After capturing huge swathes of land in Afghanistan, mostly rural countryside, the Taliban have intensified their push throughout most of the war-torn nation, turning their guns on provincial capitals.
The terrorist group took control of Afghanistan's eighth provincial city on August 10 as part of their push towards Kabul. After pro-government forces fled to Kelagi desert, home to a big Afghan army base, Pul-e-Khumri, the capital of Baghlan province in the north, collapsed.
Over the last two days, militants have been attacking Kabul. They tossed a grenade into a camp of displaced families in Kabul's District 17 on August 9, injuring three people.
Attacks on civilians have also escalated as a result of the fighters' intensified attacks. On Tuesday, a mortar shell struck the Green Hat neighbourhood in Ghazni's first district, killing three people and injuring 18 others.
In a statement, UNICEF claimed that in the ongoing conflict in Kandahar, Khost, and Paktia provinces, 27 children have been killed and 136 injured. The fast rise of severe violations against children in Afghanistan has startled the UN agency. Hundreds of thousands of people are at risk throughout the country, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross.
On August 9, the Taliban abducted journalist Nematullah Himmat from his house in Helmand province. This comes only days after Toofan Omari, a journalist and the owner of the Paktia Voice radio station was killed by militants in Kabul.
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On the other hand, despite the Taliban seizing control of significant areas of Afghanistan, US President Joe Biden ruled out any changes to his troop withdrawal from the nation.
With Biden's straight 'no', the Afghan government and regional strongmen are forming an alliance to fight the Taliban and safeguard Mazar-e-Sharif and northern Afghanistan. Meanwhile, the Afghan army claims to have killed 170 Taliban terrorists in the province's Dehdadi region.
Six provincial capitals, mostly in the north of the nation, were already under Taliban control, including Kunduz, Taluqan city, Sheberghan, Zaranj, and Samangan province's capital Aybak city. Yesterday, Farah and Baghlan were also captured.
In the south, the Taliban have strongholds in Kandahar and Lashkar Gah, as well as outside Faizabad, the capital of Badakhshan, a remote Northern Province that was previously considered strength against the Taliban.