Taliban Seize New Areas, Plan Assault on Kabul

The Taliban armed militia forces eye possible assault on the Afghan capital Kabul which is the last key area that still slips from their control. The government official authorities confirmed that the strategic economic centres are already under the Taliban control.

Kandahar was the latest and biggest city to fall under the pressure of the armed rebels. It is the economic hub of the south and came under Taliban control as US-led international forces completed their withdrawal after 20 years of war, Reuters reported. Herat in the west also fell to the hardline Islamist group."The city looks like a frontline, a ghost town," provincial council member Ghulam Habib Hashimi said by telephone from the city of about 600,000 people near the border with Iran."Families have either left or are hiding in their homes." A US defence official said there was concern that the Taliban - ousted from power in 2001 after the 11 September attacks on the United States - could make a move on Kabul within days. President Joe Biden's administration announced plans to send 3,000 additional troops to help evacuate US embassy staff, and the Pentagon said most would be in Kabul by the end of the weekend. Britain also

The United Nations has said it would not evacuate its personnel from Afghanistan but was relocating some to Kabul from other parts of the country. Many other Western embassies and aid groups said they were bringing some staff home.UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that "Afghanistan is spinning out of control" and urged all parties to do more to protect civilians."This is the moment to halt the offensive. This is the moment to start serious negotiation. This is the moment to avoid a prolonged civil war, or the isolation of Afghanistan," Guterres told.

The explosion in fighting has raised fears of a refugee crisis and a rollback of gains in human rights. Some 400,000 civilians have been forced from their homes since the start of the year, 250,000 of them since May, a UN official said.