Taliban capture main Afghan-Tajik border crossing

KUNDUZ: The Taliban captured Afghanistan’s main border crossing with Tajikistan, officials said on Tuesday, with security forces abandoning their posts and some fleeing across the frontier.

The seizure of Shir Khan Bandar, in the far north of Afghanistan, about 50 kilometres (30 miles) from Kunduz city, is the most significant gain for the Taliban since the US began the final stage of its troop withdrawal in May.

“Unfortunately this morning and after an hour of fighting the Taliban captured Shir Khan port and the town and all the border check posts with Tajikistan,” said Kunduz provincial council member Khaliddin Hakmi.

Separately, an army officer told AFP on condition of anonymity: “We were forced to leave all check posts... and some of our soldiers crossed the border into Tajikistan. By the morning, they (Taliban fighters) were everywhere, hundreds of them.”

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid confirmed the insurgents had seized the crossing, across the Pyanj River. “Our Mujahideen are in full control of Shir Khan Bandar and all the border crossings with Tajikistan in Kunduz,” he told AFP.

Amruddin Wali, another provincial council member, said officials “lost contact” with the area on Monday night. The crossing is marked by a 700-metre US-funded bridge that opened in 2007 with the aim of boosting trade between the central Asian neighbours. It is a sprawling dry port capable of handling up to 1,000 vehicles a day.

“There were 150 trucks loaded with goods in Shir Khan Bandar when it fell and we don’t know what’s happened to them,” said Massoud Wahdat, a spokesman for the Kunduz provincial chamber of commerce and industries.

“It would be a huge financial loss.”

Fierce fighting has raged across Kunduz province over the past few days, with the Taliban and Afghan forces engaged in battles since Monday on the outskirts of Kunduz city itself. The Taliban have taken up positions on highways that connect the city to neighbouring provinces, officials said.