A Taliban takeover of Afghanistan?

Islam News  – Since international troops began withdrawing from Afghanistan in May, the Taliban have carried out a sweeping military campaign that has intensified over the past week. The Taliban have overrun nine provincial capitals across the country, most of them clustered in the north.

The victories have stoked fears that the Taliban could take the capital, Kabul. While the administration of President Ashraf Ghani has refused to acknowledge the falling capitals, the acting finance minister has fled the country.

The U.S. military has conducted airstrikes but mostly refrained from getting further involved, making clear that its 20-year involvement in the country was over. President Biden said on Tuesday that Afghan leaders have “got to fight for themselves, fight for their nation.”

After the Taliban emerged in the 1990s, they faced fierce resistance from militia groups in the north known as the Northern Alliance. Even when Taliban fighters took Kabul in 1996, the alliance deprived them of a complete takeover. Now, experts say if the group takes the north, they could take the whole country.

Source: The New York Times