Monitoring Desk: The province of Ghazni is fallen to Taliban and capital Kabul is just 150km away although B-52 bombers of US Air Force rained every place they could find Taliban.
Afghan National Army (ANA) collapsed like house of card and virtually handed all US war gears to Taliban after surrendering their weapons.
In Ghazni, Taliban went to central Jail and released over 400 Taliban prisoners and then took the charge of prison.
Al-Jazeera News reported that Taliban attacked Ghazni at midnight leading to heavy street-to-street clashes with security forces and by morning Ghazni was fallen to Taliban.
Kabul stands in isolation: What is the fault of Pakistan if Afghan National Army has lost the will to fight?
“The local police commander and governor were desperate and had no other option and joined the Taliban,” the official said. “People are hiding in their homes, nobody is out,” reported US media.
The loss of Ghazni, the 10th provincial capital to fall in less than a week, is a major blow for the Afghan government, as the city is located on the highway connecting Kabul to southern Afghanistan. It comes two days after the Taliban captured the key city of Pul-e-Khumri, 140 miles north of the capital, giving the insurgents control of a strategic road junction linking Kabul to the north and west.
Mwanehile Afghan Ambassador to the US has demanded US to intensify air raids against Taliban. Ambassador Adela Raz demanded travel bans on Taliban leaders so they cannot attend Doha Talks.
Meanwhile, U.S media while citing intelligence reports confirmed that Taliban cutting Kabul from all sides and Afghan government is already facing logistic issues for everyday requirement of the city. Afghanistan is 100 percent depended on import of fuel while wheat and other edibles are also mostly imported either from Central Asian states or from Pakistan.
International journalist Chris Robertson reported that David Miliband, who served as foreign secretary under Gordon Brown, warned that thousands of people are fleeing or dying in Afghanistan, with many left homeless due to the fighting.
Mr Miliband said 5,000 civilians were killed in the most recent fighting, 30,000 people a week are fleeing the country, and 350,000 people are homeless.
Meanhile Foreign Office of Pakistan on Friday said that Pakistan remains deeply concerned at the rapidly deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan and lack of progress in the Afghan peace process.
Foreign Office spokesman while briefing national media said:
As immediate neighbor of Afghanistan, with over 4 million Afghan refugees hosted for four decades, we have an enduring interest in the peace and stability in Afghanistan.
It is evident that after the people of Afghanistan, it is Pakistan that has suffered the most due to decades of conflict in Afghanistan.
We have suffered over 80,000 casualties and $150 billion of economic losses since 2001.
Therefore, no other country can be more desirous of peace and stability in Afghanistan than Pakistan.
Pakistan has remained consistent in its support to the Afghan peace process.
Our support has been critical in achieving the key milestones achieved so far, including the US-Taliban deal to bring peace, initiation of intra-Afghan negotiations and the agreement between Afghan parties on the rules and procedures.
As part of Pakistan’s continuing efforts to support the Afghan Peace Process, Ambassador Muhammad Sadiq, Special Representative for Afghanistan visited Doha to participate in the Regional Conference on Afghanistan and the meeting of Troika Plus.
We attach great importance to the Troika Plus mechanism, involving Chin, Russia, U.S. and Pakistan.
We hope that this meeting of Troika Plus, taking place at a critical moment, will help facilitate resumption of intra-Afghan negotiations with a view to achieve a political solution for a peaceful, stable and prosperous Afghanistan.
