A new large-scale military conflict is brewing in Central Asia. Fighters of the Taliban terrorist group (the organization’s activities are prohibited on the territory of the Russian Federation) announced that 80% of the territory of Afghanistan had come under their control. Terrorists have seized a large amount of military equipment and weapons. Detachments of militants are gathering at the borders of Tajikistan and promise a speedy offensive to the north, with the aim of building a new “Islamic Caliphate”.
Over the past few weeks, the Taliban have moved closer to seizing power in Afghanistan for the first time in 20 years. Against the background of the withdrawal of the contingent of the US Army and the troops of NATO countries, the Afghan government is losing ground throughout the country, and the soldiers of the Afghan army prefer to go over to the side of the terrorists.
A large amount of military equipment and weapons supplied to Afghanistan by the United States ended up in the hands of the Taliban. Militants on the Web demonstrate dozens of pieces of artillery, captured tanks, and armored vehicles, as well as a large number of small arms and explosives.
The exact amount of military equipment that the militants got as war trophies has not yet been established, but we are talking about hundreds of units. New motorized formations and artillery battalions are being formed as part of the Taliban. As a rule, along with the equipment, terrorists receive trained crews from among the former Afghan military, who prefer to surrender and save their lives.
According to a number of pieces of information, more than 80% of the country’s territory is already under the control of terrorists. Government forces hold the central regions, major cities, and a number of other territories where American troops still remain. However, many sources claim that the US Army will not complete the withdrawal on September 11, as it was announced, but much earlier than this date.
The Pentagon has already announced that it will not provide support to the Afghan troops, and will curtail the program of military supplies and airstrikes on terrorist positions.
Experts predict that after the last American soldier leaves the territory of Afghanistan, the country will come under the control of the Taliban in a matter of days. In a number of regions, units of the government army, militia, and police go over to the side of the terrorists. The day before, an Afghan army regiment joined the ranks of the Taliban in Wardak province.
Attempts by the army to counterattack in a number of areas lead to temporary successes, but every day fewer and fewer combat-ready units remain at the disposal of the country’s government. In an attempt to escape, hundreds of Afghan soldiers cross the border and try to hide in neighboring Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
It is reported that thousands of refugees have accumulated at the border, trying to escape the Taliban. Local security forces are preventing them from entering, but an increase in the number of refugees may soon lead to clashes at the border.
At the same time, large Taliban forces are gathering in the border areas. On the eve it became known that a detachment of the government militia joined the ranks of terrorists in the Bukharak district of the Tehran province, in the immediate vicinity of the southern borders of Tajikistan. Radicals publish numerous appeals and appeals to the local population, urging them to join the cause of building an “Islamic caliphate.”
As military expert Aleksey Valyuzhenich noted in a conversation with MK, the Taliban’s offensive to the north should be expected, if not in the coming weeks, then in the coming months. The situation, according to the expert, is close to catastrophic for the Afghan authorities.
– If Kabul, Herat, and Kunduz fall, the Taliban detachments from all over the country will unite into a single army, which is already better armed than many states in the region. In addition, the Taliban have allied “sleeping cells” in the states of Central Asia – local Islamist movements. They are well crushed there, but with the appearance of such assistance from abroad, they can raise their heads again. What will happen next? Alas, we are talking about a new war, where there is no front and rear, no matter how the media still keep silent about the situation. And the terrorists will strike the first blow in the north, the expert summed up.
