Taliban Grows Rampant In Afghanistan, Britain And Germany Blame Donald Trump's Deal

Illustration of armed civilian forces in Afghanistan. (Wikimedia Commons/Abdulbasir Ilgor/VOA)

JAKARTA - The United States said it was up to Afghan security forces to defend the country, after Taliban insurgents seized the sixth provincial capital on Monday, along with border towns and trade routes.

President Joe Biden said the US military mission in Afghanistan would end on August 31, arguing the Afghan people must decide their own future. And he's not going to hand over another generation of Americans to a war that's been going on for 20 years.

The Taliban, who are fighting to retake power after their overthrow in 2001, have stepped up a military campaign to defeat the Afghan government as foreign coalition forces withdrew. Yesterday, they captured Aybak, the capital of the northern province of Samangan.

"At the moment the Taliban are fighting with the Afghan forces to seize the police headquarters and the provincial governor's compound. Some parts of the capital have fallen into the hands of the Taliban," said MP Aybak Ziauddin Zia, citing Reuters on Tuesday, August 10.

Previously, Taliban militants also managed to capture three provincial capitals over the weekend, namely Zaranj in the southern province of Nimroz, Sar-e-Pul in the northern province of the same name, and Taloqan in the northeastern province of Takhar.

In addition, Taliban militants have also managed to capture the northern provincial capital of Kunduz and Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand province.

Illustration of a Taliban soldier. (Wikimedia Commons/isafmedia)

Speaking to Al Jazeera TV on Sunday, Taliban spokesman Muhammad Naeem Wardak warned the United States against any further intervention in support of government forces.

In response, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said the United States was deeply concerned about the trend. However, Afghan security forces have the capability to fight insurgent groups.

"This is their military might, this is their provincial capital, their people to defend and it's really going to be down to their existing leadership to deal with this situation," Kirby said.

Asked what the US military could do if Afghan security forces did not put up a fight, Kirby said: "Not much."

US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that despite warnings by President Biden earlier this year of the possible fall of the provincial capital as international troop withdrawals were made. They remain surprised by the speed with which the Taliban took control of these cities from the Afghan military.

When the Taliban overran the provincial capital last weekend, the United States carried out less than a dozen airstrike missions to crush the Taliban force.

An official said Afghan forces had not asked for any support, despite the recent success of the Taliban in capturing the strategic and important city of Kunduz.

In opposition, Afghan special forces have launched a counter-attack to try to push back the Taliban militants invading Kunduz, with residents fleeing the conflict describing near-constant gunshots and explosions.

In the west, near the border with Iran, security officials say heavy fighting is ongoing on the outskirts of Herat. Arif Jalali, head of the Zonal Herat Hospital, said 36 people had died and 220 were injured over the past 11 days. More than half of the injured were civilians, and women and children were among the dead.

Illustration of Afghan special forces. (Wikimedia Commons/Sgt. Audiffred Laboy Cruz)

Separately, UNICEF said 20 children were killed and 130 children injured in southern Kandahar province in the past 72 hours.

"Atrocities are increasing day by day," said Hervé Ludovic De Lys, UNICEF's representative in Afghanistan.

Allied Attitude

Separately, Britain and Germany as US allies both deplore the current situation, while citing the withdrawal agreement made by the United States under Donald Trump as the cause of today's situation.

British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace told the Daily Mail the deal reached last year between the United States and the Taliban was a 'rotten deal.

To note, Washington agreed to withdraw in a deal negotiated last year under Republican President Joe Biden's predecessor, Donald Trump.

Wallace said his government had asked several NATO allies to keep their troops in Afghanistan once US troops left, but failed to muster enough support.

"Some said they were interested, but their parliament was not. It became clear quickly, without the United States as a framework state, this option was closed," Wallace said.

Meanwhile, Germany's defense minister rejected calls for his troops to return to Afghanistan, after Taliban insurgents seized Kunduz where German troops had been stationed for a decade.

Secretary Kramp-Karrenbauer blamed former United States President Donald Trump for undermining the Afghan operation, even though his successor President Joe Biden implemented a withdrawal policy.

"The unfortunate deal between Trump and the Taliban is the beginning of the end," he said of the deal Donald Trump made with the Taliban militants in 2020.