Afghan forces deploy to counter Taliban assault

KABUL: Afghan authorities deployed hundreds of commandos and pro-government militiamen on Tuesday to counter the Taliban’s blistering offensive in the north, a day after more than 1,000 government troops fled into neighbouring Tajikistan.

Fighting has raged across several provinces, but the insurgents have primarily focused on a devastating campaign across the northern countryside, seizing dozens of districts in the past two months.

Last week, all US and Nato forces left Bagram Air Base near Kabul—the command centre for anti-Taliban operations—effectively wrapping up their exit after 20 years of military involvement that began in the wake of the September 11 attacks.

“We are planning to launch a big offensive to retake the lost territories from the enemy,” Fawad Aman, a spokesman for the Ministry of Defence told AFP.

“Our forces are being organised on the ground for this operation.”

Troops and pro-government militiamen were deployed in the northern provinces of Takhar and Badakshan where the Taliban have captured swathes of territory at lighting speed, often without any fighting.

Afghan defence officials have said they intend to focus on securing major cities, roads and border towns in the face of the Taliban onslaught, launched as US and Nato troops pressed ahead with their final withdrawal in early May.

The militants’ successes have spurred fears that Afghan forces are in crisis, particularly now vital US air support has been massively curtailed by the handover of Bagram Air Base.

On Monday, more than 1,000 Afghan troops fled into Tajikistan, forcing the neighbouring country to bolster the frontier with its own soldiers. Several hundred had already crossed into the country in recent weeks, in the face of a Taliban offensive.

Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon has ordered “the mobilisation of 20,000 reserve troops to further strengthen the border between Tajikistan and Afghanistan,” a statement from the presidency said late on Monday.

The fighting in the north has also forced Moscow to close its consulate in the city of Mazar-i-Sharif, the capital of Balkh province and one of Afghanistan’s largest urban centres near the border with Uzbekistan.

The insurgents on Tuesday claimed to have captured a district in Nimroz province in the southwest.

The speed and ease of the Taliban’s effective takeover of swathes of areas in Takhar, Badakhshan and Kunduz represent a massive psychological blow to the Afghan government.