Advance of the Taliban: Afghan government troops plan counter

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Afghan soldiers during an operation in February

Photo: Sanaullah Seiam / dpa

The Afghan government is planning a counter-offensive in the north of the country to stop the advance of the radical Islamic Taliban.

The government army did not expect the Taliban attack, said national security advisor Hamdullah Mohib of the Russian news agency RIA on Monday.

But they would "absolutely, definitely" counterattacks.

Mohib is a key adviser to Afghan President Ashraf Ghani.

The Taliban have been advancing for weeks and have already brought numerous districts under their control.

This was preceded by the start of the withdrawal of foreign troops.

The US plans to bring its soldiers back in full by August.

The Bagram base has already been handed over to the Afghan security forces.

From there, numerous attacks against the Taliban and other Islamist groups had been launched during the 20 years of the war in Afghanistan.

The Bundeswehr, which was stationed in Kunduz in the north, ended its mission in Afghanistan on June 30 and withdrew the last soldiers.

From 1996 until it was overthrown by US-led troops in 2001, the Taliban ruled Afghanistan and massively curtailed human rights, especially women's rights, in the country.

The US intervened at the head of a NATO alliance shortly after the September 11, 2001 attacks in Afghanistan.

The Taliban government in Kabul had refused to take action against the Al-Qaeda of Osama bin Laden, the mastermind behind the attacks in the USA, and was swiftly overthrown.

However, their fighters withdrew to neighboring Pakistan and regrouped.

More than 1,000 Afghan soldiers flee to Tajikistan

For some time now, the Taliban have been on the rise again. Hundreds of Afghan soldiers recently fled to neighboring Tajikistan after fighting with them. 1037 Afghan soldiers crossed the border on Monday night "to save their lives," the state news agency quoted Chovar from a statement by the National Security Committee in Tajikistan. The Taliban had "full control" of six districts in Badakhshan province on the border with Tajikistan in northeastern Afghanistan.

Observers fear that the Taliban could take power again after the complete withdrawal of NATO forces from Afghanistan.

Violence in the Hindu Kush country has risen sharply in recent weeks.

The peace talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government are not progressing.

Most recently, the Taliban succeeded in conquering dozen districts in several offensives, encircling almost all of the country's larger cities.

Two weeks ago they captured the most important border crossing from Afghanistan to Tajikistan in Shir Khan Bandar.

asa / Reuters / AFP