Taliban captures second Afghan provincial capital in two days

Amid the ongoing US troops withdrawal, the Taliban is leaving no stone unturned to consolidate power in the whole of Afghanistan. The increase in the Taliban offensive and their atrocities have become a global concern.

New Delhi: In yet another major blow to the Afghan government, the Taliban insurgents on Saturday captured the Sheberghan city in Jawzjan, making it the second Afghan provincial capital to fall prey to the insurgents in two days. The city is home to warlord Abdul Rashid Dostum, who only returned to Afghanistan this week from medical treatment in Turkey. Dostum is considered one of the country's main anti-Taliban leaders.

Amid the ongoing US troops withdrawal, the Taliban is leaving no stone unturned to consolidate power in the whole of Afghanistan. The increase in the Taliban offensive and their atrocities have become a global concern.

In the wake of the fast-evolving situation in Afghanistan, the U.S. Embassy urged American citizens to leave Afghanistan immediately using available commercial flight options. Given the security conditions and reduced staffing, the embassy’s ability to assist U.S. citizens in Afghanistan is extremely limited even within Kabul.

On Friday, Taliban fighters assassinated the Afghanistan government's top media and information officer Dawa Khan Menapal in the capital city of Kabul. Apart from that, reports of journalists going missing are also coming to light.

It was also on Friday, the Taliban captured the city of Zaranj, the provincial capital of Nimroz, making it the first provincial capital the Taliban insurgent group snatched from the Afghan government.

Meanwhile, the international community is intensifying efforts to bring an end to the ongoing violence in the war-torn country.

Special Representative Deborah Lyons, head of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, termed the situation in Afghanistan as a dangerous turning point and called for an end to attacks on Afghanistan cities. She said that more than 1,000 civilian casualties in Herat Kandahar and Laskargah have been reported in the last month alone since the Taliban began assaults on these cities.