Afghanistan: Taliban capture more provincial capitals

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A soldier of the Afghan National Army stands at a checkpoint in Herat province: In many places the government's security forces are fighting against the radical Islamic Taliban

Photo: JALIL REZAYEE / EPA

The Afghan government is losing control of ever larger areas of the country.

The radical Islamic Taliban have now invaded several provincial capitals in Afghanistan or already control parts of the cities.

This was confirmed by local officials from the dpa news agency.

In the city of Ghazni in the southeast of the country, the Taliban controlled two police districts, it said.

According to officials, the situation is very critical.

The radical Islamists would entrench themselves in civilian homes and shoot at Afghan security forces.

"That makes the situation for the Afghan security forces very difficult," said Hassan Rezayi, a Ghazni official, the Reuters news agency.

The Taliban had also already captured a police district in Faisabad in the northeast.

They were evicted from other parts of the city by security forces.

In the western city of Kala-e Nau, which the Islamists attacked the previous week, they are present in some parts of the city and engaged in sporadic skirmishes with the security forces, said provincial councils.

Residents would flee the city every day.

India brings consulate workers to safety

The provincial capital Kandahar in the south of the country has also been under pressure in the past few days.

There, the security forces were apparently able to repel the attacks for the time being.

Around 50 employees from the Indian consulate in Kandahar, including diplomats and security personnel, were flown to New Delhi over the weekend.

Observers fear that the Taliban could regain power in the country after the US and its NATO partners have completely withdrawn from Afghanistan.

Germany checks break for deportation flights

The German federal government is now examining a temporary stop to deportations to Afghanistan.

Last weekend, the Afghan government asked European states to suspend returns to the crisis country for three months.

"We in Germany also received this request," said a spokesman for the Federal Ministry of the Interior.

The federal government will decide on this "promptly" and will also seek talks with the other EU states and with the government in Kabul.

The Federal Foreign Office is currently working on a new situation report for Afghanistan, which, according to a spokeswoman, is expected to be completed this month.

Because of the increasing violence of the radical Islamic Taliban and rising corona infections, the repatriation of rejected asylum seekers is currently a cause for concern, according to a statement by the Afghan ministry responsible for refugees.

There are also concerns about a growing number of people seeking asylum abroad and on the run in the country itself.

Last Wednesday, a plane with 27 deported men on board arrived in Kabul.

Some of them are said to have previously committed crimes in Germany.

fek / lau / dpa / Reuters