Kabul: The dreaded Afghan militant group, Taliban, has captured almost all the important provinces of the country. Herat and Kandahar cities too, have fallen to the Taliban with the next target being the capital city of Kabul, sooner than expected.
India issued an advisory to its 1,500 residents still stuck in Afghanistan, even as the militant group continues to make efforts to advance rapidly, with fear of kidnapping on the rise.
The government has now effectively lost control of most of the country, following an eight-day onslaught by the insurgents that have caught the United States by surprise, even as it pushes forward with a troop withdrawal due to being completed by the end of the month.
“Kandahar is completely conquered. The Mujahideen reached Martyrs’ Square in the city,” a Taliban spokesman tweeted on an officially recognized account — a claim backed by a resident, who told AFP government forces appeared to have withdrawn en masse to a military facility outside the city. The fresh take over has now left only the capital and pockets of other territories in government hands.
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