Taliban capture ninth Afghan provincial capital

According to Al-Jazeera, Badakhshan province’s capital Faizabad is the latest to fall to the group amid the US withdrawal.

The Taliban have now seized nine provincial capitals including Faizabad, Aybak, Pul-e-Khumri, Farah, Sar-e-Pul, Sheberghan, Kunduz, Zaranj and Taluqan.

Zabihullah Attiq, a local lawmaker, told the AFP news agency that security forces had retreated from the city after days of heavy clashes. “The Taliban have captured the city now,” he said.

The Afghan government and military have not commented on the matter as yet.

Moreover, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has departed for Mazar-i-Sharif to rally his beleaguered forces, with Taliban taking hold of more than a quarter of the country’s provincial capitals within a span of week.

According to a statement released by the palace, Ghani plans “to check the general security in the northern zone”.

The Afghan leader is also expected to hold talks with Mazar-i-Sharif’s longtime strongman Atta Mohammad Noor and infamous militia leader Abdul Rashid Dostum about the defence of the city as Taliban fighters inch closer to its outskirts