
The Taliban Takes Control But The Government Maintains Silence
The fall of the districts and the advance of the Taliban continue rapidly. From May 22 to June 14 this year, about 20 districts in different provinces of the country have fallen to the Taliban. On average, one district falls every day. In most districts, the Taliban have killed, wounded, captured and have also seized equipment from the government forces.
The government’s plan for the consecutive fall of the districts is still unclear. In a situation where a district is falling every day and this issue has plunged the people into fear and panic over the possibility of the Taliban ruling, the government must react quickly and take promising action, so that hope and the spirit of victory do not die out among the people. Unfortunately, the issue of war and peace has confused the people. The Taliban are fleeing the negotiating table, advancing on the battlefield and occupying a district every day. The government, however, is not only doing nothing for the lost lands; Rather, even the reaction and plans for the recent events in the past days and nights are not clear to the people.
If the government has its grip on the situation and the government has the ability to defend and operate against the Taliban, if the government considers the Taliban as its enemy and the enemy of its people, and more importantly, if the government considers itself responsible for securing the lives and property of the people and dedicated to defending and protecting its territories from its enemies, then why is the government silent in the face of such events in the north, south and west of the country? Why does the government not clearly state its position on the recent events in the country? The Taliban’s takeover of districts and suburbs of major cities will make it difficult for the government to work in the coming days. The Ministry of Defense and the security forces in general are responsible for defending the lives and property of the people and their lands against the attacks of Taliban. In sensitive times like these, Silence will only make things worse and the current situation will drive people to despair.
Yassin Zia, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, searched for Taliban in the battlefields during the month of May and even before that. He asked, “Where are the Taliban?” Why are they not seen in the battlefield? Where have they escaped? Why are they not confronting the country’s armed forces? But now 25 districts have fallen to the Taliban and the army is not present in the battlefield to retake them. So far, the government has taken no action to retake any of these districts. It should be clear that some of these districts are very important not only to the government but the big cities and the local people, and the government has not tactically retreated from these areas.
Khanabad district of Kunduz province, which was handed over to the Taliban on June 14, is the most important district in the province. This district is the bottleneck of Kunduz. If the Taliban retains the district, it will take over the control of Sher Khan harbor in the coming days. To take over Sher khan harbor means to paralyze Kunduz; Because Kunduz market is financed through Sher khan harbor. Thus, most claims made under the guise of “tactical retreat” are due to the deception of the public mind.
The government’s failure to retake the districts and have let lose the Taliban to advance is deemed as alignment of the government with the Taliban. This silence increases distrust of the government’s commitment and honesty. In other words, people think that the government has handed them over to the Taliban and allows a balance of power to be established between themselves and the Taliban, and in fact the geography of the country to be divided equally between them.
If the anti-Taliban wing does not act on time to support the security forces to protect the northern territories, the Taliban may eliminate or at least disarm the former local commanders. If the Taliban succeed, a potential resistance against the group will be difficult; Because the Taliban have already captured the first resistance bases and are advancing every day. This is not good news for the anti-Taliban bloc.