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The Afghan army struggled to prevent the first major city from falling into the hands of the Taliban because the United States and Britain accused them of “slaughtering civilians” in the recently occupied town of Kandahar near the Pakistani border.
“The Taliban massacred dozens of civilians in retaliatory killings. These murders may constitute war crimes,” the Washington and London embassies said in separate tweets on Monday in response to the atrocities committed at Spin Boldak.
“The Taliban leaders must be held responsible for the crimes of their fighters. If you cannot control your fighters now, you will have no room for governance in the future.”
Suhail Shaheen, a member of the Taliban negotiating team based in Doha, told Reuters that the tweets containing these allegations were “baseless reports.”
The diplomatic condemnation of the United States and the United Kingdom came after the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission also stated that Taliban fighters were addicted to the retaliatory killings in Spin Boldak.
The organization stated: “After taking over the Spin Boldak area, the Taliban hunted down and identified past and current government officials, and killed those who had no combat role in the conflict,” adding that at least 40 people were killed by the Taliban. .
Afghan security forces begin to attack the Taliban near the Tolkham border point between Afghanistan and Pakistan in Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan [Anadolu Agency/Getty Images]At the same time, after a weekend of intense fighting and thousands of civilians fled, Taliban fighters continued to attack at least three provincial capital cities-Rashkar Gah, Kandahar and Herat.
Since the beginning of May, the war has intensified, and the Taliban used the U.S.-led foreign troops to withdraw from the country after nearly 20 years in the final stage.
“Relentless” fighting
Fighting continued overnight in the southern city of Lashkar Gah, and the Afghan army repelled a new offensive by the Taliban.
“Afghan ground forces and air attacks retreated from this attack,” the Helmand province military said.
Resident Hawa Malalai told AFP that the city’s crisis is getting worse: “Fighting, power outages, patients hospitalized, telecommunications network interruption. There are no medicines, and pharmacies are closed.”
The medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières (Médecins Sans Frontières, or MSF) said the number of casualties in Lashkar Gah is increasing.
“In densely populated areas, there were relentless gunfire, air strikes and mortars. Houses were bombed and many people were seriously injured,” Sarah Leahy, coordinator of the Helmand Provincial Aid Organization Said in a statement.
Helmand has been at the core of American and British military operations in Afghanistan for many years-only because it has fallen into deeper instability.
The loss of Lashkar Gah will be a huge strategic and psychological blow for the government, which has pledged to defend the provincial capital at all costs, as most of the rural areas are handed over to the Taliban in the summer.
Fighting has also intensified in some areas of Kandahar Province, the former fortress of the Taliban, and the suburbs of the capital.
In the west, after several days of fierce fighting, hundreds of commandos are also defending Herat.
Kabul has repeatedly denied that the steady growth of the Taliban in the summer lacks strategic value, but has largely failed to reverse its momentum.
The Taliban’s occupation of any major city will take their current offensive to the next level and heighten concerns about the capabilities of the Afghan army.
The Taliban have occupied Afghan cities in the past, but only retained them briefly.
Ghani blames the U.S.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani Accuses national security of deteriorating The United States “suddenly” decided to withdraw its troops.
When Ghani submitted his security plan to Parliament on Monday, he said that the situation in the war-torn country would be “controlled within six months,” adding that the United States had pledged its full support.
“The reason for our current situation is that the decision was made suddenly,” he told Parliament, adding that he had warned Washington that withdrawing troops would have “consequences.”
The president added that “protecting the people” is his duty.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani delivers a speech at the Kabul Parliament, Afghanistan on August 2, 2021 [Reuters]Al Jazeera reporter James Beth from Kabul said that although Ghani is solving the country’s security issues, he “is not really talking about solutions”, which has aroused concerns among members of the international community.
“We have not heard of the detailed plan… I have talked with many members of the international community and diplomats here. [Kabul], Who is worried,” Beth said.
“They think the president really needs to make a plan-not only to implement it and to solve military problems on the ground, but also because they say the Afghan people need to hear that he has a plan because morale is low,” he said.
At the same time, the United States said it would Accept more Afghans Refugees, because of the surge in violence across the country.
The U.S. State Department said in a statement on Monday: “In view of the escalating Taliban violence, the U.S. government is working hard to provide resettlement opportunities for certain Afghans, including those who have worked with the United States.”
These include current and former employees of U.S. news organizations, U.S. aid and development agencies, and other relief groups that receive U.S. funding.
Current and former employees of the U.S. government and NATO military operations who do not meet the criteria for developing special plans for such workers are also included.
Washington has Start to evacuate Thousands of interpreters and their families have worked with the military and embassies for the past 20 years.
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