
(Image credits: CBSNewYork / Youtube)
It seems inevitable that Afghanistan will become the Taliban again. Taliban militants have recaptured Kandahar, Afghanistan’s second-largest city and a former Taliban stronghold, and are now fighting to seize control of the capital, Kabul.
U.S. embassy officials in Kabul have been told to leave immediately. They were also instructed to destroy all sensitive files and technical tools before leaving.
About half of Afghanistan’s provincial capitals have now been recaptured.
According to foreign reports, they will seize control of the capital Kabul within the next 72 hours or at most within a week.
US President Joe Biden has held urgent talks with Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan on what needs to be done to protect the lives of civilians in Afghanistan. Blinken and Austin also held talks with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on the situation.
At least 1,000 Taliban militants have been killed in the past 72 hours, according to an official Twitter post from the Afghan Defense Ministry. It added that the Taliban’s air force had defeated the Afghan army.
About 20,000 people have so far applied for visas to flee the United States from Afghanistan under special immigration permits.
Hundreds of thousands more who are unable to do so are fleeing the Taliban massacre.