Nirendra Dev
US President Joe Biden has come under attack as sacrifices of 2500 American soldiers and whopping expenditures of 20 years of investment that cost $2 trillion have seemingly failed.
New Delhi: Stories from Afghanistan are now of rapidly advancing Taliban and encircling the war-devastated nation's capital, Kabul.
In a major military win by the Taliban, veteran commander and warlord Mohammad Ismail Khan was captured and 'detained' on Friday (August 13).
Three more provincial capitals have been captured. The seizures of Kandahar and Herat mark the biggest prizes for the Taliban, and they can move very fast towards Kabul now.
US President Joe Biden has come under attack as sacrifices of 2500 American soldiers and whopping expenditures of 20 years of investment that cost $2 trillion have seemingly failed.
To many, it was a "predictable and preventable disaster” for the US, and former president Donald Trump called the latest saga a “tragic mess”. Trump further wrote, “Do you miss me yet?”
Once called the 'Lion of Herat', Ismail Khan battled Soviet occupiers in the 1980s and was a key member of the Northern Alliance, whose US-backed forces toppled the Taliban in 2001.
Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid has confirmed that Khan had been detained.
According to BBC reports, various factors have contributed to quick 'losses' of territories by the Afghanistan army and forces loyal to President Ashraf Ghani.
The Afghan army and police have a troubled history of high casualties, desertions and corruption – with some commanders claiming the salaries of troops who didn't exist – so-called "ghost soldiers", the BBC said.
Jack Watling of the Royal United Services Institute says even the Afghan army has never been sure of how many troops it has.
The capture of Lashkar Gah — Helmand's provincial capital — came after heavy firefighting.
The provincial capital of Lashkar Gah was captured, and Taliban insurgents raised their white flag over governmental installations.
The capital of Zabul province, Qalat, too fell to the Taliban.
With security rapidly deteriorating, the United States said it would send in 3,000 troops to help evacuate some personnel from the US Embassy in Kabul.
Separately, Britain said about 600 troops would be deployed on a short-term basis to support British nationals leaving the country, reports said.
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