The head of Afghanistan’s High Council for National Reconciliation accused the Taliban of trying to “take advantage of relative vacuum after the withdrawal of foreign troops in the country,” and said that Turkey’s presence in the Hamid Karzai (Kabul) International Airport is ‘important.’
In an exclusive interview with Anadolu Agency on the sidelines of Antalya Diplomacy Forum, Dr. Abdullah Abdullah said: “Taliban have tried to take advantage of the relative vacuum that the absence of the international troops or departure of the international troops has left behind.”
“The Taliban is trying to take advantage of that attacks,” he said, but also added that the Taliban’s gains were “temporary.”
He went on to say that the Taliban’s surging attacks are a part of their strategy to use for the negotiation table or in search for a military solution, also noting that “it will not work” either way.
However, the centers of two districts in northern Afghanistan have fallen to the Taliban following clashes in the last 12 hours with sources reporting high casualties among Afghan forces in Jawzjan province.
Amruddin Danishjo, the deputy head of the Jawzjan provincial council, said the center of the Mardian district in Jawzjan fell to the Taliban on Saturday morning.
He said that at least 16 security force members were killed and 14 more captured by the Taliban in clashes in the district.
Officials in Jawzjan have not commented on the fall of the district to the Taliban.
Meanwhile, Abdul Ahad Ail Bek, a member of the Faryab provincial council, said that the center of Khwaja Sabz Posh district in Faryab fell to the Taliban on Friday night.
He said that Gul Ekhtiar Arab, a security forces commander in Faryab, has surrendered to the Taliban with his personnel after they did not receive support.
Faryab officials have not commented on the report.
This comes as the 209 Shaheen Corps in a statement on Saturday said that Mawlawi Sunnatullah, head of Taliban’s military commission, and eight others were killed in the Afghan Army’s operation in Qosh Tepa district in Jawzjan on Friday.
Sources have said that more than 30 districts have fallen to the Taliban in the last two months. The Defense Ministry reported clashes in 13 provinces on Friday.
