US believes Kabul could fall to Taliban in 90 days

Taliban could isolate Afghanistan’s capital in 30 days and possibly take it over in 90, a US intelligence was quoted as saying, as the Taliban wrested eighth provincial Afghan capital on Wednesday.

According to The Washington Post, the situation in the country is now worse than it was in June when the US intelligence predicted that Kabul could collapse in 6-12 months after the American troop pullout from Afghanistan. “Everything is moving in the wrong direction,” a source familiar with the new intelligence assessment told the paper.

The hostilities between the Afghan government and the Taliban have intensified as foreign troops began withdrawing from the country. The Taliban have since captured large rural territories and launched an offensive on major cities.White House spokesperson Jen Psaki said on Tuesday that President Joe Biden continues to believe it is not inevitable the Taliban take over Kabul or entire Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani flew to the besieged northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif on Wednesday to rally the beleaguered government troops, with Taliban fighters having now taken more than a quarter of the country’s provincial capitals in less than a week.

His visit was immediately overshadowed by the mass surrender of hundreds of Afghan soldiers in nearby Kunduz, along with the overnight capture of another provincial capital—the ninth city to be overrun since Friday.

One army officer who asked not to be identified said they had endured withering mortar fire at Kunduz airport, and were left with no choice but to surrender. “There was no way to fight back,” he told AFP.

In Mazar, Ghani held talks with long-time local strongman Atta Mohammad Noor and infamous warlord Abdul Rashid Dostum about the defence of the city, as Taliban fighters inched closer to its outskirts. The loss of Mazar would be a catastrophic blow to the Kabul government and represent the complete collapse of its control over the north.

Hours before Ghani arrived, pictures posted on official government social media accounts showed Dostum boarding a plane in Kabul en route to Mazar, along with a contingent of commandos. After arriving in the city, Dostum issued a warning to the approaching Taliban.

“The Taliban never learn from the past,” he told reporters. “The Taliban have come to the north several times but they were always trapped. It is not easy for them to get out.” 

The Taliban appeared to be consolidating their hold over captured cities in the north, with rifle-toting militants patrolling the streets of Kunduz on foot and in armoured humvees as smoke rose from smouldering shops destroyed during the fight for the city.

WITH AGENCY INPUTS