The Taliban claimed today through their spokesman that they control 90% of Afghanistan’s border amid a wide-ranging offensive campaign and territorial gains in recent months following the withdrawal of foreign forces. This claim of the Islamist rebels could not be verified.
“The border with Turkmenistan and the border with Iran and Pakistan – with the exception of a few small sections – are also under our full control. The border with Tajikistan is under our full control, from Batashan to Tahar and Cantour. “A large part of Afghanistan’s border with Uzbekistan is also under the control of the Taliban, only Haratan in Kaldae province is under the control of Kabul,” Zabihullah Mujahid told Russia’s Ria Novosti news agency.
The Taliban spokesman also stressed that Islamist insurgents would no longer tolerate the presence of foreign troops in Afghanistan, including Turkish troops.
“We have already rejected Turkey’s position and have said that after the US withdraws from Afghanistan, we will not allow any other foreign forces to remain in the country under any circumstances.”
Mujahid also assured that the rebels “will not allow” the Islamic State jihadist organization to “operate in the country, in the territories it holds.” According to him, “there are no fighters from Central Asia or China in the country.”
Since the withdrawal of foreign troops began in May, the Taliban have launched a full-scale offensive against the Afghan army.
Since then they have occupied vast areas of rural land, as well as many major border crossings, while encircling large cities.
Deprived of the crucial support of the US military, Afghan forces offer little resistance and control only the provincial capitals and major roads.
Earlier in July, the Taliban claimed control of 85% of Afghan territory, a percentage disputed by the government that could not be verified by independent sources.
Taliban attacks and gains are a cause for concern in neighboring countries, most notably Tajikistan, which shares more than 1,200 kilometers of border with Afghanistan.
This Central Asian country today conducted its largest ever military exercise involving its entire army, and Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon is vigilant amid fighting south of its border in Afghanistan.
Joint military exercises with Russia and Uzbekistan are scheduled for August on the Afghan border.
Delegations from the Afghan government and the Taliban met for the first time in Qatar on Thursday and agreed to speed up negotiations.
Recently, Russian Foreign Minister Vladimir Putin’s special envoy for Afghanistan and the director of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Second Asia Directorate, Zamir Kabulov, said that the Taliban were ready to reach a political compromise, as “it has reached a compromise.”
The Afghan Foreign Ministry did not agree with this assessment and stressed that after the signing of the agreement in Doha, the Taliban systematically violated the terms of the agreement and in particular their commitment to reduce the scale of violence.
