Taliban marches on; India to evacuate all diplomats from Afghanistan

Amid a fast deteriorating security situation following the US drawdown, India will evacuate its diplomats from its consulate in Mazar-e-Sharif, Afghanistan, as well as nationals in the area a month after a similar exercise in Kandahar, media reports said.

The Taliban said on Monday (August 9) it had turned its sights on Mazar-e-Sharif.

“A special flight is leaving from Mazar-e-Sharif to New Delhi. Any Indian nationals in and around Mazar-e-Sharif are requested to leave for India in the special flight scheduled to depart late today (Tuesday, August 10) evening,” the Indian consulate in Mazar-e-Sharif tweeted. With this, there will be no Indians in any of the four consulates in Mazar, Kandahar, Jalalabad and Herat.

Also read: Over 570 Taliban militants killed as Afghan and US forces launch counterstrikes

The consulate asked Indian citizens who want to leave by the special flight to submit details such as their full name and passport number to the consulate immediately. Around 1,500 Indians are currently staying in Afghanistan, according to government data.

Last month, India pulled out around 50 diplomats and security personnel from its consulate in Kandahar following clashes between Afghan forces and Taliban fighters around the city.

Weekend blitz

Media reports said Taliban insurgents seized a sixth Afghan provincial capital on Monday (August 9) following a weekend blitz across the north that saw urban centres fall in quick succession and the government struggle to keep the militants at bay.

Insurgents entered Aibak without a fight after community elders pleaded with officials to spare the city from more violence following weeks of clashes on the outskirts, media reports quoted Sefatullah Samangani, deputy governor of Samangan province, as saying.

Also read: How Afghanistan is sliding back to dark days: Taliban atrocities a grim warning

Fighting in Afghanistan has escalated since May after the US-led military coalition began the final stage of a withdrawal set to be completed before the end of the month. That timetable means the withdrawal would be finished ahead of the 20th anniversary of the September 11 attacks.

The US-led invasion sparked by 9/11 toppled the first Taliban regime in 2001.

Significant geography

Mazar-e-Sharif is the biggest city in the north, whose fall would signal the total collapse of government control in a region that has traditionally been anti-Taliban. Government forces are also battling the hardline Islamists in Kandahar and Helmand, the southern Pashto-speaking provinces from where the Taliban draws is strength.

The Taliban has appeared largely indifferent to peace overtures, and seems intent on a military victory to crown a return to power after its ouster 20 years ago in the wake of the September 11 attacks.

As fighting rages, tens of thousands of people are on the move inside the country, with families fleeing newly captured Taliban cities with tales of brutal treatment at the hands of the insurgents.