for bus driver Jan Mohammad, the highway seems to be the safest it has been in years because of the Taliban. "We are at ease now because the police don't harass us for bribes," says Jan Mohammad, 32, who like many Afghans, does not have a family name. Talibs even issue receipts for customs duties they collect so that drivers don't have to pay again, he says. And there's less highway robbery, he adds: "Robbers can't even spend five minutes on the road, because the Talibs zip over on their motorbikes whenever they hear of a problem."

Yet he acknowledges it's not safe for everyone. "They check the IDs of passengers," he says. "If you are with the Afghan military, they take you off the bus." Rights groups say the Taliban have detained and sometimes killed those suspected of working with government security forces.

Another driver, Sharif Omeri, says the insurgents search passengers' cellphones for music or material forbidden under the Taliban's strict version of Islam forbid. "One time they found a guy who had some pornography on his phone," he says. "They told him to delete it and not watch porn again."
Across Afghanistan, there are echoes of what the Taliban did in the 1990s when they seized power after a brutal civil war. The Taliban wrested order out of chaos, imposing harsh rules on Afghan society until they were toppled in the U.S. invasion in 2001.

In the two decades since, the Taliban have fought the Afghan government and its international allies to regain land and power. Analysts say the insurgents have been growing stronger for years. Now, as American and NATO troops withdraw, the Taliban appear even more emboldened and are wresting more territory from the U.S.-backed Afghan government.

"Even the smallest mujahid feels like we defeated a superpower, and all the world combined," says a Taliban commander, who is second in charge of military operations in a Kabul district. He requested anonymity to speak to NPR so he couldn't be identified by Afghan or foreign forces.

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Afghan security forces stand near an armored vehicle during ongoing fighting with the Taliban in the Busharan area on the outskirts of Lashkar Gah, the capital city of Helmand province, on May 5.

The Taliban have been accelerating a years-old trend of seizing districts since the US scaled back its airstrikes in support of Afghan forces following the deal the Trump administration struck with the Taliban in February last year, according to Jonathan Schroden, an expert at the Center for Naval Analyses in Arlington, Va.

The agreement included the departure of foreign forces from Afghanistan, largely in exchange for the insurgents refraining from attacks and from harboring terrorist groups like al-Qaida.

"Things have gotten notably worse over the last year," Schroden says. "What you're seeing the Taliban do now is not just taking rural areas, but taking rural areas that are increasingly closer to significant cities, provincial capitals, for example, and effectively surrounding them and also cutting the roads that connect to them."

A recent quarterly inspector general report to Congress said, as of February, the Taliban had surrounded five provincial capitals, including Kandahar, Afghanistan's second largest city. The insurgents have doubled their territory since 2018, according to Bill Roggio, senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, who closely follows Taliban military gains. "And keep in mind: That was when U.S. forces were there," he says.

Since President Biden announced U.S. and allied forces will leave by the symbolic date of Sept. 11, U.S. defense officials have reportedly said they intend to complete the withdrawal as early as July. A month into the process, U.S. Central Command said this week the military was "30-44%" of the way there.
As foreign forces leave, Roggio anticipates the Taliban will seize swaths of southern and eastern Afghanistan. "I think that we are going to see the real offensive come in the next several months," he says.

"Buying rockets, mortars, surface-to-air missiles"
A weapons dealer in the eastern city of Jalalabad says the Taliban are acquiring heavier weapons than usual. "Ever since the Americans agreed to withdraw from Afghanistan, the Taliban have been buying more," he says.

He asks NPR only use his nickname, Haji, to avoid being identified. He is in his 60s, and says he has sold weapons to the Taliban and other militants for much of the past four decades of Afghanistan's near-continuous conflict.

"They're buying rockets, mortars, surface-to-air missiles," he says, noting that these were not their usual light weapons purchases, like automatic rifles and ammunition. He says he has knowledge that as many as 35 surface-to-air missiles, made in Russia, were purchased for the Taliban for $70,000 each.
NPR could not independently verify the dealer's claims.

The analyst Schroden, who has provided assessments of Afghanistan's security situation to Congress, says the assertions are plausible.

"Dominance of the air is one of the [Afghan national defense and security forces'] few critical advantages," he says. If the Taliban "got air defense capabilities, it would be a game-changer in terms of military balance."

"We will arrive as conquerors"
At a gas station on the outskirts of Kabul, the Taliban commander says the group has its eyes fixed firmly on the capital. "When we arrive in Kabul, we will arrive as conquerors," he tells NPR.
Taliban leaders say publicly, however, they are serious about peace talks with the Afghan government, which were among the terms of the U.S.-Taliban deal. The negotiations are meant to reach a power-sharing agreement between the Taliban and other Afghan parties, but the talks have sputtered since starting in September.

Speaking to NPR, the commander indicates the Taliban intend to rule Afghanistan according to their harsh version of Islamic law, rolling back some of the gains women have made since the insurgents last ruled from Kabul. "Women will be able to study and work and move freely, but they'll cover their faces. They'll be segregated. We won't have democracy. We'll have an Islamic regime."
He claims it will be utopia, but he warns: "We will punish those who do not pledge allegiance to us."

Killings escalate
Some analysts believe the Taliban are already punishing prominent critics in advance of their planned future rule.


"This deal has actually emboldened the Taliban," says Weeda Mehran, a lecturer on conflict, security and development at Britain's University of Exeter, "to assassinate people and try to get rid of people who would be a problem."

Mehran's referring to killings of dozens of Afghan journalists, activists, clerics and other influential members of society.
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A NATO armored vehicle patrols inside a U.S. military base in Kandahar, Afghanistan, on April 29. The U.S. Central Command estimated this week the military has completed 30% to 44% of its withdrawal.

The killings escalated after talks began between Afghan government negotiators and Taliban representatives. The U.S. accuses the Taliban of many of the killings. The Taliban deny responsibility. "This is a false propaganda of the enemy," said a spokesman, who uses the name Zabihullah Mujahid. He blamed Afghan government intelligence officials for the murders.

Afghan government defense officials say their forces can protect the country from the Taliban and, even after the withdrawal, could call in international air support as needed. But in recent weeks, the insurgents have overrun four districts, in some incidents reportedly sending Afghan forces fleeing without a fight.

On a recent journey down the Kabul-Kandahar highway in a passenger bus, sounds of clashes were audible between Taliban fighters and government forces in Wardak province, which is adjacent to Kabul.
The bus was flagged down at one of the highway's four Taliban checkpoints. A fighter donned a black turban and a camouflage jacket, that appeared to have been taken from government forces, over his traditional long shirt and baggy pants and wore fingerless gloves. He held a rifle in one hand, and in the other, a green laser pointer to aim at vehicles for searches.

He climbed onto the bus, calling out the traditional Muslim greeting: "As-salaam alaikum!"
He flashed his light at the passengers before landing on one young man. "What is your job?" he asked. "I work in a hotel," the passenger responded.

The Talib walked back to the door of the bus. "Forgive us for the hassle," he apologized. "Please pray for us."

Fazelminallah Qazizai reported from Kabul and Jalalabad; Diaa Hadid from Canberra, Australia.
 

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Weapons, Vehicles, Ammo & government troops captured by Taliban's


Google translate :
aliban: Last night, one base and 3 mercenary enemy checkpoints were captured in Kokldash area of Faizabad district of Jawzjan province. Seven policemen were killed and 12 others were arrested alive.
Also, 2 tanks, 2 horses, 23 light and heavy weapons and a lot of ammunition fell into the hands of the Mojahedin.

No Mojahedin were harmed.
 

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