Taliban attacks the capital of northern Afghanistan and releases prisoners

The Taliban set out for the provincial capital in northwestern Afghanistan on Wednesday, freed the prisoners there and threatened to invade the city. Details were unclear about the city of QalaiNau, the capital of Badghis Province, where fighting was widespread. The media revealed that some local residents greeted Taliban fighters on motorcycles as they entered. “The whole city is under the control of the Taliban,” said Abdul Rahim Rahin, a member of parliament from Badghis, although his testimony could not be confirmed immediately. in the afternoon he said the air strikes by the Afghan Air Force had helped push back Taliban fighters. Despite appalling reports from the ground, a statement by the Defense Ministry on Wednesday afternoon said the Taliban were “on the run” and that “all parts of the city will be evacuated in the next few hours. The attack on QalaiNau is the latest Taliban offensive that began in earnest when the US began withdrawing from the country in May, with insurgent fighters on the periphery of at least three other major cities.The recent Taliban victories have placed the Afghan government in an increasingly difficult position. Hundreds of Afghan soldiers have surrendered in recent months and confiscated significant amounts of weapons and equipment from the insurgents who were already well supplied. More than a thousand Afghan soldiers fled to the neighbors last week. Tajikistan is to escape the advance of the Taliban. The US forces remaining in Afghanistan have provided some assistance, with temporary air support now coming from outside the country.