Taliban occupy key border crossing between Afghanistan and Iran: officials | Taliban News

With the withdrawal of foreign troops, the organization continues to advance, and sources say that some Afghan security officials have fled to Iran.

Afghan security officials said that Taliban militants have controlled a key area in western Afghanistan, which includes an important border crossing with Iran, as the armed group continues to rapidly advance military operations across the country.

Last week, the Taliban occupied areas bordering Iran, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, China, and Pakistan. After 20 years of intervention by foreign forces ended, the domestic security situation deteriorated.

In northern Balkh province, which borders Uzbekistan, fierce fighting between Taliban militants and Afghan government forces is also underway.

Two senior security officials, who asked not to be named, told Reuters that the Islamic Qala border crossing between Herat and Iran has fallen into the hands of the Taliban, and Afghan security and customs officials have fled the border.

Iran’s official Arabic service Al Alamam TV also reported that Afghan soldiers entered Iranian territory through border crossings in order to escape the Taliban.

Tariq Arian, a spokesman for the Afghan Ministry of Interior, denied these reports and stated that the border crossing is still under the control of government forces.

Reuters calls to the governor’s office and the police were unanswered.

Another security official said that Taliban fighters occupied five areas of Herat without fighting.

Earlier this week, more than 1,000 Afghan security personnel fled to Tajikistan as the Taliban occupied most of the northern province of Badakhshan, which borders China and Pakistan.

The Ministry of Defense said that the Afghan government forces regained control of Qala-e-Naw, the capital of the western Badghis province, earlier on Thursday. onslaught Attacked by the Taliban on Wednesday.

The ministry stated that hundreds of soldiers had been deployed to the area, adding that fighting continued on the edge of Qala-e-Naw and the Taliban had earlier occupied the city’s main government buildings, including the police headquarters.

“This city has been completely [back] Under our control, we are carrying out operations against the Taliban on the outskirts of the city,” said Fawad Aman, spokesman for the Ministry of Defense.

The ministry stated that 69 Taliban fighters were killed in operations on the edge of Qala-e-Naw, which was the first major provincial capital that these fighters entered during the recent offensive.

The rest of Badghis Province is in the hands of the Taliban. Western security officials say that the Taliban have occupied more than 100 areas in Afghanistan.

The Taliban stated that it owns more than 200 districts in 34 provinces, accounting for more than half of the country. Major cities are still under government control.

The organization has been occupying territory for several weeks, but as the United States withdrew from its main base in Afghanistan, the organization accelerated its progress, effectively ending the intervention that began in 2001 when the Taliban government fell.

The Taliban’s progress in the northern provinces is particularly notable, where they have been obstructed for a long time.

The stalled peace talks between the government and the organization have yet to come to fruition. The Taliban delegation visited Iran on Wednesday and in Moscow on Thursday.

President Joe Biden defends the decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan Say On Thursday, he did not expect the Taliban to take over the entire country, and he trusted the Afghan army.

“We are ending America’s longest war,” he said.