In the wake of American troops leaving their main military base in Afghanistan on Friday, marking a symbolic end to the longest war in US history, Taliban have pushed Afghan troops out of the Kandahar province, adding to a growing list of victories against government forces.
The Taliban have captured Panjwai, a key district in their former bastion, after fierce night-time fighting with Afghan government forces, pressing on with their campaign to capture territory across Afghanistan’s rural areas since early May, France24 reports.
According to Panjwai district governor Hasti Mohammad, Afghan forces and the Taliban clashed during the night after which government forces retreated from the area and the Taliban captured the district police headquarters and governor’s office building.
Panjwai’s fall, also confirmed by Kandahar provincial council head Sayed Jan Khakriwal, comes just two days after US and NATO forces left their main Bagram Air Base near Kabul, but he accused government forces of “intentionally withdrawing”.
The exit of US and NATO troops from Bagram Air Base, north of Kabul, has fueled concerns the Taliban will ramp up their campaign to capture new territory, which proved to be true with fighting raging across several provinces of Afghanistan in recent weeks and the Taliban claim to have seized more than 100 out of nearly 400 districts in the country.
Several hundred Afghan border troops sought refuge in neighboring Tajikistan on Saturday, after a major offensive by the Taliban who captured more than a dozen districts, mostly in Afghanistan’s northeastern Badakhshan Province, over the past 24 hours.
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