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By August 11, more than a quarter of Afghanistan’s provincial capitals came under the Taliban’s control.
On August 10, three more provincial capitals were captured. In the morning, the Taliban claimed control over the city of Farah, the capital of the province of the same name located in western Afghanistan.
Later during the day, the city of Pul-e-Khumri, capital of the northern Baghlan province, fell. The provincial building, the police headquarters, the intelligence center and all related government buildings came under the Taliban’s control. The city was captured, following heavy clashes that lasted since August 9. The first Taliban’s attack was reportedly repelled.
Taliban fighters inside Pul-E Khomri city, the capital of Baghlan province. pic.twitter.com/9dvSlrE5zK
— BILAL SARWARY (@bsarwary) August 10, 2021
Badakhshan province’s capital Faizabad became the latest to be captured by the Taliban since Friday. The province is located on border with Tajikistan. Local security forces had reportedly retreated from the city after days of heavy clashes.
The group has captured nine of the country’s 34 provincial capitals since Friday, including Faizabad, Farah, Pul-e-Khumri, Sar-e-Pul, Sheberghan, Aybak, Kunduz, Taluqan and Zaranj.
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The besieged northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif is now the main stronghold of the Afghan National Security and Defense Forces (ANDSF) in the North of the country.
On August 11, the ANDSF had pushed back a Taliban offensive on Mazar-e-Sharif and had retaken Nahr-e-Shahi district, Balkh governor Mohammad Farhad Azimi claimed.
“The Taliban have focused their attention on Balkh province to take control,” said Azimi.
Amid the ongoing clashes, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani flew to Mazar-i-Sharif, where he will hold talks with Mazar-i-Sharif’s longtime strongman Atta Mohammad Noor and militia leader Abdul Rashid Dostum about the defence of the city.
BAGRAM AIR BASE, AFGHANISTAN — At this sprawling base north of Kabul, here’s a Navy EA-6B Prowler jamming plane (I believe USAF pilots were flying them at the time), an Army CH-47 Chinook, a Predator drone and an F-15E Strike Eagle #AvGeek pic.twitter.com/jzwOae0TfH
— Marcus Weisgerber (@MarcusReports) August 10, 2021
Moreover, on August 11, the Taliban claimed to have fired rockets into the notorious Bagram air base located north of Kabul. The rockets reportedly did not hit the air base and landed in the outside areas.
On July 2nd, the US military said it had handed over Bagram air base to the Afghan army after having operated it for nearly 20 years. It was handed over with military equipment that may fell into Taliban’s hands.
