Taliban besiege key Afghan city with U.S. set to exit

Civilians in Afghanistan have taken up arms to push back against the Taliban as the militants fight for control of a crucial northern city and make deeper territorial inroads with the U.S. set to withdraw all troops by September.

The insurgents are battling to take control of strategic cities in the country’s north, including its regional hub Mazar-e-Sharif, after capturing dozens of districts over the last two months. Local warlords and civilians have joined Afghan troops to push back the advance.

“Thousands of Afghan forces and armed civilians are prepared to defend the city of Mazar-e-Sharif, its outskirts and the districts that have been lost,” according to Mohammad Farhad Azimi, the governor of Balkh province, whose provincial capital is Mazar-e-Sharif. Afghan soldiers recaptured two districts in Balkh and the nearby Baghlan province during a fierce overnight battle that left 80 Taliban fighters dead, the country’s defense ministry said on Tuesday in a WhatsApp message.

The spiraling violence underscores the Taliban’s intentions to grab power by force as the U.S. exits its two-decade-old war in the country. The push to control more territory comes even as the militants are negotiating with the government of President Ashraf Ghani to ostensibly reach a power-sharing agreement.

Since the U.S. announcement to exit Afghanistan in mid-April, the militant group has grabbed control of more than 50 districts, according to the Long War Journal. It now controls 118 of the country’s 407 districts, with another 190 being fought over. The U.S. will pull out its remaining 2,500 troops by Sept. 11 and American air support for Afghan forces will also end. NATO’s 7,000 troops who train and advise Afghan forces will follow the US.

Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah, the chairman of the country’s reconciliation council, will be heading to the U.S. on Friday to hold talks with President Joe Biden.

While the Taliban has been strengthened by the imminent U.S. pullout, Afghan forces will continue to fight to defend the country, Abdullah said last week, adding that peace talks and a cease-fire are the only resolutions to the fighting.

Washington’s push for a peaceful settlement between the warring groups has so far been futile. There’s been no breakthrough since talks between Ghani’s officials and the Taliban began in September last year in Doha, Qatar, where the militant group has a political office.