The Taliban captured a seventh provincial capital on Tuesday as top U.S. lawmakers blasted the Afghan army’s “complete, utter failure” on the battlefield, underscoring the mounting frustration in Washington as Afghanistan unravels and the possibility of a full Taliban takeover grows.
In its latest effort to halt insurgent momentum, the Biden administration dispatched its special Afghan envoy, Zalmay Khalilzad, to meet with Taliban leaders in Qatar and stress that the U.S. and its allies won’t recognize a Taliban-led government established through violence. Mr. Khalilzad‘s last-minute trip is more proof of the growing alarm inside the White House, State Department and Pentagon, as the U.S. military exit has led directly to a wave of Taliban victories and demoralizing defeats for Afghan government troops.
The southwest provincial capital of Farah was the latest to fall. It is the seventh capital to come under full or partial control of Taliban forces over just the past five days. The Taliban‘s battlefield gains coincide with the full withdrawal of U.S. and NATO troops from Afghanistan, which will be complete by the end of the month.
Officials in Farah said Afghan troops are still battling insurgents but that the Taliban have captured key sites across the city.
“This afternoon the Taliban entered the city of Farah after briefly fighting with the security forces. They have captured the governor’s office and police headquarters,” said Shahla Abubar, a member of Farah’s provincial council, according to Agence France-Presse.
Since Friday, the Taliban also have fully or partially seized the provincial capitals of Aibak, Kunduz, Sar-e-Pul, Taloqan, Zaranj, and Sheberghan. Seven of the country’s 34 provincial capitals are now in Taliban hands.
European Union officials estimated Tuesday that the group controls roughly 65% of the entire country.
In capturing so much territory so quickly, the Taliban have steamrolled over Afghan defense forces that have been trained, equipped and advised by top U.S. military leaders for the better part of two decades. The Afghan military has its own air force, unlike the Taliban, and is presumably much better organized.
Still, the Afghan military relies largely on American airpower to aid in the fight.
The Pentagon on Tuesday confirmed that U.S. airstrikes against Taliban targets have continued over “the last few days” in a last-ditch effort to slow the group’s advance on major urban centers. It’s generally believed that the Taliban would have captured even more ground without those American airstrikes.
But the Afghan military can’t rely on those U.S. airstrikes forever. Defense Department officials say the strikes will become much more logistically difficult and may face new legal and technical hurdles when the American military mission formally ends Aug. 31.
“We have the authorities to conduct airstrikes in support of Afghan national defense and security forces through the end of the drawdown … I won’t speculate about authorities beyond that,” Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby told reporters Tuesday. “We will conduct these strikes where and when feasible with the full understanding that as we continue the drawdown … the where and the when in terms of feasibility of these strikes is going to be different, and it’s going to decline.”
Moving forward, Mr. Kirby stressed that “it’s really going to come down to the leadership and the will” of Afghan military and political leaders on the ground.
‘A failed 20-year strategy’
Back in Washington, however, some of Mr. Biden’s top allies have all but given up on the Afghan military. They say that the collapse of Afghan forces should provide confirmation that the president’s decision to get out of Afghanistan was the correct one.
“The Taliban‘s surge is actually a reason to stick to the withdrawal plan,” Sen. Chris Murphy, Connecticut Democrat, said in a chamber floor speech on Tuesday. “Because the complete, utter failure of the Afghan national army, absent our hand-holding, to defend their country is a blistering indictment of a failed twenty-year strategy predicated on the belief that billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars could create an effective, democratic central government in a nation that has never had one.”
“Staying one more year in Afghanistan means we stay forever, because if twenty years of laborious training and equipping of the Afghan security forces had this little impact on their ability to fight, then another 50 years wouldn’t change anything,” said Mr. Murphy.
Mr. Biden’s decision to pull out of Afghanistan followed along the path set out by former President Trump, who struck a deal with the Taliban in February 2020 that called for the U.S. withdrawal in exchange for security guarantees from the Taliban.
In addition to the withdrawal of 3,500 U.S. troops, thousands more NATO forces also are exiting the country.
At the same time, the White House is doubling down on its diplomatic engagement with the Taliban.
Mr. Khalilzad, who oversaw withdrawal negotiations with the Taliban in the Trump era, arrived in Doha, Qatar, on Tuesday and met with Taliban representatives. The State Department said the meeting was designed to “help formulate a joint international response to the rapidly deteriorating situation in Afghanistan.”
Mr. Khalilzad‘s mission also was to “press the Taliban to stop their military offensive and to negotiate a political settlement, which is the only path to stability and development in Afghanistan,” the State Department said in a statement.
The U.S. diplomat warned the Taliban that if they mount a military offensive and seizes the capital, Kabul, by force, such a victory will not be internationally recognized. A Taliban-led government, he said, would face near-total isolation from the global community.
There are at least some signs that the Taliban want to avoid such isolation and seeks to be seen as a legitimate, humane governing body. On Tuesday, for example, top Taliban military commanders released an audiotape ordering fighters to not harm Afghan troops and government officials who surrender.
The audio message from Mohammad Yaqoob, son of late Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar, also instructed insurgent fighters to keep open local businesses and markets. Such moves could indicate that the Taliban are looking to maintain at least some level of goodwill with local populations.
But the Taliban so far have given little indication it is prepared to slow its military advance. Most foreign analysts and regional observers generally agree that the group will continue its assault in the hopes of gaining even more leverage during ceasefire negotiations with the U.S.-backed Afghan government.