The Taliban have taken control of a second provincial capital in Afghanistan, a day after seizing the south-western financial hub of Zaranj, as the insurgent group continues to progress in the country's urban areas.
On Saturday afternoon, Taliban insurgents armed with heavy weaponry overran Sheberghan, the seat of the northern Jawzjan province. The city was once thought to be a stronghold of the legendary Afghan warlord Abdul Rashid Dostum, who is thought to be in Kabul after returning to Afghanistan this week after medical treatment in Turkey.
“The city of Sheberghan has been under Taliban siege for more than ten days, but they began their big assault at approximately 4 a.m. this morning, and the city fell at around 1 p.m.,” Babur Eshchi, the head of the local provincial council, stated by phone from an unidentified part of the province.
“After severe confrontations and resistance, local security forces and people's revolt troops fled in the afternoon. They retreated to the airport, one of the few remaining government-controlled areas, according to Eshchi.
Since foreign forces began the final step of their pullout in early May, the Taliban have taken control of much of rural Afghanistan. The rebels did not initially target big cities, but they are now threatening several significant cities, including Herat and Helmand Province's capital, Lashkar Gah.
Taliban insurgents posted recordings demonstrating their presence inside the provincial governor's compound, and only Sheberghan's airport remained under government control.
“At this hour, there are no airport conflicts.” At the moment, the local police commander and governor are on the scene. Another local official said, "We don't know what's going on with the people within the city, which is frightening, but they were destroyed in the early hours of today." “A military plan to retake the city does not exist, but we are in contact with Kabul. We requested reinforcement, and we received it.
Sheberghan fell after the Taliban gained control of Zaranj, the provincial capital of Nimroz, in the southwest province of Nimroz, on Friday – the first provincial capital to fall to the insurgents in a nationwide offensive. Insurgents also claimed responsibility for the death in Kabul on Friday of the chief of the Afghan government's media information department.
On Saturday afternoon, Sheberghan was nearly deserted, with many residents fleeing to neighbouring provinces, according to locals.
“The Taliban have complete control of the city. They are traversing the city freely, but there is still occasional gunfire in some areas,” one resident stated. “On the streets, there aren't many people. Those who have returned to their companies are terrified since the Taliban has taken control.”
He continued, "The city was full of inmates this morning," referring to the Taliban's early Saturday release of hundreds of inmates from the provincial prison.
“The inhabitants of the area are in a terrible predicament. When their regions fell, many people had already fled to the provincial capital. People who had the ability to flee to locations like Mazar.”
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